| Faction Overview | CtW Information |
|---|---|
| Unique Units | National Bonuses |
Unlike the lands of capitalist imperialists, taxed to death by their games of poison and darkness, the Soviet Union is a world of light. A world where all men for once are created equal. A world where men are released from the necessity arising from artificial scarcity. A world where the fragile flame of humanity may, nurtured by its keepers, grow hot enough to burn the shackles of obscurantism and domination that have kept the rest of the world in darkness for so long. Yet, Mother Russia will always find herself surrounded by foreigners and enemies within, all eager to extinguish that guiding light with the darkness of their own greed and envy. That must not come to pass!
Gameplay[]
If you are looking for a faction with good defensive bonuses, and you like tanks, then the Soviet Union is the faction for you. As an all-rounder in things, the USSR's units are highly superior in almost all tactical areas but the main focus of the Soviet war machine however is in two things: tanks and infantry: although tactically on par as the French armour, the Soviets enjoy several technological and cost advantages, making them second to none save Germany - although it should be noted that German tanks and aircraft often are costly.
The Russian propensity for oil production is one that will help in proliferation of these weapons on the field. The upgrade time for Russia's units is very fast, especially so for armour. Thus, any fool who would want to challenge the initially inferior tanks of the Soviet Union might want to think twice - it would not do well to go in, expecting to face meanly-armed tankettes and lowly light tanks, only to face an armoured fist of epic proprotions. Equally, Russian infantry also enjoy the same ability: they can be upgraded very quickly, although their lack of hitpoints but added firepower means that they are best supported by armour or used aggressively.
While Soviet aviation is fairly variegated and reliable, the same however cannot be said for its navy. In a world of slow-building and costly naval units (in Age of Darkness all naval units with the exception of light attack craft have all their costs and other attributes doubled) the Soviet navy can only be best described as difficult to shift. The gems of its surface fleet consist of heavy ships — the Soyuz, a cheaper but slower-building capital ship and the Kirov, which also has a cheaper initial cost followed by an exorbitant metal ramp cost. On water maps, the Soviet fleet may be at a disadvantage if faced with the other powers, especially the Italian, American, Dutch, British, German and Italian warfleets, which can amass naval superiority much faster than anyone else. Russia is thus best suited to land maps or areas with vast tracts of land, where it can bring its combined land forces to bear on the foe. Massive numbers of armoured vehicles can be created, which when combined with the Russian propensity for more enhanced infantrymen.
If you are playing against Russia, however, the best offensive measures are all defensive ones. Because Russia lacks a proper light tank component once it hits the mid-game (having only tankettes) you should be able to use light or "cruiser" tanks to flank infantry and other vehicles. The Russian tank component should be best taken care of from the air or with the use of specially prepared AT emplacements. Russia is mostly weak in the early game, so the best time to crush them is to take them down while their armies are still at their least developed — and thus least prepared to stop you. A faction sporting a good early game mix of units such as France, Brazil, Italy, or Britain is usually best for countering the Red menace, but once the midgame is reached, it could well be that only Germany (with good units) or even Romania and Japan (with good fortification bonuses) might be needed, if only to blunt Soviet attacks to obtain a wonder or allied victory.
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
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Unique buildings[]
Propaganda Centre - replaces the House of worship once Collectivisation is researched
Unique units[]
Infantry[]
- Mounted infantry: Guard Cossacks
- Rifle: RKKA infantry [1] (they have two different appearances)?
- Recoilless gun: PTRS heavy rifle
- Machine guns: Maxim [1-3] => Goryunov [4-6]
- SMG: AVS-36 Automatchik [3-6]?
- Flamethrower
- Special forces: Marine Infantry
- Conscript units: Shtrafniky (Penal squads)
- Narkom (special unit trained from Temple or Propaganda Centre) - replaces generals for Russia'
- GRU Operative (special unit trained from Temple or Propaganda Centre) - costs knowledge, not wealth, and is also armed with a melee attack.
- ?????: Anti-tank dog
Tanks[]
- Light tanks: FT-17^ [1-2] => T-26 [3-5] (consumed by T34)
- Tankettes: T-27 [2-4] => T-60 [5] => T-70 [6] (these 2 are constructed from the armoury, munitions plant or foundry, not HEF)
- Med tanks: BT-7 [3-4] => T-34# [4-6]
- Heavy tank: Mk VIII Liberty^ [1] => T-28 [2-3], consumed by T-34], KV-1 [5] => IS-2 [6]
Artillery[]
Tank destroyer:
- SU-100 [4; requires a T-28 to be researched] => ISU 152 (heavy all-purpose SPG)
Cannons:
- Krupp 7.5 [1-2] => M1930, 76 mm DPa [3-4] => ZiS-3 [5-6]
Super antitank: BS-3 => D1? [6]
Other vehicles[]
- BA-27# [2-3] => BA-10 [4-5] => BA-64 [6]
- Flame tank: T-26 (Kht130) [4], T-34, KV chassis
- Katyusha [4]
- Special: KV-2 mortar tank (requires KV-2, and a mortar tech)
- Tachanka (shared with Poland; a mounted machine gunner - cheap, doesn't cost oil but is not armoured; converts to BA-27 later on) [1]#
- SPAD: T90 AA => ZSU37
Special units[]
- Armed caravan^
- Armed merchant^
- Armed supply truck/Halftrack^
Aircraft[]
- Fighters: Biplane 1-2 => I16 [3] => YaK [4-6]
- Bombers: Tupolev SB [3] => IL-4 [4-6]
- Ground attack: IL-2 [4-6]
[]
- Capital ship: Soyuz-class battleship
- Battle cruiser: Kirov
National bonuses[]
The Rodina:[]
- Start with State Property researched, but cannot research Universal Suffrage or Corporatism.
- Enemies take double attrition damage from "Russian Winter"
- Attrition research upgrades received for free
- National Border recieve +1 bonus per Civic Research
- Enhanced oil production
- Cavalry does +25% damage to enemy supply and artillery units
- Plunder from Russian buildings goes back to the owner and not the enemy
Unit bonuses[]
- Unique infantry, tanks and tank derivatives have -66% research time
- Tankettes build from Foundry, not HED
- Unique artillery units (not AT or SPG) have added hitpoints