I've been thinking about MP faction balance. I think that a lot of the factions are balanced nicely, but there is one glaring exception. The russians are, quite simply, pathetic in MP. Yes, i'm sure it's possible to win against the AI easily in SP. But I'm talking about MP, and the russians just don't cut it. Now, I think bowyars are very good. They are in my opinion the most versatile calvalry in the game. However, battles are not won by calvalry alone. Russia has no unique infantry units, and they have the most primitive infantry selection of any faction. In the high period, they can only field spearmen, whereas other factions can field more advanced troops such as order foot soldiers and saracen or muwahid infantry(The byzantines also only have spearmen, but they make up for this with 100-man shock units). Normal spearmen may be fine against calvalry, but even valored up they can't compete as a frontline unit. The russians also have very poor shock troop selection. Militia sergeants, feudal foot knights, and woodsmen are the best that they can come up with. These units don't really stand much of a chance against more advanced units such as byzantine infantry, MAA, AUM, advanced spearmen, etc. While I'm sure that if you used these units very well(The huge charge bonus that woodsmen have could be used well) you could pull off a victory, but against an opponent of equal skill you will always be at a disadvantage because of the poor unit selection available to you.
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