Civilization 6 Russia

[Kena Sugrue]

RussiaIntroduced in Civilization VILeaders PeterCiv ability - Mother RussiaFounded cities start with five additional tiles. Tundra tiles provide +1 Faith and +1 Production, in addition to their usual yields. Founded cities start with five additional tiles. Tundra tiles provide +1 Faith and +1 Production, in addition to their usual yields. Units are immune to damage from Blizzards. +100% damage from Blizzards inside Russian territory to civilizations at war with Russia.

The Russians' civilization ability is Mother Russia, which provides them with extra territory (5 tiles) when they found their cities and extra Faith and Production from tundra tiles. In Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, their units are immune to Blizzard damage and civilizations who are at war with Russia take double damage from Blizzards while in Russian territory. Their unique unit is the Cossack (which replaces the Cavalry), and their unique District is the Lavra (which replaces the Holy Site).

Able to claim vast land with their cities and thrive in the icy polar regions, Russia is a formidable opponent on any map type. With the extremely powerful Lavra, Russia is well-equipped to go for either a Religious or a Cultural Victory, with a backup in Domination.

When founding cities, Russia gets 5 extra tiles for free, almost doubling the number of tiles you normally start with. This increases the chance you will get the best tiles in workable range right from the get-go without having to waste a few extra turns to move your Settlers. A hidden advantage of this ability is that the Culture cost and Gold cost to acquire new tiles start at the same level and scale normally with tech and civic research as any other civilizations.

For this reason, it is best for Russia to build an ultra-wide empire, similar to real life. Assign Magnus with Provision, build the Government Plaza with Ancestral Hall and start cranking out those Settlers. You do not need to spend too much Production on building Settlers, however, as Russia is overwhelmingly likely to hit a Golden Classical Era, allowing you to get access to the Monumentality dedication. With an appropriate pantheon, your Lavra can generate an absurd amount of Faith very early. With a vast, massive empire, you are poised to take on any victory.

Normally, a flat Tundra tile has a base yield of 1 Food, and it is never worth to build a city there. With Russia, every Tundra tile gains 1 Faith and 1 Production, including the City Center tile, if it is on Tundra, making this terrain more ideal for settlement.

Unfortunately, Tundra doesn't house as much of use in the way of resources as non-Tundra, and flat Tundra does not support Farms. It will require considerable luck to find a good spot for a city near the Tundra areas (so you can build Lavra with the Dance of the Aurora pantheon), yet still have fertile land to build Farms and grow. If you settle cities deep in the polar regions, your best chance is probably a coastal tile with access to a lot of Fish and other sea resources to make up for the lack of Food, or resources that can be improved with Camps and Pastures. These resources often grant a base bonus Food, and although Camp and Pasture improvements do not grant more Food, they do with tech and civic advancement. Tundra Hills, or Woods on Tundra are considerably better, since they can be improved with Mines and Lumber Mills.

St. Basil's Cathedral allows you to turn a Tundra city into a super-city when combined with Russia's bonus yields on Tundra. Add forest Lumber Mills or city-State improvements and you have a large number of high yield tiles. With Conservation, Woods can be planted to fill every other flat, non-improvable Tundra tiles, to bring the Production potential of all Tundra cities you have.

Although both civilizations love Tundra, there are key differences between them: Canada can take better advantage of Tundra, thanks to Wilfrid Laurier's ability, but they desperately need Tundra to be a viable or strong empire; Russia does not. Without access to Tundra, Russia is still a very powerful civilization, thanks to their Lavra, while Canada becomes a non-factor for at least 4 eras until National Park is unlocked, as all of their other bonuses are just not that impressive. Canadian Tundra cities tend to be more productive individually, with a lot more Food and Production, while Russian Tundra cities tend to be smaller but can contribute better to the empire, since Faith is an empire-wide currency. Therefore, when playing as Russia, if Canada is in the game and spawns next to you, try your best to settle Tundra as quickly as possible. With your Faith and Monumentality, Canada can never match your speed of expansion. Even if they have cities in Tundra spots you want, wait until the Medieval Era and the Grand Master's Chapel, the Canada problems will be no more. If Canada is not in the game, however, you can put more priority on non-Tundra land. Remember, Tundra is your home turf, other civilizations can try to contest you on that ground but you will eventually emerge as a winner on Tundra, and you can easily claim it back later, either peacefully or with an army. Fertile land, nevertheless, is fair game to everybody, so claim it now to not regret later. It is worth keeping in mind that, with Dance of the Aurora pantheon, if you don't settle in Tundra, your Holy Sites most likely can only gain adjacency bonuses from Woods and Mountains, and those cities will grow faster but generate less Faith. You can solve this by simultaneously settle in both polar and fertile regions. The good thing about Monumentality and Russia is lack of Settlers is almost never an issue.

Similar to Hojo Tokimune's bonus, this bonus is only for historically thematic purpose, it doesn't have many consequences in game. Russian units are immune to blizzard damage; remember, only units, so districts, buildings and improvements can still be pillaged or removed, which, all in all, is not that useful. Additionally, hostile units inside Russian territory take double damage from blizzards, effects of which you won't see in your game the vast majority of the time, since it is completely random and cannot be controlled by any party involved, unless the Apocalypse game mode is enabled, in which Soothsayers can be bought to trigger natural disasters.

Russia is one of the most powerful civilizations in the game, undoubtedly. Its power stems from the fact that it can generate an absurd amount of Faith with very little setup. Having the Lavra and the ability to reliably found the first religion means Russia is overwhelmingly likely heading for a Golden Classical Era, and with the generous Faith output, it is one of the rare civilizations that can take full advantage of Monumentality dedication as soon as it's available.

The Golden Monumentality dedication is inarguably the most overpowered and game changing dedication in the entire game, if you can take advantage of it. It allows expansion at such a cheap cost, and when combined with the Ancestral Hall, you can also improve your cities immediately. The first district you should always build in every city is obviously the Lavra, one of, if not, the most powerful piece of infrastructure in the game. Your Lavras will yield a high amount of Faith instantly, giving you the fund to buy even more Builders and Settlers to feedback on itself. It is this dizzying speed that Russia can expand in just the Classical Era makes them one of the most feared civilizations in the game.

This rapid expansion in the Classical Era can mean you may end up in a Golden Medieval Era as well. Rapid expansion means you can trigger the Historic Moments for having the most cities, having cities on other continents, having more spots to build high adjacency districts, etc. Even settling on Tundra alone can give you 1 Era Score for every city on Tundra. If you hit a Golden Medieval Era, continue for Monumentality, if you still have settling spots close to your cities, or Exodus of the Evangelists if you want to kickstart your religious conversion and head for a Religious Victory.

As Russia, your Lavra is cheap and generates extra Great Prophet points, allowing you to reliably found the first religion most games. Because most of your strength is funneled into being able to cherry pick your beliefs, choosing the right beliefs can be the difference between winning and losing.

The Lavra, to get it right out of the gate, is a reliably powerful district in every Russia game you will play. While Hojo Tokimune can build cheap Holy Sites, and Byzantine Holy Sites generate twice as many Great Prophet points, Lavra combines these two into one, thus ensuring that the Russians will be one of the first civilizations to found a religion every game. As detailed above, it is this high level of reliability, regardless of which civilizations are your opponents, that puts the Lavra in an esteemed position. First pick of religious beliefs is not only powerful, but also very versatile. Seeing Byzantium, Spain or Poland as your neighbor? Pick Crusade. Seeing Gandhi or Arabia and suspecting they may go for a religious victory? Pick Mosque. Since Russia's overall toolkits are so versatile, none of these picks really harm you. With the sole exception of the overpowered combo between Dance of the Aurora and Work Ethic, every other beliefs is viable on different levels with Russia. An extra Great Prophet point also means after your Great Prophet is recruited, each Lavra will generate an extra Faith.

The second main draw of the Lavra is providing a point for a Great Writer, Great Artist, and Great Musician with each Shrine, Temple, and worship building respectively built. This is the same bonus as a base Theater Square. If you have a lot of fully developed Lavras, you may consider building Theater Squares as well to have some Great Work slots to activate your Great People. Your amazing Faith generation will allow you to purchase Naturalists and Rock Bands to easily pivot to a Cultural Victory.

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