Streltsi

The Streltsi are the black-powder soldiery of Kislev, grim, bearded gunmen who march to war shouldering long, heavy handguns and the great forked rests upon which they steady their aim. Drawn from the frontier towns and the hard folk of the oblast, they are as much axemen as marksmen, for each carries a bardiche (a long-hafted axe) that doubles as a firing-rest and, when the powder is spent and the enemy near, a brutal close-quarters weapon. In battle they form disciplined ranks, planting their rests and loosing crashing volleys of shot into the advancing foe before the lines meet. The bitter cold of the north fouls powder and freezes fingers, yet the Streltsi fire on regardless, stolid and unflinching beneath their fur-trimmed helms. When at last the enemy closes, they take up their bardiches and fight on, trading the crack of the gun for the bite of the axe.