Kerml Guard



The Kreml Guard is the hand-picked elite of the Kislevite military. The Kreml Guard was formed on the orders of the dreaded and insane Tzar Igor the Terrible. He was such a paranoid ruler that he saw traitors and assassins in ever shadowy corner, and thus he felt that he needed to be guarded day and night. While his bloody regime is only a dark legend now, the Kreml Guard endures to this day and a position in this black-clad regiment is much sought after.

Through the years the Guards were used to guard not only the royal family of Kislev, but also the greatest amongst the military commanders at times of war. The Kreml Guard are veterans of hundreds of battles against the northern tribes, having faced and vanquished not only the marauder chefs but also the occasionally encountered Warriors of Chaos and monsters from the wilderness.

The Kreml Guard is also a recruitment pool for Katarin's secret police, the Chekists. Ungols who serve in the Kreml Guard are watched closely. The most trusted are enticed with rewards to train with the Chekists and return to their home villages as "legal advisers". Their mission usually involves persuading village elders to "modernize" outdated Ungol laws. Gospodar Chekists are occasionally recruited from the Kreml Guard as well, but not as frequently, or deliberately, as Ungols. Kislev's regular Kossars are becoming resentful of the Kreml Guard, having watched them receive additional wages and perks even as their own wages are lowered.

Wielding the mighty 'berdiche', a large two-handed heavy-bladed axe, these heavily-armored warriors strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. Kreml Guards receive plenty of training to wield their fearsome two-handed axes and are armored appropriately with armor from mail up to heavy brigandine. Many Kislev generals use these men as shock troops softening up enemy formations.

Source

 * Citadel Journal Issue 15, "Kislev The Claws of the Great Bear", by Tuomas Pirinen, 1996, p 37

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