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Ivan the Terrible

This 16th Century Tsar ruled for nearly 40 years and was one of the early masters of artillery. He led an army of death squads on horseback in a bloodthirsty rampage that transformed Russia from a medieval state into a powerful empire. When slaughter on the battlefield was not enough to satisfy his bloodlust, the sadistic Ivan "The Terrible" personally smothered or poisoned his enemies, sometimes cooking them alive during his visits to the torture chambers. He was the Saddam Hussein of his time, and will be Season 3's Vlad the Impaler.

Region: Russia
Weapons: Pischal, Bardiche, Sablia, chain mail with plate steel panels, and Fluted helmet.
Reign: 1530 - 1584
Key Battles: Established the Streltsi forces, the first paid and structured army in Russian history. Under Ivan, the Streltsi grew to an army of 12,000. It has been said that "no one sovereign of Christendom has so many guns as them." They carried out Ivan's war orders armed with muskets, sabers, and deadly long hafted axe.