What are the best playing styles for each nation in RUSE?

Question

I have been playing RUSE recently and am trying each nation. I find that playing the Germans seems to suit my play style best. But I have been smashed by the French and Russians. What are the most appropriate game-play styles for each nation in multiplayer ?

Answer

First off, its all about play style. The best faction is the one that best matches you! For example, if you like aerial units, the United Kingdom is the way to go.

I will try my best to match RUSE factions with other factions from other strategy games to draw similarities. Please note I do not consider this a great answer but unlike Starcraft 2 which has three races, Ruse has 6 which makes strategy more player dependent.

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United States

Balance. The US military has a unit for every purpose, but doesn't excel with any given unit type. The US have average units and a high productivity thus "strength in numbers" is an advisable method of attack.

Think Terran from Starcraft or Orange Star from Advance Wars.

Germany

Quality Equipment. Though expensive to build, Germany's units are much more effective than those of other factions, with the exception of aerial units. Their artillery is also very accurate, but have shorter range as a result. Germany has many researchable and powerful units but they are quite expensive so tactics must be used to prevent the destruction of units

Think Protoss from Starcraft or Yellow Comment from Advance Wars

French

Defensive. Though their offensive capabilities are sub-par, they are well-equipped to resist enemy attacks, and require the least research to field their advanced units. They also have strong defensive bunkers from the get-go, recon units from their armor factory, but very weak aerial units

Think Kanbei (Yellow Comet) from Advance Wars

United Kingdom

Air Superiority. The UK has the best air units of the six factions, but have the second-worst tanks in the game (just ahead of Italy; see below) The British have unique Recon bunkers which extends their effective defense perimeter

Think Eagle (Green Earth) from Advance Wars

U.S.S.R

Strength. Powerful, slow-building tanks and artillery make up the majority of the Soviet war machine. The artillery is less accurate, but has much further range. Likewise, their bombers are slower, but carry a larger payload

Think Grit (Blue Moon) from Advance Wars...kinda

Italy

Speed/Superior Numbers. Italian units are weak, but cheap to build, take almost no time to construct, and are much faster than equivalent units from opposing factions. The Italian war machine relies almost completely on maneuverability and superior numbers.

Think Zerg from Starcraft, Colin (Blue Moon) from Advance Wars, or any faction that emphasis micro over macro

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NOTE:: All quotes referenced from here

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How to start guide for RUSE

Question

I just installed R.U.S.E. that this weekend is free preview on Steam.

I tried to play the first game, but due to the fact that tutorial is still missing, I am a bit lost.

I suppose that I have to destroy the enemy base, but how? What are that buildings with yellow containers? What I should build first? And all the cities/villages I see around what are used for?

Can you please me write a 10-steps (or more if you like) guide to help a beginner?

Answer

Those "yellow buildings" are unclaimed supply depots. You need to create a supply depot and you can move the map around to get select which depot you want to use. Best use depots near your HQ to speed up cash flow. Cities are merely cover for various units and so provide a terrain advantage and that's all..and they add to the ambience of the map.

You can check out the official strat guide here. Google brings up alot of results to.

This is my beginners guide. RUSE like most RTS games involves acquiring resources, building stuff, then killing stuff. If you're interested in the quickbattles or multiplayer options this is how I got started.

1. Build a couple of Supply Depots. The faster you gain cash, the faster you can build. Pick ones far from the enemy so it's harder for them to over-run/destroy them.
2. You should have a RUSE card available so use "Blitz" to make the following happen alot faster. You want to collect supplies and establish bases ASAP.
3. Build Barracks. Build a couple of recons and send them out immediately...intel, intel, intel!
4. Build an Armor Base (Tanks) Start building heavy tanks. Put tanks near bridges, they're choke points, can make a good kill zone.
5. Build an anti-tank base. You can create anti-tank/anti-air batteries.
6. Build anti-air to protect your buildings
7. Build a few tank destroyers. Bundle them with your tanks. One supports the other in the face of other tanks. 8a. If you have spare cash. Do the upgrades for your tanks.
8. By this time you should have some cash, so build an Airbase and send out aerial recon deep into enemy territory. But watchout for their anti-air.
9. Create some heavy soldiers, (Rangers). (You will have to do "research" as it's an upgrade)

That covers getting started. Now lets start blowing stuff up!

1. Use a "Spy" Ruse card to find your opposition.
2. Target his supply dumps if they are near you. Starve the opposition of resources if you can. Or place light tanks along his supply lines, stopping the trucks is just as good.
3. Create some howitzers. These are good from a distance and support your tanks. Just keep them back from the frontline.
4. Send some tanks and harass a bit. get used to engaging.
5. Use a "Fake Offensive" RUSE Card to draw the enemy to another part of the map and expose resources.
6. Put your heavy troops in Cities or the woods as they have bonuses for ambushes and defense automatically.
7. I found that mid-way through a campaign, if the opposition gets alot of planes, you're in trouble, so build at least 4 combat fighters and 4 fighter-bombers. But recon areas before flying into them because anti-air makes short work of air-power.

You will keep getting RUSE Cards periodically (while your HQ is intact). I found I was using Blitz alot. When launching a major offensive into an area, use Blitz to get in there fast.

When you do multiplayer, it helps to have voice chat between you and your team mate. You can build multiple bases of the same type, like armor bases and barracks and this speeds up production.

Play against the AI first before running out and taking on humans, because humans will kill you alot faster and that is not fun after a couple of hours.

Prototype bases produce interesting stuff that basically is tougher and can kill lots of stuff. But only worthwhile once you have great supply.

I found that I was creating secondary HQ's to collect resources far away. This speeds up the cashflow, but you have to consider protection of it to.

The campaign is annoying with some silly story and plot. It ruins the game play for me, but some people think this stuff is worthwhile. I don't know why game designers do this because it's always (always) tacky dialog, and computer animated characters just make it look like a thunderbirds show.

There is heaps more to this game, and there are other (and better?) strategies to. That's the cool thing about RUSE. Pitting your strategy against theirs and adapting to the unpredictable.... have fun!!!!

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