With our fifth and final report, we proceed into the second 40 days of summer, 1240. Gavrilo has chased the Teuton Hermann into the previously captured stronghold of Izborsk and will now attempt to winkle him out. You can find the earlier articles in this series of closeups on game play in Nevsky—Teutons and Rus in Collision here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
We start the new turn’s Levy with some random Events, two cards drawn by each side, as shown below.
The second 40 Days’ Events give the Teutons two tactical possibilities for any upcoming combat, while the Russians benefit from a pagan island revolt that will tie up some Teutons plus receive some local supply.
The Teuton player keeps the two Teutonic “Hold” Events drawn face down, and temporarily takes the Russian OSILIAN REVOLT Event as a reminder of its effects this Levy.
For the Teutons’ Muster, Hermann is Besieged inside Izborsk, so does not participate. Yaroslav uses his Lordship of “1” to add the William of Modena Capability card. This card brings in the Papal Legate (purple pawn), who provides the Teutons a Call to Arms phase. The Legate lands at Reval (Tallinn) in Danish Estonia and automatically musters the Danish princes Knut & Abel there (represented jointly by a Teutonic Lord cylinder).
Teuton Muster and Call to Arms: Yaroslav entreats the Papacy on behalf of his Latin allies, and the Legate responds with a call upon Denmark.
The Russians’ Gavrilo is busy Besieging Hermann, so no Muster activity from him. But Domash, still east of Pskov, uses his Lordship of “2” to add a Ship and a Capability card that will help him use his Ships along internal rivers and lakeshores. The Russians decline any Call to Arms, which before Aleksandr and Andrey become available cost victory points.
Novgorod’s Domash Levies additional transportation.
The Teutons’ Plan for these 40 days is simple: first get the Danes into the fight, then maneuver with Yaroslav either to raise Gavrilo’s siege or perhaps ravage some territory in Rus. The Russians will bring Domash up to reinforce Gavrilo at Pskov and hope to conclude the affair there this Campaign.
The sequence of each side’s Command card stack reflects its general campaign plan.
The first two Command cards for each side result in the movements shown below. Knut & Abel on their final card Ravage the Russian lakeside town of Gdov for ½ victory point. Gavrilo is then up on the Russian’s third card and hastens to launch his assault on Hermann inside the recently seized Russian border Fort before Yaroslav might interfere.
Viewed from the Russian player’s seat: The Danes Sail to Narwia (Narva) and then land upriver at Gdov; Domash join’s Gavrilo outside the walls of Izborsk.
Gavrilo will not take the time for a safer Siege of Hermann in his Fort but instead attempt to Storm the stronghold, augmented with massed Russian archers (Streltsy) and his Novgorodan ally Domash. Here is the table set up for the Storming of Izborsk…
Gavrilo’s Storm of Hermann’s Stronghold, at start.
Gavrilo’s assault will work as did Hermann’s earlier, except this time the defenders have not only Izborsk’s tiny Garrison of crossbow-equipped Men-at-Arms but also Hermann’s army defending the walls. Only a single Lord can Storm a Fort at a time, so Domash must deploy in Reserve. The Teuton player has Hermann use the Field Organ Held Event to motivate his troops for Round 1 of the defense. (Yes, the idea of a portable organ to inspire German knights is in the movie; but at least one historian, William Urban in The Teutonic Knights, judges that the Teutons may have had them!)
First, bolts and arrows fly.
After an exchange of Archery, Hermann’s organ-inspired Melee does its work on the Russian attack: all Russians but two Militia units Rout, and Gavrilo’s Melee comes to nothing. With only one Siege marker prepared, the Storm ends after one Round. Happily for the Russian Lord, all his troops remain stoutly in the fight: Loss rolls against each unit’s inherent Protection (1-4 for Knights down to just 1 for Militia) leave Gavrilo’s entire army intact!
Gavrilo’s first attempt on the Fort fails, but without permanent Loss.
Storm is quicker than Siege, taking only one Command Action each occasion, compared to Siege requiring a full Command card to place an additional Siege marker. So Gavrilo has time left for additional attacks on Izborsk. [Subsequent to playing out this example, rules have changed to end a Command card after any combat.] Gavrilo Storms Hermann’s walls a second time and, in the event, a third, each time without success. On the third Storm, disaster strikes Gavrilo’s hopes, as the bulk of his army either falls in action or quits the grim endeavor….
These Russians have had enough!
It is fortunate for Rus’s cause that Domash has arrived in support, as Gavrilo alone would now by highly vulnerable to any Sally by Hermann out Izborsk’s gate! (The Teutonic player would have had to plan for such an eventuality, of course, as a Sally requires a Command card for that Lord, just as does any other Command action.)
The Pskovans and Novgorodans who survive outside Izborsk.
Yaroslav has the next Teuton Command card. With Hermann appearing quite able to defend his Stronghold on his own, the Teutonic player will follow through on the original intent for Yaroslav to raid enemy territory. Yaroslav moves via Lettgalia toward his target of Kamno.
Yaroslav Marches east, intent on burning Kamno.
The Russian player having been denied success in Storming actions will take the slower, safer course of a prolonged Siege. The Russians have the key advantage of being outside the Stronghold, whence they can Supply and (as it is Summer) Forage to restock their Provender. The Russians even have a Novgorodan regional administrative center nearby (the Held Pogost Event) to provide additional food and transport if needed. Hermann, meanwhile, inside can only Pass or Sally; his Forces will eat up his food and eventually have to Surrender.
Counterattacking within Novgorodan territory, the Russians have logistical advantages.
As Gavrilo spends his Command card advancing his Siege of Hermann, Yaroslav is free to press his raid into Rus. He Marches to the Russian town of Kamno and Ravages it. This earns the Teutonic side another ½ victory point for punishing the enemy and adds Provender and Loot to Yaroslav’s possessions.
Yaroslav exacts his revenge upon the subjects of those who exiled him.
Domash has the next Command card on the Russian side. Any Lord on the Besieging side at a Siege Locale can advance the Siege, and so Domash does, placing another Siege marker. Inside, Hermann must again feed his troops. But over the course of Gavrilo’s and Domash’s siege actions, his army has consumed not only all its Provender but even its Loot (probably mostly livestock) from its earlier Conquest. Unable to Feed as required, Hermann Starves: his Service marker on the Calendar shifts by one 40-Days box left…
Izborsk’s cupboards are bare—its defenders begin to Starve.
Whatever Hermann’s troubles, it is Yaroslav who again has the next action by the Teutons’ pre-planned sequence of Command cards. The Exile of Pskov would like to award his Loot to his followers, but that requires him to be on Friendly ground. He Marches back across the borderland—this takes both his 2 Command Actions, as the Loot Burdens his army—and then Feeds and Pays with the Assets he has brought home. Paying the Loot shifts Yaroslav’s marker on the Calendar by one box right, lengthening his anticipated Service in the war.
Yaroslav completes his Summer raid.
Gavrilo has the final Command card of Summer, 1240. The food stores within the Russian Siege camp is running low, even if not as desperately as Hermann’s inside the Fort. Gavrilo will use his Carts and share Domash’s Ships with the Russian Portages Capability to bring up Provender not only from his Seat at Pskov but from the Russian interior via the great river port at Novgorod. With three Provender added to his Assets, he can safely press his Siege. [The mechanics of Supply Actions and Russian use of Ships and Boats have changed somewhat since we played this example.]
Novgorod sees to the provisioning of the Russian Lords’ Siege
With a final Siege Action [this would be slower by up-to-date rules], Gavrilo adds a Siege marker and more importantly forces the starving Hermann to terms. Unable to Feed his army during the Russian Siege Action, Hermann must again shift his Service marker one box leftward. This time, his marker is in the current turn’s box. With no Coin left to pay his troops, Hermann cannot counter this shift and must Disband (representing, in the situation of a siege, his parole to avoid further bloodshed). The Teuton player removes Hermann from the map to the Calendar, discards Hermann’s Forces, Assets, and Capability card, and sets his mat aside for a possible later return. Hermann’s cylinder ends up four boxes ahead of the current turn (because his Service rating is “4”), when he will again be eligible to Muster.
The Bishop is forced to Disband his army and return peaceably to Dorpat…
Izborsk’s fall is now a foregone conclusion.
Each side has now expended its six Command cards for a Summer Campaign—three each by Knut&Abel and Yaroslav; three each by Domash and Gavrilo. The war’s second 40 Days are over, and the players flip the Campaign marker to Levy and advance it into the Calendar’s next box. Autumn rains and the onset of Winter’s frost will slow the warring Lords but not stop the war….
Time marches, and the war continues.
The Danes at Gdov and the Russian Lords still working on the reduction of Izborsk will not be able to Levy any assistance this turn,as they are not on Friendly ground. But Yaroslav and especially the Papal Legate this Levy are likely to call upon one or more of the Teutonic Lords potentially ready to replace Hermann—the three black cylinders left of the current Levy marker.
Situation on the Baltic Frontier.
Here we must leave our battling Lords to their fates. We hope this detailed exposition of game mechanics in the Levy & Campaign Series’ first volume has been helpful (even if many rules shown were still provisional at the time). Before long, we hope to offer you what we anticipate to be a beautiful production of Nevsky!
Best regards,
Volko Ruhnke
Articles in this Series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Author: Volko Ruhnke
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