Russians / High Period

**kofti** · 10-28-2005, 20:41

I've noticed i can produce so few troops.

[ Lithuanian Cavalry ]
[ Boyars ]
[ Halbardiers ]
[ Bulgarian Brigands ]

all other factions in this era have powerful troops any tips for surviving ? ( survived the horde, real hard time making money )

**Weebeast** · 10-29-2005, 21:29

Hi

Last time I played as The Russ my king died before he got heirs lol. I guess the only tip I can share with you is you gotta invade those rebel provinces quickly and tell your queen to cut down those birth control pills lol. As for the Horde, try to raise your King's influence so that you can ally easily with the Mongols until you're ready to take on them.

Btw, Boyars are good. They're like one of the best harrassing units since Byz cav and MHA.

**Mangudai** · 10-29-2005, 22:44

Arbalestas are one of the best units in the game. Protect them with halberdiers and you can stop the mongol horde. I never use the Pvaise variety because the regular ones stand up to HA's pretty well.

**Mangudai** · 10-30-2005, 06:51

It can be a lot of fun to play all boyar/horse archer armies. However these are underpowered in MTW.

**Ludens** · 10-30-2005, 15:10

They may have few units, but those that they have are good. Russians can recruit several of the most powerful cavalry units in the game. Boyars look like heavy cavalry, but they are in fact horse archers that have the power of heavy cavalry. Steppe heavy cavalry (heavy cavalry archer, slightly less good than boyar) and Steppe cavalry (cheap and fast light cavalry) are available in Khazar and you can hire Alan mercenary cavalry somewhere around the Black Sea. The latter, together with Lithuanian cavalry, is the best light cavalry in the game. This should indicate your army style: cavalry heavy. You also have standard horse archers. They are faster than boyars, but suffer from bad melee stats and a low morale. That said, in the hands of an experienced player they can be deadly.

For infantry, rely on arbalesters (with or without pavise, whatever you prefer) and halbardiers. The latter suffer from a low morale, but when built in a province with a church and kept close to your general they can take on most units, especially if they are mounted.

My advice would be to get your economy running, bribe whatever you can of the Hordes forces (Mongol cavalry is dirt cheap in maintance as well as deadly) and then strike south until you reach Egypt. If that is not convenient, hit Constantinople instead. Don't ignore your Western borders but play defensivily there. There is far more to gain in the Middle-East than in central Europe.

**kofti** · 10-30-2005, 21:25

no crusades or jihads for orthodox ? ( also horde is great advantage, they rip down the turks/egyptians whoever is downthere, i got to constaninople and some anatolia provinces , central europe is low income, and everyone is there )

however, real far factions attack my trade lines ( french, sicilians and so ) how can i stop this from happening ?

**Ludens** · 10-31-2005, 19:14

Originally Posted by kofti

no crusades or jihads for orthodox ?

No. Historically, none of the Orthodox factions in game went on a holy war. (the Armenians, however...)

Originally Posted by kofti

however, real far factions attack my trade lines ( french, sicilians and so ) how can i stop this from happening ?

Not much, the Sicilians are notorious for this. However, single ships present the A.I. with an irresistable target, so don't use them alone, and certainly not near important (to the A.I.) coastlines.

**Rodion Romanovich** · 10-31-2005, 22:44

If you have VI I believe churches etc. give morale bonus. What I did as Russians, high period, I built a cathedral and so on in one settlement producing uber-halberdiers, then produced pavise arbalesters in another one. I managed to make a quite decent army before the horde came, by rushing and crushing most of the Polish and all rebels. I must say the halberdiers with upgraded morale are one of the best units in M:TW singleplayer, plus they're cheap in upkeep.

**m52nickerson** · 10-31-2005, 23:02

Originally Posted by LegioXXXUlpiaVictrix

If you have VI I believe churches etc. give morale bonus. What I did as Russians, high period, I built a cathedral and so on in one settlement producing uber-halberdiers, then produced pavise arbalesters in another one. I managed to make a quite decent army before the horde came, by rushing and crushing most of the Polish and all rebels. I must say the halberdiers with upgraded morale are one of the best units in M:TW singleplayer, plus they're cheap in upkeep.

I agree, halberdiers with moral upgrades are very useful. Just keep them away from cheap unarmored units. With no armor bonus there attack is very low. They will win, but will exhaust them selfs doing it.