With up to 6 17thc barracks, Russia is extremely tough at 0pt, otherwise well-balanced and a good choice for any peacetime setting. Note: Russian peasants are slow builders, and Town Hall/17thc Barracks support little population. This means many houses are needed (lots of micromanagement), and peasants spend comparatively more time building -- less time gathering resources.

Strengths

• Priest (Pope) heals 40% faster.
• 17thc Pikemen have 5% more hitpoints, have +1 attack, attack 33% faster.
• Mod: 18thc Musketeers train 17% faster.
• 17thc Musketeers (Strelets) have 70% more hitpoints, have +2 attack, minrange 350 (13% closer).
• Mod: Grenadiers have +4 musket attack.
• Heavy Riders (Vityaz) have 37% more hitpoints, attack 13% faster, have +4 arrow armor, have +6 shot armor (best in game), have +28% grapeshot armor.
• Mod: Hussars (Hussars) train 16% faster.
• Light cavalry (Don Cossacks) defense upgrades cost 39% less.
• Barracks have no gold cost, additional barracks cost only 3x more.
• 17thc Officers cost 29% less.
• Church has 7% more hitpoints.
• Diplomatic Centre has 44% more hitpoints.
• Houses cost 40% less, have 25% more hitpoints.
• Towers build 22% faster, have 5% more hitpoints.
• Shipyards cost 18% less.
• Storehouses cost 86% less.
• Stables have 25% more hitpoints.
• Towers can be built up to 30% faster with maximum peasants. Even though Russian peasants are slow, you can use 14 of 'em to build a tower.

Weaknesses

• No 17thc Dragoon.
• Priest (Pope) costs 173% more, has 35% fewer hitpoints.
• 17thc Pikemen cost 56% more, train 20% slower, have 1 sword armor (50% less), 4 shot armor (20% less), 150 grapeshot armor (41% less).
• Mod: 18thc Musketeers cost 23% more.
• 17thc Musketeers (Strelets) cost 31% more, train 17% slower, use 33% more coal (+1 per shot), maxrange 700 (13% shorter).
• Mod: 17thc Musketeers (Strelets) train 33% slower.
• Mod: Grenadiers cost 14% more, train 67% slower.
• Heavy Riders (Vityaz) cost 32% more, have -1 attack.
• Mod: Hussars (Hussars) have -2 attack.
• Light cavalry (Don Cossacks) cost 44% more, train 57% slower, have 20% fewer hitpoints, attack upgrades cost 65% more, maximum defense upgrade is 22% lower.
• Shipyard repair ship-of-the-line upgrade costs 135% more.
• Academy costs 8% more, builds 35% slower.
• Barracks support only 25 population.
• Diplomatic Centre costs 86% more.
• Stone walls build 122% slower.
• Additional towers cost 0.05x more.
• Mills cost 17% more, have 25% fewer hitpoints.
• Shipyards have 8% fewer hitpoints.
• Stables cost 123% more.
• Town Halls support only 75 population.

Russian peasants are 40% slower constructing most buildings, so generally more builders are needed to make-up the lost time.