LT: Land and Glory

• Upon conquering or claiming new territories you gain +10 Money per amount of Resources in the discovered Resource Depots present there
• +1 War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders

EQ: Sobor

• +1 Faith per Farmers (On City or Outpost)
• +1 Stability per Farmers (On City or Outpost) 
• +3 Influence per adjacent District
• Count as "Religious District"
• Count as "Commons Quarter"

EU: Cossacks

• 46 Combat Strength
• 8 Movement Points
• 4 Range
• Gunner
• Can move until all Movement Points are depleted ignoring zones of control

A1y0sh4 wrote:

LT: The Great Siberian Route

• -50% on Train Station Industry cost
• -25% Industry cost reduction of Districts adjacent to Train Station
• -2% Territory Attachment Cost per Train Station (it's global)

Actually Russia had late the opportunity to live an industrial revolution and, even during the reign of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great wich were considered the Russian golden age, the state experienced for most of its existence a backwardness in both Industry and Economy (even tough they improved considerably during the reign of Catherine, it still wasn't enough) so I wouldn't feel to give Russians a boost to Industry/Money since most of Russia's victories (both military and not) were obtained because of the huge lands that the state could exploit (even tough they were not well exploited, the most relevant and important part is the vastess of the lands that the Tsars ruled) and I would add that, mostly at the time, the Transiberian Railway wasn't considered such a success due to the rushed construction even tough it helped to improve russian industrialization.

Having I said my "introduction", here I would present you the solution I came up with:

LT: Land and Glory

• +1 Food on Farmers per number of attached Territories on City or Outpost (representing the big rural nature on wich the state relied)
• -1% Unit cost per per number of attached Territories on all Cities (representing the imperial aims to both military and expansionism)
• +1 War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders (representing both the great tenacity and patriotism of Russian people)

PS: I may even remove the food buff and increase the units cost discount to 2 (The food boost wasn't peculiar to the Russian Empire because it aimed to improve the food production but because it was due the usage of serves labor wich I would represent in game with the civic Communal Land). One of the things that was peculiar to it was the economic growth due the land expansionism (wich wasn't really felt because even the military costs raised)

A1y0sh4 wrote:
A1y0sh4 wrote:

LT: Land and Glory

• +1 Industry per Farmers per number of attached Territories on City or Outpost
• .....

May be better +1 Influence per Farmers instead of Industry bonus. 

Rural population is not about Industrial production. But during the whole Russian history peasants and serfs was the main basis of tsar's power.

A lot of interesting ideas in that thread, and I agree than Russians are probably the only industrial culture which didn't benefit in a good way from last ajustements in my opinion, and deserve to be more viable.

So their current iteration and even the previous LT, seems to mainly refer to their huge territorial expansion  (in Siberia) in that period, So currently we have that "-25% on Create Outpost cost". 

Which would be a decent bonus, if accompanied by some additional territory and outpost bonus; but it's not the case. And which is weak considered how currently in humankind, there are not that much territories to claim in that era, and the design of Russians don't induce to free/raze claimed territories to build new outpost anyway.

Also, the "+10 Fortification on City or Outpost" seems to be a reference about how Imperial Russia protected their borders and kept their new acquired territories, but feels out of place.

There is maybe other way to mean that, like the idea of A1y0sh4 "+1 War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders", I found really interesting.

I also like your idea of "train station reduction cos"t, and 2% Territory Attachment Cost per Train Station (but not that much the one which give industry). A good reference to siberian railroad which played a big roal. But I would personally not make their whole LT about it.

For Sobor, honestly I don't really know what is the focus of this quarter. The artwork with Catherine the Great, the architecture of the Sobor, and the official wiki seems to refer to the russian progress in arts. So the influence focus seems nice, and useful for an expansionist.

Really not fan of +10 Health Regeneration on Unit , don't feel like the best quarter to carry that bonus, even if the ingame description speak about feast and celebration...

Will try a take too by using some of your ideas here.

LT : Land and Glory

+X Money per Farmers per number of attached Territories on City or Outpost 

+Y% Territory Attachment Cost per Train Station 

+Z War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders  

EQ : Sobor

+X influence per adjacent Farmers Quarter (edited, thx :>)

+Y Faith per adjacent district

Great Mosque of Djenné offering an unique repeatable constructible / public ceremony, would be maybe funny to have a special/unique "Feast" to launch per Sobor built (to refer the ingame EQ description)

Count as "Religious District"

Count as "Commons Quarter"

Exploit Food (basically to not be annoying to place beside farmers)

EU : Cossacks

Chosen for their strenght and efficiency which allowed Russia to expand and protect their borders

Cossacks are a realy classic unit, really similar to Huns and Mongols EU (ranged multi-move units). They deserve some buffs atleast.

In term of crazier retake I had for that unit.

Cossacks were mainly a light cavalry using lance and sword.And Lancer , melee cavalry were still a lot used in the era covered by the game, even in WWI (period of their decline).

Cossacks as mounted riflemen and dragoons replacement is a more niche take of them imo.

So my suggestion would to make them a light cavarly (immune to zone of control), using lance (normal charge bonus like knights) and with multi-move (harassment tactic, poke infantry/dragoons and move away).

Another take would be to give them survivability in territories, with some healing per ransacked tile.

Last idea, I had for Early Modern Haudenausonee (to give them some cavalry representation), would be to make Cossacks "mounted Saboteur-Partisans". Stealth riders, perfect for ambushing/ransacking

Make sense, and indeed it was per farmer quarters I edited.

Also +Y% Territory Attachment Cost per Train Station , maybe it will be quite late to unlock and build train stations before attaching/absorbing territories ? Maybe could be interverted benefits.

-> Train Stations go cheaper  when we have more attached territories . So we devellop the network AFTER conquering, not the opposite

A1y0sh4 wrote:

LT: Land and Glory

• +1 Combat Strength on Units which start the turn in Friendly Land
• +1 War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders

EQ: Sobor

• +1 Influence per Farmers
• +3 Stability per adjacent District 
• +5 Faith per adjacent District
• +10 Health Regeneration on Unit
• Count as "Religious District"
• Count as "Commons Quarter"

EU: Cossacks

• 46 Combact Strength
• 8 Movement Points
• 4 Range
• Gunner
• Can move until all Movement Points are depleted ignoring zones of control and is stronger (+3 CS) when hidden (ex: when in forest tiles)

I updated again my post; marked in red the changes that I did. I find these suggestions to a russian buff completed and probably I won't be modifiyng it further more

A1y0sh4 wrote:

LT: Land and Glory

• Upon conquering or claiming new territories you gain +10 Money per amount of Resources in the discovered Resource Depots present there
• +1 War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders

EQ: Sobor

• +1 Faith per Farmers (On City or Outpost)
• +1 Stability per Farmers (On City or Outpost) 
• +3 Influence per adjacent District
• Count as "Religious District"
• Count as "Commons Quarter"

EU: Cossacks

• 46 Combat Strength
• 8 Movement Points
• 4 Range
• Gunner
• Can move until all Movement Points are depleted ignoring zones of control

I have modified again my idea in order to "modernize" it to the latest update and to add more flavor and originality to the game. Here I will explain the changes made and the ideas behind them:

Land and Glory

1. Resource Acquisition: The bonus of gaining money based on the resources in newly acquired territories mirrors the historical significance of resource-rich lands in the expansion of the Russian Empire. Imperial Russia's expansion was often driven by the pursuit of valuable resources, including furs, timber, and minerals. This trait encapsulates the economic benefits derived from these territories.

2. War Support: Granting +1 War Support per Hostile Unit within your borders is in alignment with the historical focus on defense within Imperial Russia. The vast expanse of the empire required a robust defense and this trait reflects the importance of the resistance to external threats in Russian history.

Sobor

1. Faith and Stability: The bonuses provided by the Sobor building are faithful to the historical role of religion and stability in Imperial Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church played a central role in the country's culture and identity, and faith was a unifying force. Stability was crucial for maintaining control over the diverse and expansive territories.

2. Districts synergy: The Influence bonus dependent on adjacent District represents the influence of religious and cultural centers in shaping the empire's development. The placement of Sobors near districts is reminiscent of the strategic positioning of cultural and religious institutions in cities throughout Imperial Russia.

3. Dual Functionality: Counting as both a Religious District and a Commons Quarter reflects the multifaceted roles of these structures. They served as places of worship, centers of learning, and community gathering spots. This dual functionality accurately captures their historical significance.

Cossacks

1. Movement: The high movement points of the Cossacks are indicative of their historical mobility and effectiveness in skirmishes and raids. Cossacks were renowned for their agility and ability to traverse vast landscapes swiftly.

2. Agility: Allowing the Cossacks to move until all Movement Points are depleted while ignoring zones of control captures their historical ability to navigate and engage in hit-and-run tactics effectively.

In general, I tried not to give them a bonus on expansion, but rather more of a reason to expand (similar to the British UA, but una tantum and more tall than wide). In addition to that, I think that the defensive bonus idea of Russian cities might still be added by introducing in the future the Muscovites culture with the Kreml' as UB. I do also think that other ideas like the Transiberian Railway would be better to implement them as generical game mechanic related to Trains (in this case) more than a type of UA (ex: allow Train Stations to give some bonuses to internal trade routes)

PS: Please devs, release an update to buff weaker cultures (my personal suggestions: Babylonians, Mauryans, Umayyads, Edo Japanese...). The Russians themselves, for example, were actually nerfed the last time they were "rebalanced".

A1y0sh4 wrote:

Arachnodork wrote:
As for the legacy trait, I think the resource based bonus is good, but the war support one is a bit much.

Interesting point of view, I didn't really think about the massive armies that players manage to create, especially in the last era of the game.
In order to solve this issue would you find reasonable just giving the Russian culture a little War Support bonus when attacking battle in your own territory?

Let me explain his idea with a tangible example: "Russian Empire is at war with an other cultures. If Russia engages an enemy in her own territory she will gain +5 War Support just for this action. In addition to this value, the War Support amount will variate depending on the result of the battle". Anyway, I would suggest to give the Russian culture a +5 bonus War Support not just against the enemy that Russia decided to attack, but against all the enemies that, at the given moment, are at war with Russia. Hopefully, this would nerf the previous ability while still making it relevant depending on the situation.

What's your opinion on this idea?

I quite like that! I think it's much more balanced, but it also puts some onus on Russia to actually engage in defense. Granted, it might not fit the retreat and attrition style of the Napoleonic conflicts, but this one is more engaging and so better suited to gameplay.

It just occurred to me that it's thematically similar to the 'Imperalists' bonus in the civics web, so that's quite appropriate too. :D