Bogarus is a land of harsh winters and short summers. When the Vanir claimed this cold and bitter land of the north, they named it Vanarus and carved a kingdom out of the frozen land. Now humans have replaced the last of the Vanjarls and the kingdom is guided by Eparchs and Exarchs of the religious order. Mighty cities under the rule of warring princes have united under a few Grand Princes and a reformed faith. Bogatyrs of heroic stature and prowess, defenders and champions of the faith, occasionally emerge to lead and protect the people from the wicked. The Grand Princes use infantry as well as elite cavalry forces. Mages of various traditions ply their trade in the palaces of the Grand Princes. The people of Bogarus prefer a cold climate.

"Imagine cold winters, princes in sable-rimmed cloaks, opulent halls where sinister old men practice vile magics or seduce their masters' wives. Think of Rasputin. Think of orthodox patriarchs and bizarre sect- like movements of religious fanatics living in hiding. Imagine the monsters, heroes and bogatyrs of Russian fairy tales…. Vanarus is the predecessor of Bogarus. It is a nation of ruling Vanir that have subjugated and intermingled themselves with the previous rulers of the land. Kievan Rus' is one of the sources here, but I've also used the Chuds, a people that appears in the myths of various peoples from the eastern Baltic seaboard. I haven't found very much on the Chuds, so they are mostly my creation. The "Pine of Skulls," shape-shifting and shamanic bear cult practices fit the nation. These features, as well as the Thunder Priests mentioned in the descriptions of the nation appear in Rus, the early version of the nation. I wanted the national troops of the nation to reflect the change from the earlier era to the late Bogarus. Versatile Vanarusian sages are slowly replacing the mighty Vanir and will eventually develop into the Starets and mages of the late era." - Illwinter

Bogarus is, primarily, a nation of human mages. Its troops are subpar, very similar to those fielded by independent provinces in the Middle Ages, though it does have better versions of the independent Light Cavalry and Knights. Its Sacred troop, the Khlyst, has the worst combat performance of any Sacred in the entire game; this is offset by it being the cheapest Sacred in the entire game, letting Bogarus dump piles of exploding or overcharged fodder on enemy armies, but the process of accruing the horde is still limited by Holy Points. The secondary function of the Khlyst is its mixture of Unrest generation and Stealth, letting Bogarus grind down neighboring economies without attacking them. Bogarus's mounted commanders are quite capable fighters, but whether or not they can handle enemy armies (even with gear) is another question.

Bogarus has some of the best Holy (Priest) access in the entire game. These fellows have little or no Leadership, but the 2 mages can be recruited from any fort, while the 3 mages take only 2 commander points instead of the typical 4. Bogarus can thus weaponize its Smite more than most other nations, and it's very capable of countering Undead hordes.

As for the mages, Bogarus is a nation of Astral Communions. It gets five whole paths linked to the Communion: Fire, Air, Earth, Death, and Blood. It has Alchemists for drumming up Gold, excellent Researchers that give it some leeway over many other nations, Fortune Tellers for sifting out bad events from Misfortune, and a long list of summonable monsters to draw from. Once Bogarus reaches the phase of the game where magic matters most, it will do rather well… as long as no one tries stealing their mages or scaring them off.

Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
3 (rare 4) 2 (rare 3) 2 (rare 3) 2 (rare 3) 1 1 3	Heroes: 3132 223 124 Summons: 31 (req. 2) 11 (req. 11) 222 (req. 3) 312 (req. 31) 213 (req. 4) 312 (req. 4) 2124 (req. 6)	Heavy Cavalry Mounted Archers Infantry	Cold Resistance Skilled Rider Snow Move	Standard Forts

Capitol Gems: 112

Cold Limit: + 1
Misfortune Limit: + 1
Prefers Cold Scale + 2

See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.

Blood allows for summoning powerful mages with a variety of paths, but no Water. 5 for Bind Heliophagus and 8 for Bind Demon Lord.

A Pretender with 6 can Contact Leshiy, which is strong in Nature and has some useful crosspaths.

The Copper Arm
11 Alchemist +

The Silver Arms Unique
11 Alchemist +

The Arms allow a mage to hold more boosters, especially with Nature and Death.

Ring of Sorcery
3 Starets (1 in 4) +

Ring of Wizardry
3 Starets (1 in 4) + Ring of Sorcery +

Highest Starting: 2 Starets

Skull of Fire
21 Starets (1 in 4)

Bind Arch Devil Limited Amount
22 Starets (1 in 4) +
Most Arch Devils have 4.

The Forbidden Light Unique
23 Starets (1 in 4) + \\

Highest Starting: 2 Starets (1 in 4). The hero, Baba Yaga - Hag has 3

Tome of High Power Unique
22 Starets (1 in 4)

Contact Gamayun
3 Starets (1 in 4)
Gamayun has 2.

No recruitable access. The heroes, Baba Yaga - Hag has 1 and Koschei - Deathless has 2.

Send Vodyanoy
1 The hero, Baba Yaga - Hag +
2 The hero, Koschei - Deathless
Vodyanoy has 3.

Summon Spectre
1 Occultist + 3 The heroes, Baba Yaga - Hag and Koschei - Deathless
Spectral Mage has a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.

Highest Starting: 1 Alchemist

Highest Starting: 3 Starets (1 in 4)

Coin of Meteoritic Iron
11 Alchemist +

Tome of High Power Unique
22 Starets (1 in 4)

The Oath Rod of Kurgi Unique
11 Occultist +

Ether Gate
11 Occultist +
Ether Lord has 3, 1 in 4 has 4.

The Void Sphere Unique
31 Starets (1 in 4) +

Highest Starting: 1 Occultist. The heroes, Baba Yaga - Hag and Koschei - Deathless have 3.

Ether Gate
11 Occultist +
Ether Lord has 2, 1 in 4 has 3.

The Black Book of Secrets Unique
11 Occultist +

No recruitable access. The hero, Baba Yaga - Hag has 2.

Contact Cloud Vila
2 Starets (1 in 4) +
3 The hero, Baba Yaga - Hag +
Cloud Vila has 2.

Contact Mountain Vila
2 The hero, Baba Yaga - Hag +
Mountain Vila has 3.

No national access.

Summon Spectre
1 Occultist +
3 The heroes, Baba Yaga - Hag and Koschei - Deathless
Spectral Mage has a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.

Forest Troll Tribe
2 The hero, Baba Yaga - Hag +
Troll Shaman has 1 in 4 chance of 1.

Highest Starting: 2 Starets (1 in 4)

Tome of the Lower Planes Unique
22 Starets (1 in 4) +

The Black Book of Secrets Unique
11 Occultist +

The Oath Rod of Kurgi Unique
22 Starets (1 in 4) +

How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?

Add links to guides or other overviews for this nation here.

Nations
Early Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Ulm • Pyrène, • Marverni • Sauromatia • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Mictlan • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Agartha • Tir na n'Og • Fomoria • Vanheim • Helheim • Niefelheim • Muspelheim • Rus • Kailasa • Lanka • Yomi • Hinnom • Ur • Berytos • Xibalba • Mekone • Ubar • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Therodos
Middle Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Sceleria • Pythium • Man • Eriu • Ulm • Pyrène • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Asphodel • Vanheim • Jotunheim • Nidavangr • Vanarus • Bandar Log • Shinuyama • Ashdod • Uruk • Nazca • Xibalba • Phlegra • Phaeacia • Ind • Na'ba • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Ys
Late Ages	Arcoscephale • Pythium • Lemuria • Man • Ulm • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Jomon • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Midgård • Utgård • Bogarus • Patala • Gath • Ragha • Xibalba • Phlegra • Vaettiheim • Feminie • Piconye • Andramania • Pyrène • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Erytheia