"For the sake of all Kislev, the tzarina permits her personal bodyguards to fight alongside the common man."
- —Description of the Tzar Guard in Total War: Warhammer III.[4]
Rendering of a Tzar Guard as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
The Tzar Guard[4], also called the Bokha Palace Guard and the Kreml Guard, are the elite Kislevite troops who guard the tzar or tzarina's residence and person.[1a][2]
The Bokha Palace in Kislev City, capital of Kislev, is guarded by Tzarina Katarin Bokha's most loyal and heavily-armed Kossars. These soldiers play a vital part in the Ice Queen's plans to expand the Kislevite standing army with cavalry, and to gradually phase out Ungol law in the Motherland, creating one, unified code of justice for all the people of Kislev.[1a][2]
Role[]
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A Tzar Guard faces the enemies of the Motherland on a dark northern night as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
The Palace Guard, also called the Kreml Guard or Tzar Guard, was a formation created during the reign of the paranoid Tzar Igor the Terrible, who felt that he needed to be kept safe night and day from possible assailants. Through the years the Palace Guards were used to protect not only the royal family of Kislev, but also the greatest amongst the Kislevite military commanders in times of war.[2][3]
Regiments of hardened warriors, formed of lesser Kislevite nobles like the druzhina and veteran soldiers elevated to higher status from the ranks of the Kossars, the Tzar Guard are formidable, durable melee infantry. Originally, these units were instituted to serve as the tzar's personal retinue, and while he would invariably travel with a large warband of Tzar Guard at his back, almost every army of Kislev now boasts a regiment or two of these hardened warriors. This is because every boyar and marshal needs a steady core to their army -- veteran warriors able to act as the bulwark of the Kislevite battle line.[4]
Wielding the mighty berdiche, a large, two-handed, heavy-bladed greataxe or a two-handed greatsword, these heavily-armoured warriors strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. The Kreml Guard receive plenty of training to wield their fearsome two-handed greataxes and are armoured appropriately with armour ranging from a full suit of mail up to heavy brigandine. Many Kislevite generals use these warriors as heavy shock infantry to soften up opposing enemy infantry formations.[3]
The Kreml Guard are veterans of hundreds of battles against the tribes of the Northmen's Chaos Marauders, having faced and vanquished not only Marauder Chieftains but also the occasionally encountered Chaos Warriors and Chaos-mutated monsters from the wilderness.[3] The troops of the Kreml Guard are hand-picked from the ranks of Kislev's Kossar foot soldiers in a similar way to the selection of the members of the Gryphon Legion.[2]
A veteran Tzar Guard as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
The Bokha Palace Guard conducts weekly parades through Kislev City. Recent parades have featured small units of mercenary cavalry from the Empire and Tilea marching alongside the Kossars. Tzarina Katarin Bokha hopes these cavalrymen will come to be accepted as part of the Palace Guard and will eventually be replaced by Winged Lancers. If one rota (unit) of Winged Lancers accepts the honour of serving in the Bokha Palace Guard, then other cavalry units will surely follow.[1a]
The Bokha Palace Guard also serves as a recruitment pool for the tzarina's secret police, the Akshina. Ungols who serve in the Bokha Palace Guard are watched closely. The most trusted are enticed with rewards to train with the Akshina and return to their home villages as "legal advisors". Their mission usually involves persuading village atamans to "modernise" outdated Ungol laws. Gospodar Akshina are occasionally recruited from the Bokha Palace Guard as well, but not as frequently, or deliberately, as Ungols.[1a][3]
Kislev's regular Kossars are becoming resentful of the Bokha Palace Guard, having watched them receive additional wages and perks even as their own wages are lowered.[1a][3]
Notable Bokha Palace Guards[]
"Hail Dazh the Sun God, whose molten fire sets the swords of Kislev ablaze, searing the flesh of all foes!"
- —Praise for Drazh's Hearth Blades' divine patron[4]
- Dazh's Hearth Blades - These Palace Guardsmen are devout followers of Dazh, the Kislevite god of fire and the sun who imbues their swords with magical flames.[4]
Miniatures[]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Career Compendium (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 120
- 2: Citadel Journal 15
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Kislev - The Claws of the Great Bear (RPG)
- 4: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
Gallery[]
