Ivan the Terrible/Bio & Battles

"I will not see the destruction of the Christian converts who are loyal to me, and to my last breath I will fight for the Orthodox faith."

- Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was a Grand Prince of Moscow in the 16th century, and the first man to be named Tsar of All the Russia. He is known for causing the transformation of Russia from a medieval state to an empire with a centralized government, and for his immense brutality towards the Russian nobility.

Born in 1530, both of Ivan's parents died before he became of age, causing a power struggle within the nobility. This period of strife greatly affected Ivan, ingraining in him a hatred of nobles. In 1547, Ivan was crowned Tsar of All the Russias. He quickly began several reforms of the church, military, and aristocracy, with the goal of limited the power of nobles and centralizing power in the monarchy.

Ivan waged many wars during his reign. He successfully conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates, Caspian-Volga region, and Siberia, but was defeated in his attempts to take Livonia. Suspecting treason as the cause for his defeat, Ivan created the Oprichniki, a secret police force, loyal only to Ivan. Ivan carefully chose the nobles who believed were loyal to him, and had the Oprichniki appropriate the estates of all the others, either executing or exiling their owners. When Ivan learned of a plot by the city of Novgorod to defect to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ivan lead his Oprichniki in a brutal attack on the city, killing countless civilians.

Ivan is believed to have been highly mentally unstable, attributed to both his traumatic childhood and his frequent use of mercury to alleviate the pain of his many diseases in his later years. His instability lead to him killing his son Ivan Ivanovich in a fit of rage, leaving his unfit son Feodor to take the thrown after his death in 1584.

Battle vs. Oda Nobunaga (by Samurai234)
Ivan the Terrible:

Oda Nobunaga:

In a dense forest, Ivan the Terrible and four Streltsy soldiers are walking across the field, looking for enimies. Up ahead, Oda Nobunaga and four of his best Samurai are having tea and celebrating a victory. Seeing the Samurai as a threat, Ivan commands one of the Streltsy soldiers to fire his Steel Crossbow. The soldier agrees and fires at a Samurai's neck, killing him. (5-4)

Oda sees the Russians and orders for his men to attack. One Samurai fires his Yumi bow at the Streltsy soldier with the crossbow who was trying to reload. (4-4) Oda grabs his Tanegashima Rifle and fires at Ivan, but it's not a lethal shot due to Ivan's armor. Two Streltsy soldiers aim their Pishchals on their Bardiches and fire. They manage to kill one Samurai. (4-3) As they try to reload, one Samurai fires his Tanegashima Rifle at a soldier's face and kills him. (3-3) The Samurai charges at the other soldier with his Yari. The Russian raises his Bardiche and chops the Yari in half. He then cuts the Samurai's head off. (3-2) Another Samurai runs at him with a Chigiriki and begins a short duel. He finds an open spot and smacks the russian twice in the head, killing him. (2-2) Ivan runs up to that Samurai armed with his Sabre. As they duel, Ivan finds an open spot and stabs the Samurai in the neck and klls him. (2-1) Oda runs up to the last Russian soldier and quickly unsheaths his Katana, slicing him in half. (1-1)

Oda and Ivan both run toward each other and begin having a short sword fight, with Ivan having the edge due to his shield. Evenly, though, Oda manages to slice the shield in half. They countine to clash, until they end up getting their swords stuck in the sand. Ivan pulls out his Dagger while Oda pulls out his Hachiwara. They begin a short knife fight, until Oda uses the Hachiwara's hook to disarm Ivan. Oda then stabs Ivan in his arm and throws him to the ground. He prepares to kill him, but Ivan pulls out his Chekan warpick and smacks Oda in his forehead. Oda falls over, dead. (1-0)

Ivan raises his fists in the air and yells in victory.

Winner: Ivan the Terrible

Expert's Opinion
This was a very close match-up but in the end Ivan won because his armour was too good for Oda to penetrate and this nullified his superior weaponry.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Vlad the Impaler (by Goddess of Despair)
Ivan the Terrible     Vlad the Impaler

Vlad sits down behind a small wooden table. Glancing to the left, he looked directly to the field of impaled victims. He cracked a smile and reached for a slice of bread, dipping it into a small container of blood.

Vlad brought the wheat to his mouth but before taking a bite he noticed a small group of soldiers moving into the field. Vlad rises, setting down the bread before motioning his troops to come to his side. Ivan looks upon Vlad and orders his men to stand side-by-side in firing position.

Ivan’s troops fired a volley of rounds at Vlad’s troops, the first hitting a warrior next to him in the head. The second shot hit Vlad in the side. Vlad was thrown to the ground as one of his troops fired a crossbow at the invaders, piercing a man’s throat.

Vlad feels his stomach. Fortunately it was a graze and as he stood a loyal soldier handed him a hand cannon. Ivan’s troops began to reload as Vlad and two warriors charged. Two of Ivan’s Streltsy set down their Pischals and advanced with Bardiches.

The first Streltsy slams into one of Vlad’s soldiers with his Bardiche; however Vlad repays him by blasting him point blank with his hand canon.

The second Streltsy hits Vlad in the chest with his Bardiche knocking him onto the ground. Before being able to give a finishing blow, another of Vlad’s troops rushed forward and decapitated the Streltsy with a slice from a Kilij.

Now finished reloading, the final Streltsy fires his Pischal, killing one of Vlad’s troops.

Vlad gets to his feet again and the Streltsy unsheathes his Sablia. Vlad draws his Kilij and slashes high, but the Streltsy parried and counter slashed at Vlad, but his chainmail deflected the blow. Vlad punched the Streltsy in the jaw and, while he was stunned, slit his skull in half with a strike from his Kilij.

Vlad’s crossbowman fires another bolt downrange, but once again the wind carries it away from his target. Irritated, he reloads and moves closer to get a better shot.

Seeing his last soldier fall angered Ivan. With a roar, he charged with his Sablia. Vlad striked first, aiming for Ivan’s throat. Ivan parried and smashed Vlad’s nose with his sword’s hilt. Vlad sliced at Ivan’s chest, however he failed to cause any harm to the price of Moscow.

Ivan pushed Vlad back and slashed his hand, making him drop the Kilij. Vlad turned and ran for the hand canon as Ivan pursed. Vlad grabbed the weapon with his uninjured hand as Ivan prepared to decapate him. As Ivan raised his sword however, a bolt rammed into his shoulder. He roared in pain and fell to his knee. Vlad stood up and slammed the hand cannon upon Ivan’s head.

Minutes later Ivan joined his Streltsy in the forest of impaled warriors.

Expert's Opinion
Vlad the Impaler won this battle. Although both warriors had the same armor, and Ivan had a more effective long range weapon, he couldn't keep up with the tremendous slashing power of the Kilij and the options of the halberd. Add that to his better mental health and Vlad triumphs.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes click here.

Battle vs. Blackbeard (by Urbancommando77)
Ivan: 5

Blackbeard: 5

Off the coast of Russia, Blackbeard and four pirates walk across a sandy beach away from their wrecked ship. Blackbeard and the pirates were the only ones who survived the ship's crash. Meanwhile, Ivan the terrible watches from a small cliff. He commands a Russian soldier to investigate the wreck. The soldier walks down to see the pirates. He aims his pishchal and fires right into one's neck.

Blackbeard: 4

Blackbeard aims his musket and another soldier does the same. The soldier fires but he missed. Blackbeard's musket jammed. Blackbeard and the pirate reload their muskets and fire. one hits the soldier in the chest but one jams. The pirate tries to fix the jam but it won't work. The soldier, however, falls and bleeds out.

Ivan: 4

Ivan and his men move down towards the pirates. One pulls out a blunderbuss and shoots the horse one of the soldiers. Ivan commands the soldier to get up and use his crossbow. The soldier follows the directions and limps towards his horse and pulls out his crossbow. The soldier aims at them. He fires a bolt into a pirate's eye. The pirate yells in pain and falls over. The soldier aims his crossbow again to see the soldier he shot had the blunderbuss. They both fire. The soldier gets hit in the arm and the pirate gets hit in the chest.

Blackbeard: 3

Two pirates pulls out a hatchets and charge at them. One soldier gets off his horse and smacks one the face with his warpick. The soldier yells and falls in pain. The other soldier raises his hatchet and prepairs to swing. The soldier hits the pirate in the crotch and neck.

Blackbeard: 2

The pirate get back up holding his broken nose and throws a grenade at them.

Ivan: 2

Ivan discovers that two soldiers had died. His last soldier gets off his horse and pulls out his bardiche. He swings at the pirate but misses. He keeps swinging but all miss. He then puts the heavy weapon on the pirates head.

Blackbeard: 1

Blackbeard walks towards the soldiers and pulls out his cutlass. He charges towards Ivan and the soldier. Ivan signals the soldier away and pulls out his sablia. The two clash blades and cut up each other. Ivan slices open Blackbeards knees. The pirate falls down in pain. Ivan raises his sablia and cuts right through the pirates neck. The pirate gives a small whimper before falling to the ground.

Blackbeard:

Ivan looks at the fallen pirate and pulls out some mercury.

Winner: Ivan the Terrible

Expert's Opinion
Ivan won because of his superior weaponry.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Jani Beg (by Impaler5150)
Jani Beg and 4 of his Mongols travel to Russia to take it over. Ivan and 2 of his Russian soldiers exit the castle to confront them while the other 2 are high above the castle wall. Jani has one of his Mongols fires a carcass over the castle wall, hitting and killing 1 of the 2 Russians.

(4-5)

Ivan's paschal soldier fires a shot, killing Jani's right hand Mongol.

(4-4)

Another carcass flies over head, but before it hits the other Russian soldier, he's able to fire off the steel crossbow, killing a Mongol.

(3-3)

Ivan and his remaining Russians runs at the Jani and his Mongols cross paths finally. But the Mongol archer kills the Russian Pischal soldier.

(2-3)

Ivan's bardiche carrier kills the Mongol archer.

(2-2)

The bardiche carrier and the Mongol pitchfork spear carrier meet up and parry. The pitchfork carrier stabs the bardiche carrier in the jugular, killing him.

(1-2)

Ivan immediately impales the pitchfork carrier with his sablia.

(1-1)

Ivan and Jani finally parry 1-on-1. Ivan slices down, stunning Jani, knocking him to the ground. Ivan runs at Jani to kill him, but as Ivan gets to him, Jani lifts up his Mongol sabre, impaling and killing Ivan.

(0-1)

Jani gathers up all the carcasses to collect for the next battle. The other Mongols finally meet up with him to carry onto the next mission.

Expert's Opinion
Jani Beg was victorious over Ivan the Terrible due to better armor, being better at long range, & also the biological warfare.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Zhu Yuanzhang (by Battlefan237)
Ivan The Terrible :

Zhu Yuan Zhang :

In an abandoned campsite located in Northern China, two Russian soldiers were torturing a Chinese farmer by chaining him on a wooden pile sticking out of the ground. The leader of the Russians, Ivan the Terrible, chuckled formidably as he witnessed his subordinates cut the face of the poor farmer with an improvised dagger. All in a sudden, strange noises came from the gate where two of the Russians should be guarding. Ivan slightly frowned, then turned to the gate, where a group of Ming Warriors emerged from the hill nearby. The two Russian guards immediately aimed their pischals at the Chinese. The Mings also held up their own matchlocks. Zhu Yuan Zhang, the leader of the Ming Warriors, ordered his fellows to charge at the Russians. The first Ming Warrior who reached the range of the Pischal was instantly gunned down. The second one fired his matchlock in haste, randomly hitting one Russian in the chest which was protected by armors. The matchlock made an impact that forced him to slip down, but failed in doing any physical harm. However, another Russian wasn't so lucky as his friend. Chinese matchlock hit him right in the head, blasting out half of his face. He groaned with pain, coughing out blood. The second Ming soldier finished him by slashing his neck with Dao sword. The first Russian tried to stand up, but another Ming Warrior pierced his throat with a Qiang.

Ivan The Terrible :

Zhu Yuan Zhang :

Ivan, who'd realized that his opponent was a pretty tough one, grabbed up his own sabre and led his last two men to join the battle. One brave but reckless Ming soldier managed to use his Dao to match with a Bardiche, but got stabbed in the back by Ivan. Another Chinese burst into a tent in which a Russian had been sent to get the last Pischal. Clearly unprepared for the result, the Chinese's chest got devastated by firearm.

Ivan The Terrible :

Zhu Yuan Zhang :

Zhu, who'd lost most of his men, was forced to retreat to the small hill, chased by two fierce Russians. As they ran up the hill, one Russian stepped on something strange, he sensed it, but didn't realized that it's a Ming landmine buried by Zhu before the whole battle in case of this sort of situation. The mine went off, flying body parts of the Russian into the sky while sending another Russian rolled down the hill with one of his arm broken, and the other one badly twisted. Zhu ordered his last men to march back while he himself taking the opportunity of finishing the Russian by cutting his head in the same way they'd done to the Chinese farmer.

Ivan The Terrible :

Zhu Yuan Zhang :

The last Ming Warrior charged towards Ivan holding a Dao, but Ivan simply disarmed him by defending himself with one improvised iron bar which hit the Chinese in the arm, causing him to scream in shock. Then Ivan cut his head with a bardiche. Now Zhu faced a fatal conflict between him and the terrible Russian king. Though he wasn't capable of getting close to Ivan, he managed to lure him into waving his bardiche into a tent that Zhu fled into. The bardiche cut the wooden kingpin of the tent. At this very moment, Zhu ran back to Ivan who used all his strength to pull off the Bardiche. Being helpless, Ivan used his other hand to get the sabre, but was neither quick enough or powerful enough to outfight Zhu's strike with Dao. Zhu cut off Ivan's left arm, then slashed him like an animal hanging in a butcher shop.

Ivan The Terrible :

Zhu Yuan Zhang :

‘满城尽带黄金甲！’ Zhu yelled in victory.

Winner: Zhu Yuan Zhang

Expert's Opinion
Though Ivan is better armed, but Zhu has fought more sophisticated enemies such as the Mongols. Also Zhu's mental stability and quality as a duelist secured his victory.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.