Russians

The Russians were a European nation that controlled parts of north-east Europe and northern Asia, they appear as a major civilization in Age of Empires III. In the New World (Americas), the Russians took little land, but did occupy Alaska. They placed trading posts in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and as far south as Fort Ross in northern California, some 50 miles north of San Francisco. In Age of Empires II the Russians appeared in the Genghis Khan scenario, depicted under the Goth civilization, and later appeared as the Slavs civilization in The Forgotten expansion.

Overview
The Russians start out in the game with 500 food and 100 wood for their economy and only five Settlers. The Russian Halberdiers and Musketeers train 25% faster than other civilizations. The Russians also have the Strelet, the cheapest and weakest unit in the game. With the right Home City Card, Russians can build Forts with their Musketeers, though there's still a built limit of three. The Russians therefore can have the strongest defense in the game.

The Russians can also train infantry and Settlers in groups, this allows the Russians to train them faster, but it costs more resources to group train. There is no 'squad tax' of charging extra for bulk buying, but it means resources for the whole group are needed before training begins, instead of buying one to put in a production queue and adding more as resources increase.

The Russians also have a unique military building that replaces the Barracks called a Blockhouse, this building can train infantry units as well as defend territory such as the Outpost. This makes the Russians a tough opponent when attacking their colony. Since the Russian Barracks are also an Outpost, they can be built starting in age one, so the Russians normally have their Barracks up by the time they hit Colonial Age, making their rush very early and powerful.

In the campaign, Russia is involved twice. The Russian Ossus is the new center of the Circle, and is preparing to invade America through Canada. They are stopped by John Black, at the cost of his life. Ivan the Terrible, its ruler, is not involved, though the Russian Ossus is exactly the same civilization type as the normal in-game Russian civilization. They make a resurgence again in the Act III scenario Last City of the Inca.

Bonuses

 * Civilization Bonus: Settlers and Infantry units are trained in groups and low cost military.


 * Unique Units: Strelet, Cossack, Oprichnik


 * Royal Guard Units: Pavlov Grenadier, Tartar Cavalry Archer

Unique Techs/Cards

 * Polar Explorer - +2x attack bonus to Treasure Guardians, 5x normal damage
 * Reformist Tsar -
 * Westernization (Fortress Age, 900 Wood) Upgrades all infantry and cavalry to Veteran
 * Kalmucks (Fortress Age, 1000 Wood) ships 9 Kalmucks (Guard Dragoons with more attack)
 * Petrine Reforms (Industrial Age, 2500 Coin) Upgrades all infantry and cavalry to Guard (prerequisite: Westernization)
 * Bashkir Ponies (Industrial Age, 1800 Coin) ships 17 Bashkir Ponies (Guard Hussars with extra attack)

Unique Home City Upgrades
New World Trading Company:
 * Cheap Priests (Prerequisite. Surgeons) - TEAM card, slashes Coin costs of Priests, Missionaries, Imams etc. by 50% and those units train 75% faster (15% for Medicine Men).

Military Academy:
 * Strelet Combat- (Prq. lvl 10 Home City, 3rd Strelet shipment) - all Strelets have +15%hp/attack, if you stack this with other cards (TEAM or non-TEAM) you can have powerful, very cheap units.
 * Strelet Horde- (Prq. all Strelet shipments, lvl 25 city) - every Blockhouse you own will run out 5 Strelets. With the max of 7 Blockhouses, this means a free 35 Strelets. Strelet hitpoints are also increased by 10%.
 * Boyars- (Prq. all Oprichnik shipments, lvl 25 city) - all unique units (Strelets, Cossacks and Oprichniks) get 15% hp and attack boost.
 * Unicorne Mortars- (Prq. all Mortar shipments) - 20% damage bonus, 50% less training time, 50% less gold cost for mortars. Your mortar (before howitzer upgrade) will cost 100w/175g, will train in half the time and do the same damage as a non-upgraded Howitzer.
 * Ransack- (Prq. level 25 Home City) Increases infantry siege attack by 50%.
 * Suvorov Reforms - (Prq. lvl. 40 Home City, Strelet Horde) Turns all Strelets into Musketeers.

St. Basil's Cathedral:
 * Team stronger Barracks - increases hitpoints of Barracks, War Academy, War Hut, and Blockhouse by 30%.
 * Blockhouse Cannon - (Prq. lvl 10 Home City, Team Stronger Barracks) Unlocks Falconet and Mortar for training in Blockhouses.
 * Sevastopol -(Prq. lvl. 40 Home City, and both Fort cards.) Fort, Blockhouse, Stable and Artillery Foundry are built 85% faster.
 * National Redoubt - (Prq. lvl. 40 Home City, Reformist Tsar) Musketeers can rebuild a Fort, if one has been lost.
 * Team Dueling School: (Prq. lvl. 25 Home City, Fencing School.) Team all Infantry trains faster.

Harbor:
 * TEAM Cold Water Port (Prq., lvl. 10 Home City, Admiralty) - 15% off all (TEAM) warship costs.

In-game dialogue language
General dialogue
 * Атакую! - atakuyu! (I am attacking)
 * В атаку - v ataku (to the attack)
 * В бой - v boy (to the fight)
 * Да - da (yes)
 * Правильно - pravilno (correct)
 * Будет сделано - budet sdelano (it will be done)
 * Сделаю - sdelayu (I'll do it)
 * Здравствуйте - zdravstvuyte (hello)
 * Что? - chto? (what?)
 * Готов (m), готова (f) - gotov (m), gotova (f) (ready)
 * Приказ? - prikaz? (order?)
 * Дровосек - drovosek (woodcutter)
 * Охотник - ohotnik (hunter)
 * Добытчик - dobytchik (miner)
 * Фермер - fermer (farmer)
 * Фуражир - furazhir (forager)
 * Строитель - stroitel (builder)

Russian Explorer
 * Именем России я объявляю эту землю её собственностью. - Imenem Rossii ya obyavlyayu etu zemlyu yeyo sobsvennost'yu (By the name of Russia i declare this land as her ownership.)
 * Я ранен, не могу идти. - Ya ranen ne mogu idti. (I'm wounded, can't walk.)
 * Ко мне возвращается сила. - Ko mne vozvraschaetsya sila. (Power returns to me)
 * Спасибо, что заплатил мой выкуп. - Spasibo, chto zaplatil moy vykup. (Thank you for paying ransom for me.)

History
"The largest nation in Europe by area and population, Russia in 1500 was relatively backward and far from the Renaissance that was blossoming to its west. It was striving to expand and having success mainly to the east, toward Siberia. Under Peter the Great, a particularly able Romanov Tsar, they began an effort to import western technology and knowledge, but progress was very slow. They fought both the Swedes to the north and the Ottomans to the south with some success. They were able to field large armies from the great mass of serfs (near-slaves bound for life to the estates of aristocracy). They fought stubbornly and rigidly, but that could be effective, especially in defense of their homeland. When Russia reached the eastern edge of Siberia, explorers were sent into the Pacific seeking the west coast of North America. Vitus Bering, a Dane with a long career in the Russian Navy, found the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea and southern Alaska in the middle 1700s. By the late 1700s they had established a small outpost in Alaskan waters and were hunting fur animals, especially the sea otter. Their small settlements and outposts eventually stretched down the American Pacific coast to northern California, but they were never very successful. In 1867 they sold Alaska to the United States. By 1800 they had perhaps the largest army in Europe and had entered the Napoleonic Wars, switching sides as it suited them. Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 with a huge army, but the campaign was a disaster. The Russians retreated into their limitless land and even abandoned Moscow, while letting the Russian winter do its worst. The Russians followed the retreating French and helped bring about Napoleon's first abdication and exile in 1814."

Trivia

 * The Russians focus on cheap quantity-based units, and excellent late-game defenses makes them equivalent to the Egyptians in ''Age of Mythology
 * The Russians were the first Russian-type civilization to be featured in the Age of Empires series, followed by the Slavs in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.