Grand Knyazate of Kiev

Strengths & weaknesses

• Strong Tradition
• Easier to recruit due to Tradition

Description

Chosen from the most courageous and disciplined of warriors, these men are handpicked to serve as the personal guards in the courts of foreign kings and emperors. Their terrifying masks are only matched in terror by their fierce reputation in battle.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Renowned Unit
• Superior Capability

Description

Born in the saddle, and armed with the traditional composite bow, the cuman light cavalry were the most sought after mercenaries in the balkans, rightly so for only those who possessed the wealth and power to buy their services and those who ever knew the taste of victory.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Renowned Unit
• Superior Capability

Description

Young and eager to prove themselves in battle, the Jigits are lightly armed and armoured cavalrymen that excel at ambushing, raiding, and running down the cowardly.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

It is slow to reload and lacks the distance of drawn bows but makes up for it in power.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These knights dominate both society and the battlefield in medieval Europe. Under the feudal system each man owes military service to his lord in return for protection, a grant of land, and the peasants to work it. Trained as warriors from birth, their favourite tactic is the headlong charge. Despite the simple tactics, their strong armour, heavy lances, and martial prowess mean that only the most resolute can resist them

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knights would often dismount and fight on foot when the situation demanded it. Dismounted they make excellent heavy infantry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"Squires are used to do what a knight would consider too low, and mounted sergeants are used to do what a squire would consider too low even for him" -- "Since common peasant couldn't afford a horse, but there was still the need for a rapid scout unit (and noble knights considered scouting a dishonourable task), trusted sergeants who showed cunning behaviour were given second-choice horses and used as a light and fast cavalry force, usually sent ahead of the main army to scout the area and harass enemy light troops or carriages. Being fast, they can easily outmanoeuver infantry and heavy cavalry, allowing them to hit fast and hard unprotected targets such as archers or supply convoys, but they should never be used against actual cavalry and trained infantry."

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"To be ranked a servant may seem ridiculous to a noble, but for most, it is the best they can hope to achieve" -- Coming from the Latin term "servientem", meaning "servant", sergeant is a rank used in almost every European army of the time (and still today). While each nation had its own technical meaning for the rank, generally the sergeant was the highest rank a low-born commoner could aspire to, since all higher offices were reserved for the nobles. Being promoted sergeant required that a soldier had survived many battles, and had performed many acts of valour (usually visible from the scars most sergeants sported), and meant better equipment and a higher salary (usually a larger part of the loot), which for most soldiers could mean the difference between returning to their homes as a serf and becoming an actual free land-owner. Usually sergeants oversaw training and equipment of small units, and led them in battle. Sometimes, sergeants were grouped together and used as a powerful fist to break the enemy lines, or to defend a focal point: well armed and experienced, these veterans are not to be underestimated.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

It is slow to reload and lacks the distance of drawn bows but makes up for it in power.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These knights dominate both society and the battlefield in medieval Europe. Under the feudal system each man owes military service to his lord in return for protection, a grant of land, and the peasants to work it. Trained as warriors from birth, their favourite tactic is the headlong charge. Despite the simple tactics, their strong armour, heavy lances, and martial prowess mean that only the most resolute can resist them

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knights would often dismount and fight on foot when the situation demanded it. Dismounted they make excellent heavy infantry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"Squires are used to do what a knight would consider too low, and mounted sergeants are used to do what a squire would consider too low even for him" -- "Since common peasant couldn't afford a horse, but there was still the need for a rapid scout unit (and noble knights considered scouting a dishonourable task), trusted sergeants who showed cunning behaviour were given second-choice horses and used as a light and fast cavalry force, usually sent ahead of the main army to scout the area and harass enemy light troops or carriages. Being fast, they can easily outmanoeuver infantry and heavy cavalry, allowing them to hit fast and hard unprotected targets such as archers or supply convoys, but they should never be used against actual cavalry and trained infantry."

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"To be ranked a servant may seem ridiculous to a noble, but for most, it is the best they can hope to achieve" -- Coming from the Latin term "servientem", meaning "servant", sergeant is a rank used in almost every European army of the time (and still today). While each nation had its own technical meaning for the rank, generally the sergeant was the highest rank a low-born commoner could aspire to, since all higher offices were reserved for the nobles. Being promoted sergeant required that a soldier had survived many battles, and had performed many acts of valour (usually visible from the scars most sergeants sported), and meant better equipment and a higher salary (usually a larger part of the loot), which for most soldiers could mean the difference between returning to their homes as a serf and becoming an actual free land-owner. Usually sergeants oversaw training and equipment of small units, and led them in battle. Sometimes, sergeants were grouped together and used as a powerful fist to break the enemy lines, or to defend a focal point: well armed and experienced, these veterans are not to be underestimated.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"Squires are used to do what a knight would consider too low, and mounted sergeants are used to do what a squire would consider too low even for him" -- "Since common peasant couldn't afford a horse, but there was still the need for a rapid scout unit (and noble knights considered scouting a dishonourable task), trusted sergeants who showed cunning behaviour were given second-choice horses and used as a light and fast cavalry force, usually sent ahead of the main army to scout the area and harass enemy light troops or carriages. Being fast, they can easily outmanoeuver infantry and heavy cavalry, allowing them to hit fast and hard unprotected targets such as archers or supply convoys, but they should never be used against actual cavalry and trained infantry."

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"I... do profess and promise chastity, giving up all property, and obedience to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary and to you...Master of the Teutonic Order, and to your successors, according to the Rules and Regulations of the Order. And I will be obedient to you, and to your successors, even unto death." -- The Ritterbrüder are the highest ranking members of the Teutonic Order, taking an additional vow of chastity: usually members of great German noble houses, these men fear no enemy, both in politics and on the battlefield. Armed and equipped with the finest products of the Empire's most renowned blacksmiths, the Ritterbrüder ride into battle atop powerful steeds, pride and joy of generations of breeding.Their charge can shatter all but the most stubborn pike formations, and usually their enemies don't even try to resist, breaking formation in a desperate attempt to flee their doom, only to be trampled upon by their stallions. The Ritterbrüder however aren't invincible, as all this armour makes their charge quite slow: as such, light skirmishers can safely shower them in arrows and javelins, only to retreat when the Ritterbrüder try to chase them. Thus, they must be supported by light troops, otherwise they might find themselves cornered and taken out one by one by a cunning foe.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"Half-brother, Double the fury" -- The Haldbrüder were full-fledged members of the Order, but ranked lower since they took only half the oath (they didn't take the chastity vow). Still, their zeal, fanatism and martial prowess match their higher ranking brothers. Being usually members of minor noble houses, they can afford horses and finely crafted armours, and as such serve as medium shock cavalry, trampling over lesser enemies while the Ritterbrüder engage the enemy elite troops. Since their armours aren't as heavy as the ones used by the Ritterbrüder, they are better at flanking the enemy and fighting against the fast Lithuanian cavalry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

PLACEHOLDER

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These artillery pieces resemble giant crossbows, on a simple wheeled carriage. They can hurl javelins with great accuracy, and the power of these machines means that their bolts can pierce any armour.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These artillery pieces resemble giant crossbows, on a simple wheeled carriage. They can hurl javelins with great accuracy, and the power of these machines means that their bolts can pierce any armour.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Constructed of wood and capable of flinging stones large enough to crush a man's head, the catapult was a common site on the ancient Roman battlefield. Now in the medieval era, the catapult is being replaced by newer and more powerful weapons.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Constructed of wood and capable of flinging stones large enough to crush a man's head, the catapult was a common site on the ancient Roman battlefield. Now in the medieval era, the catapult is being replaced by newer and more powerful weapons.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Druzhina - "Companions". The prince's standing military retinue, the elite cavalry core of his army. In broader sense, also means the royal retinue and closest associates of the prince, serving as military and commercial advisors, and as administrators in local affairs in general. Roughly similar to Huskarls, related to "Gedriht". The Druzhina were replaced with Feudal-style retinues starting in the 13th Century. [S.M. Solov'ev from "Internal relations of Russian society from the death of Yaroslav I to the death of Mstislav of Toropets (1054-1228)][MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 49] In the Novgorod Chronicles most mentions of Druzhina was before 1266, only one in 1445, and nothing in between.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Druzhina - "Companions". The prince's standing military retinue, the elite cavalry core of his army. In broader sense, also means the royal retinue and closest associates of the prince, serving as military and commercial advisors, and as administrators in local affairs in general. Roughly similar to Huskarls, related to "Gedriht". The Druzhina were replaced with Feudal-style retinues starting in the 13th Century. [S.M. Solov'ev from "Internal relations of Russian society from the death of Yaroslav I to the death of Mstislav of Toropets (1054-1228)][MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 49] In the Novgorod Chronicles most mentions of Druzhina was before 1266, only one in 1445, and nothing in between.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Low-quality Missile Troops

Description

"A javelin is a metaphor for life: it goes up fast, it goes down even faster, then it hits you in the face, and then you die." -- In times of war, every able bodied is expected to fight for his lord, be it rich or poor. Those too poor to afford even the cheapest form of armour and weaponry are listed in the skirmishers: without armour, save for a helmet and a small shield made of scrap material, and too unskilled to use bows, these men use javelines to hit the enemy from the distance. Even in their hands, javelines are still deadly weapons, capable of killing even an armoured swordsman, and their light equipment (further enhanced by their cowardice) means they can easily retreat from any pursuing infantry, harassing them in the process. However, should they be forced to fight, or hunted down by cavalry, the best a commander can do is pray for their souls

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knyaz - Prince/Duke; descendants of the House of Rurik. A knyaz could be the ruler of a local principality, such Chernigov or Galicia, theoretically under the authority of the velikii knyaz, who ruled from Kiev, Vladimir, Tver or Moscow depending on the time period and the political situation.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Low-quality Missile Troops

Description

Town Militia are commoners and peasants levied into local militias to defend settlements and bolster armies These units are useful in homeland defence, but cannot be expected to endure for long campaigns.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Strong Tradition
• Easier to recruit due to Tradition

Description

Starshaya Druzhina - Senior Druzhina. Other terms which were used were Bolshaya "Grand"; Lepshaya "Superior"; Pervaya "First" ;or Perednyaya (передняя) "Fore". Composed mainly of boyars. They performed higher state functions. [Sreznevskij, I.I. Материалы для словаря древне-русскаго языка по письменнымъ памяникамъ. [Materials for a Dictionary of the old-Russian Language according to written memorials.] The Department of Russian Language and Literature, Imperial Academy of Science. 1893-1912.]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

The counter-weight Trebuchet is an evolution of the man-powered mangonel and catapults dating back before the 11th century. It has quickly spread throughout the world as an effective siege engine capable of lobbing large wall- crushing boulders.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Renowned Unit
• Superior Capability

Description

Born in the saddle, and armed with the traditional composite bow, the cuman light cavalry were the most sought after mercenaries in the balkans, rightly so for only those who possessed the wealth and power to buy their services and those who ever knew the taste of victory.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Renowned Unit
• Superior Capability

Description

Young and eager to prove themselves in battle, the Jigits are lightly armed and armoured cavalrymen that excel at ambushing, raiding, and running down the cowardly.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These knights dominate both society and the battlefield in medieval Europe. Under the feudal system each man owes military service to his lord in return for protection, a grant of land, and the peasants to work it. Trained as warriors from birth, their favourite tactic is the headlong charge. Despite the simple tactics, their strong armour, heavy lances, and martial prowess mean that only the most resolute can resist them

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knights would often dismount and fight on foot when the situation demanded it. Dismounted they make excellent heavy infantry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These knights dominate both society and the battlefield in medieval Europe. Under the feudal system each man owes military service to his lord in return for protection, a grant of land, and the peasants to work it. Trained as warriors from birth, their favourite tactic is the headlong charge. Despite the simple tactics, their strong armour, heavy lances, and martial prowess mean that only the most resolute can resist them

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knights would often dismount and fight on foot when the situation demanded it. Dismounted they make excellent heavy infantry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"Half-brother, Double the fury" -- The Haldbrüder were full-fledged members of the Order, but ranked lower since they took only half the oath (they didn't take the chastity vow). Still, their zeal, fanatism and martial prowess match their higher ranking brothers. Being usually members of minor noble houses, they can afford horses and finely crafted armours, and as such serve as medium shock cavalry, trampling over lesser enemies while the Ritterbrüder engage the enemy elite troops. Since their armours aren't as heavy as the ones used by the Ritterbrüder, they are better at flanking the enemy and fighting against the fast Lithuanian cavalry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"I... do profess and promise chastity, giving up all property, and obedience to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary and to you...Master of the Teutonic Order, and to your successors, according to the Rules and Regulations of the Order. And I will be obedient to you, and to your successors, even unto death." -- The Ritterbrüder are the highest ranking members of the Teutonic Order, taking an additional vow of chastity: usually members of great German noble houses, these men fear no enemy, both in politics and on the battlefield. Armed and equipped with the finest products of the Empire's most renowned blacksmiths, the Ritterbrüder ride into battle atop powerful steeds, pride and joy of generations of breeding.Their charge can shatter all but the most stubborn pike formations, and usually their enemies don't even try to resist, breaking formation in a desperate attempt to flee their doom, only to be trampled upon by their stallions. The Ritterbrüder however aren't invincible, as all this armour makes their charge quite slow: as such, light skirmishers can safely shower them in arrows and javelins, only to retreat when the Ritterbrüder try to chase them. Thus, they must be supported by light troops, otherwise they might find themselves cornered and taken out one by one by a cunning foe.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

The first primitive gunpowder siege artillery, bombards were created in China and Western Europe in the early 14th century and spread to the rest of the world by the late 14th century. They are forged from bronze or iron, and designed to fire stone balls that crumble enemy defences.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Deti Boyarskie - "Boyar's Children" A class of minor nobles that emerged in Rus in the 15th cent. People of notable birth but who have not yet reached the titles of the senior druzhina formed a special division in the junior druzhina by the name of deti boyarskie - Therefore some sort of a continuation of the Otroki of the older Druzhina system.They performed obligatory service, receiving for it pomest'e (service estate) from the prince, boyar or church, but they did not have the right to leave/move. In the feudal service hierarchy of the 15th-first half of 16th cent. deti boyarskie stood above dvoryane because the dvoryane started as commoner servitors during the older Appanage era Druzhina. In the Novgorod Chronicles, the first mentions of the Deti Boyarskie are dated 1386 and 1398.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Boyar - Highest level of nobility/druzhina. Old Aristocrat not a servant to a Knyaz are called Zemski Boyar. If part of the service nobility of a Knyaz, then he is a part of the Senior Druzhina of the Knyaz, and members of the Knyaz' Boyarskaya Duma, therefore having advisory position to the Knyaz. As they acquired extensive hereditary lands, the boyars grew more independent - more independent of the prince than the chieftains of the ancient princely retinue were. They may have their own Druzhina. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 39]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Strong Tradition
• Easier to recruit due to Tradition

Description

Chernye Klobuki - "Black Hats" Allied Turk Karakalpak living alongside Russians

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

It is slow to reload and lacks the distance of drawn bows but makes up for it in power.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Boyar - Highest level of nobility/druzhina. Old Aristocrat not a servant to a Knyaz are called Zemski Boyar. If part of the service nobility of a Knyaz, then he is a part of the Senior Druzhina of the Knyaz, and members of the Knyaz' Boyarskaya Duma, therefore having advisory position to the Knyaz. As they acquired extensive hereditary lands, the boyars grew more independent - more independent of the prince than the chieftains of the ancient princely retinue were. They may have their own Druzhina. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 39]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Capable of both Melee and Ranged fighting

Description

Deti Boyarskie - "Boyar's Children" A class of minor nobles that emerged in Rus in the 15th cent. People of notable birth but who have not yet reached the titles of the senior druzhina formed a special division in the junior druzhina by the name of deti boyarskie - Therefore some sort of a continuation of the Otroki of the older Druzhina system.They performed obligatory service, receiving for it pomest'e (service estate) from the prince, boyar or church, but they did not have the right to leave/move. In the feudal service hierarchy of the 15th-first half of 16th cent. deti boyarskie stood above dvoryane because the dvoryane started as commoner servitors during the older Appanage era Druzhina. In the Novgorod Chronicles, the first mentions of the Deti Boyarskie are dated 1386 and 1398.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

PLACEHOLDER

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knyaz - Prince/Duke; descendants of the House of Rurik. A knyaz could be the ruler of a local principality, such Chernigov or Galicia, theoretically under the authority of the velikii knyaz, who ruled from Kiev, Vladimir, Tver or Moscow depending on the time period and the political situation.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Low-quality Missile Troops

Description

Crossbow militia are inexpensive units formed to protect settlements. Being able to train townsfolk quickly in the use of the crossbow allows these units to be garrisoned frequently and the stopping power of the crossbow can make their withering fire lethal.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Otroki - "Lads" "Boys" "Youths" Junior members of the druzhina in ancient Rus, primarily court servitors of the prince, in contrast to detskie who were military members of the druzhina. In the otroki were also unfree people, slaves (kholopy). In duties otroki included service at the table of the prince, cleaning things and fulfilling various of his orders. In the council of the prince, otroki did not participate, except for military advice. An Otroki who "matured" ("возмужания") would be made a Gridin.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Renowned Unit
• Superior Capability

Description

Born in the saddle, and armed with the traditional composite bow, the cuman light cavalry were the most sought after mercenaries in the balkans, rightly so for only those who possessed the wealth and power to buy their services and those who ever knew the taste of victory.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Renowned Unit
• Superior Capability

Description

Young and eager to prove themselves in battle, the Jigits are lightly armed and armoured cavalrymen that excel at ambushing, raiding, and running down the cowardly.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

These knights dominate both society and the battlefield in medieval Europe. Under the feudal system each man owes military service to his lord in return for protection, a grant of land, and the peasants to work it. Trained as warriors from birth, their favourite tactic is the headlong charge. Despite the simple tactics, their strong armour, heavy lances, and martial prowess mean that only the most resolute can resist them

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knights would often dismount and fight on foot when the situation demanded it. Dismounted they make excellent heavy infantry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"Half-brother, Double the fury" -- The Haldbrüder were full-fledged members of the Order, but ranked lower since they took only half the oath (they didn't take the chastity vow). Still, their zeal, fanatism and martial prowess match their higher ranking brothers. Being usually members of minor noble houses, they can afford horses and finely crafted armours, and as such serve as medium shock cavalry, trampling over lesser enemies while the Ritterbrüder engage the enemy elite troops. Since their armours aren't as heavy as the ones used by the Ritterbrüder, they are better at flanking the enemy and fighting against the fast Lithuanian cavalry.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

"I... do profess and promise chastity, giving up all property, and obedience to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary and to you...Master of the Teutonic Order, and to your successors, according to the Rules and Regulations of the Order. And I will be obedient to you, and to your successors, even unto death." -- The Ritterbrüder are the highest ranking members of the Teutonic Order, taking an additional vow of chastity: usually members of great German noble houses, these men fear no enemy, both in politics and on the battlefield. Armed and equipped with the finest products of the Empire's most renowned blacksmiths, the Ritterbrüder ride into battle atop powerful steeds, pride and joy of generations of breeding.Their charge can shatter all but the most stubborn pike formations, and usually their enemies don't even try to resist, breaking formation in a desperate attempt to flee their doom, only to be trampled upon by their stallions. The Ritterbrüder however aren't invincible, as all this armour makes their charge quite slow: as such, light skirmishers can safely shower them in arrows and javelins, only to retreat when the Ritterbrüder try to chase them. Thus, they must be supported by light troops, otherwise they might find themselves cornered and taken out one by one by a cunning foe.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Boyar - Highest level of nobility/druzhina. Old Aristocrat not a servant to a Knyaz are called Zemski Boyar. If part of the service nobility of a Knyaz, then he is a part of the Senior Druzhina of the Knyaz, and members of the Knyaz' Boyarskaya Duma, therefore having advisory position to the Knyaz. As they acquired extensive hereditary lands, the boyars grew more independent - more independent of the prince than the chieftains of the ancient princely retinue were. They may have their own Druzhina. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 39]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

PLACEHOLDER

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

This fearsome artillery piece is the pinnacle of late Medieval gun engineering. With greater range, damage and accuracy than all the guns that come before it, no enemy emplacements nor troops can stand up to its fearsome bombardment

Strengths & weaknesses

• Capable of both Melee and Ranged fighting

Description

Dvornin/Dvoryane (Дворяне) - "Courtiers" Originally gentry, educated commoners, central treasury secretaries (diaki). The dvoryanstvo, as the lower stratum of the feudal military-service class, making up the court of a prince or great boyar, arose in the 12-13th cent. In distinction from dependent servants occupied in the noble household, dvoryane were called "free servants" [вольными слугами]. In the 14th cent. a feudal lord would grant them land for service. The dvoryane and deti boyarskie from the court of Ivan III and Vasili III became the new core of Muscovite cavalry forces, reducing the dependence on the more fickle service of other knyaz and boyars, increasing central control over the army. In the reign of Ivan IV, dvoryane could range from generals with vast estates to humble gentry with only a single peasant household on their land. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 144] The first mentions of the Dvor in the Novgorod Chronicles are from 1192 and 1210

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Boyar - Highest level of nobility/druzhina. Old Aristocrat not a servant to a Knyaz are called Zemski Boyar. If part of the service nobility of a Knyaz, then he is a part of the Senior Druzhina of the Knyaz, and members of the Knyaz' Boyarskaya Duma, therefore having advisory position to the Knyaz. As they acquired extensive hereditary lands, the boyars grew more independent - more independent of the prince than the chieftains of the ancient princely retinue were. They may have their own Druzhina. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 39]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Strong Tradition
• Easier to recruit due to Tradition

Description

Dvornin/Dvoryane (Дворяне) - "Courtiers" Originally gentry, educated commoners, central treasury secretaries (diaki). The dvoryanstvo, as the lower stratum of the feudal military-service class, making up the court of a prince or great boyar, arose in the 12-13th cent. In distinction from dependent servants occupied in the noble household, dvoryane were called "free servants" [вольными слугами]. In the 14th cent. a feudal lord would grant them land for service. The dvoryane and deti boyarskie from the court of Ivan III and Vasili III became the new core of Muscovite cavalry forces, reducing the dependence on the more fickle service of other knyaz and boyars, increasing central control over the army. In the reign of Ivan IV, dvoryane could range from generals with vast estates to humble gentry with only a single peasant household on their land. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 144] The first mentions of the Dvor in the Novgorod Chronicles are from 1192 and 1210

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

The Gun to end all Guns. The Great Bombard is made for one purpose only, the utter destruction of enemy defences. This massive Bombard fires a stone ball weighing well over half a ton, obliterating any but the most massive walls in one shot. Unfortunately the down side of all this firepower is that it takes an eternity to reload.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

First finding use in the 14th century, gunpowder weapons became more and more available over time, with lower costs of productions from local manufacturing of gunpowder. Firearms would become a staple of 15th century armies and eventually surpass all other missile weapons as better designs became available.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

PLACEHOLDER

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Knyaz - Prince/Duke; descendants of the House of Rurik. A knyaz could be the ruler of a local principality, such Chernigov or Galicia, theoretically under the authority of the velikii knyaz, who ruled from Kiev, Vladimir, Tver or Moscow depending on the time period and the political situation.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Smerdy - Lower-class rural dwellers are known as smerdy (literally, stinkers), a controversial and difficult-to-define term that may or may not include both free and dependent peasants. The dependent smerdy were not yet "serfs". [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p 50]

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Resembling the iron bowl from which it gains its name, the Mortar was created to lob shots over intervening walls. Useful in dealing with units skulking behind walls for protection, or to whittle away besieging troops outside your own walls. The mortar's capabilities makes it an excellent siege weapon for both attacker and defender.

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Dvornin/Dvoryane (Дворяне) - "Courtiers" Originally gentry, educated commoners, central treasury secretaries (diaki). The dvoryanstvo, as the lower stratum of the feudal military-service class, making up the court of a prince or great boyar, arose in the 12-13th cent. In distinction from dependent servants occupied in the noble household, dvoryane were called "free servants" [вольными слугами]. In the 14th cent. a feudal lord would grant them land for service. The dvoryane and deti boyarskie from the court of Ivan III and Vasili III became the new core of Muscovite cavalry forces, reducing the dependence on the more fickle service of other knyaz and boyars, increasing central control over the army. In the reign of Ivan IV, dvoryane could range from generals with vast estates to humble gentry with only a single peasant household on their land. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 144] The first mentions of the Dvor in the Novgorod Chronicles are from 1192 and 1210

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Ordinary Unit

Description

Gorodskie Polki/Voi - "City Regiments/Army" Urban Militia of a city, including the Boyars and Burghers of the city that aren't part of the Knyaz' retinue. In the 14th-15th century, the Urban Militia is a part of a local Knyaz' feudal army

Strengths & weaknesses

• Strong Tradition
• Easier to recruit due to Tradition

Description

Dvornin/Dvoryane (Дворяне) - "Courtiers" Originally gentry, educated commoners, central treasury secretaries (diaki). The dvoryanstvo, as the lower stratum of the feudal military-service class, making up the court of a prince or great boyar, arose in the 12-13th cent. In distinction from dependent servants occupied in the noble household, dvoryane were called "free servants" [вольными слугами]. In the 14th cent. a feudal lord would grant them land for service. The dvoryane and deti boyarskie from the court of Ivan III and Vasili III became the new core of Muscovite cavalry forces, reducing the dependence on the more fickle service of other knyaz and boyars, increasing central control over the army. In the reign of Ivan IV, dvoryane could range from generals with vast estates to humble gentry with only a single peasant household on their land. [MacKenzie, David and Michael Curran. A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond, 4th Edition. Wadsworth, Inc. Belmont, CA. 1993. p. 144] The first mentions of the Dvor in the Novgorod Chronicles are from 1192 and 1210