| “ | The Time of Troubles has long since passed in Russia. Now a new dynasty of Tsars, the Romanovs, seek to regain the lands once seized by Poland, and expand their nation with the orthodox lands in the West. Alexei Mikhailovich has resolved to regain all the Russian lands that today are claimed by the Polish Commonwealth. The host of the Tsar is vast, and he plans to drive them forth any day now. | ” |
| — Jaques de Clermont | ||
The Muscovite Tsardom is one of the nations in Mount&Blade: With Fire & Sword.
Born again in this new age of fire and sword, Russia sees itself under a powerful dynasty of Tsars bent on reclaiming land lost to the Polish Commonwealth.
The Muscovite Tsardom was actually called the Tsardom of Russia, the Tsardom of Muscovy, as well as the Tsardom of Rus'. The Tsardom lasted from Ivan the Terrible's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 until Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721. A large part of this time period in Russian history was the Time of Troubles - this period was comprised of the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian tsar of house Rurikovich, Feodor Ivanovich and the establishment of the Romanov dynasty. With Fire & Sword occurs after the Time of Troubles.
The Tsardom of Moscow is truly a force to be reckoned with as it has a vast army of well equipped troops. Its national territory is located at the North-East end of Eastern Europe.
The False Dmitry is the main questline for the Muscovite Tsardom.
Rulers[]
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich
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Stepan Razin
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Vassals[]
Tactics[]
Strengths[]
- Excellent heavy cavalry and dragoons.
- Reliable marksmen who can hold their ground in melee.
- Sturdy pikemen/spearmen in defense.
Weaknesses[]
- High quality musketeers are not easily available or easy to mass.
- Infantry is generally lightly armored with no dedicated shock infantry.
- Lower tier spearmen/pikeman lack pikes and make due with a shorter lance.
The Muscovite Tsardom is similar to the Kingdom of Vaegirs faction from Mount&Blade: Warband. Much Like their counterparts in Warband, the Tsardom shares many similarities with the Polish Commonwealth having a well rounded unit roster with a unique flair to them but smaller and worse in some ways.
The Tsardom’s mainline troops Marksman and Marksman Spearman may not be the best but they can certainly hold their own en masse. At range Marksmen will perform slightly worse than the Polish Zolnier however they are much more capable in close range combat equipped with a two-handed Pole-Axe. The New Order Marksmen are a direct upgrade in stats and equipment (now sporting a helmet) to the Marksmen, more capable at range than a Zolnier and in close range still equipped with a two-handed Pole-Axe. If close range defense is not a priority for you, consider the mercenary German Infantry Musketeer for one of the best musketeers in the game. Marksman Spearman are effective anti-cavalry but lack a full length pike to be as effective as their deadly New Order Spearman upgrades ( though still lacking body armor), with the mercenary German Infantry Pikeman being better equipped and armored than the alternatives.
The Tsardom has two good options for a dragoon role: the regionally available Village Cossack and the heavy Moscow Reiter, which is usually better than its Polish counterpart in charging role as well. Cavalry charges are best performed by the elite and heavily armored Noble Guard, which are generally armed with a Sovnya, Saber or armor-piercing weapon. The Armed Serf and Gentry Cavalryman are both mounted and similar in that they suffer from having a large equipment pool and have unpredictable (albeit generally good and unique) weapons so they’re difficult to use in specialized roles, so they’re best kept for cavalry charges or garrison units where all of their weapons will be useful. The Armed Serf and Gentry Cavalryman can also serve as horse archers, although they do not reliably spawn with bows so that role is best reserved for the mercenary Kalmyk. The Kalmyk is one of the best horse archers in the game with good stats with the heaviest armor of any horse archer by far, they are not to be scoffed at and very survivable.
Troop Tree[]
| Troops of the Muscovites | ||
|---|---|---|
| Village Recruits |  Staff Militiaman
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| Garrison Militia | Lance Militiaman (veteran)
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 Posad Marksman (veteran)
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| Regular Infantry | Staff Militiaman Marksman (veteran) Marksman Spearman (veteran)
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| Guard Infantry | New Order Marksman (veteran) New Order Spearman (veteran)
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| Regular Cavalry |  Armed Serf (veteran)
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| Heavy Cavalry | Moscow Reiter (veteran) Gentry Cavalryman (veteran)
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| Personal Guard Cavalry |  Noble Guard (veteran)
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| Camp Mercenaries (southwest of Moscow) |
Muscovite Mercenary Infantryman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite) Muscovite Mercenary Rifleman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite) Muscovite Mercenary Cavalryman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite)
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| Regional Mercenaries (Cherkassk • Izum Fortress) |
Village Cossack (veteran)
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| National Mercenaries | Kalmyk (veteran) German Infantry Pikeman (veteran) German Infantry Musketeer (veteran)
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| Unrecruitable | Tsar Bodyguard
| |
Special Units[]
Territory[]
The territory of the Muscovite Tsardom starts with the following towns, fortresses, and villages.
| Territory of the Muscovite Tsardom |
|---|
| Towns Cherkassk • Moscow • Pskov |
| Fortresses Bryansk Fortress • Izum Fortress • Kursk • Novgorod • Ryazan • Rzhev Fortress • Tula • Tver' |
| Villages Klin • Lgov • Loknya • Lyubotin • Oboyan • Pokrovskoye • Redkino • Slantsy • Staritsa • Tarusa Valuiki • Yefremovo |
Battle Cries[]
insultmarks lines heard in the middle of a battle.deathmarks lines heard on the death of a character.victorymarks lines heard at the end of a battle by the winning side.
| File | Name |
|---|---|
rus_man_insult_1.wav
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rus_man_insult_2.wav
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rus_man_victory_1.wav
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rus_man_victory_2.wav
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rus_man_victory_3.wav
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rus_man_victory_4.wav
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rus_man_victory_5.wav
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rus_man_victory_6.wav
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Trivia[]
- The Muscovite Tsardom was initially officially known as the Rus' Tsardom (Русское царство, "Russkoye tsarstvo"), later changed to the Russian Tsardom (Российское царство, Rossiyskoye tsarstvo). In the western Catholic world, however, it was referred to as "Moscovia", while "Russia" referred to the parts of the Rus' that were under Lithuanian rule.
- The Tsardom had a total of three capitals during its existence: Moscow (1547-1712), Alexandrov Kremlin (1564-1581), and St. Petersburg (1712-1721).
- Its government was an absolute monarchy and Tsarist autocracy, with the Tsar theoretically wielding unlimited power across the country. In practice, this was rarely the case.
- In the game's setting, the Tsardom was gradually becoming more and more centralized and autocratic, with the Tsars reigning in both the landed nobility and the bureaucracy under their control as time passed, while simultaneously enforcing serfdom. Also, the Tsardom's eastern borders were rapidly expanding into Siberia with the help of Cossack explorers and Russian settlers.
- The Moscow court adopted Byzantine terms, rituals, titles, and emblems such as the double-headed eagle, which survives as the coat of arms of Russia. Even the name for Russia, Россия "Rossiya", was readapted from Byzantine Greek Ῥωσία "Rhōsía", itself being originated from the Slavic term Русь "Rus'", which was eventually displaced.
- The Tsardom and Empire that succeeded it saw itself as the continuation of the Roman Empire, inheriting that legacy from the former Byzantine Empire via intermarriage with the Byzantine Emperors and the various Russian princes. The crowning of Ivan the Terrible as Tsar (Russian: царь, a Slavic adaptation of "Caesar") further cemented the Muscovite belief that it was the Third Rome, succeeding Rome and Constantinople as the center of (Orthodox) Christianity.
- The Muscovite army of the time is still reliant on feudal levies and knight-like noble cavalry, with a centralized Imperial Army only forming from Peter I's Western-inspired reforms in the 1700s.
- The "Warlord" title found among Russian lords does not mean a brigand chieftain - it is a translation of the title voivode (Russian: воевода "voyevoda"), which means leader of troops, and is an official military rank.
- In the game's code, the Muscovite Tsardom is referred to as
vaegir, the Kingdom of Vaegirs being similar in that it uses Russian nobility titles.
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Wikipedia has an article on this subject at: Tsardom of Russia |
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