This is the second article in a series where I will present each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover Russia, the historical winner of the game that emerged from the period (1558-1721) as a major power in European affairs.
Ivan the Terrible’s Russia was a strongly autocratic regime which would see some dramatic ups and downs during this period. The country was plagued by dreadful infrastructure and seen by many in Western Europe as backwards and conservative, with an outspoken mistrust of foreigners and foreign influences among most levels of society. There was even less social mobility than in neighboring countries, as its ruling tsars and nobility were generally opposed to change and its large peasant class had very few rights. Large levies of peasant infantry and noble cavalry could be quickly raised in times of war, but these were generally ineffectively led and used outdated tactics.
In the game Russia starts as the second largest power in terms of territory and tied with Poland-Lithuania as the largest economy with a combined income of 9 Goods and Thalers. They have a huge potential for internal economic development as well as military expansion into the weakly defended and highly lucrative Livonian provinces. Russia´s autocratic nature is represented in the game by a very low cost to put provinces under Royal Control and the additional bonus of automatically putting newly conquered provinces under Royal Control (the differences between Noble and Royal controlled is described in further detail in my article on the economics of Baltic Empires, but in short players don’t receive the full income of provinces unless they are under Royal control). However, all is not rosy and easy for Russia. The coveted Livonian provinces are also adjacent to Poland and close to Sweden, and both of these powers (especially Sweden) also have their eyes set on Riga (a very rich province with 2 Cities, 2 Workshops and also one of the 3 Trade Centers in the game), so even if Russia manages to capture it, it will likely have been devasted by warfare.
And this is where Russia´s distinct disadvantages become apparent. Russia´s administrative and infrastructural problems are represented in the game by a higher-than-average cost for building Cities and Workshops. However, these same societal conditions also allow them to levy much cheaper Infantry and Cavalry units than the other powers. This is obviously an advantage, but is somewhat offset by the fact that these ill-trained troops are the worst units in the game, as Tsar Ivan IV’s special rule makes them less effective. The other unit types in the game, Fortresses and Ship of the Line, have a higher-than-average cost to build for Russia, and will thus feel even more expensive compared to their cheap levies. Russia´s administrative and logistic backwardness is also represented in the game by them having innate negative modifiers to most of their Hegemon Tracks, although this is to some extent compensated for by their larger starting number of Workshops, Cities, and units.
Russia´s strategic aims during the period covered by the game were twofold: they sought to liberate the Orthodox Christians and unite the Orthodox world under Russia – especially Kiev, its spiritual home – and secondly to get access to the Baltic Sea and its commercial networks. This is represented in the game by Russia´s National Ambition being control of Moscow, Smolensk, and Kiev – the major urban centers of the Orthodox world – as well as Riga and Ingria, where Russia´s great rivers end in the Baltic Sea.
Russia´s autocratic rulers and highly conservative elites were notoriously suspicious of reform and foreigners, and this is represented in the game by Russia having the highest cost of recruiting Dramatis Personae to their Court, and also by being restricted to having a maximum of 4 of these (instead of 5 as for the other powers). The conditions that must be fulfilled to obtain these mostly match Russia´s National Ambition, and represent the fact that it would be easier for any reform-minded Tsar to go up against the inherent conservatism of nobility if his powerbase was secure. The conservatism and mistrust of foreigners is also represented by Russia having an increased cost for building in non-Orthodox provinces (as described in my article on the economics of Baltic Empires, each power in the game has a state religion and the cost of building anything in a province whose religion differs from that is increased to represent the tensions, mistrust, and repression that was a near constant theme of religious policies during this period of European history).
When playing Russia in Baltic Empires the player will find themself cut-off from half the map and mostly only dealing directly with Sweden and Poland – unfortunately the two powers whose special rules give them advantages in battle, while your special rules give you disadvantages instead. This is an obvious problem, and while the lower quality can be compensated for by simply having more troops, as they are cheaper to build, you must still pay upkeep for them each turn, so this must be done with care. The upside of your relatively isolated position is that you have very few conflicts of interests with Denmark and Prussia, which makes it far easier for you to cooperate with these powers and secure alliances behind your enemies’ backs. As Prussia (the topic of my next article) also controls where independent units appear, they are especially good to befriend, as independent units moving from the Ottoman & Tartar lands can be hard to guard against and their looting can wreak havoc in both Poland and Russia. The destructiveness of warfare on the economy of the affected provinces, combined with the high cost of your fortresses, means that offense in many cases is your best defense – but the same can also be said of Poland and Sweden, and your National Ambitions overlap too much for a stable peace. Thus the eastern part of the board is likely to see lots of conniving alliance building, destructive warfare, and frustration on all sides.
Previous Articles:
Victory Conditions in Baltic Empires
The Sequence of Play in Baltic Empires
Dramatis Personae Cards in Baltic Empires
The Powers of Baltic Empires — Sweden
Author: Brian Asklev
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