R.U.S.E Basics by Lemieux of No Unit (ŊЏ)


Introduction

In this guide I will cover the very basics of R.U.S.E such as the strengths and weaknesses of each nation, general tactics, counter-tactics, unit efficiency, and teamwork.

To begin, R.U.S.E is not a game about speed or actions-per-minute, instead playing R.U.S.E well relies on knowing the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your opponent's nation, efficiency of your units per cost, and having the correct balance of income and units.

The first thing you will do when you start R.U.S.E is decide which nation you want to play first, and it will more than likely be the nation you are from. Hopefully, I will be able to give you an insight into which nation would best fit your playstyle.

In order of which is probably best to learn the game

United States




Strengths:-

• Very adaptive nation
  
• Most efficient anti-aircraft
  
• Cheapest and fastest ground recon
  
• Most efficient tank in game - M26 Super Pershing (Upgraded Pershing, aquire from Uplay)

Weaknesses:-

• Extremely limited artillery for close support
  
• Lack of specialty

Germany



Strengths:-

• Strong late game nation, however they can still be very effecitve in the early game.
  
• Strong air force
  
• Heaviest tanks in the game - King Tiger
  
• Fastest research

Weaknesses:-

• Tanks are slow and cumbersome
  
• Very expensive buildings
  
• Expensive to use combined forces
  
• Inefficient to harrass the enemy

Soviet Union



Strengths:-

• Extremely strong infantry - Gvardiya
  
• Cheap barracks and AA & arty base, allowing for a great infantry and soft target defence
  
• Most efficient defensive tank destroyer in the game - SU-100
  
• Extremely capable of early game harrassment in multiple areas

Weaknesses:-

• Generally weak and slow air units, arguably the worst air nation
  
• Heavy tank at a range disadvantage, which can be catastrophic in itself - IS-2
  
• Fairly late-game nation with exception to Gvardiya, which some maps do not permit

France



Strengths:-

• Extremely powerful early game nation
  
• Excellent medium tank - SAu-40
  
• Extremely efficient artillery - Anti-aircraft, anti-tank, field artillery

Weaknesses:-

• Generally weak air units
  
• Slowest nation in all fields
  
• Almost no harrassment capability, with exception to early game artillery which must be protected by generally expensive units

Kingdom of Italy



Strengths:-

• Extremely fast nation, allowing for quick attacks on less than prepared opponents
  
• Cheap armour allowing for a larger army and thus covering a larger area if need be
  
• Extremely cost-efficient bombers, with more than capable fighters to support - P108 & Veltro

Weaknesses:-

• Lack of heavy armour, no large-calibre guns with armour protection such as the Tiger or Super Pershing
  
• Generally expensive support bases
  
• No omni-purpose or anti-infantry bunkers for quick deployment of defence

United Kingdom



Strengths:-

• Extremely specialised air-nation allowing for unrivaled strength in air
  
• Extremely cost-efficient air units, so long as you ignore the Typhoon
  
• Very effective tank destroyer - Sherman Firefly
  
• Capable barracks, with great anti-infantry tanks - Vickers Light Tank
  
• One of two nations to use self-propelled artillery, the other being the USA - Sexton

Weaknesses:-

• Speciality in itself is a weakness due to shifted focus
  
• Entirely inefficient ground nation
  
• Extremely expensive recon, which is from an almost useless base as UK

Empire of Japan



Strengths:-

• Extremely versatile nation
  
• Cheap but slow recon
  
• Specialist infantry
  
• An extremely powerful Artillery and Anti-Air base
  
• Very powerful early game air, and a very competent air superiority nation

Weaknesses:-

• Extremely soft overall, most useful units are not armoured
  
• Lack of heavy infantry which can be devastating
  
• Lack of standard heavy tanks, resulting in incompetency against all nations bar Italy and UK
  
• Not very efficient ground attack aircraft
  
• Severe lack of range with artillery

Early Game Tactics

It would be almost impossible to tell you how to play an entire game as the tactics you will need to employ in order to win the game will purely depend on what your opponent does, you will need to learn how to read your opponent and the counters needed per situation through experience in the game, and that will take time.

I can however tell you the most important things to do at the start of the game to ensure that you are not steamrolled in the early game.

Hint 1 - First off, and by far the most important aspect of the game, get recon. These units come from multiple bases and can be identified by the blue and white binocular icon on their unit card. These units will allow you to spot any possibly hidden units that the enemy doesn't want you to see. I would say that generally armed recon such as the American Greyhound are almost pointless to build, stick to your cheapest recon unless you need extra mobility such as the case with Italian recon. A good use, and arguably the only, is to put them covering roads on your flanks where the enemy might try and send a proxy base under camo to get a backdoor attack on you. The reason for this is that they will automatically shoot the truck which you might otherwise not personally see.

Hint 2 - If he camos you can suspect he wants to hide something from you, this could be an aggressive start or conversely a very passive and economic start. Either way, it would be a good idea to use the "decrypt" RUSE to give an idea as to where he is going and how many depots he builds at the start.

Hint 3 - Once you can pinpoint what your enemy is up to then you can start planning your game. If he is being overly aggressive you will have to build the counter to his units, AT to counter tanks, infantry and artillery to counter infantry etc. The exact counter all depends on what nation you are and what nation he is and like I said earlier in the guide you will have to learn that through experience. If he is being passive you should harrass him or committ to an early attack depending on how passive he is. Generally, infantry is your best bet to harrass your opponent but some maps and nations will not allow that so you might have to build some light tanks or artillery.

Hint 4 - A very important aspect of R.U.S.E, and any strategy game for that matter, is economy. If you falter on economy then you will no doubt fall victim to your larger-forced foe. As a general rule of thumb it would be advisable to match your enemy's depot count. When you have a lead or a comfortable defence it would be advisable to widen the gap in your favour to allow yourself more units than your enemy. Another important aspect of economy is resource denial, try to ensure that your opponent's depots are not safe and force him to use money on defending his depots. This is not really possible later in the game but early on it is extremely effective to spread cheap units out to deny your enemy of vital resources and make him shift his focus from attacking you to defending his own depots.

Teamwork

I would advise that you try to find yourself one or more players or a similar skill level to learn the game with. R.U.S.E is a game that is better played with more people and the quicker you get yourself an organised team the quicker you can start winning. If possible use a headset and a VOIP program such as Teamspeak, Ventrillo, or Mumble, as communicating with your team is a great deal easier when you don't need to type it.

While playing in a team, all players should try to use what is most beneficial for their team. By this I mean use your most efficient bases and do not double up on the same base unless it is absolutely imperative. If you have a French player it is advisable that he buidls the AT for the entire team, and the US player builds recon for his entire team. Once again this is not aplicable to all maps but I am sure you can decide when it is worthwhile to support a teammate and when it is best for them to get their own.