Russia

Unique Ability

"Mother Russia" grants roughly 5 extra surrounding tiles whenever a city is founded, plus bonus Faith and Production from Tundra tiles. Peter's own leader ability, "Grand Embassy," converts trade routes to more advanced civilizations into extra Science or Culture.

Unique Unit: Cossack

An Industrial era unit replacing the Cavalry (base Combat Strength 67, +5 higher than the unit it replaces) that gains a further +5 Combat Strength fighting in or next to Russian territory, and — unusually for a mounted unit in Civilization VI — can move after attacking.

Unique Infrastructure: Lavra

A unique Holy Site replacement that costs about half as much Production as a standard Holy Site, generates +2 Great Prophet points instead of 1, and adds Great Writer, Great Artist, and Great Musician points. Using a Great Person in a city with a Lavra also adds an extra tile to that city's borders — a real, repeatable way to expand territory.

How to Play Russia

• Settle aggressively even on rough terrain — the extra territory from founding cities makes tundra starts far less punishing.
• Build Lavras early — the district is cheap enough to put in nearly every city and pays off whether you end up going Religious or Culture.
• Keep Cossacks in reserve for defense — their home-territory Combat Strength bonus (up to 72 total) makes Russia unusually hard to invade.

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