Tuesday 11 August 2009

The Teutonic Order

This is an army list for The Teutonic Order, officially known as "Ordo Domus Sancte Marie Theutonicorum Ierosolimitanorum".
It is based on the Sassanid Persian army list from the Warmaster Ancients Rulebook and is merely a translation of the troop types into what the Order had available in the time from 1100-1400 in the Prussia/Polen/Lithuanian area.

The order was created in the Holy Land in the late 12th century and along with the other orders played an important role in securing the conquered territory in between crusades. When Palestine was lost it moved its sphere of interest to Europe, first Transylvania where it received a contract to defend Hungaria's eastern borders. After a few years it got into conflict with the Hungarian King and needed to relocate, this time to Prussia. From 1230 and onwards it played a significant part in the Northern Crusades against the people of eastern Poland, Lithuania and Litvonia. The Order was divided into three, one for each of these regions, but all where still under the supreme grand master in Germany. During the 12-14th centuries it established its own militaristic government and conquered wast amounts of land but also got territory from gifts and bought a fair bit as well.
Its military might was based on a small number of members of the brotherhood who where some of the best knights of the time and new both the area and their foes tactics well. Unfortunately their numbers where always low and they had to rely on infantry and militia recruited locally, either payed or forced. These where prone to disappear from battles if under a significant threat and they often took pribes to stay away or turn sides during a battle.
Apart from these local troops the Order was a main destination for the northern european kings and their followers to fulfill their crusading vows as it was easier to reach, cheaper to go and often less dangerous. Both kings and nobles would arrive with their entourages and field units as well - the years where english longbowmen came where without a doubt the best years for the Order as their enemies lacked any means of avoiding their lethal volleys.
These waves of crusaders would often decide whether or not the Order would take the field and when the influx was great they made large conquest whereas lean years would see them lose terrotory due to lack of manpower.
The enemies of the order where mainly the local tribes but they also had considerable dealings against both the Rus and the invading steppepeople.

Commanders Command Min/Max Points
Grandmaster...... 9............. 1.......... 125
Commander........ 8 ........... -/2........... 80

Troops .................Att Range Hits Armour Min/Max Points
Infantry ................3 .....-........ 3........ 6+ ....... 4/-..... 35
Archers .................2 .. 30....... 3........ 6+ ........-/8..... 40
Skirmishers.......... 1.. .15....... 3......... -.......... -/6..... 30

Teutonic Knights ..4....15...... 3......... 5+........ -/1.... 125
Crusader Nobels ...3.... -....... 3........ 4+......... -/1.... 125
Crusader Knights ..3...15...... 3......... 5+........ 2/-..... 115
Mounted Skirm.. .. 1...15....... 3.......... -......... -/6....... 40

(Elephants ............ 4. .15....... 4........ 5+........ -/1.... 200 )

Description and Special Rules:
The Grand Master was the military commander as well as the leader of the order. The Order was divided into three regions each with its own Master as well as an overall master. He may upgrade to Portents (+10).
Commanders: Both highranking brothers (e.g. vicetreasurers etc) and local and visiting crusading nobility.
Infantry and archers consist mainly of local militia, both untrained and prone desertion when things goes bad. But also includes crusaders too poor to be fully equipped knights or archers such as longbowmen from England. They are all Unreliable, mainly due to being locals but also the crusaders lack of cohesive training plays in.
Skirmishers and Mt. Skirmishers consist of local hunters who knew the area well and a few retainers and brothers to keep them in line. They are, of course, both Skirmishers.
Teutonic Knights are the Banners consisting primarily of Teutonic Brothers; hardhitting and tactical superb units with both full armour and small crossbows, but very few in number. They are Shock.
Crusader Nobels and Knights are the visiting europeans getting remissio peccatorum for their fighting, much easier than going to the warm Holy Land. They are Shock and the Nobels are Slow as well due to their impressive armour and heavy warhorses.

(Elephants..... need to be removed but what to substitute with?)

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