Civilization 7 Gives Russia Major Bonuses and Two Unique Military Units

As the Civilization 7 release date draws near, the latest civ reveal brings Russia back into the game with some potentially game-changing bonuses. Russia has been part of every single mainline Civilization game in addition to multiple spinoff games, and they'll have some of the same focused benefits as before. While many will be targeting a cultural or scientific victory with Russia, they could be a sleeper for a military victory considering their unique military units in Civ 7.

Civ 7 introduces a powerful military unit for Russia

When it comes to utilizing Russia in the Modern Age for Civilization 7, there's no doubt many players will be taking full advantage of the cultural and scientific bonuses the civ can wield. For those who also choose to use Catherine as a leader that eventually has control of Russia in the Modern Age, these benefits should align perfectly.

Russia's unique ability "Prosveshchenie" gives increased culture for urban districts in cities and increased science for urban districts on tundra tiles in cities, which will only empower the tundra bonuses already given by Catherine. As a cultural and scientific civ, Russia also bears some strong civics and traditions as well as the Hermitage wonder which gives bonus culture for cities with Great Works.

However, the sleeper strength of Russia may end up being their military units. For players pursuing a military victory, choosing Russia in the Modern Age grants access to two different military units. The Cossack is a unique cavalry unit with increased combat strength in friendly territory, which should help players keep any cities they conquer en route to world domination.

Their other unit may be the game changer, as Russia also has the Katyusha Rocket Launcher. This unique artillery unit has increased movement and slightly lower combat strength, but it has "the Splash keyword, dealing a small amount of damage to all enemy units adjacent to the target tile when attacking."

With limited details about the full lineup of military units available in Civ 7 until the game is fully available, we don't yet know how rare the Splash keyword will be. If there aren't many area of effect units like this, Russia's access to the Katyusha Rocket Launcher could make a huge difference for players trying to wipe significantly sized armies. There will no doubt be many strategies to consider, but players looking forward to combat shouldn't sleep on the Katyusha Rocket Launcher in Civilization 7.