Kislev (Warhammer)
Encyclopedia
In the Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...

setting, Kislev is the name of a Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

/Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....

-themed fictional country that sits northeast of The Empire
The Empire (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Empire is one of the human political factions and armies, and is featured in many games and novels. In terms of location, language, culture, and society, it bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Roman Empire...

, between it and the Realm of Chaos
Chaos (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy...

. Between Kislev and Norsca lies Troll Country
Troll Country
Troll Country is the name of a region in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe.Troll Country is situated to the north of Kislev. It is wild area between Kislev and Norsca. Because it is situated close to the north pole of the Warhammer world and the great Chaos Waste it has been...

, while beyond that lie the magic-tainted Chaos Wastes
Chaos Wastes
The Chaos Wastes is a fictional place in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy world setting. The Chaos Wastes are a vast warped, cold and barren wasteland to the north of the habitable areas of the world. It is referred to by the Norse as Shadowlands and sometimes as Umbra . With Norsca Wastes are...

. Because of both the harsh weather and the fact that any Chaos incursions must pass through (and, consequently, attack) the country, the Kislevites are a hardy people who are never willing to back down from a fight. The capital of Kislev is Kislev, with Erengrad and Praag being the next largest and important cities. Kislev is primarily inspired by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

 and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 of the 16th and 17th centuries, with its name likely derived from the city of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

. They are most famed for their horseback archery skills, and are ruled by Tzarina Katarin who is the most powerful magician Queen who has ever lived because of her mastery of the power Ice magic.

Though Kislev has long held a relatively substantial place in the Warhammer world they have never had a formal army list or any models beyond limited special edition models that supplemented the Empire army. However, a list written by Tuomas Pirinen, a Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...

 designer, appeared in the Citadel Journal in 1995, and in 2004 Games Workshop released a Kislev army supplement similar to other Warhammer Fantasy Army Books. Although this allowed a player to field a solely Kislev army, it is mainly used by players to supplement other armies with Kislev allies.

In the larger scale conflict game of WarMaster, the Kislev faction does have an army list equal to the other factions of Warhammer Fantasy.

People of Kislev

Kislev is a country forged from varying warring peoples who invaded the land in turn and finally settled alongside each other.

They are usually said to be the Ungols, the Gospodars, the Norse and the Ropsmenn. Huns are mentioned in Tuomas Pirinen's work but do not appear anywhere else. Also, presumably northern tribes such as the Dolgans make home in Kislev's northern areas, and many folk of Imperial stock inhabit the South. The precise nature of these peoples and their relations changes from edition to edition.

In the now obsolete first edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay supplement "Something Rotten in Kislev", they are given as follows:

The Gospodars are the peasant class, with the Ungols having conquered them some centuries ago but since overcome. The ruling class is said to stem from Norse and Imperial clans, while the Ropsmenn are an outlaw people.

By the 1996 5th Edition, the Ungols were the ones conquered by the migrating Gospodars, while the Norse and the Imperials make up part of the general population of larger cities. The Ropsmenn are said to have been defeated and absorbed into the Ungol, Norse and Gospodar peoples soon after Khan-Queen Miska's Gospodar Horde conquered the country. This version was first detailed in the 6th Edition 2003 Army List, that was published as a series of articles in White Dwarf. It was then further fleshed out by the Realm of the Ice Queen source book for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition, printed in 2008.

The Kislevite army

The Kislevite army comprises the following units:
  • Winged Lancers (similar to Polish Hussars
    Polish Hussars
    The Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of the first Polish Army, later also introduced into the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, between the 16th and 18th centuries...

     in 17th century Poland)
  • Ungol Horse Archers
  • Kislev Kossars (similar to Ukrainian Cossacks)
  • Gryphon Legion: These horsemen are the Tzarina's personal guard when she goes to war. Otherwise they are found serving as mercenaries in the Empire, especially Middenheim
  • Boyar
    Boyar
    A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....

    s: the feudal lords of Kislev


The army's wizards, and the Kislevites in Warhammer fiction, use Ice magic, which is not one of the eight Winds of Magic used by their allies, the Empire.

In Black Library fiction such as the Ambassador Chronicles and the Riders of the Dead, other Army Books, and the 1995 Citadel list, Kislevites are also said to use trained bears, handgunners (Streletzi), blackpowder artillery, and armoured war wagons (Although Hussite
Hussite
The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...

armies of Bohemia used war wagons, their use in the Kislevite army is inspired by the Ukrainian Cossacks. They also used war wagons as part of their tactics). However no official rules or models exist for these types of units. (Although rules and models for these do exist in the "Warmaster" and "Mordheim" games)
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