Nevsky: Teutons and Rus in Collision is the first volume in Volko’s intended Levy & Campaign Series covering various medieval and perhaps other pre-industrial conflicts at the operational level. Readers have asked for a closer look at the mechanics in the new series, so we answer that call to arms here with the first installment from Volko of Nevsky gameplay, blow by blow, from the volume’s full-length scenario, “Crusade on Novgorod”. … (Note that all art shown here is playtest not final, and all particulars discussed remain provisional as development and testing continue.)

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Per the name of the series, play in Nevsky proceeds through alternating “Levy” and “Campaign”, each pair of segments representing a period of 40 days—a traditional duration of basic feudal military obligation. In Part 1 of our detailed survey of the game’s mechanics, we begin with the Levy at the outset of the full scenario, one of six scenarios in the game. “Crusade on Novgorod” played to its conclusion would cover the entire war between Livonian Germans and the Kingdom of Denmark on the one side against Novgorod Rus on the other, from the Teutonic lunge at Novgorod’s ally Pskov in the Summer of 1240 to Aleksandr Nevsky’s famous, culminating victory in the Battle of the Ice in early April 1242.

Setup

We begin by setting up for the first 40 days of Summer 1240, with just a handful of Lords Mustered on either side and the remainder on the Feudal Calendar, awaiting Levy. …

The map in the middle shows Danish Estonia in the northwest, Crusader Livonia south of that, and Novgorodan Rus to the east. The map style will look familiar to anyone who has played on a point-to-point wargame map.

Wood cylinder game pieces on the map show that two Teuton Lords have Mustered to press eastward against Rus—Bishop Hermann of Dorpat and his Russian brother-in-law Yaroslav, an exiled Prince of Pskov. (Both sides feature Lords, Vassals, and Forces of several ethnicities, but for simplicity we call everyone on one side “Teuton” and on the other “Russian”.) On the far side of Lake Peipus, pro-Novgorod Gavrilo of Pskov will ready the Russian defense. The numerals on the pieces show each Lord’s Command rating: the number of actions that he will be able to take on each of his Command cards during Campaign.

Looking back at the previous image, we see west and east of the map (so at the Teutonic and Russian players’ positions, respectively) one mat for each of these Mustered Lords, holding their Forces, Assets, and other information. North of the map we see the Feudal Calendar that governs the Service of the various Teuton and Russian Lords over the course of the conflict. Let’s have a closer look at each of these, beginning with the Calendar.

Numbered Calendar boxes represent a series of 40-day periods serving as game turns, each comprising a Levy and a Campaign. Two such 40-day periods make up a Season. The round brown “Levy” marker in 40-Days box “1” shows that we are at the beginning of Summer, 1240.

In box “1” we also see several Lord cylinders: these are Lords Ready to Muster (Teutons in black, Russians in white), as indicated by their position at (or left of) the Levy marker. Contrast that with two other Lord cylinders that are further away along the Calendar, in box “5”: these are the Russian Lords Aleksandr and his brother Andrey. They are not yet Ready (as they and their father, the Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, are estranged from Novgorod’s nobles after the latter’s exile of Aleksandr).

We also see, in boxes “2” and “4”, a total of three rectangular markers corresponding to the three currently Mustered Lords: these “Service” markers show the current limit of Service of each Lord. When the Levy (turn) marker reaches a Lord’s Service marker, the Lord will Disband—he will pack up and go home! The numerals on the Service markers are reminders of that Lord’s Service rating, in 40-day periods. Yaroslav with a rating of “2” is not as willing to serve as long as Gavrilo and Hermann rated at “4”. That is the reason that the latter two set up with the Service limit further in the future on the Calendar than that of Yaroslav.

As you may have guessed, not only does the turn marker advance over time, but these Service markers and Lord cylinders also can slide left and right on the Calendar, as various circumstances influence the various Lords’ willingness to fight. So the Calendar will enable us to track and manage how the feudal system and specific events in the Campaign affect the Levy of the key lords (and, with an advanced rule, all their Vassals) and their Service over time. Enable a Lord to obtain Loot by Ravaging enemy territory, or just pay him Coin, and he will Serve longer. Allow his Forces to go without Provender, or to suffer a defeat in Battle, and he will Disband even short of his original obligation to you!

Two other details to note on our Calendar: First, Teuton (black) and Russian (white) circular Victory points markers record who is winning so far: the black marker just off the left edge shows that the Teutons start the war with 0 VP; the Russians start at 3 (representing the independence that Novgorod’s nobles have just demonstrated by kicking Aleksandr out). Second, the Calendar reminds us of Seasonal effects printed at top and bottom: varying numbers of Command cards to be played in each Campaign of that Season; and which Transport can be used. These aspects will become important once we go on Campaign.

But first, let’s get to know our Campaigning Lords a bit more closely. To do that, we want to inspect those mats, that detail each Lord’s characteristics and what is located at his cylinder’s Locale on the map. Let’s start with the two Lords Mustered on the Teutonic side, Hermann and Yaroslav….

On their mats we see, at the upper right for example, that Lord’s ratings. We have already considered Service. “Fealty” refers to the die shown: a roll of that number or less will result in the Lord answering another Lord’s Levy to Serve. “Lordship” is the number of actions that the Lord can take during Levy (as we shall soon carry out). And “Command” is the number of actions that the Lord can take each time his Command card comes up during Campaign.

Beneath the Lords’ names we see their Mustered Forces: each wood piece is a unit of either Horse (wedge) or Foot (bar). Metallic painted pieces are Armored units. For example, Yaroslav has one unit of Armored Knights (silver wedge), one Unarmored Light Cavalry (brown wedge), and one Armored Men-at-Arms unit (steel bar).

At bottom, a combined “Assets & Vassals” box displays the Lord’s holdings on Campaign of Coin, Provender, and Transport (here, markers on the left of each box) and his Ready Vassals (Service markers to the right). Vassal will Muster additional Forces for the Lord as shown on their markers, as we shall demonstrate during the forthcoming Levy.

Below for comparison to the Teutons is the mat of Gavrilo, the Russian side’s defender of Pskov. As an aside, during setup the players already had a decision to make: most Lords begin with a small number of “Household” Transport of their choice already Levied—Carts, Sleds, Boats, or (for certain Lords only) Ships.

Transport both gathers and helps move Provender, which in turn represents the food, fodder, and other sundries on which a medieval army marches and fights. On the mats above and below, we see that the players opted for Carts in all cases, usable in the upcoming Campaign Season, and perhaps with an eye toward the land route between the Teutonic Lords’ Seats and their likely target of Pskov.

Levy – Events

Having set up the scenario, we commence the first Levy by drawing two Events each side (as with almost everything in the game—Teutons first, Russians second). Each side has its own “Arts of War” deck that doubles as an Event deck and a store of Capabilities that that side might select for Levy. Drawing Events now, we will pay attention only to the top half of each card drawn, where the Events appear. Here is the Teuton draw:

First up is Pope Gregory: the Event text refers to the Teutonic Lords Andreas and Rudolf, either of who, if on map, would get to Levy Summer Crusaders now. Neither is on map (both their cylinders are on the Calendar, awaiting their Muster). So Pope Gregory does not apply and is discarded back into the Arts of War deck without effect: for now, no Summer Crusaders show up.

Note the coat-of-arms symbols at the left edge of the Pope Gregory event. These symbols provide a reminder of which Lords the Event applies to, if there is any restriction: in this case, Andreas and Rudolf. As you play, you will find that these coats of arms become very familiar, instant heralds of which Lord is which.

The Teutons’ second Event, Ford, says “Hold” in bold-italic. The Teutonic player holds the card, hidden from the Russian player, until used. The Event will not apply until the Russians attack in a non-Winter Battle—at which point the Teuton player will have the option to play the Event or not.

Consider now the Capabilities on the bottom half of each card: Crusade has returned to the deck; but this Crossbowmen Capability is for a time at least unavailable to be Levied, because the Teutons are holding the Event. With the potential advantage that the Teutonic player receives in some future Battle, there is a cost in denied access to more Crossbowmen.  This was simply a matter of fate. The cost is small, though, because there are other Crossbowmen at hand (other Crossbowmen cards in the deck) and, as we shall see, these specialists would anyway first have to be obtained at the cost of something else.

Here is the Russian Event draw: “Valdemar” and “No Event”. No Event is self-explanatory: three such cards are in each Arts of War deck to make Event draws less predictable and to prevent players from overly engineering (via Levy of Capability cards) which Events they will receive. Valdemar refers to the Calendar, so let’s return there….

The Valdemar Event text tells the Russian player to shift either Knut & Abel (the Teutonic Lord cylinder with the white-cross-on-red coat of arms) or that Service marker by 1 box. Knut & Abel—Danish royal princes who might fight in the Baltic conflict—are not yet Mustered, so they are on the Calendar and their Service marker is not. The Russian player shifts the Knut & Abel cylinder by one box forward: this is the direction that is advantageous to the Russians, because it delays the Danes’ possible arrival.

The Valdemar Event further instructs “no Muster of or by” Knut & Abel for this Levy. That is, even if the Knut & Abel cylinder shifted again to Ready them, they could not be selected to Muster. And, if they happened to be already on the map instead of on the Calendar, they could not participate in this Levy’s “Muster” phase to Levy anyone or anything else themselves. The bold-italic “This Levy” in the Event text also means that the card will stay out for this Levy segment, so the Raiders Capability on the same card will not be available for a time: a small hindrance to the Russians, similar to the Crossbowmen case discussed above.

After drawing Events, the Levy segment provides an opportunity to pay Lords to extend their Service (as we considered above) and then the requirement to Disband Lords whose Service time is up as well as an option to Disband Lords early (for example, if they have been badly worn on Campaign and would benefit from re-Muster later). None of that is either applicable or attractive here at the very beginning of the scenario. So let’s proceed to the meat of the Levy segment, the Muster phase.

Levy – Muster

Each Lord on Friendly ground (Teutons then Russians) now gets a number of actions up to his “Lordship” rating to Levy additional resources for the coming Campaign.

Lordship represents that Lord’s wherewithal within the feudal system to mobilize resources for war. In any order or combination, each Levy action may either:

(a) attempt to Muster another Ready Lord of equal or lower Service (rolling against that Lord’s Fealty rating), OR

(b) automatically Muster a Ready Vassal to add his Forces to the Lord’s mat, OR

(c) add one Transport Asset, OR

(d) convert all that Lord’s Sleds to Carts (or vice versa—the same draft teams are re‑hitching to new vehicles), OR

(e) add one Capability card (to a maximum of two cards attached to each Lord, plus general Capabilities up to the side’s total number of Mustered Lords).

The Teutons begin with Hermann, who has Lordship of “3” (see the upper right of his mat, shown earlier in this post and further below). The player could expend all of Hermann’s actions on the same kind of resource. But instead the player mixes it up—Hermann uses his 3 Levy actions to:

• Acquire one Capability, plus
• Muster one Vassal, plus
• Add one Transport.

To acquire a Capability for Herman, the Teuton player simply looks through the Teutonic Arts of War deck to pick out what is desired, being careful to check the coat-of-arms symbols to ensure that Hermann is able to Levy that specific card.

The player chooses Converts—a Capability that will make Hermann faster on the March. There are two copies in the deck, so the player selects the one bearing the Event (on the top half of the card) that seems less interesting (since that Event will herewith be out of the draw deck). The player is hoping to make use of Vodian Treachery in the upcoming Teutonic offensive, so leaves that copy of Converts in the deck and provides Hermann the other.

Converts text says “This Lord” in bold-italic: that indicates that Capability will affect the Levying Lord only. (Other types of Capabilities may help the entire Teutonic or Russian side.) The player provides Hermann the Converts Capability by tucking the card under the bottom of Hermann’ mat, so that the Capability shows, while the now out-of-play Event text does not (see the image of Hermann’s mat below). Room remains for a second “This Lord” Capability at Hermann’s mat, perhaps to be added during some future Levy.

Next, the player notes that Converts will require some Light Horse to be of full use to Hermann and that Hermann has no such unit in his starting Retinue. So Hermann’s second of three Levy actions will Muster one of his Vassals: Ugaunian Auxiliaries will provide a Light House unit plus a unit of Militia Foot to Hermann’s army. The player slide the Vassal’s Service marker forward on Hermann’s mat from the “Assets & Vassals” area to the “Forces” area and places one Light Horse and one Militia piece on it (see image below).

Finally, realizing the Hermann will have to Feed this expanded army and will need more Transport if it is to move quickly, the player uses Hermann’s last Levy action to add a second detachment of Carts, placing a “Cart” marker with Hermann’s Assets.

Yaroslav is next up for the Teutons’ Muster phase. The less powerful Yaroslav has a Lordship rating of only “1”. The player chooses to continue seeing to the feeding of the Teutonic army in the field by having Yaroslav also add a second Cart marker to his Assets (below), so concluding the Teutons’ current Muster.

The Russian player’s turn: Gavrilo uses his 3 Lordship to Levy two of his Vassals to provide a total of four additional Foot units, plus give his now sizable infantry army Streltsy Archery Capability (see Gavrilo’s mat in the image below).

Note that the players could speed play by carrying out their Musters simultaneously, with the Russian player delaying any final decisions only if interested in reacting to anything that the Teutons had Levied. Also, Nevsky [link] includes a rules option to hide each side’s mats behind a screen, so that players will not exactly know what each enemy Lord has Levied until meeting him in combat.

The Russian player should be concerned that the Russian side, with only a single Lord in play, is vulnerable to a sudden end to the whole war: if either side starts a Campaign with no Lord left on the map, the other side immediately wins, regardless of victory points. Gavrilo could have used one or more Levy actions try to Muster a second Lord to back him up. But the player has decided not to risk a failed Fealty die roll and—as we shall see momentarily—will instead provide that backup via a surer “Call to Arms” out of Novgorod….

Levy – Call to Arms

After all on-map Lords have had their chance to Muster military resources for themselves, each side’s higher political authorities may intervene to reinforce this for future Campaigns. Because the nature of the authority for the Teutons and Russians is quite dissimilar, the way the game provides this Call to Arms differs for each player.

The Teutonic higher political authority is the Pope; on this Latin frontier distant from Rome, this power is held in the person of his Legate, William of Modena. His legation is arranged via a Capability card of the same name, he comes and goes, and his ability to spur Teutonic Lords on in their crusade is mostly limited to his immediate Locale as shown in the game by a purple pawn. William of Modena is not in effect at the moment, so the Teutons do not participate in a Call to Arms this 40 Days.

The Russian Call to Arms issues from the city council of Novgorod, in Russian, the veche. In the game, the Veche has a holding box at the corner of the map (see the lower right of the game board in the first image of this post). The Veche box may hold some Coin as well as victory point markers. The Coin represents Novgorod’s war chest derived from its wealth as a key center along Baltic-to-Black-Sea and Caspian-Sea trade routes; it is available for Pay of any Russian Lords at various times during the game’s sequence, as needed to keep Russian Lords in the fight. The VP markers there (the same that also are used on the map to show VP for Conquered Locales) represent the degree to which Novgorod’s nobles are maintaining their independence from potentially tyrannical Lords, and especially from the Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal and his sons Aleksandr and Andrey.

During Call to Arms, the Veche may either expend VP to invite Russian Lords to greater efforts on the city’s behalf. Or—if Aleksandr or Andrey are Ready to serve—they may earn VP by declining their help. Recall that Aleksandr or Andrey are not yet Ready: as we saw in the setup at the outset, their cylinders are waiting ahead on the Calendar, in box “5”, so the latter option does not yet apply.

The Russian player may, however, expend one of the three VP markers already in the Veche box to undertake one of the following actions:

(a) automatically Muster any one Ready Lord (without having to roll his Fealty), OR

(b) slide a Lord’s cylinder on the Calendar by one box left—so as to Ready him sooner, OR

(c) enable a Lord on the map at Novgorod immediately to use his Lordship for Levy actions (in effect, an extra Muster phase for that Lord).

There is no Lord at Novgorod right now, and the player is less interested in encouraging the distant Aleksandr or Andrey. But this is the Russians’ opportunity to protect themselves against defeat should disaster befall Gavrilo, so close at Pskov to the border and the Teutonic threat.

The Veche expends 1 VP to Muster a Ready Lord, selecting Domash of Novgorod (see image below). The player takes the Domash cylinder from the Calendar and places it at Domash’s Seat (Novgorod, as shown by Domash’s coat of arms at that Locale). The player then grab’s Domash’s mat, sets it next to Gavrilo’s, and loads the mat up with Domash’s starting Forces, Assets (choosing three Carts and a Ship), and Vassal markers.

On the Calendar, the white circular VP marker slides down by one box, from “3” to “2”, to record the expenditure of the VP marker from the Veche box.

The Russian Call to Arms to Domash completes the phase and with it the Levy segment of the first 40 Days. Player flips the “Levy” marker on the Calendar over to “Campaign” (in the same box “1”) and proceed with Campaigning – to which we will turn in similar detail in Part 2!

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Articles in this Series: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5