Kislev
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"Kislev is land, land is Kislev."
- – Kislevan proverb
"WHEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!"
- – Sabaton
"AND THEN THEY ALL FUCKING DIED!"
- – Archaon, in response to the line immediately above
Kislev is the northenmost civilized state in the Old world, and the first line of defense against the hordes of Chaos that regularly spill out of Norsca to the far north.
Historically, Kislev is the result of the inter-mingling of main tribal confederations; the native Ungols of the north, the Gospodars in the south, and the long dead Roppsmenn tribes. The former two are in fact the off-shoots of the Kurgan tribes of the northeast. To this day, the Ungols maintain good relationship with those Chaos marauders, who have such wonderfully well thought out names such as "Dolgan", "Khazag" and "Kul".
In case you can't tell, Kislev is like Tsarist Russia. But only in the weak, decadent south. In the strong, manly north, it actually turns into Mongolia, Poland and the Turkic countries (Khazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc). And the Kurgans who dwell east of the Norsemen are basically Siberians.
In essence, Kislev is a fantasy version of Russia with dollops of every other Eastern European country because normies can't tell the difference. It's also named after Kievan Rus, as in the old Russian kingdom and the current capital city of Ukraine, all GW did was tack on two letters in the middle of Kiev. In the 1980s when Kislev was created there was no country called Ukraine, it was all just "Russia" or rather 'Soviet Union" to almost the whole world (not entirely true, as Russia and Ukraine were both republics within the USSR).
Also, Kislev is no more according to the whole return of Nagash thing GW had planned. At last, Archaon has done that which Napoleon, Hitler, the USA and the EU could only dream of -- the annihilation of Russia.
History of Kislev
"Kislev."
- – The extent of Kislevite diplomacy
Long before the Empire was founded, the Ungol people had populated the land that would be called Kislev. They lived alongside several other humans tribes in the area and held a border with the tribe to which Sigmar belonged to, the Teutogen. When Sigmar began his campaign to drive out the Norsii, ancestors of the Norscan people, and unite various people into his future Empire he inadvertently drove the Norsii toward Ungol territory. Not liking the Norsii the Ungols decided to aid Sigmar against them and they succeeded in driving the Norsii toward their current home of Norsca. In the wake of this campaign, the two groups promised to help each other if one or the other was invaded which created a bond between the two future nations which lasts till this day. Unfortunately for the Ungols their reign over the lands of Kislev was not to last.
In 1494 IC another tribe called the Gospodar lead by the Khan-Queen Miska the Slaughterer fled across the Eastern Steppes and away from the encroaching Chaos wastes at the beckoning of a spirit called the Ancient Widow. The native Ungol people tried to resist the newcomers but were no match for the wealth, arms, and magic of the Gospodar Tribe. The Ungols then tried to appeal to the Empire for aid but the Empire at this time was going through a civil war and could not help them. Without the aid of the Empire the invaders would conquer the Ungol settlement of Praag in 1497 IC and began to carve out a kingdom that grew in size as the Gospodars used the Lynsk river to launch incursions further into Ungol and later Imperial territory. Although Imperial forces eventually drove the Gospodar off Empire lands the tribe was successful in forcing the Ungol to accept Gospodar rule and would eventually agree to a defensive treaty with the Empire. Around 1524 IC Miska abruptly stepped down from leadership after receiving an apocalyptic vision of a future where she would once again be needed to lead her people to salvation. She would disappear into the North promising to return but not before passing her throne and magic blade fearfrost to her daughter. Under the leadership of Miska's daughter Shoika, the first true Tzarina, the Gospodar would then build themselves a new capital city for their kingdom called Kislev in 1527 IC which would eventually lend its name to all the kingdom's inhabitants. Following this, the Ungols would settle on the northern border of the modern-day Kislev nation where their people still reside and mainly serve as the kingdom's first line of defense against Chaos marauders. The south of Kislev is considered more civilized and even has some influence from the The Empire.
Despite this acrimonious beginning over the ensuing 750 years, the two people would basically intermingle to the point that now almost everyone sees themselves as people of Kislev first and whatever tribe they came from second.
For most of the nation's history, the Gospodar people held virtually all the power in the nation with almost all of the nobles being Gospodar and the Tzars and Tzarinas all being descended from the first Gospodar Khan-Queens. This began to change later on largely because Tzarina Katrarin (the current Karl Franz era one not the crazy vampire one from Magnus the Pious' time) began uplifting more and more Ungol men into leadership roles to further tighten her grip on the nation.
According to 2nd ED Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, their military consisted of the following: Kossars, the axemen-archer infantry of the standing army of Kislev recruited from any who can pass fitness and correspondingly has an excellent reputation on the field of battle along with a terrible one-off of it. Streltsi, an elite infantry subset of the Kossars first formed after a Kislev noble viewed the gunpowder portion of the Empire trifecta put a Chaos horde to rout and decided to ape their halberds and handgunners, Streltsi are literally just the real Russian Streltsy but with more brotherhood and loving their guns so much that it's said they might find someone sleeping with their wife to be less offensive than shooting their handgun without their permission. Ungol Horse Archers, auxiliaries from the northern tribes which are basically Huns or Mongols in their natural state for battle. Winged Lancers, which are totally the Polish Winged Hussars but based from their settlements rather than part of the standing army and wear wings on their back with the explanation of them causing an unnerving sound as they ride being adapted from a common theory to the real Winged Hussars. And finally the Gryphon Company, the most prominent and heaviest company of Winged Lancers ever which is comprised of noblemen who fletch their wings with Griffon feathers and commonly act as mercenaries while not defending Kislev from Chaos invasion. They come downright close to an actual Imperial Knight order. Also, at least one example of bear cavalry is canon according to WFRP, with the prior-to-current Tzar Boris Bokha riding into battle on a bear that was tamed after they defended one another from a wolf pack attacking them while Boris had tried to break and tame the bear more conventionally.
In order for the Warriors of Chaos to get to the Empire on foot they have to go through Kislev. So the horde that shows up in the empire is actually a hell of a lot smaller than when they marched out. Kislev has been on the forefront of the chaos wastes since its inception and not once has the nation fallen. That basically means these guys have balls of steel on par with the Imperial Guard. At least thats how it was until the end times. In current fluff, Archaon has finally destroyed Kislev and only one city still stands. And then the world ended.
Religion in Kislev
Like the Empire to the south the people of Kislev have multiple deities with the main one being the Cult of Ursun the Father of Bears. There's also the Ancient Widow an ancient spirit imprisoned by Chaos (which some speculate is the same as the law goddess Arianka). It was she who first drew the Gospodors to Kislev and helps the Ice Witches with their ice magic. Other common gods in Kislev are Dazh the god of fire and the sun, Dazh's underling Kalita the god of merchants, Tor the axe-wielding god of warriors and lightning (and a blantent Thor ripoff), Salyak the goddess of healing (basically a more stern motherly version of Shallya), and the more well-known gods Taal and Ulric.
Remote settlements in the extreme north like Tungask worship the Kislevite pantheon plus some gods who may or may not be facsimiles of the Chaos Gods, as a result of Norse and Kurgan influence that far north.
THE RETURN!!!!!
Kislev is returning in Warhammer: The Old World as one of the playable factions. They will be getting a new model line, along with a new unit called The Ice Guard, a unit of magical warrior women who serve as the bodyguard of the Tzarina. Kislev fans, grab your vodka and mount your bears, cause we're coming back!
Total War: Warhammer III
As of February Third, Kislev has been confirmed to be one of the Core Races in Warhammer 3. The announcement has come after a series of teasers hinting at the coming of the 4 Chaos Gods, and saying that only the Bear God Ursun can save the world now. An image leak also shows what appears to be a Kislev army fighting a Khornate horde. The first game trailer for Warhammer 3 revealed Kislev as one of the main factions. This suggests that once again Kislev will have to do all the heavy lifting in saving the Warhammer World. (Cathay will be helping. Which is not a criticism.) Grab your Vodka, mount your Bears (Not like that Boris!) and start blaring Sabaton on full blast, KISLEV HAS ARRIVED!
Collecting Kislev
In Warmaster, Kislev used to have both an official army list and a nice line of miniatures. In WHFB, things are a little more complicated. While there is no official army book for them, aside their supplements in the 4th and 6º edition, there is also the warhammer fantasy roleplay book "Realm of the Ice Queen". There are good fan made ones which do include Bear Cavalry which in turn makes all other human armies seem pathetic (except for the Warriors of Chaos, who are motherfucking Vikings). (Honestly that's easily debatable. These manly fuckers fight giant chaos monsters with a bow, rocks, and an axe. And you think they ask for help?) There are even a few official models made for them and a small White Dwarf list for them but that is out of date. Additionally, the Privateer Press line of Khador models for Warmachine give off the nice fantasy/russian look, if going only for infantry, with the Doom Reavers, Kossite Woodsmen, and Greylord models. If you need bears, you can grab their Brun and Lug set. Actual Winged Hussars models are also hardly rare from other historically-based games.
Links
Gallery
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Kislev Minis for Warmaster. Those were the days...
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Map of Kislev
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The Famed Winged Lancers of Kislev (well actually Polish Winged Hussars but whatever same thing)
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Living in Kislev is basically like this
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Ursun, the main god of Kislev and the most goddamn Russian thing ever since Zangief
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INTO THE MOTHER LAND, THE CHAOS ARMY MARCHED!
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THEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!
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What thirsts for blood more - Bloodthirsters, or bears?
| Regions and Areas of the Warhammer World | |
|---|---|
| Areas of The Old World: | The Empire of Man - Bretonnia - Albion - Estalia - Tilea - Kislev - Norsca - Border Princes - Worlds Edge Mountains - Karak Eight-Peaks |
| Areas of The New World: | Naggaroth - Lustria |
| Areas of The Eastern Lands: | Cathay - Nippon - Ogre Kingdoms - Dark Lands - Kingdoms of Ind - Khuresh - Eastern Steppes |
| Areas of The Southlands: | Nehekhara - Araby - Badlands - Marshes of Madness |
| Other Areas of the world: | Ulthuan - Athel Loren - Chaos Wastes - Skavenblight - Lost Isles of Elithis |
| Main bodies of Water: | The Great Ocean - The Far Sea - The Sea of Dread - Inner Sea of Ulthuan |