Russia strategy and city placement

[guspasho]

I played RFC as Russia a while back and it was terrible. I was suffering from stability issues the entire time. Their UHV sounds like fun so I want to try it again but I fear the instability.

I'm curious especially about city placement because I hear a lot of talk about its importance. Typically I'd just found Moscow and the rest would be a crapshoot, whatever looks good and anything that might might push my borders east and south in to Germany and Turkey (I realize now that this has a detrimental effect on my stability.) I've read what I can find but people only cite the city names and occasionally locations in relation to resources and I still don't know where to found Talinn, for example. Or Oba, or Budapest, and which locations are complimentary and which conflict with each other, and which if any are outdated due to changes in versions of RFC. Can someone point out where to found my cities? Oh yeah and I can't find any recommendations for what to do with my seven Siberian cities. Should I build out a "Silk Road" all the way to that fertile valley area past the marshes or should I send all my settlers to the far east? Where in Siberia is recommended? (Obviously I should avoid Mongolian territory.) And what effect do they have on my stability? Should I try to keep them or gift them to the Mongols after I settle them? Maps would be even handier

Sorry if I'm wordy. I'll leave that as my request for now. I'll post here again as I need more Russia strategy info. I have a few topics up that I'll be reading, but if you know of any that I could have missed please let me know! Thanks!

 

[G-Max]

- The Resettlement civic is your savior.
- Go on Wiki, look up the seven most populous cities in Siberia, and build them in historically appropriate locations. Give the Mongols whatever they want as long as it's not a city.

 

[fdgsgds]

When I finish building all of my cities in Siberia, I usually just give all of them away, unless there is a particular one you want to keep. Giving them all away in the same turn will add to stability.

As for the first few cities, I usually build the capital (I can't remember where, it's a tile or two south and maybe a tile across, but it's not Moscow). Also, build Beograd in the Balkans, it has clam, iron, deer, and copper in its BFC. It also takes a great city away from Germany. Also, build a city on the plains tile in Prussia. It should be named Memel, I think. Building another city in the Caucausus is usually helpful too. Raze Kazan if it spawns, it's not a great city.

Also, since Russia has amazing production and growth, try massing catapults and horse archers / swordsmen in the beginning. Destroy Germany, they are your greatest threat and will declare war on you before 1940. If you are going for the UHV, make sure not to lose any cities.

 

[Magnificent One]

Germany never declared war on me in my Russia games.

 

[Leoreth]

Haven't played Russia since the latest patch, but here's what I know:

Ryazan (one tile south of your spawn) is better than Moskva, so if you don't mind ahistoric capitals, go for it.
Kiev (2N of iron, 1W of wheat) is also an amazing city, and I also recommend one city in the Baltic area (I'd suggest Tallinn, 2N of wheat). Budapest (1S of deer in Hungary) is definitely worth it, if you can beat Germany to it. It creates a lot of cultural pressure on them, though, so it also makes a war more likely.

Speaking of Germany, I've never seen them not declaring on me. The extent of their efforts varies, though, and often they're only a nuisance.

Found one city north of your spawn to get access to fur (happiness is one of your major problems), and one south at the Black Sea (but remember to wait after Turkey has spawned), then start churning out settlers. Which Siberian cities you settle doesn't matter much.

 

[guspasho]

But aren't Talinn and Budapest deep in the red stability area? How have you managed to successfully handle the inherent stability issues from that? I had serious stability issues with Russia last time I tried to play Russia, I was always trying to improve it to the point of being unable to do anything else.

 

[nody]

I don't understand why Poland, the Baltic states, Finland and the Murmansk-area aren't green for Russia... THEY SHOULD!

 

[Leoreth]

No they were occupied territory and therefore shouldn't be green.

None of these territories are red, though, and also aren't "orange" speaking in stability map terms, because no other civ has a claim on them.

 

[nody]

Okay, but Poland and Finland are as Russian as they are German.

These areas are also not green on stability maps and they were never independent states.
Not green means: AI won't colonize here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Karelia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murmansk_Oblast

 

[Leoreth]

Of course, I don't think they should be green for Germany either.

Murmansk and Karelia are a different topic, but in Civ terms nobody should really ever settle there.

 

[guspasho]

I'm not really interested in historical accuracy. If I can figure out how to beat the French to Notre Dame I will. I'm only interested in achieving the UHV without collapsing in the current version of RFC. The stability map here places Budapest and Talinn both in solidly red territory and seem like a significant stability risk.

 

[Magnificent One]

Try keep your siberian cities a slose as possible - I had 3 in a almost vertical line where Siberia starts.It'll be less cost for the maintenance.

You should also try build the forbidden palace in Siberia, or run communism ASAP.Your economy should then be great,and that gives good stability.

In my games,the furthest west i went was Konstantinople.

 

[Leoreth]

I'm surprised there's so much red there, but the cities are still worth it. Remember that good production and economy also help your stability, and the threshold before unstable tiles begin to affect your stability is 30.

 

[civ_king]

I'm surprised there's so much red there, but the cities are still worth it. Remember that good production and economy also help your stability, and the threshold before unstable tiles begin to affect your stability is 30.

Actually it's 32, and IIRC between Budapest and Tallin that isn't quite 32 so you are good to go

Nody, the Stability Maps and Settler Maps are not the same

 

[travathian]

But aren't Talinn and Budapest deep in the red stability area? How have you managed to successfully handle the inherent stability issues from that? I had serious stability issues with Russia last time I tried to play Russia, I was always trying to improve it to the point of being unable to do anything else.

Maybe just try again and see what happens? My third game of RFC was as the Russians and I never really had stability problems. Read the stability section in the wiki and just maximize what you can. I planted 1S of Moscow, and the other 3 settlers went straight west, one at the NW Black Sea area (Odessa maybe), the next NW of there (Minsk?) and the last was north of there along the Baltic. So I effectively cut off the Vikings and Germans from spreading east very easily. You should have more than enough production to build a great military in order to vassalize some neighbors and build up a nice safety buffer.

edit: And even if you don't get the UHV, Russia always dominates the 19th and 20th centuries and can easily win via spaceship. Just make sure and cottage like crazy.

 

[nody]

As Russia I once controlled Italy, Balkans and the Baltic area. It's not a very big hit on stability if you have the Forbidden Palace either in Siberia or in Rome (combined with a Summer Palace).

I always find it cool to be the Euro-civ with the Holy City. Makes me feel special and important...

 

[TigerRageXD]

Kiev is key to victory

 

[nody]

Kiev is key to victory

Key-ev!

...ends with a V of Victory...

 

[Ogrelord]

When I finish building all of my cities in Siberia, I usually just give all of them away, unless there is a particular one you want to keep. Giving them all away in the same turn will add to stability.

You can still keep all your cities and still win a UHV. Even though Germany was the first to finished the Apollo Program, I still managed to finished mine on the dot 1950 and achieved UHV. I didn't go to war with anyone, unless they declared first. Also all those Siberian cities... massive reinforcement to the Russian western front.

 

[Jusos2108]

Found Kiev (2N from Iron), Tallinn and Budapest (2SW from Iron) with your initial settlers and capture Kazan when it spawns. It doesn't matter whether you let your Siberian cities go or not. If you want to keep them, steal and trade techs.