This list is intended to represent the armies of the Teutonic Order (Ordo Theutonicorum Hospitalis St. Maria Hierosolymitae) outside the Outremer.
The order was never as important in the Palestine as in the Baltic countries; and it was in the modern day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania where it made its (in)fame.
The Order was basically a similar monastic military order as the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller. It consisted of several kinds of brethren: the nobles who were either Ritterbrüder (Brethren Knights): dubbed knights who had made the monastic wows and lived their lives in the service of the order, wearing the famous white surcoats with black crosses; or Mitbrüder (confrate knights), who were "supporting" members of the order but had not made the monastic wows and fought under their own coats-of-arms. The non-noble men-at-arms were called "Dienstbrüder" (serving brethren), and they often either fought as the rear rank of the knights or formed their own bodies; or, if infantry, "Dienstleute", the drilled and disciplined foot sergeants. The non-nobles wore light grey cassocks with black T (tau) cross. The order also employed various other troops: Gastritter (Ordenstaat feudal, crusader or adventurer knights), town and village militia, mercenary infantry, native light cavalry, which were called Turkopolen, and native levies.
Pope Innocentius IV called the Order to crusade and convert the heathen Balts in the early 13th century, and it merged its forces with the Schwerterbrüder (Sword Brethren) after the battle of Siauliai 1236. It fought a merciless war against the pagan Prussians and eventually formed an independent Germanic state (Ordenstaat). It then turned upon its last Pagan neighbours, Lithuanians, which it harassed mercilessly and practised raiding upon. The Lithuanians, on the other hand fought also constantly against the Tartars, so while the Order conquered its Western territories, those losses were more than compensated by their own eastern conquests ! Eventually the Lithuanians converted to Catholicism by their own initiative (personal union with Poland) 1386, and the Order lost its raison d'etre.
The Order actually reached its pinnacle of power in 1406, when it conquered Gotland from Denmark and Samogitia, the last remaining Pagan enclave, which they duly exterminated. The turnpoint was the battle of Tannenberg (Grünwald) in 1410, when the Polish-Lithuanian forces led by King Wladyslaw II beat in a nine hours' hard fought battle the Order army led by their Hochmeister, Ulrich von Jungingen. During the 15th century the Order lost gradually its significance and became more and more Polish by its nature. The final death knell came only after the Reformation, when the last Prussian Landmeister, Albrecht von Hohenzollern, converted to Lutheranism and sumbitted to the Polish supremacy as the Duke of Prussia, which duchy was eventually to become the Kingdom of Prussia and the founder of the German Empire in 1871.
The Order still exists today, and it has reverted into the original purpose: maintaining the hospitals and care of the sick.
My idea of my interpretation of the Teutonic Order armies was to reflect its elitist and superiority nature. The Order was always small by its numbers, and almost all its battles were fought against dire numerical superiority. This was compensated by the fact the Order was the Medieval equivalent of the Waffen-SS: highly trained, highly disciplined and well armed elite force, more than capable to taking any enemies at any time, yet still compromised by the small numbers.
The Order was known by its brethren's ferocious charge, discipline and toughness, and I felt justified to have the Ritterbrüder have three attributes: Ferocious Charge (as Normans), Drilled (reflecting their regular nature and discipline) and Stubborn (reflecting their religious fervour and fanaticism). The Order did historically also use Wedge formation,as in the battle of Peipsijärve 1242 (the Ice Slaughter), but, hey, enough is enough, and we are not creating any Übermensche here ! The Brethren are also very well equipped and their profile is excellent. This makes the Brethren also very expensive on points value, but it ensures the armies are numerically smaller than their opponents', reflecting the historical facts. Other elites are Mitbrüder, who are drilled and stubborn, but not as impetuous as the Brethren; and Dienstleute, non-noble men-at-arms, who are well drilled but less well equipped and more likely to not fight till the bitter end.
The ordinary troops' cavalry may consist of the Gastritter, various feudal or crusader and/or adventurer knights, seeking for either heaven or loot, and Turkopolen, who were the native light cavalry, used for skirmishing, scouting, forming the reserves and outflanking. They are NOT nomads, though; they were called "Turkopolen" after the Crusader Turcopoliers ! The infantry varies a lot; they can either be the Order regular footmen, Dienstleute, armed either with spears or feared crossbows; town or village militia, mercenaries of various countries: Scandinavian axemen; Swiss pikemen; German spear- or crossbowmen; English longbowmen, you name it. And, yes, the oppressed natives of the conquered territories, whom the haughty knights often viewed with contempt, but who nevertheless contributed a great part of the Order's infantry forces, especially in the more forestous and difficult terrain.
| Characters |
The army must have two characters: Hochmeister (Commanding general) and Fahneträger (Battle Standard.) They must always be members of a unit of Ritterbrüder and they both must belong in the same unit. This reflects the disciplined, monastic and drilled nature of the Order. |
| Regular units | Up to half of the points equivalent of the army |
| Elite units | Up to 75% of the points equivalent of the army |
| Special units (artillery, flaming pigs,elephants, and so on) |
None |
FEROCIOUS CHARGE
The charge of a unit of Teutonic brethren knights was renowned for its ferocity, and few opponents could stand up to it. It also explains why did the Teutonic Order fare so well against their various opponents, who almost always outnumbered them. Ferocious Charge applies only to Ritterbrüder (Brethren Knights). If a unit from the army is noted as having a 'ferocious charge', charges and wins the round of combat, then their opponent will automatically break, with no leadership test being taken. Enemy units that can normally ignore break tests must roll a d6; on a roll of 1-3 they are broken anyway, and on a roll of 4-6 they hold. The Ferocious Charge ability costs +2 points per figurines.
The minimum size for a regiment is five infantry models. There is no upper limit. One model in each unit may be upgraded to Leader (+5 points), Standard Bearer (+5 points), and Musician (+5 points).
Note: Due to the template, which gave no second row for the horse or warhorse profile, the cavalry figures are treated "as if" horses by their movement. Use the ordinary horse or warhorse (depending on the equipment) profile for equid combat.
1 General Commanding Hochmeister 209 Points
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| Hochmeister Kriegsherr |
6 |
6 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
9 |
Equipment: Heavy armour, shield, lance, warhorse, horse barding, sword
Options: None
Special Rules: Army General, Ferocious Charge, Drilled, Stubborn
The Hochmeister is the Grand Master of the Order, and he should be presented with a white flowing robe and wearing armour with gilded details. Otherwise he should be equipped in similar manner as the Ritterbrüder.
1 Battle Standard Fahneträger 109 Points
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| Fahneträger Held |
6 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
8 |
Equipment: Heavy armour, shield, lance, horse barding, sword.
Options: None
Special Rules: Army Standard, Ferocious Charge, Drilled, Stubborn
The great standard of the Order was a gonfalon hanging from a crossyard, being a black Latin cross on White background. While the Hochmeister present, his personal flag was a black cross potent piped with gold on white and with the Imperial inescutcheon (Or, a double-headed eagle Sa). The standard bearer should otherwise be equipped as the Ritterbrüder. Die Fahne hoch!
0-3 Units Gastritter 31 Points/figure
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| Knight | 6 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
Equipment: Light armour, warhorse, shield, lance, sword. May have heavy armour at +1 point and horse barding +4 points
Special Rules: None
The Gastritter are the numerous feudal, crusader and adventurer knights, and should be presented as ordinary irregular knights. They were mainly German, but several Scandinavian, French, Polish, Bohemian, Hungarian, English and other knights also made fame and fortune in the Baltic countries.
0-4 Units Dienstleute 15 Points/figure
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| Sergeant | 4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
Equipment: Light armour, shield, sword, thrusting spear. May have large shield or pavise (+1 p) instead of shield.
Options: Any units may replace thrusting spear with crossbow (+2 p).
Special Rules: Drilled
The Dienstleute were the Order foot sergeants, well drilled and equipped regulars. They should be depicted wearing grey surcoats with black St. Anthony's cross
0-2 Units Turkopolen 10 Points/figure
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| Light horse | 8 |
2 |
2 |
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3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
Equipment: Horse, shield, sword. May have shortbow (+1 p), light armour (+1 p) and/or throwing spear (+1 p)
Options: List points here for various options
Special Rules: Light troops
The Turkopolen were the native light cavalry, who often were equipped with either bows or light lances. They were pretty irregular by their appearance, and might wear some of the emblems of the Order as a badge.
0-2 Units Militia infantry 11 Points/figure
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| Retainer | 4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
Equipment: Shield, sword, thrusting spear. May have light armour (+3 p) and/or large shield (pavise) instead of shield (+1) p
Options: Any unit(s) may be armed with crossbows (+2 p) instead of spears
Special Rules: None
These troops represent the militias of various cities, towns and villages, consisting of burghers and freemen. They usually were equipped with spears or crossbows, and wore their own wardrobes; either their towns' liveries or just civilian clothes.
0-4 Units Mercenary Infantry 7 Points/figure
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| Retainer | 4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
Equipment: Sword. May have light armour (+3 p), shield (+2 p), thrusting spear (+2 p), crossbow (+4 p) and/or double-handed weapon (+3 p).
Options: Up to one unit may be armed with pikes (+3 p). Up to one unit may be armed with longbows (+3 p)
Special Rules: A pike-armed unit, as long as there is at least 16 figures left and it is in order and has a rank bonus of at least +1, may not be charged by cavalry.
The Order was a great employer of mercenaries, who varied from motley sell-swords and cut-throats to highly disciplined and drilled elite infantry, like the Swiss pikemen and English longbowmen. Each unit often wore their own uniforms and they usually fought under their own leaders.
0-4 Units Lanzfutter (Oppressed Force-levied Serfs) 3 Points/figure
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| Peasant levy | 4 |
2 |
2 |
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3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
Equipment: Improvised weapon. May have throwing spears (+1 p), thrusting spears (+1 p), axes (two-handed weapons, +1 p) and/or shields (+1 p)
Options: Any units may be equipped with shortbows instead of spears (+1p)
Special Rules: None.
If the Ritterbrüder were the Waffen-SS of the Middle Ages, these guys must be the Volkssturm. The Order often pressed the natives of the conquered territories into levy service; usually in supply and munitional service, but sometimes also on battlefield. Needless to say, the serfs were next to nil by their battle-worthiness, but the chronicles of the age do also praise their bravery – or foolhardiness.
1-3 Units Ritterbrüder 43 Points/figure
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| Knight | 6 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
Equipment: Warhorse, heavy armour, lance, sword, shield, horse barding
Special Rules: Ferocious Charge, Drilled, Stubborn
The Brethren Knights. The were de facto warrior monks, and their regulationary uniform was white surcoats with black cross on front and back, and they were forbidden to wear their own coats-of-arms on their shields, but instead had similar shields (black cross on white). The horse bardings also should repeat the same emblem. All Brethren of the same units should have lances of same colour to represent their disciplined nature, and if the unit has other leader sans Hochmeister, he should be accompanied with a standard bearer bearing the flag of black cross on white.
0-2 Units Mitbrüder 37 Points/figure
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| Knight | 6 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
Equipment: Warhorse, heavy armour, lance, sword, shield. May have horse barding (+4 p)
Special Rules: Drilled, Stubborn
The Mitbrüder were the reservists of the Order, and they did not make the monastic wows. They often wore the Order surcoats, but had their own coats-of-arms on their shields. Their flags were usually either heraldic or religious by nature instead of the "functionalistic" black cross of the Brethren.
0-1 Units Dienstbrüder 28 Points/figure
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| Sergeant | 8 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 | 8 |
Equipment: Horse, lance, light armour, sword, shield.
Special Rules: Drilled
Dienstbrüder were non-noble men-at-arms forming either their own bodies or rear ranks of the Brethren. They were less heavily equipped and they rode smaller horses than the Brethren; but they also were swifter and at least as well drilled. They wore grey surcoats with black Cross of St. Anthony and rode unbarded horses.
Special Units: None