DBA Resource Page

Battle Scenarios

The Battle of Lake Peipus (1242 AD)

By Mark Kyriss

This was the battle immortalized in Sergei Eisenstein's classic movie Alexander Nevsky. As far as the big picture is concerned, the Mongols were squeezing Russia from the east, and the Teutonic Knights were tempted to eliminate this "pagan" Russian menace once and for all. The Baltic Crusade, declared by Pope Innocent III, had been raging for almost three decades, when Bishop Hermann von Buxhoeven of Tartu (in Livonia) finally consolidated enough power to open up a new front in northern Russia. Grand Prince Alexander Nevskii of Novgorod chose to fight the Germans first, and rallied an army of Russians. After conducting a short cat-and-mouse chase, the campaign culminated with the Crusader army "trapping" the pagan forces on the eastern shore of Lake Peipus by charging across the frozen lake surface from the west.

The battle was decided more by the impetuousity of the Teutonic and Crusader knights charging into the center and being doubly-enveloped than by the ahistorical collapse of the ice, popularized in the movie.

This battle was significant in that it was the last major attempt by the Germans to break into Russia proper for several centuries, and the Russians used this aggression as a popular myth to support their propaganda campaigns against German expansionism in the 20th century. Unfortunately, within four years, Alexander submitted to the Mongol Khan Batu.

The Armies

Teutonic Order (#151): 4x3Kn (one Gen), 1x3Cv, 2x2LH, 1x4Sp, 2x4Cb, 2x3Ax

Early Russian (#129): 4x3Cv (one Gen), 2x2LH, 3x4Sp, 3x2Ps

Deployment

As per the map for a historical refight. Because of the pursuit across the lake, the actual Crusader/Teutonic baggage would not be on the map, but for dramatic effect, a Teutonic baggage element consisting of the Bishop and his clerics in a tent with musicians could be used instead, on the Crusader baseline!

The Battle

What we know of it--very simple. The Crusader knights charged across the lake on the ice towards Nevskii's positions on the eastern shore at a place known as "Raven's Rock," with the Danes on the left, the Teutonic Knights in the center, and the Livonian feudal knight contingent on the right, followed at a great distance by the Estonian foot. Alexander placed his Novgorod militia foot in the center on the shoreline to absorb this charge, which was probably aimed at capturing Nevskii himself with the reserve cavalry in the center. To his right he placed his strong druzhina cavalry wing, reinforced by Mongol horse archers, to outflank and destroy the Danes. On his left, a weaker wing of cavalry to confront the feudal knights.

Apparently these flank elements did their jobs and repulsed and drove off the two crusader wings. This left an encirclement and destruction of the Teutonic knights in the center who were too deep into the foot to extricate themselves.

Game Map (ASCII)

     ============Teutonic Baseline====================
     . . . . . . Bg. . . . . . Ax.Ax . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . Cb Sp Cb. . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . Cv. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . LH.LH . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . Kn KG Kn Kn . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . Ps.Ps Ps. . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . h h h h Sp Sp Sph h h h h . . . . . .
     . . . . . h Cvh h h h h h h h h h h CvhCv LH.LH .
     h h h h h h h h h h h CvG h h h h h h h h h h h h
     h h h h h h h h h h h Bgh h h h h h h h h h h h h
     =============Russian Baseline=====================

SCALE: The space between each dot/letter is one inch.

TERRAIN KEY:

.=Good Going (Ice)

h=Gentle Hill (Good Going)

KG=Knight General (Teutonic)

CvG=Cav General (Russian)

Terrain Notes

The shoreline (where the hill starts) is a gentle slope per DBA rules and gives uphill advantage. Ice is treated as good going.

Special Rules

Due to the extreme impetuousity of the Crusader knights, on the first two turns of the game, they must be moved before any other force can be moved. In other words, pips can only be expended on other-than-knights after they are spent on the knights first (if there are any left over).

For those intrigued with the movie, a variant rule may be to allow for collapsing ice. In this option, roll for every knight unit on every turn. If a "6" is rolled, roll again. On a 1-2, the knight element may only move half their normal move. On a 3-4, the knight element may not move. On a 5-6, the knight element sinks through the ice and is destroyed, leaving an impassable "hole" where that element was. If knights are moving as a part of a group of knights (only)(paid for by a single pip), the knight element(s) unaffected may continue moving, and the affected knight elements are slowed/halted/destroyed as above. This "free" move by a disintegrating group's elements replicates the continued impetuousity of the Crusader knights.

Victory Conditions

As per normal DBA.

Background Resources

The best (i.e. easiest to read and understand) reference is Osprey's Campaign Series 46, Lake Peipus 1242.

Notes

This is a pretty balanced scenario, with both armies roughly equal in "+'s." Crusader knights can be destroyed by Russian LH, and Bw by Russian Cv and LH. Conversely, Russian Sp and Ps can be killed by Crusader Kn, and their LH by Crusader Kn and Cv (at double+). The trick is to be able to move the Crusader follow-on echelons to keep pace with the Brethren, so as to not allow a double-envelopment (roll good pip die!!)

|Top of Page | Battle Scenarios | Home |

Last Updated: April 29, 1999

My thanks to Mark Kyriss for developing this battle scenario for DBA. Questions, comments, and feedback are welcome. Sent them to my attention at IamFanaticus@gmail.com.