Alexander Nevskij

Alexander Nevsjkij was an RP round created by Astrid and held by the ASR on may of 2022.

## Lore

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"Love each other and be strong, children, be ready for war against the pagans. [...] Do not hesitate, do not yield and do not fear them [...] For it is not only your war, but God's war." -Pope Gregory IX

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After annihilating the Cathars in 1229 and conquering the Arabs in the Holy Land, the pope looked up to the north, hungry for power. With the rise of the Order of the Teutonic Knights, the Church State had begun to colonize the territories east of the Elbe River. Later, the Knights of Christ subdued the Prussians, Kurlanders, Latvians and Estonians one by one, founding there the "monastic state of Livonia," which they called "Marian Land," in the promise of building for Our Lady a new Jerusalem on the shores of the Baltic.

Swedes and Danes would help the Swordbearers compel the peoples they conquered to prayer, pushing them toward the way of the Lord.

Lithuania was the last pagan kingdom in Europe strong enough to succeed in repelling the crusaders; but instead of weakening and succumbing, the Lithuanians made their entry into the annals of history by drawing under their sphere of influence the regions of the dying Rus': by then reduced to a confederation of drifting kingdoms.

Novgorod (Christian Orthodox) was the most powerful principality in Rus', and it was a republic because political decisions were made by assemblies of artisans, as in Florence. It was July 15, 1240, when the Swedes were defeated on the Neva River by the Prince of Novgorod, who thus earned the nickname Nevsky: Alexander Nevsky.

Pope Gregory did not like this news.

Novgorod was to become Catholic and Roman, and so he thought of a new crusade.

But an even greater threat loomed over Europe: namely, the Tartar-Mongol threat, whose hordes had already made their way across the Sarmatian plain, leaving behind the smell of death.

Ryazan, Perejeslavl and Vladimir-Suzdal have surrendered. Moscow is only ashes.

The Poles, Hungarians, Lithuanians and Bulgarians are already sharpening their swords.

Who will survive?

### Nations List

Marian Land of Livonia - Grandmaster Dietrich von Gruningen

Kingdom of Sweden - Erik XI

Church State - Pope Gregory IX

Kingdom of Denmark - Erik IV

Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Grand Duke Mindaugas I -

Khanate of the Golden Horde - Son of Heaven Batu Khan -

Republic of Novgorod - Prince Alexander Nevsky -

**Not yet available:**

Kingdom of Poland - King Henry II

Kingdom of Hungary - King Béla IV

Bulgarian Empire - Tsar Ivan II

### Rules & Mechanics

**I. Rules violations will be resolved by compensating offended players. No one will be pilloried for trifles.**

**II. Castles (fortresses) may be built only in the capital city.**

Infantry, cavalry, heavy cavalry (armored cars), crocks (cruisers) and siege weapons (artillery) are allowed.

**III. War against players must be declared with 24 hours' notice by writing a letter to one's opponent. War against AIs must be declared with 48 hours' notice, punctuated in block letters in one's article.**

Surrender conditions must be such that the vanquished can continue to play. Each player must be able to control at least 8 provinces.

#### **IV. Trade**

In this game railroads are roads, oil is gold.

If you are in the red of a resource, there is a famine.

I ask you to trade only with your neighbors. Reject offers that come to you from afar.

If there is a third kingdom in your midst, this player may open the gates to you by charging you a duty, or he may decide not to let you pass by having your merchants imprisoned.

#### **V. The Russian Winter RPG Game | Alexander Nevsky Th-20110**

From December to March, snow and arctic cold prevent all enemy armies from moving within the natural borders of Novgorod, Smolensk, Polock and Finland. You cannot move.

In the spring, that is, in April and May, the ice will begin to melt, but your men will be slowed down by the mud, and you will have to let at least 12 hours pass calmly between battles.

For this reason, it is recommended to attack in midsummer, when the ground is dry!

#### **VI. The golden horde**

If you are afraid of the golden horde, you can offer yourselves as tributaries to the Great Khan.

As long as you pay lavish tribute, the Great Khan must leave you alone.

The Great Khan can refuse an offer, but after accepting it, he will be forced to keep his word.

Each kingdom may pay up to a maximum of 100,000 coins per month. If it does not pay, the pact is broken.

But beware: each individual principality counts as a kingdom. All that glitters is not gold.

#### **VII. The forest of Grodno**

Mindaugas I is devoted to the goddess Medeina: goddess of hunting, war and trees. Lithuania's forests are a natural obstacle for foreign cavalry and siege weapons. This means that the provinces of Vilnius, Kaunas and Minsk can only be attacked with infantry.

If the Crusaders were to conquer Vilnius, the capital would have to be returned to Lithuania, which would convert to Catholicism and lose this bonus forever. Should the Lithuanians give the crusaders the right of passage, they will equally lose this bonus.

In fact, the crusaders will destroy the sacred forests and pagan idols they find on their way.

#### **VIII. Rex Rusiae**

There are 8 Russian principalities (9, if we also considered Novgorod), and they must be regarded as separate kingdoms. All these nine rulers are brothers, and they all belong to the family of the Rajurikids. Historically, the king of Rus' was chosen in rotation each year from among the older brothers.

In this game, players who rule over one or more principalities will take turns being King of Rus' for 6 days. And during these 6 days they may do only one of these three things:

The King of Rus' can: 1, unite in marriage two principalities controlled by the same player, effectively creating a single state (e.g. Chernigov+Kiev yes, but Kiev+Smolensk no). 2, Divide a principality into two states. 3, enshrine the end of a principality forever by uniting in marriage the kingdom in question with that of the player who controls it (note: you can only do this last thing on other players, not on yourself)