{"id":2986,"date":"2016-10-25T21:02:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T21:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kalle-online.net\/blog\/?p=2986"},"modified":"2017-05-08T09:45:53","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T09:45:53","slug":"renaissance-russia-strategy-deity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kalle-online.net\/blog\/renaissance-russia-strategy-deity\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the Renaissance Russia Strategy (Deity)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Into the Renaissance – Russia Strategy (Deity)<\/h1>\n

So. This happened. I defeated the Mongols on Deity Difficulty. Whereas I described in The Yokes on the Mongols<\/a> how that was virtually impossible, I now succeeded. Encouraged by writing the blog post about the victory on Emperor (but the failure on Deity) I decided to give it one more try<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Part 1: Land Rush and Defense<\/h2>\n

Chapter 1: Settling to contain the Mongols<\/h3>\n
\"Civilization<\/a>
Russia’s expansion on Deity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quick recap – I’ve tried and failed playing Into the Renaissance Russia on Deity twice:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. First I concentrated on good cities and economy and wanted to wage early war with the Mongols<\/li>\n
  2. Second I blocked their spawn area completely, which only caused them to spawn elsewhere<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Now in this Deity attempt I went for the (in retrospective) obvious way:<\/p>\n

    Block the Mongol spawn area not completely.<\/strong> Key to success is placing your cities so they can still spawn. But none of their settlers must escape!<\/p>\n

    On the right you can see how I placed my cities.<\/p>\n

    Especially in the early stage of the game, money is important. Use your luxury resources!!! I sold everything I could to Europe. Every spare luxury I sold to the Netherlands, Austria (at the start), Byzantium<\/a>, the Ottomans<\/a> (at the start). Once I met the Celts<\/a> and Ayyubids<\/a> I even traded with them. Most of them were friendly until the late game. With this great (friendly<\/em>) relationship 1 luxury resource gives — depending on the era — 143G, 165G or even 200G.<\/p>\n

    Use this money to buy land and improvements. Mainly tiles near the Mongols. Ideally do this before they spawn, so you don’t get the relationship penalty and provoke an earlier war.<\/p>\n

    \"Civilization <\/a>
    Encirclement of the Mongols <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
    \"Civilization <\/a>
    Swedish Settlements near Moscow <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

    Chapter 2: Initial Build Order, Social Policies and Research<\/h3>\n

    Without immediately going for Liberty the settling strategy wouldn’t work. You’ll need the free settler immediately<\/strong>. The ability to build more settlers faster is incredibly valuable for Russia, since there is plenty of land yet to settle. Going for Honor quickly after that is required to deal with the Mongols.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Liberty<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Republic<\/span> <\/strong>– +production in cities<\/li>\n
    3. Collective Rule<\/strong><\/span> – for a free settler plus bonus on producing settlers<\/li>\n
    4. Tradition<\/strong> <\/span>– (turn 5<\/strong>) for more culture in your capital<\/li>\n
    5. Legalism<\/strong> <\/span>– (turn 18<\/strong>) for 4 free culture buildings in your first cities<\/li>\n
    6. Citizenship<\/strong> <\/span>– (turn 27<\/strong>) for a free worker and faster improvements<\/li>\n
    7. Representation<\/strong> <\/span>– (turn 40<\/strong>) less culture for policies and GOLDEN AGE 1<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Honor<\/strong><\/span> – (turn 49<\/strong>)<\/li>\n
    9. Warrior Code<\/strong><\/span> – (turn 60<\/strong>) for an early General +production bonus on melee units<\/li>\n
    10. Military Tradition<\/strong><\/span> – (turn 74<\/strong>) for +50% XP for all units<\/li>\n
    11. Meritocracy<\/strong> <\/span>– (turn 88<\/strong>) Happiness for city connections, also finishing\u00a0Liberty<\/strong><\/span> granting a Great Engineer<\/li>\n
    12. Discipline<\/span> <\/strong>– (turn 103<\/strong>) +15% bonus for melees flanking each other<\/li>\n
    13. Military Caste<\/span><\/strong> – (turn 116<\/strong>) Happiness and Culture from city garrisons<\/li>\n
    14. Professional Army<\/span><\/strong> – (turn 130<\/strong>) Happiness from defense structures and decreased upgrade costs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The above is the social policy part for the first two thirds of the game. In the last third, I headed for Commerce<\/strong> (141), Trade Unions<\/strong> (152), Mercantilism<\/strong> (164) and Protectionism<\/strong> (172), bringing me from 20 Happiness \ud83d\ude42 to 58 Happiness \ud83d\ude42 again.<\/p>\n

      The initial build order shows the early focus on expansion and then military units to cope with the Mongol threat. Also I realized: The weaker you are – the earlier the Mongols will attack. They will grow stronger no matter, but as you’ll mainly fortify your units in defensive spots in your (friendly) territory, every unit of yours is precious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Moscow<\/th>\nSt. Petersburg
      \n(turn 7)<\/th>\n      		Novgorod
      \n(turn 32)<\/th>\n      		Rostov
      \n(turn 40)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
      1. Scout<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      2. Scout<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      3. Worker (4-9)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      4. Worker (9-12)<\/td>\n1. Worker<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      5. Temple (12-18)<\/td>\n2. Walls (16-23)<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      6. Settler (18-26) -> Novgorod<\/td>\n3. Krepost (23-29)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      7. Settler (26-33) -> Rostov<\/td>\n4. Composite Bowman (29-33)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      — Monastery — (27)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      8. Composite Bowman (33-36)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n5. Composite Bowman (33-36)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n1. Walls (32-42)<\/strong><\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      9. Pikeman (36-40)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n6. Composite Bowman (36-40)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Units…<\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n7. Composite Bowman (40-43)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n—<\/td>\n1. Walls (40-50)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n8. Market (43-50)<\/td>\n2. Krepost (42-50)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      <\/td>\n9. Market (50+)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n2. Krepost (50+)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      Research<\/h4>\n

      The research path is quite straightforward: Civil Service (for Pikemen, turn 35), Guilds, Machinery (for Crossbowmen and faster movement on roads in your vast empire, turn 91).<\/p>\n

      After this I went for Physics, Steel, stole Economics from the Netherlands<\/a> (turn 101) and headed for Education and Humanism (turn 143) and built loads of Opera Houses to create Hermitage<\/a> in Moscow.<\/p>\n

      \n

      The Mongols declared war on me in turn 52<\/span>, which was challenging, but could be handled. The units accumulated until then managed to fight them off. The main goal in this phase of the game is to intercept most if not all of their settlers.<\/p>\n

      \"Civilization <\/a>
      Mongol breakout <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
      \"Civilization <\/a>
      War with Sweden <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

      The Mongols can not build settlers<\/strong> but get reinforcements (several units plus 2-3 settlers!) every some turns:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. spawn in turn 40<\/li>\n
      2. reinforcements in turn 50<\/li>\n
      3. turn 60<\/li>\n
      4. and turn 70.<\/li>\n
      5. They still got reinforcements in turn 85 and<\/li>\n
      6. IIRC in turn 100<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        With every batch of reinforcements they also received settlers. You have to defeat (intercept) them! Overall I intercepted 6 Mongolians settlers<\/strong>. Only two settlers slipped through my lines, founding cities south of my blockade of the Mongolian capital.<\/p>\n

        On top of war with the Mongols both Sweden and Austria declared war on me in turn 57\/58. The Ottomans joined this effort in turn 67. At this point I was desperate: War with 3 major powers whilst having still the thorn of the Mongols in my back. I did not see one single Austrian or Ottoman unit.<\/p>\n

        Sweden even captured Yaroslavl from me. I liberated it in turn 74, granting my first 75 Victory Points (VP).<\/p>\n

        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Peace with Mongols <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Homeland Defense <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Austria marches <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

        Austria agreed to making peace in turn 81, giving me 250G. The Mongols made peace with me as well, handing over Samarquand<\/strong>!!! The timing couldn’t have been better: In turn 92 Austria sent more settlers east. Fortunately I could declare war in time to intercept these settlers, too.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Chapter 3: Defeating the Mongols<\/h3>\n

        After declaring war on the Mongols together<\/strong> with the Netherlands in turn 127, I fought off their army. This time there was no peace. In turn 136 I attacked Old Sarai in full force, with all I had, and captured it one turn later. My first 375 VP.<\/p>\n

        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Finish Mongols <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Solid Defense <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

        New Sarai fell one turn later, 138, granting another 275 VP for their population of 11. This was the end of the Mongols.<\/p>\n

        Chapter 4: Further Expansion and Troubles with Europe<\/h3>\n
        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Capture the Austrian Settler <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Block Byzantium <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
        \"Civilization <\/a>
        Close off the Land <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

        The initial cities all had only one single goal: Contain the Mongols. Further Russian expansion on this level of difficulty has only one goal, too: Grabbing as much land as possible and denying settlements to the other civilizations. I’ve founded:<\/p>\n