Background Book: L & C S - V I

1
L e v y & C a m pNevsky
aign Series – Volume I
— Background Book
Teutons and Rus

in Collision
1240-1242
by Volko Ruhnke
by Pavel Tatarnikau
B ACK GR OUND B OOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Nevsky – Some Play Hints.............................................. 2 The Teutons and Their Allies...................................... 21
Solitaire Nevsky............................................................... 3 The Russians and Their Allies..................................... 26
Examples of Play............................................................ 3 Timeline.......................................................................... 24
Setup............................................................................ 3 Arts of War...................................................................... 31
Levy............................................................................. 3 Teutonic Events........................................................... 31
March, Feed, Sail........................................................ 7 Teutonic Capabilities................................................... 34
Supply and Forage....................................................... 10 Russian Events............................................................ 38
Battle .......................................................................... 11 Russian Capabilities.................................................... 41
Siege and Storm.......................................................... 15 Design Note.................................................................... 45
Pay and Disband.......................................................... 18 Selected Sources............................................................. 47
Campaign Synopsis ........................................................ 19 Credits............................................................................. 48
Lord Histories................................................................. 21
© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

2 Nevsky — Background Book
add Capabilities and Levy Vassals. So, keep that in mind.

NEVSKY—Some Play Hints
This is easier for the Teutonic Knights; those small Russian Forts
By Wendell Albright with Peter Wagner
are relatively easy to Storm. But they aren’t auto-wins; we have
You’ve opened the box, stickered the Lords, punched the markers, more than once ended up with Hermann deep inside Rus, sitting
laid out the map, and read the rules. Now what? Here are some hints embarrassed outside of an enemy Fort at the end of a Campaign,
for what to actually DO with your forces in Nevsky. unable to Muster because the small Russian garrison had man-
aged to repel Hermann’s Knights. One hint: you can’t Forage at a
First – How big of a force do you need? Lords with six or fewer captured Stronghold deep in enemy territory if you Ravaged the
units only require one Provender if they move or fight. So, do you surrounding countryside before Conquering it....
REALLY need that Vassal that brings you to seven units? Some-
times, the answer is going to be yes – you want a large force to One thing to do in Muster is add Capabilities; they are really import-
intimidate the enemy or Storm a City or maybe back the enemy into ant. So, assuming you didn’t end your Campaign sitting forlornly
a corner where they have to stand and fight. Just remember that, outside of an enemy Fort and you can Muster, look at the situation
when you’ve got Hermann or Aleksandr all maxed out, somebody’s and what a Capability might do, either for a specific Lord or for
going to have to feed those extra soldiers. your side. But remember – when you take a Capability, you are
taking the EVENT on that card out of play. Not to say you don’t
Second – Are you ready to Campaign? You can do what we did the ever take a given Capability – maybe Baltic Sea Trade is import-
first time we played Nevsky and send a force of Teutonic Knights ant enough for the Coin it can generate to forego the possibility of
boldly into Novgorodan territory in the middle of Winter with little drawing an Osilian Revolt that could force Andreas to Disband.
Transport and not much Provender. And then you can find your little But look at both halves of the card when deciding whether to take
army dissolving (Disbanding) quickly for lack of supplies. Worse a Capability – and remember, you can discard a Capability later on.
yet, if you are far enough away and poorly equipped, you can even
end up Disbanding permanently – which is bad. That said (and depending very much on what scenario you are play-
ing), we suggest that the Teutons usually should have the William
So, before making any incursions, assess your Assets. What’s of Modena Capability in play. The extra command action he can
the Season? (Foraging is much easier in Summer.) Where do you confer to a Lord during the Campaign is very valuable, as is his
think you are heading? How big is your force? Depending on the ability to bring in a Lord without having to make a roll against his
Season and what your force does, you can get some Provender (and Fealty. Also, if the Danish princes Knud & Abel or Heinrich are in
victory points) by Ravaging enemy territory – but you still may play, the Treaty of Stensby makes them a lot more effective – but
need to use some of your Muster actions to lay on some Transport, that does, alas, remove the Grand Prince event that can delay entry
and do some Supply actions to give you a reserve of Provender so for Aleksandr or Andrey.
you don’t have to come dashing home hungry, chased by wolves.
Archbishopric is really nice for the Russians, since it ramps up
Novgorod’s ability to provide supplies to all of their Lords. Partic-
ularly in a longer scenario, look at giving Stone Kremlin to one of
your Lords like Domash – what’s nice about this is you can improve
the defenses of a couple of your Strongholds (Novgorod for one!),
and then later on discard the card by taking other “This Lord” Capa-
bilities. Smerdi is another interesting Russian Capability, allowing
you (at the cost of Commands) to get some additional arrow-fodder
(no cannons involved at the time) if you expect a Battle or a Storm.
And, in our view, the Russians should nearly always take the Black
Pay attention to your Lords’ surroundings. A couple of ways – first, Sea Trade Capability; one Coin a turn is a lot of flexibility in ex-
be careful to have a clear path for Avoiding Battle or Retreating if tending Lords’ Service, and the Black Sea Trade is harder for the
defeated. And also consider how a Lord can be in a position to delay Teutons to disrupt than the Baltic Sea Trade.
the enemy by being in what you think will be his path; sometimes This is the 13th Century, not a time of centralized states, and all of
delaying an enemy by offering Battle can be more important than these Lords have other things to do. If you want to keep them in
avoiding a defeat. the field, you’re going to have to Pay them to extend their Service.
And pay attention to where you expect your Lords to END the Keep an eye on the Calendar to see when each of your Lords’
Campaign, because THAT will determine whether or not individual Service (and that of Vassals, if using the advanced rule) is due to
Lords can do anything in the following Pay and Muster phases. It’s end. If it’s soon and you don’t want to let them Disband, you may
fine to go out and Ravage enemy lands and Storm their Castles – in have to plan on finishing the Campaign in a suitable place – you
fact, that’s how you win – but if a Lord needs to Muster for some can only use Loot in Friendly spaces, and Loot (especially for the
reason, he will have to end up in a Friendly space. And if you want Teutons) is easier to obtain than Coin.
to Pay a Lord with Loot to extend his Service, you will also need a
Friendly space. Outside of your home country, a Conquered Strong-
hold is the only place that gives you the ability during Muster to
Nevsky — Background Book 3
You will also have to decide whether you even WANT to keep a
Lord on the map. Lords like the Karelians and Rudolf can cycle Examples of Play
on and off fairly quickly, but if Andreas or Andrey leave, they will These examples, while not exhaustive, walk through the game’s core
be gone for quite a while taking care of other pressing business – procedures plus a few potentially tricky cases. Rules references
so you probably don’t want to let them go if you can avoid it. If, appear in parentheses.
however, a Lord has been mauled in battle, letting him Disband is
a way of allowing him to replenish his forces – though obviously Setup
this is more of a consideration in the longer scenarios, where there Nevsky scenarios should set up quickly because Lords start with
is more time to Disband and return. Though you cannot voluntarily just the initial Forces, Assets, and Vassal Service markers shown
Disband a Lord or keep him from Feeding with his own Provender, on their mats (see 2.1 and 6.0). Lords at start have none of their
you can take actions (such as Marching once Provender and Loot Vassals Mustered, so no Vassal Forces, and no Special Vassal
are gone) that will push his Service toward Disbanding. markers (Summer Crusaders or Steppe Warriors, 1.5.1) unless and
Finally, if you are the Russians and you’re playing the full-length until they receive the necessary Capability cards.
scenario, don’t despair. Early campaigns are going to be tough as It may also speed setup to note that all scenarios start Service
Hermann, Andreas, and Rudolf run around Ravaging and Storming. markers as if on-map Lords had just Mustered the previous turn
But the Veche gives you some advantages in keeping your Lords (placing the markers the number of boxes ahead of the scenario’s
in the game, and once Aleksandr and Andrey are summoned and starting box equal to each Lord’s Service rating less one) or in the
build up their forces, they can turn the tide. Remember – this game Calendar’s last box if reaching it.
is called Nevsky for a reason!
Setup will vary, though, based on what players select for their
Lords’ starting Transport, and then by the first Levy’s draw of some
random Capabilities.
The first illustration shows the Russian player’s area after setting
up the Watland scenario and drawing Capability cards during the
initial Levy (see next page). The Russians begin with just one Lord
Mustered, Domash. Note that he starts with five forces units on
his mat—his household retinue, if you will—but no Vassal forces
Mustered, only their three Service markers in the Assets & Vassals
box indicating that they are Ready to be called.
Domash’s mat allows him to begin with any four Transport, in-
cluding Ships. The Russian player has chosen to start Domash with
three Sled markers and one Ship marker (even though the Ship will
not be useful until later in the scenario).
Levy
Each 40-day turn in Nevsky comprises a Levy phase and then a
Campaign phase; a pair of 40-day turns make up a Season (2.2.1).
Each turn, players first Levy to mobilize various resources then
Solitaire NEVSKY plan and run a Campaign of movement of forces and supplies (3.0).
During Levy, each side and its Lords and higher authorities will
Nevsky includes no solitaire system, but a single player readily can receive potentially helpful random cards, check whether already
handle both sides. Set up the table as suggested in the illustration Mustered Lords can continue to Campaign, and then Muster addi-
above and alternate in the Teutonic and Russian roles by the normal tional Lords, Vassal forces, Transport markers, and Capability cards.
sequence of play. The only information that one side hides from
the other will be Held Event cards (3.1.3) and Command Plan card NOTE: Keep the Sequence of Play aid sheet handy while proceed-
stacks (4.1). Keeping these cards face down whenever playing the ing through Levy. The top half of the sheet lays out all its steps.
other side can help you forget their contents. Alternatively, keep
all these cards face up throughout play—doing so somewhat alters
Arts of War: Capabilities. To start the first Levy of a scenario,
decision-making, but the game will still work well. Either way,
each side shuffles their Arts of War deck and randomly draws two
simply alternate making the best decisions that you can for each
Arts of War cards as Capabilities (lower half of the cards, 3.1.2).
side with the information that you have available.
Drawn “No Capability” cards do nothing. In this case, the Russians
draw Luchniki and Steppe Warriors.
• The first card, Luchniki, says “This Lord” and may be given
to Domash (as shown by his coat of arms appearing on the

Capability section of the card), so the player tucks this card

underneath the bottom edge of Domash’s mat. Had the card been a
This Lord Capability that was limited to Lords other than Domash
(look at a Druzhina card, for example), the player would have
had to discard it and move on to the second card draw without
redrawing the first Capability card.
• The second card, Steppe Warriors, does not say “This Lord”,
so the player tucks it under the Russian edge of the board. Even
though the Capability applies only to the Lords Aleksandr and
Andrey and neither is currently Mustered, the player keeps the
Capability because it is not a This Lord card (3.1.2). There will
be later opportunities to discard this Capability if the player
wants to do so (4.0, 4.9.3), or Aleksandr or Andrey may join the
fray and use it. Note that if Aleksandr had started the scenario
Mustered, the player would add Aleksandr’s Steppe Warriors
Special Vassal Service markers to his mat as an immediate benefit Using the same situation as our setup example above, after the
of that Capability (3.4.2). Teuton player draws, the Russian player draws Death of the Pope
and Hill.
The Russian player first looks at the top card of the Russian Arts of
War deck, in case it is a Hold card that will be kept secret. Death
of the Pope is not a Hold Event, so the player reveals it. This Event
has both immediate and lingering effects. If the Teutonic Capability
William of Modena is currently in play (previously Mustered,
thereby putting the Legate pawn in play, 1.4.1), the Teuton player
must immediately discard it and set the pawn aside. The Event
remains face up for the remainder of the Levy (“this Levy”), block-
ing Teutonic Lords from Levying William of Modena. You may
wish to place the Russian Event card near the Teutonic player as
a reminder. At the end of the current Levy, the card returns to the
Russians’ Arts of War deck.
By the way, the absence of the Death of the Pope card from the
Russian Arts of War deck in the upcoming Muster segment will
temporarily prevent the Russians from obtaining the Archbishopric
Russian player area after setup of the Watland scenario and the Capability featured on the same card (R15). Players may NOT
initial Arts of War random draw. decline Events to keep the Capability available (1.9.1, 3.4.4).
Arts of War: Events. At the outset of each Levy phase after the The second card, Hill, is a Hold card, so the Russian player looks
first of the scenario, players randomly draw two Arts of War cards at it and keeps it, face down, for possible later use or discard.
as Events (upper half) instead of Capabilities (3.1.3). Each player
shuffles together all Arts of War cards of that side not currently NOTE: Should you have a question about how to implement the
in use—that is, all Arts of War cards except currently Mustered text on any card, consult the “Tips” for that Event or Capability
Capabilities and currently Held Events (3.1.1). There will always in the Arts of War section of this background booklet for help.
be three No Event cards in the Event draw deck.
Pay and Disband. After drawing random cards, the Levy phase
For purposes of our playthrough, presume that play has reached includes an opportunity to Pay Lords to stay in the fight followed
the second 40 Days. First the Teutons then the Russians draw two by a check of whether any Lords Disband (3.2-3.3). This Pay and
Arts of War cards, look at them (without revealing them, in case Disband procedure works the same as during a Feed/Pay/Disband
of Hold cards), and implement them one by one, as applicable. segment at the end of each Command card (4.8). Refer to the Feed/
Events either take effect immediately and are discarded at once (for Pay/Disband section later in these Examples of Play for details.
example, several Events that say “on Calendar”), stay in force and
in play for the rest of the current Levy phase and/or through the Muster. The main part of the Levy phase is the Muster segment,
ensuing Campaign (if they say “this Levy” or “this Campaign”), when Teutonic and Russian Lords who are already Mustered one by
or stay face down in the player’s area for later use at the player’s one use their Lordship rating to call upon other Lords to join them
discretion (“Hold”, 3.1.3). “No Event” means that nothing happens. or to mobilize their Vassal forces, Transport, or more Capabilities
(3.4). Let’s stick with the Watland scenario as our example but
switch sides to walk through a Teutonic Muster.

Teutonic Lords at the start of the Watland scenario.

Because these three Lords are all in Friendly Locales, the Teutons
may now have each in turn Levy Vassals, Transport, Capabilities,
or other Lords (3.4). Let’s stick with Andreas, who will use his
Lordship rating of “3” (shown in the kite-shield shape on his mat)
Teuton player area before the first Levy’s Muster. for three Levy actions.
The Teutons start the scenario with three Lords already Mustered. The Teutonic player wishes to use
A key restriction on Lords building up during Levy is that they Andreas’s first Levy action to add a
must start the Muster segment already in the field and in a Friendly Capability card (3.4.4). The player
Locale—that means, in their own side’s territory (for the Teutons, searches through the Teutonic
Livonia or Estonia), or at a Stronghold that belongs to them in Arts of War deck to pick out Or-
densburgen. This Capability does
enemy territory because they have Conquered or built it, and not
involved in a Siege. That is so for all three Teutonic Lords here. not say “This Lord”, so the player
The pro-Teuton Yaroslav, for example, is in Russian territory but tucks the card half-way under the
at the Conquered Stronghold of Pskov. western edge of the game board to
show that the card simultaneously
Let’s look at the Teuton player’s area at this moment (above). Each affects all the Lords indicated by
of the Lords on the map has his mat (1.5.2) with starting Forces, the coats of arms in the (lower)
Assets, and Vassal markers (6.0). Capability section of the card—
here “ALL” Teutonic Lords. As
• The two Lords with starting Transport options, Andreas von
long as it is in play, Ordensburgen adds an extra Seat at each of
Felben and Yaroslav, have selected Sleds—sensible, as the Season
the Teutonic Knights’ Commanderies, depicted on the map with
is Winter. Knud & Abel meanwhile always start with Ships.
small black-cross-on-white Seat symbols (1.3.1, not to be confused
• Andreas is missing one Vassal Service marker: this Crusaders with Teutonic master Andreas’s larger, more ornate symbols at
Special Vassal appears only via the Crusade Capability card Riga and Wenden).
(1.5.1, 3.4.2).
• For our example, the Russian Event Death of the Pope is in The coats of arms on the card also restrict which Lords may Levy
effect, blocking William of Modena for this Levy phase (3.1.3). the Capability in the first place (even if not “This Lord”). Andreas
is included within “ALL” on Ordensburgen, so he was indeed
allowed to bring the card into play (3.4.4).
The player next would like to add another Teutonic Lord to the map.
Checking the Calendar, the player sees the Heinrich and Rudolf
cylinders are in or left of the current box, meaning they are Ready
to Muster (3.4.1). The player will use Andreas’s next Levy action
to try to coax Heinrich to the fight.

Lastly, Yaroslav with his Lordship of

“1” selects and Levies the Teutonic
Raiders Capability. Raiders includes
the text “This Lord”, so the player
tucks the card half-way under the
bottom edge of Yaroslav’s mat, instead
of under the map board as for Ordens-
burgen and Treaty of Stensby. Each
Calendar showing two Teutonic Lords Ready for Muster on the
Lord may have at most two such This
Levy of turn 4.
Lord Capabilities (3.4.4).
Checking Heinrich’s mat (or the Lords reference sheet), the player
The Russians would do their Lords’
sees by Heinrich’s orange “Fealty” die symbol that he requires a
Muster next (3.4). However, we will
roll of “3” or less for him to Muster. The player rolls a die and
skip discussion of Russian Muster here so that we can move on to
fails on a roll of “5”.
the next and final step of the Levy phase, Call to Arms.
Intent on adding Heinrich to
the fray, the player has An- NOTE: The Russian player can shorten play time by going
dreas expend his third and final ahead with Russian Muster while the Teutons player carries
Lordship action to try again. out Teutonic Muster.
This time the player rolls a
“2”—Heinrich Musters. Call to Arms. In our case, the Teutons skip this entire phase because
the William of Modena Capability and therefore the Legate pawn
The player takes Heinrich’s
are not in play (3.5.1). The Russians, however, have some options....
cylinder from the Calendar and
places it with Andreas’s at Fel- Russian Call to Arms represents the influence of the Novogorod
lin, so that Heinrich can follow the Marshal Andreas on Campaign Veche (noble assembly) as a higher political authority. The Russian
without delay. Lords Muster at their own Seats; Heinrich is able player has one “Conquered 1VP” victory point marker in the Veche
to Muster at Fellin (instead of Leal) only because that Stronghold box on the game board, representing the degree of Novgorod’s
counts as a Seat for Heinrich (3.4.1) via the Ordensburgen card. independence from Russia’s princes such as Aleksandr. During
Call to Arms, the Russian player may either expend a VP marker
The player then puts Heinrich’s rectangular Service marker on
for a Levy benefit, decline to Levy a prince who is Ready to gain
the Calendar, four boxes ahead of the current box 4 into box 8
a VP marker, or do nothing (3.5.2).
(because Heinrich’s Service rating shown on his mat and on the
Service marker is “4”). Heinrich’s mat joins the Teutons’ side of
the table, outfitted the same way as if set up for a scenario, with
initial Forces, Assets, and Vassal markers indicated (3.4.1). Note
that Heinrich may not use his Lordship this Muster segment since
he did not begin the Levy phase on the map (3.4).
With Andreas done for the segment,

the player chooses Knud & Abel to act
next. The player uses the first of three Checking the Calendar, the Russian player sees that neither prince—
actions to obtain Treaty of Stensby, not Andrey nor Aleksandr—is Ready: both their cylinders are in
allowed because Knud & Abel have boxes to the right of the current Levy (3.4.1). Therefore, no decline
their coat of arms on the Capability of Ready princes for added VP is possible (3.5.2).
(3.4.4). Even though it was Knud &
Abel who Levied it, the Capability The Russians could just hang on to the Veche VP that they have. But
will help Heinrich also, since this is seeing Heinrich added to a menacing number of Mustered Teutonic
not a “This Lord” card and Heinrich’s Lords, the Russian player decides to spend 1VP to automatically
blue coat of arms is shown on the card. Muster a Ready Russian Lord, in this case Vladislav. The player
puts Vladislav’s cylinder at his Seat at Ladoga, his Service marker
With two Lord- in box 7, and his mat at the Russian side of the table with initial
ship remaining, Knud & Abel next Muster Forces, a Sled and a Provender, and his four Vassal markers. This
one Vassal (“Dietrich von Kivel”) by sliding costs the Russians the removal of the Conquered 1VP marker that
that Service marker from the Assets & Vas- starts this scenario in the Veche box. The player slides the white
sals holding area of the Lord mat forward into the Forces area and Victory marker from box 1 off the game board and sets it aside.
placing the depicted Forces on (or near) the marker, in this case,
one Knights unit and one Men-at-Arms unit (3.4.2). Finally, the Discard. Levy is now over, so the players flip the “Levy” turn
Danes add one Sled as their third Levy action (3.4.3). marker over to “Campaign” (2.2.2) and discard the Death of the

Pope “This Levy” Event card to the Russian Arts of War deck (3.1.2,
NOTE: When selecting and executing Command actions, refer
3.5.3). Then, at the beginning of the Campaign that immediately
to the Commands sheet of the foldout.
follows the Levy, the players check their Capability cards along
their board edge (those Capabilities that are not “This Lord” at Andreas earlier moved up from Fellin with Heinrich toward the
Lord mats). They must discard any in excess of their total Lords border, to Dorpat. The Teutonic player now wants Andreas to use
on the map (4.0). The Teutons have two such cards, Ordensburgen one action each to:
and Treaty of Stensby, compared to four Lords Mustered: room
to spare. The Russians still have Steppe Warriors that they drew • March along the river and lakeshore Waterway from Dorpat to the
during scenario setup (6.0) compared to two Lords on map: there Russian Town of Gdov (4.3.3). NOTE: This single long Waterway
is no excess here, so the card is not discarded. also connects Dorpat to Narwia in the north and Uzmen in the
south, as shown by its white path.
• Ravage Gdov (4.7.2).
• March onward to Attack the Russian Lord Domash in the Plyussa
River Region (4.3.4); see below.
Andreas is a Marshal, so he will opt to take Heinrich along on

his March as a part of his army at no extra cost in actions (4.3.1
Group March).
Lords can only March with Provender (food and other supplies)
if they have enough Transport to carry it (4.3.2). Let’s have look
at Andreas and Heinrich’s Assets. With earlier Levy (3.4.3) and
Supply or Forage (4.6, 4.7.1) actions, they have acquired more
Transport and Provender, respectively, as shown below. Located
together, the two Lords will share all these Assets as they are needed
(1.5.2 SHARING).
Teuton player area at the end of this Levy.
March, Feed, Sail

A common action for Lords to take
in a Campaign phase is to move,
usually by Marching along Water-
ways and Trackways connecting
map Locales (4.3). Here, let us
suppose that the Teutons are on their
third Command card of Winter; it
is Andreas, who now gets three March in Winter. Each type of Transport is usable only in certain
Command actions, as shown by the Seasons (1.7.4). The bottom edge of the Calendar shows reminders
numeral in the card-shaped symbol of this restriction. Since it is Winter in our case, Marching can use
on his Command card and on his mat Sleds but not Carts, Boats, or Ships. That gives our Marching group
and by a numeral on his cylinder as a total of four Sleds to carry six Provender: the group can March but
well (4.0, 4.2.1). is “Laden” because it has more Provender than usable Transport,

though not more than twice as much (4.3.2). Laden March costs of our Teutonic army seeking to Attack across the Trackway to
double the Command, two actions per move to adjacent Locale. Plyussa, any Provender would prevent March entirely, because
March with more than twice as much Provender as usable Transport one Provender is more than twice the zero usable Transport on
is not possible at all. Trackways in Rasputitsa (4.3.2).
In this example, Andreas and Heinrich would not be able to carry Andreas and Heinrich could still make it Plyussa in a single Com-
out the desired March to and Ravage of Gdov and onward March mand card: they could discard all their Provender to cross the
to Plyussa River with all their Provender because the move to Gdov Trackway from Gdov. But they then would arrive in the face of
would use two actions and the Ravage one action, leaving Andreas the enemy with no supplies at all.
no more Commands on this card.
As an aside, just one more Command action (for example, from
To make it all the way to Plyussa on Andreas’s card, the Lords the Legate, 4.2) to get Andreas to a total of four actions, would
would need first to discard Provender down to the amount of usable enable the Teutonic group to take their Loot with them along the
Transport that they have between them. That means throwing away Trackway from Gdov in a two-action Laden March—most of the
the excess two Provender, let’s say two of Heinrich’s four. The Teu- “Loot” would be walking itself on four legs! The Loot would then
tonic player is allowed to discard these Assets only because doing Feed Andreas’s troops (4.8.1, see below).
so will enable them to undertake an Unladen March (1.7.2 Greed).
Avoid Battle. Let us return to our example of March in Winter and
Presume that the Teutons do that, March along the frozen Water- suppose that Andreas and Heinrich do go all the way to Plyussa
way to arrive at Gdov with four Provender, then Ravage Gdov. River. They are Approaching an enemy—Domash (4.3.4). The
In addition to placing a ½VP “Ravaged” marker, the Ravage of a Russian player may now choose to have Domash stand and fight or
Town awards Andreas one Provender and one Loot (4.7.2). While to Avoid Battle. If Domash were at a Friendly Stronghold, another
this booty would be welcome for Feeding and Paying his soldiers, option would be to Withdraw inside, but Plyussa River is just a
it poses renewed problems for the intended March to Plyussa: Region not a Fort or City.
• The addition of a fifth Provender to the group once again exceeds If the Russians decide to stand, an immediate Battle would result,
its four Sleds. and that Battle would end actions on Andreas’s Command card,
• The Loot (mainly livestock on the hoof) will cause all further even had he not just used his last (4.4, 4.4.5). In our case, the
March to be Laden, regardless of Transport (4.3.2). Russian player instead decides to back away and not risk a fight.
With the booty, the Laden March along the frozen Trackway west- A Defending Lord may not Avoid while Laden and to Avoid Battle
ward would cost two actions, and Andreas only has one left on this gives up any Provender beyond usable Transport and any Loot to
Command card. The Teutons have two options: sit tight at Gdov the Approaching Lords as Spoils (4.3.4). Let’s see what Domash
(perhaps using Andreas’s Sleds and remaining action to bring up has for Transport and Assets....
some more Provender from the Ordensburgen Commanderies at
Fellin and Adsel or Leal, 4.6), or dump the just-gained Provender
and Loot to press the Attack on Domash.
March in Summer. Now let’s leave that Winter scene and instead
consider the same situation and objective but in Summer. Boats
and Carts are now usable to haul Provender during March, Boats
along Waterways and Carts along Trackways (1.7.4). Presume that
the change of Seasons has seen to the replacement of Andreas’s
four Sleds with two Carts (4.9.2 Plow and Reap), so that this army
has two Carts, two Boats, two Ships, and six Provender between
Andreas and Heinrich.
Now the same March-Ravage-March discussed above would
require discard of all but two Provender. The Carts are useless
along the Waterway to Gdov, and the Boats are useless along the
Trackway to Plyussa. The group’s Unladen March could carry only
two Provender in Boats on the Waterway to Gdov; the Carts then
could carry the same two Provender on the Trackway to Plyussa.
March in Rasputitsa. Now suppose that it is not yet Summer but It is Winter, so Domash can use his three Sleds. With four Prov-
instead Rasputitsa. The ice has thawed but the roads and tracks have ender, he still would be Laden and so could not Avoid Battle. The
not yet dried out. The March along the Waterway to Gdov could Russian player discards one of Domash’s Provender to enable him
be accomplished just as in Summer, discussed above, with Boats. to Avoid Battle with three Sleds carrying three Provender (1.7.2).
But Carts are not yet usable at all; indeed, there is no Transport The Approaching Teutons receive the discarded Provender (4.3.4)—
that helps along Trackways in the mud of Rasputitsa. In the case the Teutons player decides to add it to Andreas’s mat.
Lords Avoid Battle to an adjacent Locale but not in the direction player wishes to Sail them from Narwia to Neva to Conquer the
of the enemy’s Approach nor to an Unbesieged enemy Lord or Trade Route there. This action will take up the entire Command
Stronghold (4.3.4). That rules out Domash Avoiding west to Gdov card, regardless of the number of Command actions on it (4.7.3).
or north to Narwia, where Knud & Abel are. Domash could move The Sailing Lord(s) must start the Command card already at a
south to the Zhelcha River or east to the Town of Zheltsy, further Seaport Locale (and not inside a Besieged Stronghold).
into the Russian interior.
Sailing also requires enough Ships to carry not only any Proven-
The Russian player moves Domash to Zheltsy and marks the cyl- der and Loot that the Lords have but also all their Horse units (as
inder “Moved/Fought”. With all of Andreas’s actions expended, horses, especially heavy warhorses, take up a good deal of space in
the players move on to that Command card’s Feed/Pay/Disband the hold or on deck!). Let’s have a look at what Knud & Abel will
step (4.8). be taking with them, and what sort of transport fleet they have....
NOTE: We provide “Moved/Fought” markers as an aid. Place

them onto Lord cylinders as they move or fight, then remove them
as they Feed. Alternatively, simply keep in mind which Lords
would be so marked and therefore must Feed.
Knud & Abel started with two Ships and then Levied Cogs, which
doubles the effectiveness of those Ships to the equivalent of four
Feed. At the end of each Command card, both players check wheth- Ships (among other benefits). With a Mustered Vassal adding to
er any of their Lords moved or fought—those Lords now need to their initial Forces, Knud & Able have two Knights units and one
Feed their troops (4.8.1, see also 4.8.2 Pay and Disband). In our Sergeants unit, a total of three Horse units for which they will
Winter March and Avoid Battle example, the Teutons Andreas and need Ships to Sail. In addition, they have two Provender, requiring
Heinrich Marched, while the Russian Domash Avoided Battle. All another two Ships.
three Lords at the end of Andreas’s Command card will consume
Provender and/or Loot.
Refer back to the mats shown above and recall that the two Teu-
tonic Lords discarded down to four Provender between them, so
as to be able to March Unladen using their four Sleds. Andreas has
four Forces units to Feed, and Heinrich as three (their combined
total of units does not matter for Feed, 4.8.1). Each Teuton Lord
has between one and six units and so will require one Provender
(or Loot, but they have none). They eat their own Assets before
sharing, so each mat here loses one Provender.
Domash, you will recall, discarded down to three Provender to
Avoid Battle with three Sleds. All those Mustered Novgorod Militia
bring his Forces total up to nine. With more than six units, Domash That makes five Ships needed and effectively only four on hand.
will now consume two of his three Provender. To Sail, Knud & Abel will need first to discard one Provender to
All three Lords involved in movement have met their needs to Feed bring Assets in line with the amount of Transport available (1.7.2).
and therefore suffer no adverse shift of Service on the Calendar. This requirement poses a challenge, because Knud & Abel will
Sail. Now presume it is Summer or Rasputitsa—the sea is open arrive at Neva with just one Provender to then Feed seven units—
(1.7.4)—and Knud & Abel are up on a Command card. The Teutonic having moved on their card—and with no actions left to Supply or
Forage. As a result, the Knud & Abel Service marker will shift one
box left on the Calendar, even after consuming their last Provender, Forage. Sometimes distances to Supply Sources are too great for
which they may not hold back (4.8.1). the Transport that is usable. Lords in that case might be able to
gather Provender locally rather than bringing it up from the rear.
Supply and Forage Each Forage Command action adds one Provender to the Foraging
During Levy, players form and expand armies under their Lords, Lord’s mat, provided that the Lord is Unbesieged, his Locale is
including Forces and Transport. But it is only during Command that not Ravaged (4.7.2), and it is either Summer or the Lord is in a
players in Nevsky in effect move supplies to their armies—whether Friendly Stronghold. (4.7.1)
by Ravaging enemy land or through Supply or Forage actions. Here
we examine the main actions that gather Provender.
Supply. Unbesieged Lords can use Supply Command actions (4.6)
to add Provender to their own mats, drawing from Supply Sourc-
es—Seats, Seaports, or Novgorod, depending on the situation—and
implicitly moving those supplies with their Transport.
Return to our example of Knud & Abel at Narwia. It is Winter, so
Sleds are the only usable Transport; Seaports add nothing (1.7.4).
With two Sleds, Knud & Abel from Narwia could reach their Seat
at Wesenberg to obtain one Provender with each Supply Command
action (4.6.1-4.6.3). With four Sleds, they could reach Reval as
well, for a total of two Provender per action. Note that the Sleds
can serve for both Supply Sources at the same time, one Sled per
intervening Way (even on separate Ways, if needed). A fifth Sled
would not help because there is no other Supply Source, and any-
way at most two Seats per Supply Command provide Provender.
Returning once again to our situations above, presume that An-

dreas after Ravaging Gdov Marched on to Plyussa River without
Heinrich, and that Russian Lord Vladislav of Ladoga Marched up
to Kaibolovo Fort. Which of the six Lords shown could Forage
where they are in Summer?
NOTE: “Supply Source” markers are merely an aid. Use them
only as helpful. The only restriction on Forage Locales in Summer is that they
not be Ravaged (4.7.1, 4.7.2). So here any of these Lords could
obtain Provender with Forage actions in Summer except Hein-
Consider that Knud & Abel could use multiple Supply actions on rich in Ravaged Gdov and Yaroslav in Ravaged Pskov. Note that
a single Command card. Each action in this circumstance would Yaroslav in this situation may as well use Supply actions instead
add another two Provender to their mat. of Foraging anyway, as he has a Seat in Pskov—so it is a Supply
Were it Rasputitsa or Summer, Knud & Abel could use up to two of Source for him—and Ravaged Locales do not interfere with Supply
their Ships directly at the Seaport of Narwia to add one Provender Commands (4.6).
each per Supply action (4.6.1, 4.6.3), plus—in Summer—up to Who here could Forage in Winter or Rasputitsa? Only Vladislav at
two Provender from their Seats (one per Seat), provided they had the Russian Fort of Kaibolovo: he is at a Friendly Stronghold that
the Carts to reach them. Provender from Ships represents materiel is not Ravaged (4.7.1). (Yaroslav, again, could simply use Supply
from across the sea for the Teutons and from the interior of Rus actions at Pskov, even if he had no Transport, 4.6.)
for the Russians. Unlike Sleds, Carts, or Boats that help create a
Supply Route, Ships in effect serve as generators of one Provender
each at a Port. The theoretical maximum then of a single Supply
action is to add four Provender: two from Seats and two from Ships.

Battle
Whenever Lords Approach a Locale with Unbesieged enemy Lords
who decline to or are unable to Avoid Battle or Withdraw (4.3.4),
a Battle immediately results. Suppose in our earlier example of
March in Winter that Andreas and Heinrich were able to pursue
Domash all the way to Zheltsy, and that the Russian player decided
to stand there in defense.
The players mark the Attack space with a Battle marker (or simply
keep in mind that that is where the Battle is occurring) and then
array their Lords for Battle (4.4).
The players either would set the Battle mat between them and place
the Lord cylinders on that as shown—whether Heinrich is on the
left or right will not matter against the lone Russian Defender—or
slide the participating Lords’ mats to a Battle area to the side of
the game board to face the forces off directly (2.1.1, 4.4.1). (The
meaning is the same, so the choice is just a matter of preference
and table space.) The Teutons first reveal Field Organ and tuck the card under the
upper edge of Andreas’s mat (whether in a Battle Array or still in
the Teutonic player’s Mustered Lords area) to show that Andreas’s
Forces will benefit from this Event (1.5.2). The Russian Defender
then does the same, in this example, with the Hill card for Domash.
The combatant Lords are now Arrayed to proceed with Round 1
of Battle....
NOTE: We provided plain numbered markers as aids; here we

show them used to mark Battle Rounds.
Round 1. Reading down the Battle and Storm sheet (and rule
Above is the Battle mat as it would appear and below the alternative 4.4.2), we see that a Battle Round begins with an opportunity to
of mats Arrayed for Battle. Concede to end the Battle after this Round and then to Reposition
Lords to fill openings. Conceding can be key to a Lord surviving
defeat in Battle (see 4.4.3 SPOILS and 4.4.4 Losses). But neither
NOTE: When fighting a Battle or Storm, refer to the Battle and
side is ready to give up the fight here. And no Lords Routed yet,
Storm sheet and the Forces and Strongholds charts on the play
so no Repositioning occurs.
aid foldout.
So we begin with the meat of it: the Forces of the Battling Lords
For purposes of illustration, let’s give each side a Held Event card Strike one another, beginning with Archery, Defender then Attacker.
that they will use in this Battle (3.1.3). Presume that the Teutons The Russian Luchniki Strike first:
in an earlier Levy’s Event step had drawn Field Organ and that
• Checking the card text and the Forces chart, with the Luchniki
the Russians have Hill. The Attackers deploy their Lords and play
Capability, each of Domash’s Militia and Light Horse units
any Held Events as desired first (4.4.1).
Strikes with ½ Hits during Archery, rounding the total up. Six
units usually would cause three Archery Hits.

NOTE: To speed dice rolling in large engagements, the player
• But Domash has the Hill Event and it is Round 1. The Event text taking Hits may predesignate dice and roll several Hits at once.
says that his Archery is “x1 (not x½)” during Rounds 1 and 2. Dice colors can designate the order in which dice rolls will
Domash Strikes the enemy with six Archery Hits. apply. For example, if applying three Hits to two Knights and
On the Battles sheet, at the bottom of the Strike row, we see that one Men-at-Arms, the player could roll two black dice and one
each Strike step (such as the current Defenders’ Archery) generates white die, declaring in advance that the Knights will absorb
Hits, then rolls Protection for the units taking Hits, then Routs units as many Hits as able until Routed and that the black rolls will
failing those die rolls (4.4.2 STRIKE Initiative). precede the white roll.
The targeted side gets to choose which units will take the Hits—
Next up would be the Attackers’ Archery, but the Teutons have
representing which units first expose themselves to danger by ap-
none. (For Teutons in Battle, as opposed to Defending a Strong-
proaching the enemy, and so on (4.4.2 ASSIGN HITS TO UNITS).
hold, that requires the Balistarii Crossbowmen Capability.) The
When one side has more Lords in Front than does the other, the extra next step is Melee by Defending Horse (4.4.2 STRIKE Initiative).
Lords Flank the enemy—meaning simply that his Forces Strike Domash’s Sergeants and Light Horse units Melee Strike for 1½
and absorb Hits along with the closest Front Lord who is directly Hits, rounded up to 2 Hits.
opposite an enemy (4.4.2 STRIKE Flanking and APPLY HITS TO
The Teutonic player takes the Hits first on Heinrich’s Sergeants,
LORDS). The Teuton player now gets to choose, one by one, which
preserving Andreas’s Horse to make the most of Field Organ.
units of which Lord will roll Protection against the Archery Hits.
With a first roll of “4”, however, the Sergeants Rout and with them
The Teutons choose to have Heinrich’s Knights unit be the first to Heinrich. The player must immediately remove Heinrich from the
take the Archery Hits—in hopes that a valiant stand by the heavily Array (4.4.2 ROUT), leaving Andreas a second Hit to absorb. Still
armored elite will encourage more of the others to keep the field. favoring Andreas’s hardhitting Horse, the player takes the final Hit
The Forces chart shows that Knights have Armor “1-4”, meaning with Andreas’s Men-at-Arms Foot unit; it holds with a “1”.
that a die roll of 1, 2, 3, or 4 enables them to absorb a Hit without
Routing (4.4.2 PROTECTION and ROLL BY HIT Armor). The
Teuton player begins to roll dice, one for each Hit (see below). The
first two rolls are between 1 and 4, but the third roll exceeds that
range, so Heinrich’s Knights piece slides back into the “Routed”
section of his mat.
The Teutons player selects Heinrich’s Men-at-Arms unit to take the
next Hit with Armor 1-3, which it absorbs on a “3”, then another,
which is also luckily absorbs on a “1”, then the final Archery Hit,
whereupon a roll of “6” Routs it.
Attacking Horse Strikes next: that’s Andreas’s Knights and two

Sergeants. The Forces table shows that Knights units Melee for
two Hits each in Battle (representing their heavy chargers and
couched lance on the attack) and Sergeants for one. That would be
four Melee Hits against the Russians. But in Round 1 the text of
Field Organ (music to inspire Andreas’s horsemen) adds another
+3 to that total for the three Horse units: seven Hits all together.
The Russian player decides to put Domash’s Militia out front to
absorb the blows, in order to save his Men-at-Arms and Horse
When all of the units on a Lord’s mat Rout, the Lord Routs also and who will be more potent in their upcoming Melee Strikes than the
is effectively out of the Battle (4.4.2 ROUT). In this case, Heinrich Militia. Militia per the Forces table are Unarmored and withstand
has hung on through the Archery from the Hill only because he still a Hit only on a Protection roll of “1” (4.2.2 ROLL BY HIT).
has a troop of Sergeants who have not Routed.
The Russian player rolls five dice at once for the first five Hits ap-
plied to the Militia, to see if any Militia stand (see illustration next
page). A single “1” among those dice means only one Militia stands
the blow to roll another die; the sixth roll then Routs it on a “4”. of any bad luck in the
Domash has absorbed six of seven Hits and opts to take the final Hit rest of the Battle: the
with his mounted Sergeants, so that the remaining Armored Foot Russians Concede and
will be able to Strike in the next step of Battle. Unfortunately for place the Pursuit marker
the Russians, the Sergeants with Armor 1-3 roll a “5” and also Rout. pointing from Andreas
to Domash. The Rus-
sians will Strike at half
strength and lose the
Battle at the end of this
Round, but they will
reduce their Losses of
units and Spoils given
up to the enemy.
There is no need to Re-
position, as both re-
maining Lords are al-
ready front and center.
Since the Field Organ
Event by its text affects
only Round 1, the Teu-
NOTE: When the order of die rolls does not matter, roll several tons player goes ahead
dice at once to speed play. and gets it out of the
way, returning it to the
Teutonic Arts of War
The last two Strike steps deck.
of the Round remain: De-
fenders’ and then Attack- Domash retains his
ers’ Foot Melee. Domash’s L uchniki Capability,
Men-at-Arms Strike for so starts the Round’s
two Hits on Andreas. This Strikes with Archery
time, Andreas’s Knights— from his lone Light
who have already Struck Horse unit (4.4.2
this Round—step forward STRIKE Initiative).
to take the blows; rolls of Halving for Pursuit
“4” and then “5” absorb (4.4.2 TOTAL HITS)
both Hits but result in now applies, and the
Rout of the Knights unit. Hill still does in Round
Andreas’s Men-at-Arms 2, resulting in a ½ Hit, rounded up to 1 Hit. The Teutons roll Armor
then Strike but fail to Rout with a Men-at-Arms and avoid Routing on a “2”. That’s it for Round
Domash’s Armored coun- 2 Archery, so the Russians discard the Hill card.
terparts (see illustration at
right). The next Strike this Round is Melee by the Defending Horse, Do-
mash’s Light Horse again, for 1/2 Hit, halved to 1/4 for Pursuit,
Round 2. With Unrouted rounded up to one Hit. The Teutons roll with their Foot unit, last in
Lords on both sides, the Initiative order, so that the mounted Sergeants will be sure to Strike.
Battle continues into a A roll of “3” for the 1-3 Armored Men-at-Arms again succeeds in
second Round, starting fending off the blow.
again with the option to
Concede the Field (4.4.2 The two Teutonic Sergeants units Strike and, with a dash of good
NEW ROUND). The Teu- fortune for the Teutons, manage to Rout the Light Horse and then
tons as Attacker declare one of Domash’s two Men-at-Arms. The last Russian unit standing
first that they they will not applies a full Hit in Attacking Foot Melee, halved for Pursuit and
Concede. The Defending rounded back up to 1 Hit, Routing a Sergeants unit. The final step
Russian player decides of Round 2 then has the Teutonic Men-at-Arms Strike and, with a
that Domash has done failed Russian Protection roll of “5”, Rout Domash’s last troops.
enough to blunt the Teu- The Battle ends because one side Conceded, but had the Russians
tons’ advance and should not done so, it would have ended now anyway with Domash’s Rout.
not risk the worst effects
Retreat. Tracking down the Battles column of the Battle and Storm
table to the Ending Battle/Storm section, we see that first the Losers
must Retreat or Withdraw (4.4.3). There is no Stronghold at the
Battle Locale, so Domash must now Retreat to an adjacent Locale
using a Way other than that used by the Teutons to Approach (4.4.3
RETREAT, WITHDRAWAL, OR REMOVAL). He could join his
compatriot Vladislav at Kaibolovo to the north. But the Russian
player opts to fall back on Novgorod, moving Domash to Sablia.
Losses. Next, both sides check for Losses—whether any of their

Routed units are removed as casualties of the Battle (4.4.3 LOSS-
ES). Players roll one die for each unit and compare to the unit’s
standard Protection range (1-4 or 1-3 for Armored and 1 for Un- The player removes Heinrich’s cylinder from the map, his Service
armored). Now the Russians having had the prudence to Concede marker from the Calendar, and his mat from the Teutonic player
pays off: Forces that Retreat because they lost the Battle without area (1.5.1 DISBANDED). Heinrich’s Assets are lost.
having Conceded keep only the units rolling a “1”! Conceding the
Spoils. The only transfer of Assets from one side to the other in
Field represents assigning a rearguard to ensure an orderly retreat
this case derives from Domash’s Retreat: Retreating Lords get
and protection of one’s baggage train.
away with their Assets only if they Concede, and even then may
only take what they can carry Unladen (4.4.2 SPOILS). Domash
has three Sleds to haul his Provender away with him to Sablia, but
he had four Provender. The excess—one Provender—goes to the
victors, so is taken from Domash’s mat and added to Andreas’s.
Service. But that is not the end of the damage to Domash. Because
he Retreated (rather than Withdrawing into a Stronghold at the
Battle Locale), his Service will be curtailed (4.4.2 SERVICE). The
Russian player must roll a die and shift Domash’s Service marker
leftward on the Calendar a number of boxes equal to half the roll,
rounded up. The player rolls a “3” and shifts Domash’s marker
from box 7 to box 5—the very next 40 Days! Had the roll been a
“5” or “6”, Domash’s Service would have shifted into the current
Campaign, and (in this situation) only expenditure of the Veche’s
Coin could have prevented Domash’s Disband at the end of the
The Russian player rolls five dice (at the same time to speed play) current Command card (3.2.1, 3.3.2)!
for the five Routed Militia, saving two of them; two dice for the
Men-at-Arms in this case save both, while both Horse units are Aftermath. The final business from this Battle is to end the Com-
lost and removed. mand card (Andreas was out of actions anyway) and Feed/Pay/
Disband. Both Andreas and Domash either moved or fought—they
The Teutonic player rolls for Andreas’s units, gets lucky, and re- both did both—so each must Feed his troops (4.8.1). Neither has
covers all of them to good order (as illustrated above right). But more than six units on his mat, so each consumes just one Proven-
Heinrich suffers disaster: unlucky rolls remove all three of his der—Andreas the “Prov” marker that he just claimed from Domash!
units—Heinrich falls in Battle and is permanently removed from Andreas’s activation is over.
the game (4.4.4)!

Troops, expending one of those Provender (4.8).

NOTE: Unless using the advanced Vassal rule, Mustered Vassals’
Service markers stay in the Forces or Routed area of their Lord’s Siege. Knud & Abel are again up on the Teutons’ next card. The
mat—it does not matter which—to show they already Mustered. player has them use their entire Command card to undertake a
Siege action (4.5.1). Sometimes, the Garrison may Surrender the
The Teutonic attack weakened the enemy’s resolve and enabled Stronghold by rolling equal or lower than the number of Siege
Andreas to draw nearer to Novgorod. But Bishop Heinrich fell in markers (see the Commands table or 4.5.1 SURRENDER?). With
the bloody victory. Andreas—unlike Domash—is now on enemy a Lord inside however, there is no Surrender.
ground and will need to conquer a Russian Stronghold or return
Next, if the number of Besieging Lords is at least as great as the
to Friendly territory on his final card if he is to participate in the
Stronghold’s Capacity, Siege adds a second Siege marker (4.5.1
next 40 Days’ Levy (3.4).
SIEGEWORKS). The Besiegers are extending and improving their
trenches and perhaps adding fancier works such as siege engines,
Siege and Storm ramps across ditches, or mines under the walls. There are two
Taking an enemy Stronghold involves some combination of Siege— Besieging Lords outside the 1-Capacity Stronghold (as shown on
developing works around the fortification and perhaps seeking to the map and on the Strongholds table): more than enough, so the
starve it into Surrender—and Storm—assaulting it with force of player adds a second Siege marker.
arms (4.5.1-4.5.2). Sometimes, the Stronghold is defended only by
its inherent Garrison; sometimes, enemy Lords have Withdrawn Siege counts as fighting for everyone present (4.5.2 MOVED/
inside to defend it or for sanctuary against a stronger enemy. FOUGHT), so Knud & Abel, Andreas, and Vladislav all now must
Feed (4.8).
NOTE: Refer to the Commands table when selecting Command Storm. After whatever happens on the intervening Russian Com-
actions such as Siege or Storm (below) and to the Storm col- mand card, the next Teuton card is again Knud & Abel. This time,
umn of the Battle and Storm table for the details of the fight in the Teuton player judges the Siegeworks built up enough to Storm
Storming a Stronghold. Kaibolovo. Unlike Siege, the Storm requires just one action on the
card; however, it will end the activation (4.5.2). The player has
For our example, Knud & Abel have Approached Vladislav at Kai- Knud & Abel use their first Command (or first two with Treaty
bolovo Fort, and the Russian player has elected to have Vladislav of Stensby) to add some more Provender with Supply, then Storm
Withdraw inside instead of Battling in the field or Avoiding away as their final action.
(4.3.4). Vladislav had earlier improved Kaibolovo’s defenses with
the Stone Kremlin Capability (1.9.1, 3.4.4) and Foraged to build
up a stock of Provender (4.7.1).
Besiege. Upon Vladislav’s Withdrawal inside, the Teutons player
places a single Siege marker on his cylinder (4.3.5). The Russian
Lord and Fort are now Besieged. Starting the Siege ends Knud
& Abel’s actions for that card (4.3.5 ENCAMP). Knud & Abel
Marched, so they must Feed; Vladislav neither moved nor fought
so does not Feed (4.3, 4.8.1).
Vladislav on any of his Command cards that come up while he
is Besieged will only be able to Sally—Attack his Besiegers in
Battle—or, far more likely, Pass (4.2.2, 4.5.3, 4.7.5). A Besieged
Lord may use a Command card to place a Walls +1 marker with
Stone Kremlin, but Vladislav has already placed the maximum
one such marker per Stronghold with that Capability. Referring to the Storm column of the Battle and Storm table shows
The Teutons’ next Command card is Andreas, so the player Marches that Lords Array for Storm as for Battle, with a few twists (4.5.2)—
him up to join Knud & Abel in the Siege. Simply arriving at an • Only one Lord fights in Front; others are in Reserve.
existing Siege adds no Siege marker, nor does it automatically end • The Siege markers there help protect the Attackers.
the moving Lord’s actions (4.3.5). Andreas could use any remaining
• The Defender gets Garrison units.
Commands to Storm, Supply, Ravage, or—if Summer—Forage
(4.5.2, 4.6, 4.7.1, 4.7.2). The players put the Storm marker at Kaibolovo and
Array their Lords for the Storm as shown next page.
The Teuton player decides to wait for a better developed Siege
before risking a Storm (see below) and instead to have Andreas Knud & Abel as the active Lord must be the Front
gather Provender. Presume it is Rasputitsa or Summer: Andreas with center Attacker, with Andreas in Reserve and able to move up
a Boat can reach the Seaport at Luga Trade Route to share Knud against the Fort only later (4.5.2 ARRAY, 4.4.2 REPOSITION). The
& Abel’s Ships for two Provender per Supply action (4.6.2-4.6.3); Attackers will benefit from Walls 1-2 due to the two Siege markers
his Seats are too far away to add yet more. Andreas then Feeds his
(4.5.2 SIEGEWORKS).
For our example, we have
presumed that Knud &
Abel Levied B alista -
rii Crossbowmen earlier
(3.4.4) and that Vladislav
had Levied some Vassal
Militia (3.4.2).
The Defender, Vladislav,
benefits from a Garrison
of one Men-at-Arms unit
(as shown on the Fort
row of the Strongholds
table). The Garrison Men-
at-Arms will absorb Hits
before Vladislav’s Forces
have to and have Archery
with -2 to enemy Ar-
mor—they are Crossbow-
men (4.5.2 GARRISON).
Round 1 Archery. Storm
proceeds very much like
Battle (4.5.2), so we will The Danes’ Men-at-Arms now respond with Attackers’ Archery
focus here on what is from their Crossbowmen. Four units Strike for two Hits that must
different. The first dif- first get past the Stronghold’s Walls. The Strongholds table tells
ference: there is a De- us that Kaibolovo Fort has Walls 1-3. Stone Kremlin has modified
fending Garrison that that by +1 to Walls 1-4. The Russian player rolls two dice; rolls of
shoots Archery with -2 “3” and “5” mean that the Walls have stopped one of the two Hits.
Armor (4.5.2 GARRI- (By card text, the -2 of Crossbowmen applies only to unit Armor,
SON FORCES DURING not to Walls.) The Garrison is out front, in effect, so the Defender
STORM). A Defending must choose it to take the Hit; if it Routs, it is removed for this
Lord with a Crossbow- Storm (4.5.2 GARRISON FORCES DURING STORM). Here,
men or Archers card the Armored unit rolls a “2” and is gone (Armor 1-3, with -2 for
would add to that Defend- Crossbowmen). That exchange ends Archery.
ing Archery step. Here,
we get just the Garrison’s
½ Hit, rounded up.
A second difference, both
sides are protected by a
Walls effect (4.4.2 ROLL
WALLS, 4.5.2 STRONG-
HOLD EFFECTS and
SIEGEWORKS). The
Attackers have two Siege
markers, so the Garrison’s Archery must first penetrate Walls 1-2. A
roll of “3” fails to stop the crossbow bolts, and the Attackers must
absorb the Hit with a unit.
In Storm, the Attacker must take Hits with Armored units before
others (4.5.2 STRONGHOLD EFFECTS). Knud & Abel’s units are
all Armored anyway. The Teutons choose a Knights unit, which can
withstand the Hit on a “1” or “2” instead of the usual 1-4 (Forces
Table, Knights Protection; 4.5.2 GARRISON FORCES DURING
STORM). The player rolls, and the Knights Rout on a “4”.
Round 1 Melee. In Storm, all units of a side Melee at the same

time—Horse and Foot does not matter, as the men are not on
their horses (4.5.2 STRONGHOLD EFFECTS). Walls, including
Siegeworks, operate the same way against Melee as we just saw
against Archery.
Vladislav’s four Melee Hits first roll against the Attackers’ two
Siege markers (Walls 1-2, 4.5.2 SIEGEWORKS) and then against
the Protection of whatever Armored units the Teutons player choos-
es to take the Hits that make it through. An average result here
would Rout one or two of Knud & Abel’s units. For example, the
Siegeworks manage to blunt one of the four Hits, Sergeants take
one Hit and Rout on the second, then the Knights brave the final Hit.
Knud & Abel finish out the first Round’s Strikes with five Hits from
their five Unrouted units. Note that Knights cause two Hits each
in Battle but only one in Storm—no charging lances here on the
rampart (Forces table, Knights Strikes). We can expect Kaibolovo’s
Walls 1-4 to block over half of the Hits, then Vladislav’s Armored
units (if the Russian player chooses them) to withstand half of those The removed Lord’s Assets except for any Ships, in this case one
getting through. Rout of one defending Armored unit would be an Sled and three Provender, become Spoils distributed among the
average result. Let’s say the Teuton player gets lucky and Routs Storm’s victors, here Knud & Abel and Andreas (4.4.3 SPOILS,
both Russian Men-at-Arms. 4.5.2 SACK). The Teuton player decides to give the captured Sled
to Knud & Abel and all three Provender to Andreas, placing the
Round 2. Having arrived at the end of Round 1, notice that the
Asset markers received from the Russian player onto the Lord
Battle and Storm table shows different entries for the two types
mats accordingly (4.4.3 SPOILS). See the mats illustrated above.
of engagement. In Storm, the number of Rounds is limited by the
number of Siege markers placed, and a Storm that ends before Further tending to the mats, the player rolls for Routed units, to
all Defenders Rout is lost by the Attackers (4.5.2 ENDING THE determined which are removed as Losses from the fight, similar to
STORM). Also, the Attacker has the ability to end the Storm early Losses after a Battle (4.4.4). In Storm, however, each Attacking unit
by Conceding; the Defender does not. must roll a “1” to survive, regardless of their usual Protection (4.5.2
ENDING THE STORM). Our example shows some lucky Danish
If you work out our situation for Round 2 of the Storm of Kai-
Knights managing to survive the ordeal but the Sergeants not.
bolovo, you should conclude that the Attackers—who will lead
off the Round with their Crossbowmen—have just an iffy chance
of Routing Vladislav on this second Round. If they fail, the Storm
is over and Kaibolovo will have held. (As an aside, Archery Hits
making it past the Defenders’ Walls could still fail to Rout the
Unarmored Militia or Light Horse on a “1”, the same as for the
Armored Sergeants. By card text, the 2 of Crossbowmen affects
only Armored not Unarmored Protection.)
Sack, Losses, Aftermath. Let’s presume Vladislav does Rout.
Tracking down the Storm column of the Battle and Storm sheet
tells us that the Defenders have lost and Kaibolovo is Sacked:
Vladislav is permanently removed from the game and awards
Spoils to the Teutons; the Fort is Conquered and similarly awards On the map, the Teuton player marks Kaibolovo with a black
Spoils (4.5.2 SACK). “Conquered 1VP” marker and on the Calendar chalks up one
added victory point for the Teuton side. The Russian Fort is now a
The Russian player sets aside Vladislav’s cylinder, Service marker, Teutonic Stronghold, meaning it is Friendly for the Teutons (1.3.1
and mat. From the mat, the player returns Vladislav’s Stone Krem- FRIENDLY): they can Pay Lords with Loot there (3.2.2), Levy there
lin card to the Russian Arts of War deck, gives Vladislav’s Assets (3.4), and Forage there in any Season (4.7.1, since they declined to
to the Teuton player, and sets aside the rest of the items from the Ravage the Locale before Conquering the Fort). However, they may
mat—Vladislav’s units and Vassal markers (1.5 DISBANDED). no longer Ravage there, because Ravaging at one’s own Stronghold
or Friendly Locale is prohibited (4.7.2)—the Lords will now rule
that land as their own; wrecking it would harm their income!
Command actions are automatically over after the Storm, even if
Knud & Abel did have actions left (4.4.5 Aftermath Recovery, 4.5.2
ENDING THE STORM and SACK).

Both Attacking Lords Fought in the Storm—including Andreas the Coin with an earlier Tax Command (4.7.4), let’s say, taking
even though he stayed in Reserve (4.5.2 ENDING THE STORM, advantage of the fact that Pskov when Conquered serves as a Seat
4.8.1)—so each consumes Provender to Feed their surviving for him (1.3.1 SEATS). Yaroslav’s issue is that the Levy marker has
Troops. The player removes the Moved/Fought marker(s). Pre- advanced on the Calendar into the box holding his Service marker.
suming neither side wishes to Pay Lords nor must Disband any at Without Pay, the immediately following step of the Levy will result
this time (4.8.2), the Command card is done. in his Disband (3.3). His marker is in the same box, so the player
would take his cylinder from the map and place it on the Calendar
Pay and Disband two boxes ahead, into box 7, because Yaroslav’s Service rating is
“2”, as shown on his Service marker. His mat and Service marker
would be set aside, and he would again become Ready for Muster
two Levies hence (3.3.2) – Yaroslav’s Service does not last as long
as other Lords, but he can be recalled sooner.
On Friendly ground in a Conquered Stronghold, Yaroslav could
expend Loot, but he has none. To keep him in the fight, the player
spends the Coin from Yaroslav’s mat to Pay Yaroslav himself to
stay Mustered (his troops also are receiving pay). The one Coin
We wrap up our sample play with a look at Pay and Disband. At the spent shifts Yaroslav’s Service marker one box to the right, into
end of each Command card (whether or not anyone had to Feed) box 6, enough for him to stay in action for now (3.2.1).
and during each Levy, both sides get an opportunity to expend Coin
or Loot to extend their Lords’ Service, then must Disband those The other Service marker in the cur-
who are at or beyond their Service limit (3.2, 3.3, 4.8.2). This way, rent Levy’s box is Domash. He is at
players are forced to Disband Lords only when they run out of the Sablia with neither Coin nor Loot.
resources needed to entice them to keep the field. Coin and Loot can Pay Lords only at
the same Locale (1.5.2 SHARING,
Let’s say it is the start of a new 3.2.1, 3.2.2). But there is one excep-
Levy, the first of Late Winter tion: Coin from the Russian Novgorod
1241. The players finished the Veche box. The Russian player can
previous 40 Days for box 4, flipped deliver Veche Coin to any Lords
the “Campaign” marker there to anywhere who are not under Siege.
“Levy”, and advanced it into box
5 as shown in the Calendar situ- The board’s Veche box
ation above (2.2.2, 4.9.4). They currently has one Coin in
then drew Events (3.1.3), which it. The Russian player has
included a Russian draw of Batu the choice of spending it to
Khan, shifting Andreas’s Service pay Domash or to Disband
marker leftward from box 6 to him. If Domash Disband-
box 4 (representing central Europe ed, his cylinder would go
pleading with the Teutonic Knights four boxes ahead on the
to help stem the Mongol advance). Calendar, to box 9, which
is beyond the end of the
The next Levy step after drawing Arts of War Events is Pay (3.2). scenario underway (Watland). Therefore, the player decides to Pay
Both sides now have some Service issues to tend to. Let’s have a the Coin for Domash, and his Service shifts to box 6.
look at each.
Now a complicated situation at Kaibolovo. Here Teutons Andreas

Yaroslav is at Pskov with one Coin marker on his mat. He obtained and Knud & Abel have begun a Siege of the Fort with the Russian
Lord Vladislav inside. Knud & Abel have obtained a Coin from
some earlier Spoils or Tax, while Andreas has Loot that he brought Campaign Synopsis
along from his Ravage of the Town of Gdov, hoping to use the Loot Here we summarize the historical campaigns depicted in the
to Pay either himself or Knud & Abel (3.2.2). game’s scenarios. The calendar timeline in the center spread of
this booklet adds detail.
Unfortunately for that plan, the Teutons in this case failed to com-
plete their Siege. Loot can only be used at Friendly Locales (3.2.2, Pope Gregory IX had by 1240 through his legate William cobbled
the Lord is distributing livestock and other goods locally), and a together an alliance among the fractious kings, bishop-princes,
Siege Locale is not Friendly to either side (1.3.1 FRIENDLY). and Teutonic warrior-monks of the Baltic. The diplomatic success
coincided with a Mongol devastation of Russian principalities that
Even worse, the Khan’s sudden intervention in faraway parts of
made a Latin crusade on schismatic Novgorod seem feasible. The
Europe has created a crisis for Andreas. If he does not receive some
project would result in almost two years of campaigning that would
material encouragement to stay with the Russian adventure right
go far beyond the usual raids and counter-raids between crusaders
now, he will be off to fight Tatars for good: his Service marker is in
and Russians and climax in a storied battle along the frozen shore
box 4, left of the current Levy, and a Disband step will immediately
of Lake Peipus.
follow this Pay step (3.3).
The Swedes struck first, with an amphibious landing on the mouth
The Teutonic player faces an unpleasant choice: allow Andreas
of the Neva in high summer, intent on choking Novgorod’s Baltic
to Disband permanently (3.3.1 Beyond Service Limit) or Share
Sea trade and perhaps on conquering their way up to Ladoga and
Knud & Abel’s only Coin with Andreas to slide Andreas’s Service
then toward the great river city itself. But Novgorod’s prince,
marker right one box into box 5—the current Levy. Spending the
Aleksandr, quickly assembled its fleet of Russian river boats to
Coin would not prevent Andreas from Disbanding, only keep his
throw the Swedes back into the sea and out of any further part in
cylinder on the Calendar for a possible future re-Muster. Because
the drive on Rus.
Andreas’s cylinder would go four boxes ahead—beyond the end
of the scenario, the same as discussed above for Domash—the After this inauspicious preamble to the crusade, it was Russian
player opts to have Knud & Abel hold on to their Coin; Andreas fractiousness that would set the stage for the main contest. Not long
departs the game. after Aleksandr’s victorious return to Novgorod, he and the city’s
ruling nobles quarreled, and he left for his homeland to the east,
his father’s Grand Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. The resulting
command vacuum left Novgorod the Great far less agile when the
need arose to respond to the Teutonic storm then brewing.
Pleskau. Livonian bishop Hermann of Dorpat and his brother-in-
law, Russian prince and outcast of Pskov Yaroslav, had raised an
army—probably including Danes as well as crusader-knights that
the Teutonic Order had taken in from the over-zealous and now dis-
solved Brethren of the Sword. In late summer 1240, they marched
on Novgorod’s allies in Pskov (Pleskau in German), seizing the
city’s border stronghold of Izborsk.
The Pskovans, intent on retaking their fort, put their own army into
field battle against the invader. It was a mistake. Their defeat was
catastrophic, striking down their commander Gavrilo and scattering
their remnants deep into Rus.
Meanwhile, Vladislav inside the Fort is fine: his Service marker
The Teutons arrived at Pskov’s gates, spent a week ravaging the
is still to the right of the Levy marker; he is content to keep up his
surrounding area, and obtained the city’s surrender—perhaps by
resistance. Note that, were his Service instead now in box 5, he
treachery of Yaroslavites within the walls, perhaps in the straight-
would Disband normally, even though under Siege (3.3.1, represent-
forward wish of what must have been a minimal garrison to avoid
ing captivity and release, negotiated parole, or some such terms).
a bloody storm and sack.
His cylinder would go on the Calendar and his Assets would be
discarded, with no Spoils to the Besiegers (similarly to Conquest Watland. Over the winter into 1241, the Teutons and Danes pressed
of a Stronghold by Siege, 4.5.1 SURRENDER? Terms). Note also along the Baltic shore into the Vod region (Watland in German),
that Vladislav Besieged could pay himself Coin, had he any; but ostensibly to convert the pagan tributaries of Novgorod living there
the player could not spend Veche Coin on him while he is under and in the surrounding lands. At Koporye, on or near the site of a
Siege (3.2.1). Novgorodan outpost with access to the sea, the crusaders by the
spring erected a new castle. From there, they ravaged the Luga
River approach to Novgorod, reaching Russian towns just short of
the great city and carrying off so much livestock that no plowing
could be done in the spring.
The nobles of Novgorod swallowed their pride and called upon join crusader Livonia to Prussia in a grand crusader state. Then, in
Suzdalia to send Aleksandr and his dedicated druzhina warriors the winter, recently converted pagans on islands off Leal rose up
to their rescue. The Grand Prince for reasons of his own offered against Bishop Heinrich, requiring Andreas to lead an army across
instead a younger son, Andrey, but the Novgorodans declined and the sea ice to subdue them. It would be up to Bishop Hermann to
held out for the victor of the Neva. lead a response to Aleksandr.
The Teutons meanwhile suffered their own disagreements, as tur- Peipus. Reinforced by his brother Andrey, Aleksandr that winter
moil in Denmark upon the death of King Valdemar drew his sons marched a large Novgorodan army on Pskov and reconquered it,
home to contest the throne. Livonian Bishop Heinrich departed for sending the garrison back to Novgorod in chains. He then pressed
Italy to seal the Teutons’ claims to all the way to Karelia, but the into Livonia—how deeply is in question—and used his army to
northern crusaders’ control would never reach the Neva let alone ravage the countryside.
beyond it. Larger priorities loomed for the Teutonic Knights—par-
ticularly the march of Batu Khan’s Mongol army toward central Hermann formed his own army to take on Aleksandr’s and suc-
Europe. ceeded in catching and crushing a Russian advance column and
killing its Novgorodan commander Domash. Aleksandr on his way
Return of the Prince. By the summer of 1241, either the Mongol back into Rus turned to face the pursuing Teutons at the Uzmen
pressure on Suzdalia had ebbed enough, or the Teutonic pressure crossing at the southern neck of Lake Peipus (Chudskoye in Rus-
on Rus had built enough, that Novgorod’s veche assembly and its sia). Aleksandr drew his army up along the frozen ma rshy banks.
ally to the east finally came to terms. Aleksandr resumed his rule of There the Teutons attacked on April 5th, 1242, charging in a wedge.
the city and led a campaign by the Novgorodans and their northern
tributaries to drive the Latin invaders out of Vodia. His army suc- Enveloped by the greater numbers of Russians and thinned by
ceeded in the conquest of Koporye castle, whereupon Aleksandr Aleksandr and Andrey’s masses of archers, the Teutons routed,
paroled some of the garrison’s Teutons, took others prisoner back suffering losses as the enemy pursued them back across the ice.
to Novgorod, and hanged Vodians and Estonians as traitors. The battlefield defeat, on top of the recent Teutonic reverses at
Aleksandr’s reconquest in the north compounded other problems for Koporye and Pskov and of Aleksandr’s raid on Hermann’s lands,
those Teutonic Knights still intent on any project in Rus. Gregory were enough seal the peace. Rome in any case was now focused
had died, depriving the northern crusade of a great advocate. Mean- on the selection of a new pope, while central Europe and Rus each
while, the Order’s deputy provincial master Andreas—who had sought their own recovery from the advent of Batu Khan. In the
been acting in the absence of the master, Dietrich—now faced the Baltic, Teutons and Russian exchanged prisoners but soon returned
pull not only of calls for help against the Khan but a new Teutonic to incursions and raids in the manner of those of 1240-1242, across
campaign against the Balts west of Riga that might help to one day Baltic borders that survive to this day.
Nevsky’s gameboard map in geographic context, including several cards. Note that the game map draws Ladoga,Velikiye Luki, and
off-map places cited in game materials such as the Arts of War Karelia in a bit to include them as Locales for maneuver.

[AS pp 141,154-165, 200-202; DN pp 14, 20-21, 51; EC pp xiv,

Lord Histories 133; WU pp 94-100]
This historical background on Lords portrayed in the game expands
on the play aid sheets showing the Lords in relation to one another.
See Selected Sources later in this booklet regarding abbreviations
given here in brackets.
The Teutons and Their Allies

Chief architect of the Teutonic conquest of Livonia was a Lower
Saxon cleric, Albert von Buxhövden (Buxtehude), who eventually
established a bishopric for himself at Riga. Albert doled fiefs out to
his family from the conquered lands, making his brother Hermann
Bishop of Leal and then, after its capture in 1224, of Dorpat in the
From the Teutonic Knights’ 1237 union with the Livonian Sword Estonian region of Ugaunia. (Here we show Hermann’s coat of
Brethren onward, a provincial master (Landmeister) commanded arms as the earliest known for Dorpat.) With strongholds along the
the Order’s activities in Livonia. With some uncertainty regarding Russian frontier and a tie by family marriage to Russian enemies
1240-1242, it appears that the German Dietrich von Grüningen held of Aleksandr from nearby Pskov, Hermann was a natural choice
the Livonian post, while his deputy, the Dutchman Andreas von to command a Teutonic crusade into Rus.
Felben, acted in his stead during Dietrich’s frequent abse nces. (For Hermann had reason to look eastward. After Albert died in 1229,
Andreas’s coat of arms, we show the Teutonic Knights’ cross with Hermann took over management of an alliance with Pskov through
an eagle borrowed from the arms of the Teutonic Grand Master.) its ruler Vladimir Mstislavich. Another Buxhövden brother, the
Andreas’s rise as a Teutonic Knight is obscure. He may well have knight Theodoric (Dietrich), had married Vladimir’s daughter.
served in the separate and more aggressive Livonian order of Sword When her brother Yaroslav clashed with Novgorod and the House
Brethren. But whatever his previous loyalties, as Teutonic Land- of Suzdal, Hermann gave his brother-in-law and claimant to the
meister he gave rather halting support to the crusade in Rus—at Pskovan throne refuge in the Dorpat bishopric’s other key strong-
least whenever competing demands stretched the Order’s military hold, Odenpäh.
resources, which was often. From the Master’s residence at Wenden, Dorpat and Odenpäh both already had featured in fighting between
threats and opportunities to the west and south must have appeared Teutons and Russians in 1220s and 1230s, and the 1240 and 1242
more urgent or attractive than the over-ambitious project to east. campaigns appear in local context very much a continuation. In
Andreas may have commanded during the 1240 campaign to Iz- addition to his ally Yaroslav’s druzhina, Bishop Herman could
borsk and Pskov, but he is not mentioned. References in the Livo- call upon his own Teutonic vassals at Odenpäh, Helmold von
nian chronicle to “brothers” and in Novgorod’s to “men of Fellin” Lüneburg and Johannes von Dolen, plus local Estonian auxiliaries.
in that war more likely meant local Teutonic Knights, especially And behind Hermann stood the eager ex-members of the order
ex-Sword Brethren. The Teutonic Order’s role and therefore that of Sword Brethren—founded by his brother Albert back in Riga
of Andreas appears more prominent in the Livonian alliance that decades before.
invaded the Vod region in spring 1241. For the Teutonic response Hermann led the crushing victory over the pro-Suzdal Pskovans in
to Aleksandr’s 1242 incursion, Andreas stayed at Riga. 1240 and an initially successful response to Aleksandr’s incursion in
By the time of the Order’s successes in the Vod, calls must already 1242—achieving the ambush and destruction of a vanguard under
have been coming in to Riga and Wenden for help against the the Novgorodan commander Domash as the Russians withdrew
Mongol invasion of Latindom (see the History note for Russian across Ugaunia. But Hermann drew blame for the final defeat at
Event #R10, Batu Khan—Mongols Turn West). Closer to home, Peipus; as the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle summed it up:
Master Dietrich in 1241 began assembling a Teutonic campaign The bishop did not sit still, but ordered his men to hurry to
to capture the lands west of Riga (#R17, Dietrich von Grüningen the Brothers’ army and oppose the Russians. ... But they had
leads Order to Kurland). Even more pressing, a revolt in late brought along too few people, and the Brothers’ army was also
1241 by the still converting Baltic islanders of Ösel (Saaremaa) too small. Nevertheless they decided to attack the Russians.
northwest of Riga drew Andreas’s personal attention—indeed his
command of a daring march across Baltic Sea ice—as the local [AS pp 124-137, 159-167; DN pp 11-14, 20, 41, 54-68, 84-85; EC
bishop, Heinrich, proved incapable of suppressing his rebellious pp 99, 133; WU pp 94, 98-100]
flock (#R9, Osilian Revolt).
After the Teutonic debacle on Lake Peipus in April 1242, Andreas
repaired briefly to his Dutch homeland, returning the following
year as Dietrich’s deputy once more and finally rising to become
Livonian Landmeister in his own right by 1248.

Around 1234, papal legate William of Modena arrived in Livonia In 1219, Danish King Valdemar II mustered his fleet, landed
seeking to calm feuds among the German crusaders and between at Reval (Tallinn) on the Estonian coast, and began to fortify a
them and the King of Denmark. The Livonian Sword Brethren, stronghold there. With defeat of an Estonian army in battle, the
against the inclinations of the bishops and the Teutonic Order, had King expanded Danish dominion and soon forced Bishop Albert
been seizing Estonian lands claimed by the King. As part of a larger of Riga to cede German claims to the northern Estonian regions
accommodation, William soon installed a Dominican, Heinrich, of Harrien, Jerwen, and Wierland. But Albert’s fanatical Livonian
in a new bishopric comprising parts of the large Baltic Estonian Sword Brethren were also blazing into Estonia—they seized Har-
islands and the western Estonian mainland—areas variously under rien and Wierland for themselves in 1225, then Reval in 1227. Only
the sway of the Danes, the Bishop of Riga, and the Sword Brethren. the death of many Sword Brothers in a 1236 debacle in Lithuania
(Heinrich’s coat of arms here shows sword and crook from arms enabled papal arbitration to calm the crusader feud. Valdemar
carved in the castle of a later Bishop of Ösel-Wiek and blue field in 1238 by treaty gave up Jerwen but confirmed his claim to the
from the seals of Ösel Island [Saaremaa] and its stronghold of rest of northern Estonia. (See Teutonic Capability #T1 Treaty of
Arensburg [Kuressaare].) Stensby – Danish-Teutonic comity enforced.)
Heinrich was beset with challenges from within and without. Local As part of the arrangement, the Pope expected of Valdemar that he
vassals—the brothers Odward and Heinrich von Lode—initially would support the Teutonic Knights militarily in further crusades,
rebelled against their new lord, requiring William to engage the including eastward into Rus, especially with his fleet. The King an-
Teutonic Knights in an alliance with Heinrich to help force the vas- swered the call in 1240 by sending two of his sons, Knud and Abel,
sals back in line. When the Estonians of Ösel rose up in the winter to lead Danish contingents, local vassals, and Estonian auxiliaries
of 1241-1242, it again took Teutonic Knights to quell the revolt. against Pskov. Knud was an older half-brother; son of the King by
And Danish claims seemed ever in the mix: part of the arrangement a mistress, his father had nevertheless for a time made him a Duke
that returned Estonian lands to Danish control was that the King in Estonia. The younger Abel was one of several legitimate heirs
would not attack Heinrich (see Teutonic Capability #T1 Treaty of to the throne. (We show their coat of arms as the Dannebrog cross
Stensby – Danish-Teutonic comity enforced). for that symbol’s legendary origin in Valdemar’s Estonian crusade.)
Heinrich brought a powerful fleet to the war with the Russians, After Pskov, a Teutonic push eastward along the Baltic coast aligned
useful in choking off their trade. Beyond that, Heinrich receives with the ambitions of the Danish King’s mostly German vassals in
note more frequently for his efforts to secure his claims to conquests Estonia, whom he distrusted after inheriting them from the Teutonic
than for campaigning to conquer them in the first place. In April crusaders. While there is historical debate, Danish-ruled Teutonic
1241 at Riga, he sealed an alliance with the Order that gave him vassals such as Dietrich von Kivel, potentate of nearby Wierland,
a stake in the Vod (then in Teutonic hands) and Neva, Ingria, and and Otto von Lüneburg probably joined in the winter 1240 invasion
Karelia (all still under Novgorod’s sway). Heinrich then departed of Novgorod’s Vod protectorate and raising a crusader castle at
for Rome personally to obtain the Pope’s approval on behalf of Koporye to hold the area.
the Teutonic alliance that he be named Bishop of these yet-to-be
converted peoples. Unfortunately for the Danish enterprise in Rus, King Valdemar
died in the spring, setting off an unraveling of Denmark as one
Heinrich’s bishopric did participate in the Teutonic campaign into heir rebelled against another. The older son Eric became king, but
Curonia in 1241-1242. If he in the end never did rule over the Abel, with Knud in support, returned home to oppose him, finally
Vodians, Ingrians, or Karelians, he did manage via his Teutonic winning the throne for himself in 1250. (See Russian Event #R11
alliances to fend off the Danes. A 1243 treaty reinforced mutual Valdemar – Danish unrest after king’s death. In the game, Knud
defense among the Livonian bishops and the Teutonic Knights, per- & Abel thereafter represent other Danish captains posted in Estonia
haps against the Russians in the aftermath of Peipus, but probably and commanding Denmark’s troops and vassals.)
moreso against the Danes. Abel Valdemarsen, as King of Denmark,
in 1251 finally relinquished claims to Ösel and Wiek. A reference in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle to the “the King’s
men” at the Battle of the Ice has led historians to reason Danish
[AS pp 142, 154-164; DN p57; WU pp 95-96] vassal participation in campaign of 1242 against Aleksandr; other
historians dispute the conclusion. Regardless, the Danes proved
unable to halt or overturn Aleksandr’s reconquests. A century later,
another King Valdemar sold Denmark’s remaining claim to Estonia
to the Teutonic Knights for 10,000 marks.
[AS pp 142-143, 154-162, 229-232; DN pp 41, 48-54, 59, 67, 81;
EC pp 109-113, 133-134, 199-200; WU pp 91-95, 99]
also from the vicinity of Riga to their own monasteries nearer

the Russian frontier. The Teutonic shakeup had come at a time
of larger Livonian tensions with the Russians, apparent Russian
vulnerability from Mongol ravages, and a papal push for a crusade
into Novgorodan Rus.
The dawn of the 13th Century saw a blossoming Northern Crusade. Beyond their Latin zeal and their bitterness over the cession to the
Bishop Albert at Riga had discovered that he would need more than Danes, financial need guaranteed that ex-Sword Brothers would
missionaries and peaceful persuasion to convert the Baltic pagans jump at the 1240 Drang nach Osten. Gathered in monasteries and
within his reach. German knights flocked to the Baltic as an easier castles as dictated by missionary strategy, the Brethren lacked the
sojourn and duty than the doomed reconquest of the faraway Holy lucrative, self-sustaining estates of typical feudal lords such as the
Land might offer. But to conquer the Livs and Letts and keep them prince-bishops. They had to expand to survive. Thwarted to the
Christian, Albert needed a standing military arm to orient, organize, south by Saule and to the north by Stensby, a search for revenue
and buttress the seasonal crusaders. in a press to the east beckoned as a best option.
The Bishop therefore invented his own order of warrior monks: the A likely leader of these Teutonic malcontents for the 1240 to 1242
Livonian Sword Brethren (Brothers of the Knighthood of Christ campaigns was Rudolf von Kassel. Rudolf had been a nettlesome
in Livonia). He recruited to this Brotherhood those men of any local rival to Bishop Hermann and at a minimum held to the op-
social origin who were not just after a summer adventure and back position faction within the Order’s post-merger leadership. (We
home to Saxony but would swear to a lifetime of biting winters show Rudolf’s coat of arms as the red sword and cross that the
and rampart watches that promised more shivering than chivalry. Sword Brothers wore on the shoulder of their white mantels, before
Rudolf in the game leads survivors of this order. trading them in for the black cross of the Teutonic Knights.) Rudolf
commanded at Castle Wenden, a residence of the Sword Brethren
It should not surprise us that this selection of warriors would be, Master and now of the Teutonic Landmeister, and from there must
as historian Eric Christiansen puts it, “a rough and ready lot”. In have retained some substantial lordship within the new Livonian
1209, one such brother killed his order’s first master with an axe. Order. (A castellan, also called “constable”, was the governor of
Excessive violence against not only pagans but converts became so a castle and its district.)
routine that the Pope’s legate William of Modena had to implore the
Sword Brethren to be lenient in extracting tithes, lest their cruelty Although references to Rudolf are sparse, he almost certainly led in
lead to relapses into paganism. And once settled into conquered answering his erstwhile opponent’s call from Dorpat for the Order’s
forts near Rus, the Brethren led Baltic converts in looting and killing help in the drive on Pskov in 1240. Former Sword Brothers took
campaigns against Russian Christians as well. (See also Teutonic part in the Koporye campaign of 1240-1241, and Rudolf could well
Capability #T7 Warrior Monks and Event #T8 Teutonic Fervor.) have led personally there also. Finally, the “Brothers” noted in the
Livonian Chronicle as joining Bishop Hermann’s forces in oppos-
Nor does it seem surprising in retrospect that this heavily armed ing Alexander’s invasion of 1242 must have comprised mostly or
and aggressive group should soon come into friction with the entirely the adherents of Rudolf’s faction, as the Landmeister was
Bishop who created them, his brother Bishop Hermann, and their busy in the west of Livonia. Disappearance of Rudolf from the
ostensible co-crusader, the King of Denmark. It was the Brethren’s records after the Battle of the Ice suggests that he fell there.
progressive occupation—against the wishes of the Church—of
Estonian lands claimed by the Danes that most bedeviled Legate Blocked in the east, the Brothers fairly or not complained of halting
William’s coordination of the northern crusaders in the 1230s. support from the Bishops and the Teutonic Masters for the Russian
Only with the decimation of the Sword Brethren at the 1236 Battle venture. But Dietrich took the opportunity in the fanatics’ defeat,
of Saule in Lithuania was a solution in sight: agreement by the just as Legate William had before him, to clean house. Recalcitrant
surviving Brethren to union with the Teutonic Order, as its new warrior-monks came to heel, and the Teutonic Order unified.
Livonian branch. This Livonia Order under new leadership made [AS pp 153, 159-160; DN
peace with Denmark and ceded back to King Valdemar most of the pp 51, 67, 79; Crusading
Brethren’s winnings in northern Estonia. (See Teutonic Capability and Chronicle Writing on the
#T1 Treaty of Stensby.) Medieval Baltic Frontier pp
The Teutonic Order thus made its proper entry into Livonia via the 16-17, 34, 42, 80, 93, 131; EC
Sword Brethren. Indeed, the Teutonic Knights already may have in pp xiv, 79-83, 99-100; WU pp
part been following the Brethren’s example in shifting their focus 57, 84-88, 90-100]
from regaining the Holy Land to converting the pagans of Prussia.
The Teutonic Landmeister in Prussia took on the command of the continued on page 26
Order in Livonia, and in 1238 Dietrich von Grüningen took on the
separate office of Livonian Master.
Meanwhile, those former Sword Brothers who were most resent-
ful of the new subordination resisted the authority of their new
Teutonic Master and withdrew not only from Danish Estonia but
Time Line This calendar integrates available information between coats of arms denote Service within the game’s ratings,
and surmise on when Lords Mustered in game terms and in context and dashed lines extended Service, such as via Pay. For source
of milestones in the conflict (see Campaign Synopsis). Solid lines abbreviations, see Selected Sources.


went. Yaroslav Vladimirovich apparently was ransomed in 1235 or

later and went right back to the pursuit of his claim to Pskov out of
Odenpäh. Back in Rus, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich’s son Aleksandr
became Prince of Novgorod in 1236.
Yaroslav Vladimirov, exile of Pskov, thus appears to have been
another driver—along with papal legate William of Modena, Bishop
Hermann, and the former Sword Brethren—of the Teutons’ 1240
invasion of Rus. His druzhina (princely retinue) probably took part
Albert von Buxhövden, Bishop of Riga, like any great feudal lord, in the Izborsk-Pskov campaign. His friends who had remained in
furthered his family not only by enfiefing relatives with conquered positions of authority inside Pskov may have been important to its
land but also by marrying them into nearby princely houses. He capture by and rule under the Teutonic victors. (See also Teutonic
persuaded his brother Theodoric (Dietrich) to marry a Russian Event #T7 Tverdilo – Pskovan ally.) And he probably participated
princess, the daughter of the Knyaz (Prince) of Pskov Vladimir in subsequent Teutonic raids eastward to ravage Novgorodan Rus.
Mstislavich. The idea was to ally with Orthodox Christian Rus- After the Teutons’ 1242 defeat at the hands of the Suzdalian Alek-
sians against pagan Balts. By 1212, Vladimir was helping Albert sandr and his brother Andrey, Yaroslav Vladimirovich appears to
strengthen relations with another Russian, the Prince of Polotsk. have remained tied to both Odenpäh and Pskov for a time, as his
Temporarily expelled from Pskov in 1213, Vladimir served as a wife was murdered in Odenpäh by a stepson in 1243 and buried
bailiff for Albert, overseeing converted Letts in Catholic Livonia. in Pskov. Yaroslav must have patched things up with Aleksandr,
As late as 1236, Pskovans fought alongside Sword Brethren in the however, as each of them led Novgorodan forces in a 1245 cam-
Saule campaign in Lithuania. paign against the Lithuanians.
But Christian comity waxed and waned as the Brethren goaded [AS pp 98, 107-129, 134-137, 160-167; DN pp 11, 18-20, 51, 54,
the Rigan Buxhövden on to conquer ever more pagan strongholds 56; EC pp xvii, 99, 102; JF pp 45-57, 71-75, 104, 177; WU p94]
and the Russian princes in and beyond Pskov grappled with how
to respond to crusader encroachment. The Teutons conquered the
Estonian forts of Odenpäh and Dorpat (Estonian Tartu, Russian
Yuryev) from pagan Balts whom the Russians claimed as tribu-
taries. Tensions built with raids and counter-invasions. By 1224,
the fighting got bad enough to require a peace treaty among Riga,
Pskov, and Novgorod that gave Pskov continued tribute from
Balts in Livonia while confirming Theodoric at Odenpäh and his
Buxhövden brother Hermann at Dorpat.
Russian contention over whether to accommodate or fight the
Teutons eventually played itself out in the larger dynastic strug-
gle between the princely descendants of Mstislav Khrabry (“The
Brave”)—especially his son Mstislav Udaloy (“The Bold”) and, in The Russians and Their Allies
Pskov, his brother Vladimir—and those of Vsevolod III of Vlad-
imir-Suzdal, with the latter house increasingly raising the banner
of resistance. Vsevolod’s sons and grandsons by the 1230s sealed Aleksandr Yaroslavich
their grip on the thrones of Novgorod and Suzdalia to the southeast
Prince of Novgorod
and with them their dominance of northern Rus.
The line of Vsevolod III “Big Nest” that in the 1230s
In Pskov, Mstislav’s son Vladimir had reigned intermittently and won the Russian tug of war over Novgorod drew its
mostly maintained the alliance with Livonia. But in 1232, Yaroslav strength from the Grand Principality of Vladimir-Su-
Vsevolodovich from Novogorod saw to an internal takeover of zdal – Suzdalia being a region east of Novgorodan
Pskov. Vladimir Mstislavich’s own son Yaroslav—claimant to the Rus along transits to the bread basket of the interior
Pskovan throne—reacted as his father had back in 1213: he fled and the trade of Asia, and Vladimir being its great-
west into Livonia, to Odenpäh to seek support from his German est city. (See also Russian Capability #R17 Veliky
brother-in-law there and, through him, from his more powerful Knyaz.) Yury Vsevolodovich had ruled there as
in-law, Prince-Bishop Hermann of Dorpat. (Here Yaroslav’s coat veliky knyaz (grand prince) from the 1210s. His
of arms draws from elements of the more modern seal of Pskov brother Yaroslav was elected to the throne of Novgorod for a third
and its region.) time in 1230 and in 1236 saw to its transfer to his young son Alek-
sandr. (We show Aleksandr’s coat of arms as a lion rampant, from
Yaroslav Vladimirovich and other Mstislavich partisans with Ger-
the arms of the city of Vladimir.)
man help in 1233 attacked Pskov via Izborsk but met defeat, with
Yaroslav taken prisoner to Pereyaslavl in Suzdalia. Vsevolod’s son The arrival in early 1238 at Vladimir’s city gates of the massive
Yaroslav counterattacked Dorpat and Odenpäh in 1234, and so it Mongol army of Batu Khan would have seemed to undo the
Vsevolodichi’s aristocratic triumph. The Mongols quickly sacked Aleksandr next marched on and made quick work of the enemy
Vladimir and an uncertain number of other Suzdalian towns, de- garrison of Pskov. Pressing on into Livonia in a raid of retribution,
feated Yury in a field battle that saw the Grand Prince beheaded, Aleksandr’s string of combat victories saw its only break: a defeat
and took Novgorod’s southeastern fortress of Torzhok. But with the of his advance column under the Novgorodan commander Domash
spring thaw impeding the steppe warriors’ advance on Novgorod, in an ambush by Bishop Hermann’s army. But the Teutonic win
they departed as suddenly as they had appeared. Yury’s brother only set the stage for Hermann’s pursuit of Aleksandr back to the
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich inherited the grand principality with its Russian frontier and the Prince’s famous stand and victory along
sway over Novgorod largely intact. (See also Teutonic Event #T12 the icy banks of Lake Peipus.
Khan Baty – Mongols’ return feared.)
This time Aleksandr would remain Prince of Novgorod. But he soon
Despite the Mongol sweep from the east and a building Teutonic also became embroiled in new dynastic struggle, this time within
crusade to the west, Aleksandr’s first reign as Prince of Novgorod the House of Suzdal. Grand Prince Yaroslav died in 1246 while on
focused on a third threat: pagan Lithuanian incursions from the one of his journeys to see the Mongols. His brother inherited the
southwest. Aleksandr in response fortified Novgorodan Rus’s upper throne in Vladimir, but Andrey usurped his uncle in 1248—a breach
Shelon River and in 1239 married into the Russian principality of not only of the traditional succession from brother to brother rather
Polotsk that lay astride the Lithuanian frontier. (See Teutonic Event than father to son but also of older to next oldest, as Aleksandr and
#T15 Mindaugas – Lithuanian chief raids Rus and Russian Event not Andrey was the elder of the two.
#R8 Prince of Polotsk.)
With the defeat of an anti-Mongol campaign by Andrey, Aleksandr
The crusader threat materialized the very next year: Swedes land- succeeded his brother in 1252. Grand Prince Aleksandr well re-
ed near the mouth of the Neva in July 1240. Aleksandr promptly warded the Khan’s support, even twice marching Vladimir-Suzdal’s
mustered Novgorodan and Ladogan forces and—almost certainly army on Novgorod to enforce Mongol authority on its citizens. Most
supported by a fleet of Russian boats and ships—moved down the of all, Aleksandr as Grand Prince protected and expanded the writ
Volkhov to surprise and rout the invaders where the Izhora River of the Church. And so, long after his death in 1263 (like his father,
flowed into the Neva. after a hard journey at the summons of his Mongol overlords), he
acquired Orthodox sainthood. And with it, he obtained his legendary
It was at his moment that Hermann of Dorpat and the Russian name that recalls the first of his victories over Latin invaders of
exile Yaroslav of Pskov marched on Novgorod’s protectorate to the Northern Crusades.
its southwest. Apparently not much worried about the Teutonic
advance—or perhaps manipulated by partisans of Yaroslav as a [AS pp 154, 161, 166-167, 314-315; DN pp 21-22, 54-55, 59; EC
sort of fifth column in political support of the military thrust—a pp xvii, 134; JF pp 79-81, 87-89, 97-121, 176; WU p97]
Novgorod veche (assembly) decided that, however ably Aleksandr
and his druzhina (retinue) may have responded to the Swedes,
they were no longer needed. The veche sent him and his Polotskan Andrey Yaroslavich
princess packing for Suzdalia (or perhaps it was he who decided Prince of Suzdal
to leave rather than face down the opposition).
After Batu Khan’s army crushed north-Russian re-
Only when the Germans and Danes in early 1241 occupied and forti- sistance in the Battle of Sit River in March 1238,
fied Novgorod’s tributary Vodia (German Watland) in the northwest Yaroslav Vsevolodovich became the new Grand
did the city’s nobles reconsider and Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal. Yaroslav had been absent
appeal to the Grand Prince to send from the Russian stand on the Sit, which may have
his son back again to their defense. helped him adopt the necessary accommodation with
After some months of haggling the new Mongol overlords of Rus. His then eldest
(see Andrey’s history, below), son Aleksandr also had missed the Mongol on-
Aleksandr returned as prince and slaught, as he reigned in a city that had been spared,
that summer and autumn deftly ex- Novgorod the Great. The next son in line, Andrey, still under age,
pelled the invaders from the Vod, presumably had stayed home in Suzdalia or in the company of his
seizing the Teutonic stronghold at father—first, as the Mongols burned through; then, as his older
Koporye. Whether out of religious brother in 1240 famously met the Swedes on the Neva. (We borrow
affinity or as a pragmatic means to the coat of arms of the town of Suzdal for Andrey.)
ensure both Novgorod’s hold on its
By early 1241, the Mongols were gone from northern Rus; the
territory and its future diplomatic
Teutonic push on Novgorod had become the main concern for the
relations, Aleksandr dealt more
House of Suzdal. Aleksandr was back home at Pereyaslavl. The
harshly with the pagan or recently
Novgorod boyars were calling on him to forget their quarrel of
converted Vodians than with the
the previous year and return to the great city’s defense. His father
Teutons that he captured.
Yaroslav—for reasons of his own—instead offered up Andrey as
Reinforced from Suzdalia over the new Prince of Novgorod. Had Aleksandr refused? Was Yaroslav
the winter by his brother Andrey, seeking to remind Novgorod’s veche of his power? Or did the father

advance one son over the other in some foreshadowing of their

later rivalry? (See Teutonic Event #T1 Grand Prince favors a son.) Domash Tverdislavich
Regardless, Novgorod was not hard enough pressed by the Teutonic Tysyatskiy of Novgorod
invaders to accept just anyone. The veche declined Andrey. Later Novgorod the Great wrangled with Russian princes
that year, Novgorod got the prince it wanted. Aleksandr repeated in complex interdependence. The princely dynasties
his military performance of the previous year, this time against sought Novgorod’s wealth and prestige as they vied
Germans and Danes, again without Andrey. with one another for dominance of Rus, while the
nobles of the city needed princely champions as they
Not until 1242 did Andrey—now 20 years old or so—get his chance challenged one another—often violently. For all its
to lead men at war. Yaroslav sent him at the head of reinforcements trade reach, the Novgorodan boyar class was too
for Aleksandr’s army, possibly including large numbers of horse divided against itself to see to the city’s defense
archers, for the drive on Pskov. without a knyaz. And the great houses even with
We know of no separate maneuvers by Andrey, but the two brothers their elite, dedicated, and mobile druzhniki needed Novgorod’s
appeared to fight well together. (See Capability #R11 House of river fleet and the numbers of her army to support their distant
Suzdal). Andrey probably commanded a wing at the Battle of the military campaigns and to win their battles.
Ice in April 1242. In contrast to the Novgorod Chronicle and the Thirteenth-Century Novgorod like other large Russian cities en-
much later record of Aleksandr as a saint, the entry on the cam- joyed an articulated civic structure. Nobles assembled in a council
paign from a Suzdalian chronographer gives Aleksandr no greater (veche) elected or appointed a variety of officials including a mayor
mention than Andrey: (posadnik), a chief of militia (tysyatskiy—“man of a thousand”),
Grand Prince Yaroslav sent his son Andrey to Novgorod the and even the archbishop. In the 1220s, following a particularly
Great to help Aleksandr against the Germans, and they defeated intense series of internal crises that had seen Novgorodans don
them beyond Pskov on the lake and took many prisoners. And armor in readiness to battle one another, city notables journeyed to
Andrey returned to his father with honor. the adjacent principality of Vladimir-Suzdal to request a prince to
rule them. Suzdalia recently had risen as the seat of grand princes,
Shortly after Peipus, House Vsevolodovich returned to the question soon to be set as the preserve of the Vsevolodovich line. The tra-
of the Mongols. Yaroslav in 1243 traveled to the court of Batu dition solidified that a Novgorod veche would invite or remove a
Khan’s “Golden Horde” in far-off Saray, adopting open submission. knyaz as needed to lead the city, and that that prince would come
He died on an even more distant journey a few years later all the from the House of Suzdal. (See also Russian Capabilities #R15
way to the Karakorum in Mongolia. Archbishopric and #R17 Veliky Knyaz – Grand Prince Yaroslav.)
Andrey now made his move. He seized the throne in Vladimir Incumbencies of Novgorod’s various offices had traded back and
as Grand Prince, usurping his uncle Svyatoslav by force of arms forth over the years as the great Russian houses and their partisans
and bypassing Aleksandr. Andrey and Aleksandr then separately within the city maneuvered. But through almost all, a stalwart
traveled to Saray and Karakorum, apparently each to obtain the pro-Suzdalian named Tverdislav dominated as posadnik. By 1240,
Mongols’ support for themselves. with the dynastic contest well settled, Tverdislav’s sons held the
city’s administration: Stepan Tverdislavich as posadnik and Do-
Andrey obtained his writ as Grand Prince, perhaps out of the higher
mash Tverdislavich as tysyatskiy.
Mongolian court’s suspicion of Aleksandr’s close ties to Batu. But
Andrey eventually fell into a stance of resistance. In 1250 or 1251, Domash commanded at least
he married the daughter of a staunchly anti-Mongol southern ruler, the urban militia that bolstered
Daniil of Galicia. Aleksandr and Andrey’s dru-
zhina-based forces for the 1242
The insult—and perhaps entreaty from Aleksandr on another visit
reconquest of Pskov and inva-
to the Khan—drew a Mongol invasion of Suzdalia in 1252 that
sion of Livonia. (Here we give
defeated Andrey and his younger brother Yaroslav in battle near
Domash a Novgorodan coat of
Pereyaslavl. Aleksander took over as Grand Prince, while Andrey
arms.) The office of tysatskiy
fled into exile, to Danish Reval (as the Novgorodans would not
by this time had expanded to
have him) and thence all the way to Sweden.
broader authority. Domash
Aleksandr had enough favor with the Mongol court to obtain for- therefore also may have seen to
giveness for his upstart brother. Andrey returned to Rus in 1255 the marshaling of Novgorodan
and received a princely seat in Suzdal along with some eastern river craft for Aleksandr’s
territories to live out his days helping his brother enforce Russian move on the Swedes in summer
obedience to the Golden Horde. 1240, for example. Novgorodan
troops accompanied the Prince
[AS pp 161, 167, 219-222; DN pp 23-24, 36, 41, 53, 59-60, 65; JF not only in 1240 but also for
pp 80, 99-100, 106-112, 118] his march on the Teutons in the
Vod in 1241—that is, for each
of his counter-expeditions to the corners of Novgorodan territory. Vladimirovich’s army invaded, stormed, and sacked Izborsk. The
chronicles agree that the Pskovans marched out in force from the
Domash, however, would not hold office as long or as illustriously relative safety of their city walls to strike the Teutons in the field,
as his father had held his. Separated from Aleksandr’s main army in an attempt to regain their vital border fort. This time, they met
as the Russians ravaged Livonian territory in early spring 1242, with bloody defeat.
Domash fell to an ambush of his forces by the Teutonic host. (See
Teutonic Events #T4 Bridge and #T6 Ambush.) Survivors escaped The Teutons in their overwhelming battlefield victory slew not
eastward to rejoin with Aleksandr and Andrey. In the culminating only hundreds of Pskovans but also the commander of the Pskovan
Russian victory of the campaign, at Raven’s Rock on April 5th, army, Gavrilo Gorislavich—a voyevoda or military leader, espe-
Novgorodan militia provided the numbers that tipped the scales of cially the commander for a borderland stronghold or region. (We
battle in favor of Rus. give Gavrilo’s coat of arms the main element of the later arms of
the Pskov region.)
[AS pp 108, 121; DN pp 37-39, 58, 66-67; JF pp 52-58, 71-73;
NM pp 19-20; Michael Paul, “Secular Power and the Archbishops Intrigues within Pskov’s city administration still rippled in 1240
of Novgorod”, pp 231-237; WU pp 98-100] from the years of contention among the respective partisans of the
Vsevolodovich and Mstislavich dysnasties. As the Teutons ad-
vanced, this infighting now compounded the disaster of the Pskovan
Gavrilo Gorislavich army’s destruction in the field. After a week’s ravage and siege by
Voyevoda of Pskov the Teutons, the city opened its gates, probably at the command of
the pro-Mstislavich nobleman Tverdilo Ivankovich. (See Teutonic
Novgorod the Great maintained a hold on the Lake
Event #T7 Tverdilo – Pskovan ally.)
Peipus-Velikaya River waterway system through its
political dominance of the ancient Russian city and What if there had been no ill-advised battle at Izborsk, and thus
principality of Pskov. The importance of Pskov lay no sudden Pskovan collapse? The fighting of 1240 to 1242 might
not only in the control of these key waterways for have resembled the campaign of 1233 more than the real Teutonic
commerce but also—at least until the arrival in threat to Novgorodan Rus that it became.
strength of Teutonic crusaders in the early 1200s—
in helping Novgorod enforce a system of tribute In the event, Aleksandr Yaroslavich reprised his father’s role as
from the Balts to the west. defender of Pskov, leading a Suzdalian-Novgorodan army in the
city’s rescue and retribution against Dorpat in 1242. Pskov naturally
Novgorod’s nobles sought influence over Pskov in a similar manner remained in Novgorod’s orbit. However, its growing importance as
as the princely dynasties sought to rule Novgorod itself: through the bulwark against the Teutonic Knights gradually gained it greater
appointment of princes in Pskov from one or another of the great independence from Novgorod, such as the right to appoint its own
Russian houses. Pskov therefore often played the role of pawn in the officials, finally ratified in the mid-14th Century.
struggle among the princely clans, its relationship with Novgorod
burning hot or cold as the contesting dynasts and their partisans [AS pp 134-140; DN pp 54-57; EC p 35; JF pp 54-55, 61, 73, 104;
either ruled one but not the other city, or ruled both. Whoever held WU pp 80, 94-95]
Novgorod, however, held a trump card over Pskov: Novgorod
controlled Pskov’s access to trade and food from the east, and its
rulers would shut Pskov off should any contention become too dire.
Vladislav
Bailiff of Ladoga
With the founding of the Bishopric of Dorpat in the 1220s, Pskov’s
diplomacy grew even more complicated. Dorpat undermined When the Varangians in the Ninth Century arrived
Pskov’s tributary relationship with the Estonians, but it also offered in what is now Russia, their first stronghold was a
a new ally against other threats such as the Lithuanians or even rival fort at Ladoga near the mouth of the Volkhov River
Russians in Novgorod. The Pskovans thus alternated as enemies on the great Lake Ladoga. From there, they pressed
and allies of Bishop Hermann. further upriver, settled at Novgorod, and eventually
founded Rus itself. In the 13th Century, when most
Key to Pskov’s grip on its territory was the border stronghold that Russian fortifications were still of wood and earth,
the Pskovans had built at Izborsk to the the city’s west. In 1233, the Ladoga boasted a stone fortress. This fortress guard-
exiled Russian claimant to Pskov’s throne Yaroslav Vladimirovich ed the Russians’ main Baltic trade route from wa-
together with the Teutons attacked Izborsk from the west. The Psko- terborne invasion, recruited among the Finnic tribes living along
vans counterattacked and not only relieved their fort but captured the Gulf, and kept watch on northern tributary peoples—the Vep-
Yaroslav. The following year, their Suzdalian defender Yaroslav sians, Karelians, and others—to guarantee Novgorod’s dominance
Vsevolodovich bolstered by Novgorodan troops followed up their of its vast, fur-producing hinterland of the north.
victory by leading a ravaging campaign to the very gates of Dorpat.
We do not know who commanded at Ladoga in 1240, but the
The glorious memory of 1233-1234 may have led the Pskovan Novgorod Chronicle for 1228 describes a bailiff (appointed
army to a fatal operational error when the Teutons and Pskov’s custodian) there named Vladislav as being in command of the
exile returned in 1240. That September, Hermann and Yaroslav district’s forces. When a large party of Tavastian Finns that year

raided along Lake Ladoga, Novgorod’s army under Prince Yaro-

slav Vsevolodovich rowed down the Volkhov River to meet the Karelians
invaders. But before the Novgorodans could arrive, Vladislav Tributaries of Novgorod
led Ladogan troops out in boats and attacked the Finns, who had
The 13th Century saw a building struggle between
gathered their slaves and (presumably) other loot along the shore.
Novgorod and Sweden for dominance of Finland,
Here we borrow the name Vladislav for the lord of the Ladogans,
including by the conversion of pagans there to either
in view of the possibility that the same bailiff still served in 1240,
side’s own church. (See also Teutonic Event #T18
or that perhaps a namesake did. (For Vladislav’s coat of arms, we
Swedish Crusade into Tavastia and Russian Event
show that of Old Ladoga.)
#R13 Pelgui – Baptized Ingrian elder.)
When the Novgorodan army returned in 1240, this time under
Novgorod traded with the Finnic peoples to its
Yaroslav’s son Prince Aleksandr, the Ladogans joined them for their
north for furs and sometimes exacted tribute of
famous campaign down the Neva to attack the Swedes. Ladogan
fur bundles. They also recruited auxiliary troops
forces with Ingrian and Karelian auxiliaries similarly joined Alek-
from among them. If the tribal warriors of Karelia were sparse
sandr for the reconquest of Koporye and the Vod region from the
in number relative to the Russians and not well equipped in war
Germans and Danes in 1241. Ladoga itself would remain a bastion
horses or the latest military technology, they were feared raiders,
of Novgorodan territory into the 15th Century, when it received a
including by sea. (For their coat of arms, we borrow from that of
major rebuild of its ancient stone works.
Russian Karelia.)
[AS pp 154, 161; DN pp 35, 59; EC pp 26, 35, 114, 177-178, 182;
Karelian contingents joined Aleksandr’s army for the 1241 Kopor-
JF p104; KN p4; NM p21]
ye campaign and then in 1242 on the march to Pskov and on into
Livonia. The Finns who fought on Lake Peipus were a long way
from home, but then so were Aleksandr and Andrey.
[AS pp 154, 161, 167; DN pp 17, 35, 41, 59; EC pp 26, 41-42, 45,
48, 113-122, 182-183; NM p21]

consolidation of rule and the construction of a crusader castle there

ARTS OF WAR also suggest that local collaboration played a role in the Teutons’
This section provides tips on how to implement the effects of the advance. [AS p155] Finally, the Novgorod Chronicle’s description
various Events and Capabilities in each side’s Arts of War deck of Aleksandr’s recapture of the region later in 1241 mentions col-
plus historical background. See Selected Sources for expansion of laborators among the local ethnicities: Aleksandr “took the town
the abbreviated references given here in brackets. and brought some Nemtsy (Germans) to Novgorod and let others
go. But the Vod and Chud (Estonian) traitors he hanged.” [AS pp
Teutonic Events 154-155; DN pp 54, 59; WU p97]
(top half of card)
T4. Bridge
T1. Grand Prince favors a son Hold: May play on front center Russian Lord in non-Winter Bat-
On Calendar, shift Aleksandr OR Andrey OR furthest right Service tle—he Melee Strikes with units up to twice Round number
of either 2 boxes Tips. Tuck the card with Event showing under the affected enemy
Tips. Teutons choose direction of shift; off-Calendar positions do Lord’s mat. In Round 1, only two of his units may Strike in Melee;
not force opposite shifts. If both cylinders are on the Calendar, in Round 2, four may do so, and so on. If desired, place that enemy
Teutons choose which to shift. If both Service are, the one in the Lord’s units that are selected to melee Strike onto the Bridge card as
highest Calendar box shifts. If both Service are in the same box, or each Battle Round progresses. Archery and ability to absorb Melee
if one cylinder and one Service is on the Calendar, Teutons choose. Hits are unaffected. Bridge cannot impede a Relief-Sallying Lord
Discard immediately. who is Attacking from behind.
History. As the Teutons closed on Novgorod, the city called upon History. A defensive tactic in medieval battles was to take a po-
its ally Grand Prince of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodovich to restore sition a short distance behind a stream or river crossing such as a
his son Aleksandr as their prince. Yaroslav offered his younger son bridge or ford, allow enemy forces to begin to cross, then strike
Andrey instead, but the Novgorodans rejected the nomination. After while the obstacle still divided the enemy army, defeating a portion
some delay, the Grand Prince sent Aleksandr. [AS p161; DN p59; of the stronger opponent. In the lead-up to the Battle of the Ice in
JF pp105-106] See also Russian Capability #R11 House of Suzdal. 1242, Hermann’s army caught and mauled the Russian advance
guard under Domash at a bridge, per the Novgorod Chronicle, as
T2. Torzhok – Mongols deny Novgorod grain the Russians were marching across Ugaunia on the way back east
Remove 3 Assets from Domash OR 3 Coin from Veche from ravaging the Bishop’s lands. [DN pp 58, 62, 66; WU p98]
Tips. Teutons choose which Assets to remove and may select Do- T5. Marsh
mash or Veche even if that choice would remove fewer than three. Hold: May play if Defending in non-Winter Battle—Russian Horse
Discard immediately. does not Strike in Rounds 1 and 2
History. Novgorod was dependent on imported food, either from Tips. The Event may not be played on Attack. All enemy Horse’s
the West via the Neva or from the rest of Rus. Novgorod’s south- Melee and Archery are blocked for two Rounds; its ability to absorb
eastern stronghold and mercantile center of Torzhok guarded the Melee Hits is not.
supply route from the upper Volga; Russian strongmen frequently
sought its capture as a key to pressure the rich city-state. The History. Expanses of wet terrain in the Baltic region posed prob-
Mongols seized Torzhok in 1238 in a violent siege ahead of an lems for not only operational but tactical maneuver in the warmer
apparent drive on Novgorod, but then suddenly turned their army months, especially but not exclusively for the big war horses of
elsewhere. [JF pp 48, 53, 55, 81; WU p93] medieval heavy cavalry—among the factors favoring winter as a
time for warfare. [VJM pp 248, 258]
T3. Vodian Treachery
Hold: Play if Teuton Lord closer than any Russian to Kaibolovo
T6. Ambush
or Koporye Fort to Conquer it (no Spoils) Hold: Play to block Avoid Battle OR ignore Russian left and right
in Battle Round 1
Tips. Closer means the shortest chain of adjacent spaces away (by
Ways, not by sea). Vodian Treachery does not remove a Walls +1 Tips. If played to block Avoid Battle, declare Event after Defender
marker from Russian Capability #R18 Stone Kremlin. If Stonema- declares Avoid Battle; any discard of Assets to Avoid Battle also
sons has placed Castles at both Kaibolovo and Koporye, this Event is blocked; Event used to Block Avoid Battle does not otherwise
cannot be played, because neither Locale has a Fort. affect the ensuing Battle. Ambush does not block Withdrawal into
a Stronghold. If played for Round 1 of Battle, Lords of that side
History. The Vodians were pagan tributaries of Novgorod who who are at left or right front would Flank the enemy’s center Lord,
lived east of the River Narva. The Teutons invaded and conquered while any enemy Lords at left or right front would be uninvolved
them in the winter of 1240-1241. A charter from Heinrich of Ösel (so could not absorb Hits nor Rout in Round 1).
dividing up the land among the new Teutonic lords mentions con-
sent by many of the inhabitants in the conquest. The speed of the History. The Teutons achieved a destructive ambush in the lead-

up to the famous Battle of the Ice. As Aleksandr’s forces sought T10. Field Organ
their way out of Ugaunia, presumably laden with loot, Hermann Hold: Play on a Lord in Battle or Storm—Round 1, his Knights
intercepted, ambushed, and crushed Domash’s advance column. AND Sergeants Melee Strike +1
The tactical victory improved the Teutons’ odds when the two
armies soon after met in full array on the shores of Lake Peipus. Tips. Teutons may play the Event when on Attack or Defense. Each
[DN pp 43, 58, 66-68] of that Lord’s Knights and Sergeants units when Striking in Melee
during Round 1 cause one added Hit—three Hits each for Knights in
T7. Tverdilo – Pskovan ally Battle or two Hits each in Storm or for Sergeants. Against Russian
Hold: Play on Hermann OR Yaroslav to shift cylinder 2 Calendar #R1 Bridge Event, only the units Striking cause the added Hits.
boxes OR for Lordship +2. Horse units blocked from Striking by #R2 Marsh or #R6 Ambush
add no Hits. Archery and Hits on Teutons are unaffected.
Tip. The Lordship bonus can apply to either the Muster or Call to
Arms segment. Discard the moment used. History. A 1220s chronicle of the crusade on the pagans of Livonia
and Estonia reveals the importance of music to Teutonic warfare.
History. As the Novgorod Chronicle has it, Hermann and Yaroslav’s Singing, drums, and other musical instruments accompanied
1240 campaign against Pskov fed off support from Pskovans ar- Teutonic attacks on field armies or the storming of ramparts; it
rayed politically against the dynasty of Aleksandr. The nobleman comforted the crusaders and stressed their shared community.
Tverdilo Ivankovich appears to have been in league from inside [VJM pp 260-261] Field Organ represents this general Teutonic
Pskov with the exiled Yaroslav, and it was he who opened the city practice and effect.
gates to the besieging Teutons. The conquerors put Tverdilo in
charge, and he then backed the ravage of Novgorodan settlements Historian William Urban, in a critique of the 1938 Soviet film about
to the east. [AS pp 160-167; DN pp 56-57; WU pp 94-95] Aleksandr that featured a sled-mounted mobile organ inspiring the
crusaders ahead of the Battle on the Ice, entertains the possibility
T8. Teutonic Fervor that real-life Teutons possessed such devices:
Hold: Play on Rudolf to shift cylinder 2 Calendar boxes OR for It is just possible that the crusaders did possess a portable organ
Lordship +2. Discard the moment used. Rudolf may use the bonus – Henry of Livonia had mentioned an incident in an earlier
to Levy the Capability on the same card. combat in which the playing of a musical instrument caused
Tips. The Lordship bonus can apply to either the Muster or the the two armies to stop fighting momentarily to listen in wonder,
Call to Arms segment. Rudolf may receive the benefits of Teutonic and records from the end of the century list organs among the
Fervor plus #T17 Dietrich von Grüningen at the same time. While religious objects destroyed by Lithuanian pagans. [WU p98]
Russian Event #R17 Dietrich von Grüningen is in effect, Rudolf
may not use any Lordship even with Teutonic Fervor. T11. Pope Gregory issues indulgences
On Calendar, shift 1 Teuton cylinder 1 box left; add Crusade (this
History. The Brothers of the Knighthood of Christ in Livonia card) to Levied Capabilities
were a smaller crusading order that began in the household of the
Bishop of Riga around 1202. [EC pp 79-80] These “Sword Breth- Tips. The Teutons player chooses any 1 Teutonic cylinder on the
ren” had a reputation as the most energetic and brutal of Teutonic Calendar to shift. The Event ignores the restriction on who can
fighters. Their unruliness increasingly led them to turn upon fellow Levy Crusade. Tuck the card under the Teuton player’s board
Latins in Livonia and Estonia, eventually resulting in their forced edge to show Levied Crusade. Russian Event #R15 Death of the
absorption into the larger Teutonic Order so as to better channel Pope does not affect this Event, which can represent indulgences
their fervor. See also Teutonic Capability #T1 Treaty of Stensby. authorized earlier.
In 1240-1242, the former Sword Brothers sought to win back their
History. As a part of his means of supporting the crusade on Rus
regional position via the new crusade on the schismatics, and they
and pagans living under Novgorodan protection, Pope Gregory
were correspondingly prominent in leading the invasion of Rus. [EC
IX issued authority for indulgences for Europeans who went on
pp 99, 128; WU pp 93, 95-96, 100] Rudolf in the game represents
crusade there. In December 1240, for example, he authorized the
their leadership within the Order.
Scandinavian Archbishop of Lund to grant the same indulgences
for vows of crusade in Estonia as for the Holy Land. [AS pp 43,
T9. Hill
169; DN p57; WU p95]
Hold: May play if Defending in Battle—Round 1 and 2 Teutonic
Archery is x1 (not x½) T12. Khan Baty – Mongols’ return feared
Tips. The Event may not be played on Attack. Melee is unaffected. On Calendar, shift Aleksandr OR Andrey OR Service of either 2
boxes
History. Accounting for the flat terrain of the region, the defensive
high ground portrayed here extends the range and field of view of Tips. Teutons choose direction of shift; off-Calendar positions do
archers. not force opposite shifts. Shifting just one box off the Calendar
from box 1 or box 16 is allowed. Discard immediately.
History. Khan Baty (a Russian version of “Batu Khan”), the re-
gional Mongolian (Tatar) ruler, overran Vladimir-Suzdal in 1238 History. Pagan Lithuania, under Mindaugas from 1238, posed
then departed northern Rus to strike south and west through Kiev a growing threat to Livonia, Pskov, and Novgorod alike. Lith-
and into central Europe beyond. The death of the Great Khan in uanian raids in 1234 had already devastated the area southwest
late 1241 prompted Khan Baty’s withdrawal in the spring back to of Novgorod. Aleksandr in 1239 responded to further raids that
the steppes to consolidate his empire, including the imposition of year with the construction of defenses along the Shelon River,
the “yoke” of tributary control over Vladimir and the other Russian including a strong fort at Porkhov. [AS pp 139-140; DN p18; JF
principalities. [AS p145; EC p133; JF pp xii, 79-84] In 1243, the pp 101-102; KN p37]
Grand Prince himself had to journey to the Khan’s distant seat of
Saray for Baty to confirm Yaroslav on the throne of Vladimir. [JF T16. Famine
p98] See also Russian Event #R10 Batu Khan. This Campaign, Russian Supply adds maximum 1 Provender per
Command card from Seats and Forage adds none
T13. Heinrich Sees the Curia
Hold: Play to Disband Heinrich to add 4 non-Loot Assets each to Tips. The Teutonic Event affects Russian Lords wherever they
2 on-map Teutonic Lords are. It does not affect Teutonic Lords. It does not affect Provender
via Supply from Ships, Ravage, or Spoils. Discard at end of this
Tips. If Heinrich is not on map, drawing the Event card will delay Campaign.
Levy of the William of Modena Capability until discarded or
Heinrich Musters. Whenever Heinrich is on map, Teutons may History. Regional famines were a periodic feature affecting
play the Event to immediately Disband him regardless of Service or medieval life and so impaired military operations. A catastrophic
situation; other Disband rules apply. Permanent removal of Heinrich famine swept Vladimir-Suzdal in 1213, deterring the use of force
in Battle or Storm does not trigger or equate to play of the Event. in resolving the princely dispute of the day. [JF p47] An early frost
produced in famine in Novgorod in 1230, contributing to internal
History. After Teutonic successes around Pskov and Koporye, unrest there. [AS p138; JF p73] Famines in the mid-1230s hindered
Heinrich in 1241 traveled to Rome to obtain claims for himself and the supply of armies in both Livonia and Rus. [AS p138] The Event
other lords to lands in Rus already and yet-to-be conquered. This depicts such famines amplifying the need of the armies affected to
Event presumes Heinrich’s diplomacy both displaced William of bring in food and feed from afar.
Modena’s impact as papal legate and injected resources for further
Teutonic conquests. [AS pp 155, 158; DN p57; WU p95] T17. Dietrich von
Grüningen focuses Order on
T14. Bountiful Harvest Rus
Immediately remove 1 Ravaged Hold: Play on Andreas OR Rudolf
marker from Livonia or Estonia to shift cylinder 2 Calendar boxes
OR for Lordship +2.
Tips. Teutons choose any one
black Ravaged marker to remove, Tips. The Lordship bonus can
reducing Russian victory points apply to either the Muster or the
by ½VP. Then discard the card Call to Arms segment. While
immediately. Russian Event #R17 Dietrich von
Grüningen is in effect, Andreas
History. War-ravaged medieval and Rudolf may not use any Lord-
agriculture might take several ship even with this Teutonic Event.
growing seasons to recover. Cru- Discard the moment used. Andreas or Rudolf may use the bonus
sader raids toward Novgorod in to Levy the Capability on the same card.
1241 stole so many horses and
cattle that Russian farmers could not plow fields for the following History. Dietrich von Grüningen was the Teutonic Order’s Land-
year’s planting. [AS p154; DN p53] But less efficient raids or meister for Livonia from 1238-1246, but with absences including
favorable weather might renew a region within the time-span of during much of the period of the game, leaving his deputy Andreas
the game. acting in his stead [EC p xiv; DN p14; WU p96]. He was a success-
ful commander elsewhere, but his posture toward the 1240-1242 is
T15. Mindaugas – Lithuanian chief raids Rus uncertain; here we depict his active encouragement. See also Rus-
Place Ravaged in a Locale in Rus within 2 of Ostrov, not at Russian sian Event #R17 Dietrich von Grüningen leads Order to Kurland.
Lord or Stronghold
T18. Swedish Crusade into Tavastia
Tips. Teutons may place a black Ravaged marker at a Locale on On Calendar, shift cylinder or Service of Vladislav AND Karelians
the Russian side of the border and at, adjacent to, or two Locales each 1 box
away from Ostrov and free of Russian Lords or Strongholds. They
may not place it where Ravaged already. They may place it at a Tips. Teutons choose direction of shift; off-Calendar positions
Stronghold they have Conquered. do not force opposite shifts. Discard this Event card immediately
after implementing it.
History. The decades before and after the 1240s saw both Swedish the Teutons with a slightly slower but higher capacity than the
and Novgorodan campaigning to Christianize the Tavastians of Russians, as a nod to the Teutons’ systematic deep-raid tactics for
Finland [AS pp150, 257], a papal declaration of crusade in 1237 moving and guarding supplies and booty centrally while raiding
[EC p117], and a drive by King Eric of Sweden in 1240 to seize the parties dispersed, that they developed over the previous generation
Finnish fur trade [WU p93]. Any such crusade after the Swedes’ in laying Baltic pagan lands to waste. [NT p46, VJM p260, WU
Neva defeat probably would have diverted the Ladogans and p166] The Novgorod Chronicle describes Teutonic ravages near the
Karelians from campaigning against the Teutons off to the south. city making away with so many animals that no plowing could be
done. [AS p154; DN p53] See also the Russian Raiders Capability,
cards #R12 and #R14.
Teutonic Capabilities T3. Converts – Guides and scouts
(bottom half of card)
This Lord’s or his group’s March with Light Horse reaches 1st Lo-
T1. Treaty of Stensby – Danish-Teutonic comity enforced cale each card for 0 actions
Heinrich AND Knud & Abel Command +1 Tip: The group of a Marshall or Lieutenant receives the benefit
Tips. Although only two Lords can Levy and be affected by this if any of the Lords Marching together have Converts and at least
Capability, count it as an overall Teutonic Capability rather than one has Light Horse—it need not be the same Lord, nor need it be
This Lord. The Command bonus is cumulative with effects of the the Active Lord. The March for 0 actions may be Laden but may
Legate and of #T3 Converts. not carry more than twice as much Provender as usable Transport.
Converts does not affect Sail.
History. Part of the papal legate’s 1230s mission was to settle
escalating disputes in Livonia and Estonia between the hyper-ex- History. The northern crusaders attempted to incorporate newly
pansive crusading order of the Sword Brethren, the Teutonic Order, converted populations into their military establishment in various
the German bishops, and Denmark. [WU p91] See also Capability ways. Native militias could be organized into uniformed bodies of
#T13 William of Modena on the legate and Event #T8 Teutonic auxiliary infantry fighting under their own banners, though with
Fervor on the Sword Brethren. uneven steadfastness in battle. Native chiefs and elders might
despite their status be too poor to afford the equipment needed to
Following a severe defeat in 1236 of Sword Brothers and visiting forge them into a knightly class. But those with horses could form
crusaders in battle on the Saule River in Lithuania [WU pp 86-88], light cavalry contingents especially useful as forest guides, scouts,
the Teutonic Order organized a papal intervention to dissolve and foragers, and raiders. [DN p31; NT pp 23, 48; WU pp 21, 84-85]
absorb the Sword Brethren into the Order. Pope Gregory’s legate
then helped conclude a treaty by which the Order would return to T 4 . - T 6 . B a l i st a r i i –
Denmark’s King Waldemar Estonian land that the Sword Brothers Crossbowmen
had seized. Waldemar would ally with the Order, including for any This Lord’s Men-at-Arms have
effort against Rus. [WU p91, DN pp 48-49] Archery with -2 to target’s Armor
The legate the same year helped Heinrich, the new Bishop of Ösel, Tip: Crossbowmen units Strike
consolidate control over his vassals and announced an alliance with both Archery and Melee.
between the bishop and the Order. The 1238 Stensby Treaty with
Denmark included the Danish king’s promise not to attack Ösel History. The Teutons employed
and Wiek, despite claims there. [AS pp 142, 157] The result was crossbowmen in substantial num-
transformation for a time of a highly fractious Livonia-Estonia into bers, particularly for the storming
a coalition of crusader states. and defense of fortifications. [DN
p33; NT pp 13, 45] The Baltic
T2. Raiders pagans had been unfamiliar with
This Lord with Horse once per Command card may Ravage Locale crossbows until they encountered
adjacent by Trackway where no enemy Lord the German crusaders. [VJM pp 255, 266] The frequency of dis-
cussion of crossbows and crossbowmen (balistarii in Latin) in the
Tips. Any Knight, Sergeant, or Light Horse on the Lord’s mat would 1220s Chronicle of Henry of Livonia and the many samples of
qualify him. Unlike Russian Raiders (Capability #R12&R14), this crossbow bolts excavated in the region show that crossbowmen
Capability allows acquisition of Loot from an adjacent Locale but made up a substantial portion of Teutonic forces. [VJM pp 266-275]
can only be used once per Command card. The Lord could still Northern crusades historian Eric Christiansen explains:
Ravage normally with other Commands on that card. All other
Ravage rules apply, including placement of Ravaged markers and “The crossbow ... had become a favourite weapon of the Ger-
the ban on a Besieged Lord using Ravage. man merchant-venturer by 1200, and an indispensable arm
of city militias. It was not a knightly instrument, and it was
History. The Raiders Capability portrays the common medieval not the Sword Brothers or the Teutonic Knights who brought
practice of detaching a mounted force without baggage train to it to the North, but without it they would not have won their
strike quickly into enemy territory and depart. Here we portray early struggle for survival; its accuracy and penetrating power
shortened the odds considerably in the battle between many T8. Hillforts of the Sword Brethren
and few.” [EC p91] Each Feed skips 1 Unbesieged Teuton Lord in Livonia
Not only military culture but access to imports from German and Tips: The benefit applies to any one Teutonic Lord who, at the
Scandinavian crossbow-making industries spurred a proliferation moment of any Feed/Pay/Disband, is within Livonia (not Estonia
of the weapon on the Teutonic side. [NT p31] In addition to the or Rus) and Unbesieged. The Capability may affect a different
weapon’s ability to punch through armor, Teutonic crossbowmen Lord each Command card. A Lord skipping Feed still participates
used their noteworthy marksmanship to pick off leaders from in Pay and Disband normally.
enemy pagan or Russian ranks. [VJM p268] See also Russian
Capability #R3. History. The first fortifications that the Teutonic Knights and the
Sword Brethren built in the region reflected both northern German
T7. Warrior Monks and local Baltic styles, including simple pagan-style earth-and-tim-
This Lord may reroll 1 Knights’ Armor Roll each Archery AND ber stockades. The arriving Teutons began without suitable local
each Melee step labor and with few deposits of workable stone. [EC pp 91; NT p18]
Tips: If Flanked, the Lord would still have only one reroll per In Livonia and Estonia, the Sword Brothers built a network of hill-
Round for all Attacking Lords’ Archery plus one for all Attacking forts on the sites of captured pagan earthworks, each reinforced with
Lords’ Melee. The Capability can affect Rout rolls but not Loss a stone blockhouse and a corner watchtower. [EC p101] The forts
rolls. A Lord may have only one Warrior Monks card. along with the commanderies of the Teutonic Order (see Capability
#T12 Ordensburgen) supported the crusaders’ establishment of
History. This Capability represents the fighting skills and morale permanent administration and the rapid assembly of armies. [AS
effects of crusading culture in general and the monastic fighting p125] The Order later emulated in Prussia the Brethren’s effective
orders in particular. As for all human endeavors, there were di- system of Livonian bases. [EC p105]
verse motives for going on crusade in the 13th Century: idealism,
religious enthusiasm, and the need for atonement through service As the 13th Century progressed, larger castles of stone or brick
mixed in with practicality and profit. [DN p29; EC pp 73-89; NT replaced these older crusader forts. But the process was gradual,
pp 27-29; VJM pp 263-264; WU p81] But taking monastic vows and the techniques and styles of fortification overlapped. The Sword
went a step beyond going on crusade for a few months; brothers Brethren built chains of small stone fortifications along the rivers
in an order signed up for prolonged privation for a cause and a while using their wooden forts throughout the period. [EC pp 91;
communal religious life in their remote fortifications. [NT p13] NT p18; VJM p255]
Christiansen describes the military efficiency in uncomfortable
The Hillforts Capability posits maintenance and continued logis-
environments and precarious situations that the Teutonic Knights
tical use of the Sword Brothers’ bases after the Order’s absorption
shared with other orders:
of the Brethren in the late 1230s (see Capability #T1 Treaty of
What was needed [in the northern crusades] was not a periodic Stensby), though not in the parts of Estonia that the Brethren had
visitation by forces of undisciplined military amateurs, but a had to give up to the Danish king.
permanent garrison of professionals which would sit out the
winter year after year. The rewards of campaigning in the T9.&T10. H albbrüder –
eastern Baltic were not tempting enough to attract secular Half-Brothers of the Teutonic
warriors to such a life, but for military monks the prospect Order
was not nearly as daunting, because they had chosen to live in This Lord’s Sergeants AND Men-
hardship and labour. ... Their Rules gave them the discipline, at-Arms have Armor +1
dedication, and morale which other crusaders lacked. They
were able to recruit selectively, train systematically, replace Tips. The modification affects
casualties automatically, and demand lifelong service as a Rout rolls but not Loss rolls. A
matter of course. [EC pp 76, 81] Lord may have only one Halb-
brüder card.
Danish King Valdemar in contrast had no warrior monks and so
secured his stake in the crusade via his advantage in ships on the History. Along with the dominant
Baltic Sea. [EC p111] Successes in western Prussia in the 1230s caste of knight-brothers, the Teu-
showed that feudal lords and Teutonic Knights formed a potent tonic Order comprised half-broth-
combination. There, the Order’s obedient, ostensibly celibate ers, priest-brothers, and sisters
knight-brothers led annual armies of volunteers from Polish and “so that the ministries of charity, education and preaching were
Pomerelian feudal lords to produce conquest after conquest along affiliated to the war machine,” per Christiansen. [EC p89] Half
the Vistula and the Prussian coast. [WU pp 56-57] In Livonia and brethren served as brother-sergeants in the Knight’s main castles
Estonia, it was the Sword Brethren at first and then the Teutonic alongside the full brothers, lesser garrison troops such as infantry
Order that would form visiting contingents into effective warriors. and crossbowmen, and non-combatants such as wagoners and pack-
See also Capability #T11 Crusade. horse handlers. The half-brothers observed the same daily religious
services as the knights, and some took full monastic vows for life.
They might fight alongside the knights as men-at-arms, perhaps
heavily armored and/or on a trained war horse, or at other times five castles, spaced 20 miles apart, that then became a basis for
served as a squire providing their knight a spare horse in battle. the Knights’ rapid expansion outward. [WU p34] When the Order
They are recognizable in combat or campaign depictions wearing arrived in Prussia and Livonia, it naturally repeated this scheme of
gray rather than white mantles and a “T” truncated rather than full castle chains, and erecting such castles up rivers into pagan territory
sable cross. [NT pp 13, 33-37, 59-62; WU p14] became the key to the Teutonic invasions’ success. [EC p105] See
also Capabilities #T8 Hillforts and #T17 Stonemasons.
T11. Crusade
The Teutonic Order’s Baltic “convent castles” reflected European
Each Summer Levy, free Muster all Unbesieged Crusaders; Disband
fortification’s state of the art and were typically rectangular stone
them when card discarded; discard card at outset of Late Winter
or brick towers and walls, 50 to 60 meters on a side, surrounding
Tips. This Capability not only makes a central courtyard. [NT p18] But in contrast to the family seats
Summer Crusader Special Vassals avail- of German barons, for example, the Order’s castles enabled an
able, it automatically Musters all Summer integrated administration of Livonia for colonization, conversion,
Crusader Knights to Andreas and Rudolf trade, and taxation in support of further crusade and conquest. [NT
at no cost in Lordship actions, even in pp 13, 19] This special organization for the permanent administra-
enemy territory, provided that the Lord is tion of recently conquered territory gave the Livonians an edge in
himself Mustered and is Unbesieged. If mobilization, supply, and local finance of any confrontation with
already Mustered and any Knights have the Russians. [AS p125]
been lost from the Lord’s Forces, restore
Knight units up those shown on the Vassal marker. Summer Crusad- T13. William of Modena –
ers otherwise follow Disband rules and also Disband immediately if Papal legate to Livonia
the Crusade card is discarded. Early Winter alone does not Disband Legate is in play—start pawn on
Summer Crusaders. At the start of the first Late Winter 40-Days card and return it here when used
of each year, discard Crusade and Disband Summer Crusaders.
Remove the number of Knights shown on the Service markers, to Tips. Without this Capability, the
the degree able, even if that Lord is already missing some Knight Teutons skip their Call to Arms
units. Teutons may Levy the Crusade Capability card in any Season, segment. See Rules section 3.5.1.
but Crusader Forces still would Muster only in Summer. History. By 1200, Popes sought
History. Pilgrim crusaders arrived in Livonia and Estonia, prin- to extend their pastoral and tem-
cipally from Germany, almost every summer of the late 12th and poral power to the periphery of
early 13th Centuries. They provided adequate numbers of knights to Latindom via cardinal-legates who
the stretched Christian occupiers to protect outposts and even to go had full authority to represent the
on the offensive. The Sword Brothers and later the Teutonic Order papacy, even after the death of the
provided these seasonal contingents with the military expertise pope who sent them. According to historian Christiansen:
to form them into effective armies—at least until the winter that “They were co-ordinators, inspectors, reformers, judges, gen-
followed each summer’s campaign stretched too long. [AS p53; erals and ambassadors... When these men reached the Baltic,
DN pp 29, 33; EC pp 83, 100; WU pp 84-85; NT p24] See also the pope himself was there; even kings and Teutonic Knights
Capability #T7 Warrior Monks. had to listen, and sometimes obey.” [EC pp 125-126]
T12. Ordensburgen An Italian—William, Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina, ex-papal notary,

Teutonic Lords use Commander- ex-monk, and Bishop of Modena—served as legate in the Baltic
ies as extra Seats and start there from 1234 on. William mediated strained relationships among the
Command +1 Bishops and the Sword Brothers, appointed Heinrich Bishop of
Ösel, was involved in the Treaty of Stensby with Denmark (see
Tips. The extra Ordensburgen Capability #T1), and set up an alliance between Heinrich and the
Seats can allow Muster of Lords, Teutonic Order. [EC p126; AS pp 88, 142; WU pp 85, 91]
added Supply Sources, and Tax
at Commanderies. As an exam- Legate William appears to have been key planner and operational
ple, Wenden would be two Seats decision-maker behind the crusade on Novgorod. [EC pp 133, 135]
each for Andreas and Rudolf. He journeyed around northern Europe bringing the most important
Whenever a Teutonic Lord starts players together, visiting Prussia, Lübeck, and Denmark in 1239-
his Command card already at a 1240 to settle any dispute that might interfere with the northern
Commandery Locale, he would crusade in general and perhaps the Russian project specifically.
receive +1 Command action on that card. Whether he was in Estonia over 1241 organizing the offensive on
Novgorod, however, remains in doubt. [DN p48; WU pp 93, 95-96]
History. The Teutonic Knights were experienced castle-builders
in the Holy Land. [EC p91] A contingent of them sent to defend
the Latin frontier in Transylvania had by 1220 built a chain of
T14. Trebuchets T16. Ransom

This Lord Unrouted at Storm or Sally reduces Russian Walls or Each Russian Lord removed in Battle or while Besieged, add Coin
Siegeworks -1 equal to his Service to Teutonic Lord there
Tips. Trebuchets reduce Walls and Siegeworks whenever the Lord Tips. Any one Teutonic Lord present receives the Coin, regardless
with the Capability card is at a Storm, Sally, or Relief Sally Locale, of who is active or originally Levied the card. “Removed” includes
even if the Lord is in Reserve or is not among Sallying Lord(s). Disbanded or removed from play during any part of Battle or while
Strikes from all Lords on his side receive the Walls 1 benefit. The Besieged; Disband of a Retreated Lord in a Feed/Pay/Disband seg-
number of Storm Rounds is not affected. If the Lord with Trebu- ment, including by shifts from Battle Retreat, would not provide
chets Routs, the benefit no longer applies for that Storm or Sally. any Coin because the Lord was no longer in Battle when removed.
History. Among the technological advantages that the Teutonic History. Ransoming high-born captives would have been a com-
invaders possessed over the Baltic pagans was the use of siege en- mon and longstanding practice in the homelands of the Livonian
gines unknown in the region until then. Chief among these engines Germans and Danes as elsewhere in the Latin medieval world.
was the latest in 13th-Century military technology, counterweight Danish King Valdemar II himself in the 1220s had suffered ab-
trebuchets that could hurl 100-kilogram (220-pound) stones ac- duction by a German count and release for ransom. [WU p25] See
curately enough from distances beyond archery range to smash also Russian Capability #R7.
wooden or stone walls or, from within a besieged stronghold, the
besieger’s engines and works. Teutonic siegecraft coupled such T17. Stonemasons
artillery with crossbowmen (see Capability #T4-T6), movable tow- This Lord for his full Command and 6 Prov puts available Castle
ers, and systematic organization for digging protective works and at Unbesieged Fort or Town in Rus
preparing trebuchet positions to vastly outmatch the Balts in attack
and defense of strongholds. [VJM pp 252-256, 260, 266, 276-290] Tips. The Lord must not be Besieged,
have taken any actions on his current
Trebuchets were crafted, transported, assembled and operated by Command card, or have fewer than six
specialists. In this regard, even when regional adversaries improved Provender (including through Sharing).
their siege technology in response to and emulation of the crusad- The Castle marker replaces the Fort or Town at its Locale and re-
ers, the Teutons maintained their edge through their access to the moves any “Walls +1” marker there (see Russian Capability R18
volume and quality of siege artillery that the craftsmen of Germany Stone Kremlin). The Teutons may build at most two Castles during
could deliver. [EC p91]. a game. The Castles are permanent. They flip when Conquered.
Discard of the Capability does not affect Castle markers already
Russian fortification and siegecraft were well ahead of that of the
on the map.
pagans. It was informed by Byzantine practice, and the Russians
were quickly incorporating lessons from the tactics that the Mon- History. The Teutonic Knights and Sword Brothers in their Baltic
gols had in recent years used in sacking one Russian city after conquests made use of innovations available to them through con-
another. So the game portrays ample ability for Russian forces to tact with the merchants and craftsmen of central Europe. (See also
conquer Teutonic strongholds. But the Trebuchets Capability card Capabilities #T4-T6 Balistarii, #T14 Trebuchets, and #T18 Cogs.)
acknowledges that 13th-Century Russian siege warfare nevertheless One such innovation was the stone tower. Masonry skills were well
remained behind that of Rus’s Western foes. [DN p39; JF pp 84- established among the Saxons, and emigrant masons from Germany
85; KN pp 5, 48-51; NM p39; NT p45] Even if not taken at face made it possible for the Teutons to replace their early blockhouses
value, a Livonian chronicler’s description of the siege of a hillfort with towers and thereby protect their small garrisons from their
by troops from Polotsk in 1206 is suggestive: enemies’ most potent weapon, fire. [EC pp 90-91; NT pp 18, 45]
“The Russians also made a little machine like that of the The Teutons could erect their castles in the midst of campaigns of
Germans, but not knowing the art of throwing rocks, they conquest, often using the sites of older wooden forts, to consolidate
hurled them backwards and wounded many of their own men.” control of pagan areas until then devoid of stone strongholds to
[VJM p277] capture. [VJM pp 254-255] Within the first months of 1241, they
invaded the Novgorodan territory of the Vod and completed such
In the case of Aleksandr’s campaign of 1242, his forces’ lack of
a castle at or near the Vodian fort of Koporye. From their castle,
siege equipment apparently helped dissuade him from further in-
they taxed local inhabitants and launched daring and devastating
cursions into Livonia after his great victory on Peipus. [WU p99]
raids toward Novgorod itself. [AS pp 154-155; DN pp 42, 50-51,
T15. Warrior Monks 53; WU p95]
See Teutonic Capability #T7.

T18. Cogs – Floating forts

This Lord’s Ships each serve as 2 Ships, can be shared anywhere,
Russian Events
and will weather Tempest (top half of card)
Tips. This card does not affect the R1. Bridge

limit of eight markers per Asset Hold: May play on front center Teutonic Lord in non-Winter Bat-
type per Lord. When sharing Ships tle—he Melee Strikes with units up to twice Round number
via Cogs, normal Supply and Sail
rules apply; a Supplying Lord must Tips and History. See Teutonic Event #T4.
still have a Route to a Seaport to
use the shared Ships, for example. R2. Marsh
Cogs protects only the Lord with Hold: May play if Defending in non-Winter Battle—Teutonic Horse
the card from the full effect of the does not Strike in Rounds 1 and 2
Russian Event #R16 Tempest. Tips and History. See Teutonic Event #T5.
History. Teutonic and Danish
invaders of the eastern Baltic R3. Pogost – Novgorodan outpost
benefited from a logistical edge in Hold: Play at any time to add 4 Provender to a Lord in Rus
their large ship types, especially
Tips. The Event offers great flexibility of timing as, for example,
the recent German innovation of the well-rounded, high-sided,
it can be played to add to a Lord’s Provender in the midst of his
and true rudder-steered cog (kogge). [EC pp 90-91] German and
Command actions or even while under Siege or during a Teutonic
Scandinavian ships had been getting bigger and bigger from the
Activation, as long as the receiving Lord is inside Rus.
mid-12th Century on. [VJM pp 250-251] The new war cogs had
a greater holding capacity than Novgorod’s ships, thanks to their History. Novgorod possessed a network of populated and often
broad hulls, and were more seaworthy. [AS p42] A single cog could fortified and garrisoned administrative centers to help it govern its
carry 500 passengers, up to 200 equipped fighting men, or a town’s far-flung territory of pagan tributaries and keep its river and other
supplies for a whole winter. [EC p90; VJM p249] trade routes open. [DN p16; NM pp 16-17]
Cogs were the superb fighting ships of the day, ideal for dominat-
R4. Raven’s Rock – Battle
ing Baltic Sea trade routes and seeing war supplies through pagan
of the Ice
pirate-infested waters. [EC pp 90-91] Their high sides made them
almost impossible to board from the traditional long-ships of the Hold: May play in non-Summer
Baltic. Equipped with towers and manned by crossbowmen, they Battle—Round 1 Russians Walls
served as floating forts and could effectively blockade enemy 1-2 against Melee
harbors. [VJM pp 248-252, 269-270] Tips. The Russians may play Ra-
ven’s Rock in field Battle on either
Unlike the long-ships of the pagans and Russians, cogs could not be
rowed up river nor dragged overland. [VJM p248-249] But harbor Attack or Defense, inside or out-
towns emerging in Livonia were ideal for reloading goods from cogs side of Rus, as long as the current
into boats, carts, and sleds to transport them inland along rivers or Season is Winter or Rasputitsa.
land routes, and this consideration shaped settlement, trade, and Teutonic Archery is not affected.
military operations. [AS p49] For example, Hermann’s brother, History. The Russian-Teutonic
Livonian bishop Albert, around 1200 moved his seat from Üxküll showdown on Lake Peipus in the
on the Daugava (Dvina) downriver to Riga and built a settler town early spring of 1242, per the Novgorod Chronicle “at Uzmen by
there, so as to have a port where cogs could anchor. [EC p99; VJM the Raven’s Rock”, probably took place along frozen banks and
p251] See also Russian Event #16 Tempest and Russian Capability marshes rather than on the lake itself, with Aleksandr finding therein
#R16 Lodya. a natural defense. [DN pp 39, 69-77; WU pp 98-99] The unsure
footing of ice or icy ground could well have slowed and hindered
the force of the Teutonic charge that led off the clash. Rus since the
9th Century had known “frost nails” for the feet of both men and
horses to enable both to walk over smooth ice without slipping.
[NM p34] Ice on the region’s lakeshores often piles up into jagged
obstacles as chunks melt, flow, and refreeze. [DN p69] Raven’s
Rock posits such opportunities for the Russians to use a familiarity
with battle on icy terrain to take an advantageous position against
a heavier Teutonic force.

R5. Hill Leal (Lihula) rose in revolt against the Teutons. This was more
Hold: May play if Defending in Battle—Round 1 and 2 Russian than a Bishop could handle on his own, so Andreas led the Order
Archery is x1 (not x½) in a counteroffensive, including a march across the sea ice. The
campaign won the desired peace but—together with separate cam-
Tips and History. See Teutonic Event #T9. paigning into Curonia (Event #R17 Dietrich von Grüningen leads
Order to Kurland)—removed the bulk of the Livonian Order from
R6. Ambush the Novgorod war. [WU p96]
Hold: Play to block Avoid Battle OR ignore Teutonic left and right
in Battle Round 1 R10. Batu Khan – Mongols turn west
On Calendar, shift Andreas cylinder OR Service up to 2 boxes
Tips. See Teutonic Event #T6. The Russians may use Ambush
to block Avoid Battle by a lone Legate and thereby Capture him Tips. Russians choose direction of shift; off-Calendar positions
(return the pawn to the William of Modena card). do not force opposite shifts. Shifting just one box off the Calendar
from box 1 or box 16 is allowed. Discard immediately.
History. This Event entertains the possibility that the Russians
could have achieved the ambush of a major Teutonic force as History. Whether or not the Mongol threat to Novgorod had in-
Hermann did of Domash in 1242. See Teutonic Event #T6. formed the Latin bid on a crusade on Rus, by the time of Aleksan-
dr’s counter-campaign into Livonia it was the Teutons who were
R7. Famine under pressure from the Khan’s eastern horsemen. The Order bore
This Campaign, Teutonic Supply adds maximum 1 Provender per a duty to defend Western Christendom against all enemies, and so
Command card from Seats and Forage adds none it joined in the defense against the Mongol onslaught into Poland
and Hungary in 1241-1242, suffering a shattering defeat with the
Tips. The Russian Event affects Teutonic Lords wherever they Poles and Czechs at the Battle of Liegnitz near Breslau in April
are. It does not affect Russian Lords. It does not affect Provender 1241 that only amplified Europe’s panic. [EC p133; JF p83; WU
via Supply from Ships, Ravage, or Spoils. Discard at end of this pp 57, 92, 96] See also Teutonic Event #T12 Khan Baty.
Campaign.
History. See Teutonic Event #T16. R11. V aldemar – Danish
unrest after king’s death
R8. Prince of Polotsk On Calendar, shift Knud & Abel
Hold: Play on a Russian Lord to shift cylinder 1 Calendar box OR OR their Service up to 1 box; this
for Lordship +2. Levy, no Muster of or by them
Tip. The Lordship bonus can apply to either the Muster or the Call Tips. Russians choose direction
to Arms segment. Discard the moment used. The Lord may use the of shift; off-Calendar positions
bonus to Levy the Capability on the same card. do not force opposite shifts. The
Event blocks Knud & Abel’s use of
History. Aleksandr in 1239 married Aleksandra, daughter Prince Lordship, including during Call to
Bryacheslav of Polotsk, to seal an alliance with this Russian neigh- Arms. Discard at end of this Levy.
bor wedged among Lithuania, Livonia, and Novgorod. Polotsk The Event can occur several times
was in decline, under Lithuanian pressure, and in a truce with the in a game, representing continued
Teutons to preserve mutually critical trade from that city down Danish infighting.
the Daugava (Dvina) River toward Riga and the sea. This Event
represents the potential that the Prince nevertheless would at least History. Denmark’s King Valdemar II died in March 1241, and a
indirectly help his son-in-law and Novgorod’s defense when he developing civil war worked to keep his sons home and otherwise
could. [DN21-22; EC pp100, 136; JF p102] distract the Danish kingdom from efforts in the eastern Baltic.
The resulting Danish political weakness also may have fed for-
R9. Osilian Revolt mer-Sword Brother conspiracies to reclaim their position in now
On Calendar, Teutons choose to shift Service of Andreas OR Danish Estonia, perhaps further undermining cooperation in the
Heinrich 2 boxes left invasion across the Narva. [AS p169; DN p59; EC p133; WU p95]
Tips. The Teuton player must select and immediately shift the R12. Mindaugas – Lithuanian chief raids Livonia
Service marker of either Heinrich or Andreas by 2 boxes to the Place Ravaged in a Livonia Locale within 2 of Rositten, not at
degree able. If only one of the two is on the map, his marker shifts. Teutonic Lord or Stronghold
If both are on the map, the Teutons player may select either, as long
as neither marker is yet in box 1 or off the left end of the Calendar. Tips. Russians may place a white Ravaged marker at a Locale with-
Discard immediately. in Livonia and at, adjacent to, or two Locales away from Rositten
and free of Teutonic Lords or Strongholds. They may not place it
History. Over the winter of 1241-1242, recently conquered pagans where Ravaged already. They may place it at a Stronghold they
on the large Baltic island of Ösel (Saaremaa) just off the coast at have Conquered. Discard the card immediately.
History. See Teutonic Event #T15. Mindaugas might have struck an interregnum and the Teutonic defeat on the Peipus narrows,
the Teutons in this period rather than Novgorod and Polotsk. Just a Pope Innocent IV made no similar effort against Rus. [EC pp133,
few years earlier, in 1236, he had dispatched forces to help pagans 135; WU p95] Legate William for his part seems to have come
crush Teutonic crusaders in the battle of Saule; decades later, he and gone during the preparations for and conduct of the Russian
would turn on his Teutonic allies to join with Aleksandr and Polotsk crusade, perhaps returning west before the fighting even started
in a conquest of Dorpat. [WU pp 87-88; JF pp 113-114] to organize a European defense against the oncoming Mongols.
[WU pp 93, 95-96].
R13. Pelgui – Baptized Ingrian elder
Hold: Play on Vladislav OR Karelians to shift cylinder 2 Calendar R16. Tempest
boxes OR for Lordship +2. Immediately remove all Ships
from a Teutonic Lord, half rounded
Tip. The Lordship bonus can apply to either the Muster or the Call
up if he has Cogs
to Arms segment. Discard the moment used. Vladislav may use the
bonus to Levy the Capability on the same card. Tips. The Russian player chooses
which Teutonic Lord is affected.
History. Novgorod’s dominion over various northern pagan tribu-
Discard immediately.
taries such as the Karelians and Vods began with trade, developed
into protection against local enemies, and in the 13th Century came History. While the Baltic Sea in
to include their conversion to the Christian faith as a means of warm months was not as hazard-
affiliation and political control. [EC pp 45, 116, 182] Aleksandr’s ous for 13th-Century seafaring as
hagiography mentions Pelgui, a baptized elder of the Ingrian people the North Sea or Atlantic Ocean,
southwest of Ladoga, in its account of the 1240 Neva campaign. [AS maritime disaster could strike. [EC
pp148, 155-156] The Pelgui Event represents a growing success p49] As late as a century after the
of Novgorod’s northern missions in cementing its overlordship of Swedes’ 1240 invasion via the Neva, a similar Swedish amphibious
the region and amplifying Finnic support during war. expedition had its fleet scattered in a storm at the mouth of the Narva
River. [EC pp 194-195] Nevertheless, the Danes’ and Germans’
R14. Prussian Revolt access to large, sturdy, seaworthy ships reduced their vulnerability.
If Andreas on map and Unbesieged and nothing at Riga, put him [AS p42; EC 7-8, 1417, 48-49] See Teutonic Capability #T18 Cogs.
there; if on Calendar, shift him 2 right
R17. Dietrich von Grüningen leads Order to Kurland
Tips. “Nothing at Riga” means no Lords, no Legate, no Conquered,
On Calendar, shift Andreas OR Rudolf OR their Service 1 box;
no Ravage, and so on—neither any piece nor any marker at the
this Levy, no Muster of or by them
Riga Locale. Discard the card immediately.
Tips. Russians choose direction of shift; off-Calendar positions do
History. The Teutonic Order’s conquest of the pagan tribes of
not force opposite shifts. The Event blocks Andreas’s and Rudolf’s
Prussia took generations, and their crusade there was still young
use of Lordship, including during Call to Arms and via any Teutonic
in the 1240s. Prussian “insurrections” and Teutonic “holy wars”
Events. Discard at end of this Levy.
in response over the course of the decade distracted the Livonian
lords from more local concerns, whether due to the emergence History. Livonian Master Dietrich von Grüningen in 1241-1242 led
of an aggressive Prussian chieftain or to Prussian exploitation of the Teutonic Order’s campaign of conquest into the pagan Curonia
Teutonic setbacks in Rus. [DN p81; EC p134; WU pp 57-59, 99] region west of Riga with the support of the bishoprics of Riga and
Ösel and of Danish vassals. [AS pp 163-164; JF p106] Here we
R15. Death of the Pope depict a diversion of the Order’s Livonian capacities to Dietrich’s
Remove Legate and discard William of Modena—This Levy, no campaign. See also Teutonic Event #T17 Dietrich von Grüningen
William of Modena focuses Order on Rus.
Tips. Death of the Pope affects the William of Modena card only R18. Bountiful Harvest
if currently in play as a Capability, not if Held as Heinrich Sees
Immediately remove 1 Ravaged marker from Rus
the Curia (Teutonic Event #T13). Remove the Legate pawn from
the map even if Besieged. Discard Death of the Pope at the end Tips. Russians choose any one white Ravaged marker to remove,
of Levy. William of Modena and the pawn may return in a later reducing Teutonic victory points by ½VP. Then discard the card
40 Days. Death of the Pope can occur several times in a game, immediately.
representing continued impact on the crusade against Rus.
History. See Teutonic Event #T14.
History. Whatever the role of Pope Gregory IX personally in
instigating the Teutonic-Danish drive on Novgorod, he clearly
was a supporter of the enterprise beyond just the will of his legate
William of Modena. Gregory died in August 1241, removing an
advocate for the aggression though naturally not ending it. After

are identical to those used elsewhere in Europe. [NM pp 32, 48] In

Russian Capabilities addition, Russian archers used both barbed European arrows and
(bottom half of card) armor-piercing Eastern arrows, probably amplifying the effect of
their archers on knightly armor to a degree resembling the employ-
R1.&R2. Luchniki – Massed Archers ment of crossbowmen. [NM p34]
This Lord’s Militia and Light Horse have Archery
Teutonic Knights historian Urban mentions that Aleksandr in
Tips. Luchniki (“Archers”) units Strike with both Archery and 1240 brought “skilled archers” to Novgorod’s defense against the
Melee. When Luchniki Archer units combine with Garrison or Swedes. [WU p93] These archers probably included some combina-
Streltsy Crossbowmen units, any Hit that includes at least ½ a tion of crossbowmen, horse-mounted archers in his druzhina, and/or
Hit from Crossbowmen does cause the reduction to enemy Armor steppe mercenaries. According to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle,
Protection. That is, when rounding units with Archery, round in the Pskovan army that marched out against the Teutons in 1240 and
favor of Crossbowmen. battled them in field near Izborsk included numerous crossbowmen,
probably drawn from the city’s militia. [DN pp 54-55; NM p20]
History. Whatever the uncertainty over the types of archers This Capability posits such Russian fielding of crossbowmen in
available to Aleksandr (see Capability #R10 Steppe Warriors), significant number beyond those who would remain in garrisons.
it appears clear that the Russians enjoyed an advantage over the See also Teutonic Capability #T4-T6 Balistarii.
Teutons in numbers of archers, most of whom in the field would
have been regular bowmen rather than crossbowmen and who R4. Smerdi – Peasant army
would have included some who rode horses to battle. The Livonian Start 6 Serfs on card; Russian Command action Unbesieged in Rus
Rhymed Chronicle, a key German primary source about the conflict Musters 1 Serf; Serfs return here when removed
of 1240-1242, reports that the Russians at the Battle of the Ice
“had many archers, and the battle began with their bold assault on Tips. The Lord must be in a Locale within Rus. Multiple actions
the king’s men.” [DN pp 37, 71-74; NM pp 20, 34-37; WU p99]. by one or several Lords could Muster up to all six Serf units. Serf
units may be re-Mustered whenever on the card, even after removal
The Novgorodans may have inherited from the Kievans of the during the same Campaign.
previous century a practice of forming a shield wall of spearmen
in front to protect foot archers behind. Russian skirmishers also History. A Russian tradition over the centuries of an emergency
commonly used bows, and examples of large multi-wood bows levy of Russian peasants from the villages surrounding the towns
from the 11th-12th Centuries have survived in the water-logged of lesser princes into a large but almost certainly ineffective army,
soil of the Novgorod region. Livonian crusaders and levies per the Voy, was fading but not unknown by the early 1200s. [DN pp
their accounts of the early 1200s feared Russian archery. [DN 35, 37; NM p20] Lately pagan Livonia and Estonia had few serfs,
p39; NM pp 28, 35-37, 46] Another Livonian chronicle, backed so the Teutons relied instead on native auxiliaries raised via tribal
up by archaeology, indicates that Baltic warriors, in contrast, only chieftains. [WU p84]
very rarely used bows, and simple ones at that. [VJM p266] The
Teutons, meanwhile, relied on more specialized contingents of R5.&R6. Druzhina – Elite
crossbow troops, distinct in equipment and practice from Russian Retinue
archers. [VJM pp 267-269, 272] See also Russian Capability #R3 This Lord with Knights Command
and Teutonic Capability #T4-T6 Balistarii Crossbowmen. +1
R3. Streltsy – Crossbowmen Tips. A Lord with D ruzhina

receives the benefit with even a
This Lord’s Men-at-Arms have
single Knights piece on his mat.
Archery with -2 to target’s Armor
A Lord may have only one Dru-
Tips. “NOT” on the card means zhina card but may combine it
that any Russian Lord except with #R11 House of Suzdal for
Karelians may have Crossbow- +2 Command.
men. (The Karelians have no Men-
History. Military power in medi-
at-Arms.) Streltsy (“shooters”)
eval Rus generally centered on the druzhina—the retinue of up to
Crossbowmen units Strike with
several hundred well trained, well equipped, full-time soldiers tied
both Archery and Melee. See Ca-
to a prince by oath. A typical druzhina would comprise heavy and
pability #R1&R2 Luchniki above
other cavalry and perhaps archers. Druzhiny were known for their
about rounding Crossbowmen.
mobility. Less tied to the land or to any locality than the household
History. Russian forces included and vassals of a typical Western feudal magnate, druzhniki readily
not only numerous regular archers but also some crossbowmen like accompanied their prince over long distances as his campaigns or
those of the Teutons. Crossbows were in use in northwest Russia ruling opportunities might require. In times of external aggression,
from the late 12th or early 13th Century onwards. [NM pp 34, 37] the druzhiny of lesser princes banded around that of the Grand
Mid-13th-Century crossbow equipment specimens from Novgorod Prince. [AS p125; DN pp 34-35, 37; NM pp 16-19, 33-34, 36]
R7. Ransom During the first half of the 13th Century, the main contender for
Each Teutonic Lord removed in Battle or while Besieged, add Coin such dominance was the fleet of the Danish king. [AS pp 85, 122;
equal to his Service to Russian Lord there. EC pp 110-112] See also Capabilities #R8 Black Sea Trade and
#R16 Lodya.
Tips. Any one Russian Lord present receives the Coin, regardless
of who is active or originally Levied the card. “Removed” includes R10. Steppe Warriors
Disbanded or removed from play during any part of Battle or while Kipchaqs and Mongols may Mus-
Besieged; Disband of a Retreated Lord in a Feed/Pay/Disband ter; they Disband if this card
segment, including from shifts from Battle Retreat, would not discarded
provide any Coin because the Lord was no longer in Battle during
Feed/Pay/Disband. Tips. This Capability makes Kip-
chaq and Mongol Asiatic Horse
History. Russians like other medieval armies sought ransom from Special Vassals available for Mus-
defeated foes. [AS p113, 136-137] The Novgorod Chronicle relates ter. These Special Vassal Forces
that Aleksandr after his recapture of the Vod region in 1241 “took once Levied follow Disband rules
the town and brought some Nemtsy (Germans) to Novgorod and let normally, except that they also
others go.” [AS p154; DN pp 54, 59; WU p97] After Aleksandr’s Disband immediately (even if Be-
reconquest of Pskov in 1242 and again after the Battle of the Ice, sieged) upon discard of the Steppe
Aleksandr similarly sent his prisoners to Novgorod. [EC p134; Warriors card.
JF p105; WU p98] Besides showing off trophies to his subjects, a
reason for moving prisoners in this way would have been to obtain History. Historian David Nicolle suggests that Aleksandr’s army
ransom for their release. See also Teutonic Capability #T16. in 1242 included up to several hundred horse archers trained in the
use of swift shower-shooting from horseback, either Kipchaqs who
R8. Black Sea Trade fled the Mongol invasion or hired Mongols. Nicolle depicts these
Each Call to Arms, add 1 Coin to Veche unless Novgorod or Lovat steppe horsemen flanking and overwhelming Danish vassal knights
Conquered who were unfamiliar with these tactics. [DN pp 35-37, 40-41, 65,
73-77, 80-81] Nicolle argues:
Tips. Add Coin once any time during
Russian Call to Arms, including in the Since it proved impossible to make Russians into effective,
same Levy as Mustering the Capability. or at least numerous, horse-archers, Russian rulers constantly
When in effect, place the appropriate Coin recruited steppe peoples for this purpose. ... The flow of such
marker on the card as a reminder, then move it to the Veche box specialists into Russian territory was helped by a Turco-Mon-
during Russian Call to Arms. When Levied but not in effect, keep gol tradition whereby the military elites of steppe tribes often
a “SEA TRADE Blocked” marker on the card. If Teutons Conquer migrated west or north if defeated by newcomers from the east.
Lovat or Novgorod, but Russians retake it, the benefit resumes. ... Most [such ‘Black Caps’] were found in southern Russia,
but their fate following the first Mongol invasion is unclear.
History. Novgorod’s river fleets and its system of alliances and Like the Kipchaq Turks, who actually ruled the western steppes
portages to the Dnieper River to reach the Black Sea and to the when the Mongols arrived, they may have fled still further west
upper Volga to reach the Caspian gave the city-state a lucrative or north, into central Europe and central Russia. Whether or not
hold on trade between East and West. The key Black Sea route, any significant numbers of Black Caps and Kipchaqs reached
for example, ran from Novgorod across Lake Ilmen, up the Lovat Novgorod remains unknown. Nevertheless, it is possible that
River, and across the territory of Polotsk to the Dnieper. [AS p37; Alexandre Nevskii’s contingent of horse-archers at the battle
EC pp 11, 35-36; PS abstract] See also Capability #R16 Lodya. of Lake Peipus were such men, rather than Mongols, as has
been suggested. [DN p35]
R9. Baltic Sea Trade
Each non-Winter Call to Arms, add 2 Coin to Veche unless Teutons Nicolle is the only historian we have found to postulate a substan-
have more Ships than Rus OR Novgorod or Neva Conquered tial presence of non-Russian Asiatic cavalry in Aleksandr’s army.
But it is also plausible that a mass of the archers noted at Peipus
Tips. See #R8 Black Sea Trade Tips above. #R16 Lodya and in 1242 were Russian horseback archers (Otroki) fighting in the in
Teutonic Capability #T18 Cogs both apply to determining whether the highly skilled steppe style.
Baltic Sea Trade is blocked.
Alternatively, Russian cavalry, particularly any light horse, may
History. Baltic Sea trade boomed for Novgorod in the late 12th have used bows but in a less specialized, more static style. [NM
through mid-13th Centuries. [AS pp 41-42] The Neva served as a pp 33, 36] The game’s scenario rules (6.0) offer a variant option
vital link to this Western commerce of vital importance to Novgorod for players who wish to leave the possibility of Asiatic units out,
and for that reason was a repeated target of Swedish invasion. [AS replacing them with static horse archers among druzhina contin-
p151; EC pp 11, 36; PS abstract] Beyond the Neva and lesser Luga gents and Russian or other northern auxiliaries in service of the
and Narva outlets to the sea, naval dominance of the Baltic could Grand Prince’s family.
to a degree block Novgorod’s maritime trade in time of conflict.

R11. House of Suzdal – Preeminent dynasty R15. Archbishopric of Novgorod

This Lord Command +1 while Aleksandr and Andrey on map Russian Lords have an extra Seat
at Novgorod and start there Com-
Tips. Although this Capability attaches to only one Lord at a time
mand +1.
and affects the Command rating of only that Lord—either Aleksandr
or Andrey—it relies on both those Lords’ cylinders being on the Tips. The extra A rchbishopric
map at the same time to provide its benefit. A Lord may combine Seat can allow both Muster of
House of Suzdal with #R5/R6 Druzhina for +2 Command. Lords and an added Supply Source
at Novgorod. As an example,
History. Great Russian dynasties for the first decades of the 13th
Novgorod would be two seats for
Century jostled for control over Novgorod. In the late 1230s, the
Domash. Whenever a Russian
Suzdalians under Grand Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich cemented
Lord starts his Command card
their role as protectors of the great city. [AS pp 107-108; JF pp
already at Novgorod, he would
71-75] See also Capability #R17 Veliky Knyaz.
receive +1 Command action on
Yaroslav’s apparent preference in 1241 for his less experienced that card.
son Andrey rather Aleksandr to be the one to meet Novgorod’s
History. In contrast to most of the Eastern Orthodox world,
Teutonic crisis (see Teutonic Event #T1 Grand Prince), as well
Novgorod’s archbishop exercised considerable secular authority.
as Andrey’s usurpation in 1248 of his older brother’s first right to
Though not quite in the vein of the Latin warrior-priests such as
Vladimir-Suzdal’s grand princely throne, suggest a serious sibling
Bishop Hermann of Dorpat, the Archbishop of Novgorod often
rivalry. Andrey as Grand Prince would take a hard anti-Mongol
headed the council that ran the city’s day-to-day affairs on behalf
line, while Aleksandr pursued the opposite policy. Yet Andrey and
of the veche. Moreover, the Archbishop oversaw Novgorod’s re-
Alexander when in the field together fought well, and Andrey’s
lationships and interests across the city-state’s far-flung territories.
contribution to the 1242 campaign was a celebrated one as the
Although the degree of the archbishops’ involvement in civic, po-
two brothers’ presence embodied a brief unity within Rus’s pivotal
litical, and diplomatic affairs tapered during the early 13th Century
princely house of the day. [DN pp 23-24; JF pp 105-106, 108]
only to recover later, the Archbishopric Capability in the game
portrays the status of Novgorod throughout as not just a trading and
R12. Raiders tributary power but also as a center of fused spiritual and secular
This Lord with Light or Asiatic influence. [AS p17; NM p16; Michael Paul, “Secular Power and
Horse may Ravage adjacent Lo- the Archbishops of Novgorod”, 2007]
cales where no enemy Lords but
take no Loot R16. Lodya – Russian river-lake-sea craft
Tips. Any Light Horse or Asiatic This Lord may use his Boats as 2 Boats each OR use up to 2 Ships
Horse on the Lord’s mat would or Boats as the other
qualify him. Unlike Teutonic Tips. Russians during any given action or for use of Capability
R aiders (Capability #T2), this #R9 Baltic Sea Trade may either double this Lord’s Boats or may
Capability may be used for multi- temporarily designate up to two of his Ships as Boats or Boats as
ple actions on a single Command Ships, including when this Lord Shares. During an action, a Ship
card and allows Ravage of Locales counted as a Boat does not count as a Ship, and vice versa. Lodya
adjacent by land or water to gain does not affect Wastage removal or the limit of eight markers per
Provender but no Loot. All other Ravage rules apply, including Asset type per Lord.
placement of Ravaged markers and the ban on a Besieged Lord
using Ravage. History. The immense distances, forest, marsh, and mighty rivers
of Rus placed boats and ships at the core of medieval Russian life.
History. Balt-on-Russian warfare had for centuries emphasized the The medieval Russians supported their river fleets with a waterway
sudden raid for prestige and rapid retreat with prisoners and booty. infrastructure not unlike the great canoe/bateaux routes of 18th
[DN pp9-10] The Karelians, short on horsemen, were specialists of Century New France and New York.
sending small parties of picked men on skis, and Novgorodans in
winter probably did the same. [EC p48; NM pp 28, 36, 46] The Rus- Russian princes paved portages with timber to allow unloaded
sian version of the Raiders Capability represents such skills in fast ships to be dragged across and reloaded. They dug canals and then
and wide-ranging if less painstaking overland ravaging of enemy provided guards at such choke points. Tributary tribes guarded
territory than the practices discussed for Teutonic Capability #T2. key waterways on Novgorod’s behalf. [DN p38; NM pp 34-35;
PS abstract] Novgorod’s fleets thus could carry the city-state’s
R13. Strelsty – Crossbowmen commodities and control along the Lovat-Volkhov-Ladoga-Neva
See Russian Capability #R3. waterway and by portages to the tributaries of other systems, to
the Arctic or to trade routes to the East. [EC pp 11]
R14. Raiders
Novgorodan and Pskovan chroniclers used the general term lodya
See Russian Capability #R12.
(boat or longboat) for Russian sailing vessels and korabl (ship) R18. Stone Kremlin readied
exclusively for foreign types in apparent recognition that even This Lord for his full Command may mark his Fort, City, or
long-distance Russian craft tended to be smaller. (Russian for Novgorod Walls +1; remove marker if Sacked
the specific cog type was busa; see Teutonic Capability #T18).
Aleksandr’s army in 1240 reached the Swedes on the Neva from Tips. The Lord must be at the Locale receiving the
Novgorod using a small, fast Russian riverboat called a strug. marker as he expends his entire Command card to do
However, though small and flat-bottomed to better navigate the nothing except place the marker. He may be Besieged.
inland river and lakeshore systems, these Russian craft nevertheless “Walls +1” gives a Walls 1-3 Stronghold Walls 1-4.
sailed as well at sea, at least along the coastal waters that served A Stronghold may have only one Walls +1 marker—the markers
most Baltic journeys of the day. Thus, they extended Novgorod’s are not cumulative. At most all four markers may be on the map at
supply and potential military reach even further beyond the interior. a time. Markers to be placed may be taken from the map, even if
[EC pp 14-16; PS abstract] not all four are out. Discard of the card does not affect Walls mark-
ers already on the map, nor would the Stronghold’s Surrender.
R17. Veliky Knyaz – Grand Teutonic placement of a Castle marker at a Walls +1 Fort removes
Prince Yaroslav the Walls marker (see Teutonic Capability #T17 Stonemasons).
This Lord’s Tax also adds 2 Trans- History. Stone fortifications were far less widespread in 13th-Cen-
port AND restores all their Mus- tury Rus than in central Europe. Most Russian forts, as those
tered Forces throughout the eastern Baltic before the arrival of the crusaders,
Tips. All other Tax rules apply. A were built of a mixture of earth, clay, and timber. Bricks might
Lord with this Capability and Un- form the core of an earthen rampart. A wooden palisade on top of
besieged at his Seat will receive for the rampart would constitute the fort’s dominant feature. Even the
each Command card that they use great Novgorod relied on wooden rather than stone walls. Wooden
to Tax the usual one Coin plus any fortifications could be defeated by fire or by devices that hooked
two Transport (up to the maximum and removed logs one by one. [DN pp 14-15, 28, 39-40, 49; NM
of eight per type) plus returning pp 38-39; VJM pp 254-255]
any unit pieces that they have lost Nevertheless, Russia’s mostly wood and earth strongholds incorpo-
from their starting forces and Mustered Vassals. rated stone towers here and there, and within the wooden curtains
History. Novgorod’s fractious boyars proved despite their wealth around towns and cities a stronger citadel (kremlin, in the 13th Cen-
incapable of seeing to the city’s own defense and relied instead on tury more commonly called krom or detinets) sometimes featured
the military leadership and druzhiny of princely lords for its de- stone works. Ladoga boasted a stone fortress probably from the
fense. The Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal was already by 1200 900s on and certainly by the 12th Century. By the 1200s, Izborsk’s
considered senior to all Russian princes. [JF p2] From the 1230s on, citadel had a hexagonal stone tower and a stone wall probably with
it would be Grand Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and his descen- a log wall on top, Novgorod had some stone towers, and Pskov’s
dants who would serve the role of protector of Novgorod, not only citadel included stone facings on its landward rampart. [DN pp 28,
through their skill and ingenuity in outmaneuvering rival princes 39-40; KN pp 9, 13-15, 20, 25, 35, 39; NM p38; www.nortfort.ru]
for the honor, but also through the proximity of their patrimony
to Novgorodan territory. [JF pp 71-73] Suzdalia thus provided
Novgorodan Rus an eastern hinterland of military reserves against
any Teutonic threat, beyond what its Arctic expanses might muster
and despite any northeast-Russian subservience to the Khan. See
also Capability #R11 House of Suzdal.

Command. I lifted the stacking of

DESIGN NOTE Command cards from the Column
The Levy & Campaign Series that cards mechanic in Ragnar Brothers’
Nevsky inaugurates seeks to explore brilliant design Angola. There the
the dynamics of medieval warfare rule portrays the confusion among
at the operational level. That is, the allied factions in a civil war, here
game system does not concern itself the limitations of medieval com-
much with the higher strategic di- munications and the squishiness of
plomacy that created wars. Nor does feudal relationships as a command
it delve into the details of battlefield hierarchy. The Planning step in
maneuver or tactics. Rather, Levy Nevsky represents a council of war
& Campaign focuses on several or exchange of messages at the outset
aspects of medieval military art in of a campaign.
between those higher and lower
Seasonal limits on total Command
levels of examination:
cards bound the number of indepen-
• Levy: The mobilization of dent columns that a medieval staff
men and material for war, especially system could coordinate. Restrictions
in the political context of feudalism. on cards per Lord and on Marshals
• Command: The direction of multiple lords’ movements when and Lieutenants seek further to por-
separated by miles of countryside and perhaps not in full tray the limits on organizing any campaign involving a collection
understanding of or even agreement on an overall operational of feudal lords.
plan.
Supply. The design intent behind the explicit tracking rather than
• Supply: The provisioning of armies, especially across minimally abstraction of Provender, Loot, Coin, and various types of Transport
passable landscape and in seasonal or other climatic extremes. is to draw the players’ focus onto the puzzles of supplying forces
• Disband: The limits of time during which leaders and troops will when only the Middle Ages’ relatively primitive commissariat
serve. services and transportation infrastructure were on hand.
Within those realms, the system naturally includes portrayal of Within those medieval bounds, organization of military supply was
the actual fighting—battles, siege and storm of strongholds, and elaborate enough. The following late-13th Century description of a
ravaging of enemy territory. Teutonic Landmeister preparing a winter campaign to re-provision
Levy. With something like half the game concerning this aspect of a stronghold isolated within enemy territory well describes the
medieval warfare, considerable thought and (naturally) historical process of muster and war supply on the Baltic frontier that the
guesswork went into what and how Lords and their higher author- game’s mechanics seek to bring to life:
ities might mobilize for a campaign. Playtesters usefully abused The Master was intelligent and soon learned how one took an
initial rules, for example to accumulate preposterous numbers of army into Semgallia in the winter. [He] summoned many Es-
Sleds, resulting in the addition of more realistic limits such as the tonians and Letts. A large number of chivalrous warriors from
various Wastage rules. Dorpat and Leal also came. As was often the case, the assembly
In other cases, we found restrictions to edit out. I had originally was at Riga, because the army could supply itself with food
prohibited a Lord to Levy another of higher Service. But I realized and fodder better here than anywhere else. The citizens wisely
eventually that feudal relations were two-way obligations and keep a constant supply of whatever one needed for a journey.
dependencies: a king, for example, had an obligation to come to When the day the Master had set came, the Brothers’ army
the defense of his vassals, and so on down the line, as well as vice arrived with its forces. The army quickly made ready and set
versa. Many of the Lords portrayed in the game were in any case out from Riga, traveling over ice and land to Mitau. During the
allies of one another, not superiors or subordinates. That left as summer many ships from Riga had brought large amounts of
the only stricture on who could Levy whom the case of Aleksandr meal, malt, meat and other foodstuffs there. It had then been
and Andrey—a rules exception necessary to portray the complex stored. Now sleds were loaded with clothes and food while the
diplomacy (especially in 1240-1241) between Novgorod’s veche army waited on the ice. When the sleds were fully loaded, they
and the House of Suzdal. were taken into the army and escorted toward Semgallia. ...
An additional, welcome simplification emerged far more quickly [The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, as translated by Jerry C.
for the Vassal forces: originally, Vassal Service markers all went Smith and William L. Urban (1997)]
on the Calendar, as a standard rule. But it soon became evident The importance in this theater of waterways and freeze and thaw to
that the overall effects of limited time of service worked well military movement meant that the gameplay complication of four
enough via the Lord’s Service alone, so that the bother of tracking distinct types of transport was worthwhile. Many other aspects of
individual Vassals’ Service could be avoided for all but the most movement and logistics nevertheless remain simplified in Nevsky.
dedicated players. Note, for example, that men and beasts in the game are generally
able to get themselves across any landscape—it is any accompany- and playtest challenge. (Over the tests, we diminished fuel and
ing vehicles needed to haul the provender of war that may not be increased drag.)
able to make the journey without the appropriate terrain.
Fighting. Medieval military operations were mostly a matter of
Disband. Perhaps the most unfamiliar aspect of play in Nevsky ravaging territory to punish an enemy and bring him to terms, or of
is the interaction of the limited time of Service of each Lord (and deterring such raids, with the occasional siege and storm of fortified
each Vassal, if players employ that option) with Levy, Supply, places, and only rarely the meeting of massed armies for battle in
Siege, Battle, Events, and several other factors. Players must the field. The chronicles record only four Russian field battles in
keep an eye not only on their armies moving across the map but the two-year conflict depicted in Nevsky: Aleksandr on the Neva,
also on time creeping up on their Lord’s obligation to remain in Gavrilo at Izborsk, Domash in Ugaunia, and Aleksandr at Uzmen.
the fight. Temporal limits on force levels come up less frequently
in gaming modern professional armies and total wars, but such a Once joined, medieval battles were hard to control and severe in
clock on military duty was fundamental to feudal operations. (It outcome. For the game design, casualties and other consequences
also impacted later eras that featured reliance on mercenaries or of combat took some adjustment, with the general trend during
seasonal or annual enlistees.) Nevsky’s development being of greater loss of Forces and Assets
in combat.
The justified temptation for players
If we got it right, the incentives and risks facing players in Nevsky
will be to do everything possible to
are likely to produce historical proportions of Ravage, Siege, Storm,
prevent any of their Lords from Dis-
and Battle—consistent with the following professional advice:
banding. But Nevsky’s Disband and
Muster mechanics allow (especially in It is well to hurt the enemy by deceit, by raids, or by hunger,
the longer scenarios) for the compet- and never be enticed into a pitched battle, which is a demon-
ing approaches of rewarding all Lords stration more of luck than of bravery.
evenly but risking sudden departure of
the entire army, versus allowing some [Book of Strategy by Byzantine Emperor Maurice, ca600AD,
to go home after pressing them hard quoted in Medieval Warfare magazine, Vol VIII Issue 5, p20.]
on raids or in combat. My expectation Conclusion. With the new temporal, logistical, and combat systems
is that players will learn more adroit in the game, settling Nevsky’s design turned out to be more chal-
management of their Lords’ Service lenging for me than for any other that I have done. I am perhaps
through their own experiments. An old-fashioned as an artisan. I used neither sophisticated statistics
illustrative modern analogy to the nor computational modeling. Rather, this project applied medieval
selective use-and-lose strategy might methods: trial and tuning over months upon months of live play
be the campaign that George Washington chose at the Delaware by many people.
in response to his army’s predicament at yearend 1776: without a
strong reason to stay, annual enlistees were about to head home, So it is fortunate that Nevsky enjoyed the talents and dedication
so the General threw them into a risky strike. (See Winter Soldiers of a first-rate development and playtest crew. The design in your
by Richard Ketchum, Chapter IV, “The Game Is Pretty Near Up”.) hands is a very different one from my original conception, and for
that I owe a volume of thanks to Wendell and each of the testers.
Perhaps because of the design novelty of Disband in Nevsky and Errors of mine remain—some always do. But if this game hangs
because of the many elements that influence it—Loot, Forage, together for you, it does so in large measure due to that team’s
Spoils, Laden March, Wastage, Events, and more—calibrating fuel work. May it please you.
to drag in this rules subsystem was our most difficult development
Volko Ruhnke
Virginia, 2019

Urban, William. The Teutonic Knights: A Military History (2003).

SELECTED SOURCES Focused on the German Order’s conquest of pagans, with rather
Source abbreviations used in this booklet: more on Prussia than Livonia, but with useful discussion of the
Teutons’ 1240-1242 attempt at conquest of Novgorod.
AS = Selart, Livonia, Rus’ and the Baltic Crusades
DN = Nicolle, Lake Peipus 1242 Villads Jensen, Kurt, “Bigger and Better: Arms Race and Change in
EC = Christiansen, The Northern Crusades War Technology in the Baltic in the Early Thirteenth Century”, and
JF = Fennell, The Crisis of Medieval Russia Mäesalu, Ain, “Mechanical Artillery and Warfare in the Chronicle
of Henry”, in Crusading and Chronicle Writing on the Medieval
KN = Nossov, Medieval Russian Fortresses
Baltic Frontier: A Companion to the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia
NM = Nicolle and McBride, Armies of Medieval Russia (2011). These two essays examine the Teutons’ military state of
NT = Nicolle and Turner, Teutonic Knight the art in the period preceding the 1240s war with Rus, featuring a
PS = Sorokin, Waterways and Shipbuilding contention that the Livonian crusaders benefited from a medieval
VJM = Villads Jensen, “Bigger and Better”, and Mäesalu, military revolution of the early 13th Century in the size of horses,
“Mechanical Artillery” siege equipment, and ships.
WU = Urban, The Teutonic Knights
Warfare on the Baltic Frontier

Christiansen, Eric. The Northern Crusades (1997 Second Edition
of 1980 original). Rich in cultural and economic description of the
Teutonic sweep into a Baltic region of diverse pagan and Russian
peoples, including the roles of popes and legates and some pages
on the crusade against Novgorod.
The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia. English translation by James A.
Brundage (2004 edition of 1961 original). Contemporary account
of the Teutonic conquest of Livonia and Estonia from the Baltic
pagans up to 1225, written by a missionary cleric who personally
accompanied military campaigns.
The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle. English translation by Jerry C.
Smith and William L. Urban (1997). The Northern Crusades from
the Teutonic Knights’ point of view, written in the late 13th Century
and with much coverage of military affairs.
Medieval Russia
The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016-1471. English translation by
Nicolle, David. Lake Peipus 1242: Battle of the Ice (1996). The Robert Michell and Nevill Forbes (1914). The near contemporary
most detailed discussion in English of the military operations cov- source most frequently quoted by historians of the 1240-1242
ered in the game, albeit full of controversial interpretations such campaign, providing in conjunction with the Livonian Rhymed
as a timeline at odds with the Novgorod Chronicle, a larger role Chronicle some description corroborated from each side. Available
for the Danes than some other historians accept, and the depiction on line at https://archive.org/details/chronicleofnovgo00michrich/
of Mongol or Kipchak horse archers in Aleksandr’s 1242 army. page/n15 and at http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/rus/texts/
MF1914.pdf.
Nicolle, David and Graham Turner. Teutonic Knight 1190-1561
(2007). Useful details on Teutonic organization, arms, and mo- Fennell, John. The Crisis of Medieval Russia 1200-1304 (2014
tivation of the Teutonic Order including that of the Baltic of the printing of 1983 original). Move and countermove across the
13th Century, along with its characteristics in the Holy Land and decades, as the great houses of Rus—in true feudal fashion—bick-
in later centuries. ered, postured, and sometimes fought, until the Mongols arrived
and ruined many of them; essential context for the relationship
Ostrowski, Donald. “Alexander Nevskii’s ‘Battle on the Ice’: The
between the Vladimir’s Grand Prince and his sons Aleksandr and
Creation of a Legend” in Russian History, 33, Nos.2-3-4 (2006).
Andrey on the one hand and the untouched but militarily dependent
An attempt to reconcile the details among the sources that depict
Novgorod on the other.
the climactic battle of 1242 between Aleksandr and Hermann, such
as the great uncertainty in the numbers of troops involved and the Nicolle, David and Angus McBride. Armies of Medieval Russia
question of whether anyone actually fell through ice. 750-1250 (1999). Some details on Russian medieval forces’ orga-
nization and equipment, though with more on southern and steppe
Selart, Anti. Livonia, Rus’ and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth
warfare of the Kievan period than on Novgorod and Aleksandr’s
Century (2007). The academic view from Tartu (once Dorpat), with
day.
deep probing of the nature of Teuton-on-Rus conflict, generally
downplaying its scale and importance within the larger fabric of Nossov, Konstantin. Medieval Russian Fortresses AD 862–1480
an economically and culturally interwoven region. (2007). Details of Russian fortification styles, including regional
differences and the development of technology over the centuries.

Paul, Michael C. “Secular Power and the Archbishops of Novgorod
before the Muscovite Conquest”, in Kritika: Explorations in
Credits
Russian and Eurasian History, Vol8, No2 (2007). Scholarly look Game Design: Volko Ruhnke
at Novgorod’s form of rule, with a focus on the political, adminis-
Development: Wendell Albright
trative, and diplomatic roles of the archbishops there, with useful
contrast to the warrior-prince-bishop model in the West. Vassal Module: Joel Toppen and Peter Wagner
Sorokin, Petr. Waterways and Shipbuilding in North-western Russia Consultation: Aigar Alaveer, Örjan Ariander,
in the Middle Ages (1997), via English-language abstract published Tom Boughton, John Bowen, Ken Chase,
in Nordic Underwater Archaeology (October 1998, revised 2002), Endre Fodstad, Jeff Gringer, Ilias Litsios,
online at https://www.abc.se/~pa/mar/rus-ship.htm. Archaeologi- Artyom Nichipurov, Peter Regrut (Endorse-
cally-determined details of medieval Russian boat and ship types ment of the design is not implied.)
and waterway routes and outposts. Playtest: Aigar Alaveer, Jeremy Antley,
Zack Baldwin, Ferret Baudoin, Kevin
Medieval Military Operations Bernatz, Joseph Bottoms, Steve Carey,
Delbrück, Hans. History of the Art of War, Volume III: Medieval Matt Daniels, Phil Dreher, John Echever-
Warfare (1923). The relevant portion of a traditional bible for war- ria, Roy Espino, Endre Fodstad, Juan García
López, John Gibbins, Sean Golyer, Michael
game designers dealing with pre-20th Century military operations,
Hrabak, Kurt Keckley -“What’s Loot? Can
herein analysis of the rise of knights out of the Roman collapse, the we eat it?”, Javier Maqua Pérez, Mike
40-day feudal obligation and its blending into mercenary and finally McCarthy, Mike McClellan, Juan Mi-
professional soldiery, and more as this scholar sought a century lano Escar, Javier Muñoz Kirschberg,
ago to glean what could be learned from key battles along the way. Troy Nichols, David Nighswonger, Gordon Pueschner - “Winter is
Coming”, Phil Rehberger, Bernard Roessler, Dave Ruiz, Lino Sangui-
France, John. Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, 1000- no, Dominic Smith, Don Smith, Derek Stratman, Toomas Sula, Doug
1300 (1999). A more modern version of Delbrückian systemic Sun, Peter Wagner - Teutonic Master, Todd Warnken, Odd-Gunnar
analysis of medieval warfare: higher political authority, horse and Wikmark, Steve Zaccardi
foot, castle and siege, campaign and command, ravaging and supply.
Map Art: Chechu Nieto Sánchez
Keen, Maurice, ed. Medieval Warfare: A History (1999). A collec-
tion of essays providing reinforcing assessments of the nature of Cover Art: Paul Dobbins
medieval campaigns and military technology, with details such as Decorative Art: Pavel Tatarnikau
the particular challenge of keeping large numbers of heavy horses
fed, to name just one. Card, Counter, and Mat Art: Chechu Nieto Sánchez and Mark
Simonitch
Oman, C.W.C. The Art of War in the Middle Ages (1885). Brief,
Manuals and Charts: Mark Simonitch and Charlie Kibler
readable, fundamental essay on the nature of medieval warfare, but
deemed to overemphasize the role of the heavy knight in obtaining Art Director and Package Design: Rodger MacGowan
decision on the battlefield and long since superseded by modern
Production Coordinator: Tony Curtis
scholarship.
Producers: Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, Andy Lewis, Gene
Verbruggen, J.F. The Art of Warfare in Western Europe During the Billingsley, and Mark Simonitch
Middle Ages (1997 translation of 1954 original). The most influ-
ential 20th-Century work on the general topic; a corrective to or
at least elaboration of Delbrück and Oman regarding, for example,
the supremacy of the armored horseman, Verbruggen gave more
examination to the impact of a combined arms system of elite cav-
alry, numerous pike-armed foot soldiers, and supporting archers.
GMT Games, LLC

P.O. Box 1308, Hanford, CA 93232-1308 • www.GMTGames.com

Background Book: L & C S - V I

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Background Book: L & C S - V I

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Background Book: L & C S - V I

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

Teutons and Rus

B ACK GR OUND B OOK

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

add Capabilities and Levy Vassals. So, keep that in mind.

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Capability section of the card), so the player tucks this card

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Teutonic Lords at the start of the Watland scenario.

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Lastly, Yaroslav with his Lordship of

With Andreas done for the segment,

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Andreas is a Marshal, so he will opt to take Heinrich along on

Teuton player area at the end of this Levy.

March, Feed, Sail

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

NOTE: We provide “Moved/Fought” markers as an aid. Place

Returning once again to our situations above, presume that An-

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

NOTE: We provided plain numbered markers as aids; here we

units usually would cause three Archery Hits.

Attacking Horse Strikes next: that’s Andreas’s Knights and two

Losses. Next, both sides check for Losses—whether any of their

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Troops, expending one of those Provender (4.8).

Round 1 Melee. In Storm, all units of a side Melee at the same

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Now a complicated situation at Kaibolovo. Here Teutons Andreas

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

[AS pp 141,154-165, 200-202; DN pp 14, 20-21, 51; EC pp xiv,

The Teutons and Their Allies

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

also from the vicinity of Riga to their own monasteries nearer

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

went. Yaroslav Vladimirovich apparently was ransomed in 1235 or

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

advance one son over the other in some foreshadowing of their

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

raided along Lake Ladoga, Novgorod’s army under Prince Yaro-

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

consolidation of rule and the construction of a crusader castle there

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

T12. Ordensburgen An Italian—William, Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina, ex-papal notary,

T14. Trebuchets T16. Ransom

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

T18. Cogs – Floating forts

Tips. This card does not affect the R1. Bridge

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

are identical to those used elsewhere in Europe. [NM pp 32, 48] In

R3. Streltsy – Crossbowmen Tips. A Lord with D ruzhina

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

R11. House of Suzdal – Preeminent dynasty R15. Archbishopric of Novgorod

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Command. I lifted the stacking of

© 2019 GMT Games, LLC

Urban, William. The Teutonic Knights: A Military History (2003).