The Unofficial Player's Guide to Crisis in the Kremlin 2 Introduction Welcome, Comrade General Secretary. You have taken the helm of the Soviet Union at a perilous time. This guide is a compilation of strategies, discoveries, and warnings shared by fellow players in the first days of the game's release. The mechanics are complex, the economy is unforgiving, and the path to victory is often counter-intuitive. This guide aims to distill the collective wisdom of the community to help you not only survive but lead the Union to glory. Part 1: The First Steps - Surviving the Early Game The period from 1985 to 1987 is the most critical. A poor start will lead to an inescapable death spiral. The consensus strategy revolves around a specific initial setup. 1.1. Choosing Your Leader For Beginners: The community strongly recommends starting with Konstantin Chernenko. He is the only leader who does not have the "Settling into the Job" modifier, which prevents you from changing doctrines or ministers for a year and drains political power. This allows you to immediately implement crucial economic reforms. Custom Characters: Creating your own character allows for powerful trait combinations but comes with the "Settling into the Job" penalty. A popular "meta" build for tech-focused runs is combining the Technocrat and Rocket Scientist traits. 1.2. The Optimal Starting Budget The most surprising and vital discovery is that investing heavily into industry sectors at the start is a trap. The key is to fund technology and state apparatus, which will boost your industrial indicators more efficiently. Here is the community-approved starting budget: Services: 0 (Civilian tech investment will boost this stat more effectively). Ecology: 100-120 (The lowest you can go without triggering negative events). Light Industry: 100 Heavy Industry: 150 Military-Industrial Complex (MIC): 200 (This indicator drops quickly if underfunded). Infrastructure: 200 Kultprosvet (Culture): 150-200 Science Funding: Pump as much as you can here. Focus on: Civilian Technologies: 200+ (Crucial for boosting Competitiveness and Services). Nuclear Technologies: 160+ (To prevent Chernobyl). Digital Technologies: 180+ State & Security: State Mechanism: 350-500 (Your primary source of Political Power and anti-corruption). Special Services (KGB): 200 Envelopes (Bribes): Cut most to 0. Keep 30-50 for Civil Servants to maintain republic loyalty. Keep 10-30 for Special Services to keep the KGB happy. Key Takeaway: Do not over-invest in industrial sliders. Keep them funded just enough to maintain 100% efficiency. Your main source of economic growth comes from technology, trade, and doctrines, not direct industrial funding. 1.3. Initial Technology Queue You can and should research multiple technologies simultaneously, as long as they use different research point types (e.g., one using worker points, one using physics points). Your immediate research priorities should be: Nuclear (Left Branch): The first two techs (Proton Collider and Modernization of Nuclear Power Plants) are essential to prevent the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Agriculture (Left Branch): The first tech (Food Supply Program) helps deal with the initial "Empty Shelves" modifier. Military (Right Branch): The first tech gives you a solid base and uses military points that would otherwise be wasted. Part 2: Core Mechanics Explained 2.1. The Economy: The Great Beast The 1990s Slump: Nearly all players experience a sudden economic crash around 1990-1991. The reasons are debated, but it seems tied to a combination of hidden modifiers, rising costs ("Economic Enlargement"), and the impact of separatism. The key to survival is having a massive reserve of funds banked before this happens. Do not spend your entire surplus; a healthy reserve is your lifeline. Economic Unification: As Chernenko, one of the first doctrines you should pass is Economic Unification in the Alliance Management screen. This provides a massive, immediate boost to your income. Labor Laws: Don't be afraid to enact harsher labor laws like Attachment to Factories or Irregular Working Hours early on. They provide significant economic boosts that are vital for survival. You can liberalize them later when your economy is stable. Trade is Life: Use the trade map mode and establish trade with every possible nation. Later, invite friendly nations into the CMEA. This is a primary driver of your income and global influence. 2.2. Technology: The Path to Victory OGAS is Not the Goal: Unlike previous games, rushing the full OGAS (cybernetic planning) tree is a trap. The industrial efficiency buffs are less useful due to the 100% cap. However, the first two techs are vital for unlocking the High-Speed Rail decision, which is very powerful. The Space Race Meta: The Peaceful Space Race is the most powerful tool for collapsing the USA. Winning the space race (landing on the Moon/Mars) causes America's stats to plummet as they lose their minds trying to compete. Agriculture: To solve food shortages permanently, you need techs from both the left (land cultivation) and right (GMO) branches. Don't be afraid to research both; the penalty for the first few techs is minimal. 2.3. Politics: Herding Cats in the Kremlin Plenums and Stability: To avoid being ousted in a plenum, you must either have a strong majority of your chosen faction or, if you don't, you must spend political power to attack another faction. Remaining "peaceful" when your position is weak is a game-over trap. Ministers & Loyalty: Minister traits are more important than their raw stats. Prioritize loyalty and beneficial traits over a few extra skill points. Gromyko is consistently disloyal; many players replace him early. Kosolapov, as a Second Secretary, is noted as a reliable "yes-man." Factions: Supporting a faction in the Congress screen is the primary way to increase its influence. You can "flip" politicians to your ideology via the conspiracy screen, but this is a slow, resource-intensive process. 2.4. Foreign Policy: Winning the Cold War Collapsing the USA: This is a multi-pronged approach: Win the Space Race: This is the biggest factor. Expand Your Bloc: Every nation in the CMEA and Warsaw Pact applies a small but constant negative modifier to the US. Proxy Wars & Support: Support anti-American forces (separatists, non-conformists, terrorists) via the USA's country screen. Flip their allies in the Third World to your side. Détente: Paradoxically, offering Détente can be an aggressive move, as it drains US military power. Afghanistan: This war is easy to win. You can even withdraw your troops and the DRA will often win on its own, especially if you deal with its external supporters (China, Pakistan). China: China is difficult. If you remain a hardline state, they will likely have their own "perestroika" and collapse into civil war, which is an opportunity for you to intervene and either balkanize them or install a friendly government. To befriend them, you must make major concessions (pulling out of Afghanistan, Mongolia, Cambodia). Iran-Iraq War: Supporting Iraq and ensuring Saddam remains in power leads to the invasion of Kuwait, which hurts the US. Supporting Iran can lead to a socialist Iran if you play your cards right. Part 3: Advanced Strategies & Playstyles The "Communism" Button: This is an endgame decision that requires extremely high stats across the board (e.g., 95+ in social indicators, near-zero corruption, specific liberal doctrines like 30-hour work weeks). It's a goal for a "perfect" run. "Evil-Maxxing" / Fascist Dystopia: Players aiming for this path recommend: Economy: Liberal Economic Model, Irregular Working Hours, Banned Trade Unions (or Corporate Guilds). Politics: State Worship, Deification of the Leader, a massive security apparatus. Market Economies: The Birdcage model is considered very powerful due to its income bonuses. It's often paired with the Guilds system for trade unions. Be prepared to manage inflation via the refinancing rate. Part 4: Community-Discovered Quirks & Bugs (As of July 2025) The Services "Bug": Funding the "Services" sector is currently inefficient. Setting its budget to 0 and funding "Civilian Technologies" instead provides a much larger boost to the actual services metric. This may be patched. Economic Hard Cap: There appears to be a hard cap on GDP growth in a planned economy, leading to inevitable stagnation in the late game if you don't expand your market. "Palestinian Question" Bug: The decision to resolve the Palestinian question is bugged, requiring you to have Israel in your sphere of influence, which is nearly impossible. Annexing Republics Bug: Unifying all republics into the USSAR can bug out certain achievements or decisions that require a specific number of member states. Good luck, Comrade. The fate of world socialism rests on your shoulders.