Planning a Crusades game and looking for a system (now with Game 1 photos)

[James Holloway]

Hi all,

as part of the ongoing Gaming a Crusader Castle project ( https://crusadercastle.wordpress.com/ ), I'm part of a team planning some upcoming games. We're going to be staging a small- to medium-sized game at Claymore in August, with bigger games at some shows next year. The goal is to start out with a smaller game for practical reasons and work our way up to bigger battles in which our fancy castle model will play some kind of part.

Last year, one of us hosted a similar game, refighting the Battle of Lodi Vecchio, a clash between Imperial and Milanese forces in 1240.



This year, we're not going to be fighting a specific battle. Instead, we'll be creating a scenario that'll also be published on the project blog. The goal is to have something that illustrates a raid on a settlement around a crusader castle, possibly with some different factions on both sides with slightly different goals.

We've acquired ... a lot ... of crusades wargames, and we're at the stage of trying to find the right one. We used Lion Rampant last year, and it's still on the table, but we're open to alternatives. I've done a post with all the games we've got here as well as some preliminary thoughts:

crusadercastle.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/planning-a-scenario/

So what do you think? Any recommendations? Anyone have experience with these rulesets, especially for the crusade period?

Thanks!

[Codsticker]

I have no experianece with the system but Deus Vult  by Fireforge games is specifically designed for the crusading period.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

You can try To the Strongest. It uses boxes to move/combat, which means that you are not bound to use a predetermined number of figures per unit. You can get the PDF relatively cheap and the army lists are downloadable for free. Simon is also very forthcoming to solve any doubt it might arise. 

https://bigredbatshop.co.uk/

[SteveBurt]

If you are looking at a raid, you don't want a big battle set like To the Strongest or Deus Vult, or Hail Caesar.
I'd say Lion Rampant, or Saga would be a better bet

[James Holloway]

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! Although lots of different systems have been suggested, it seems like people are backing Lion Rampant for the first game and we tend to concur. We're going to get started writing the scenario and sorting out army lists over the next few weeks, hoping to playtest the scenario in the second week of July.

[James Holloway]

OK, scenario writing is proceeding apace, using Lion Rampant for the first game. We're playtesting on 13th July, and the painting and terrain-making is getting started.

If you've done some gaming in 12th-13th century middle eastern scenarios, do you maybe have any links to good tutorials for 28mm walled gardens, olive orchards or vineyards?

[Codsticker]

Silent Invader's Decrepit Monastery/Osgiliath thread should provide some inspiration (skip ahead to page 10 if you want to see it in it's nearly finished glory). I think it would look perfectly at home in the Holy Land.

There is also traveller's Fall of Acre thread; he is building a crusades-era port.

[Engel]

For multiplayer Lion Rampant games we have used "activation cards", a deck of cards are shuffled each turn.
When that players card are drawn that player get the chance to move his or hers troops. When all the cards are drawn the deck is reshuffeld for the next round.

Here is a aar from such a game: http://kampgruppe-engel.blogspot.com/2016/10/crusade-lion-rampant-big-battle-aar.html

The alternative activations create a even more fluid game and create more kaos, perfect for an medieval game.

[James Holloway]

For multiplayer Lion Rampant games we have used "activation cards", a deck of cards are shuffled each turn.
When that players card are drawn that player get the chance to move his or hers troops. When all the cards are drawn the deck is reshuffeld for the next round.

Here is a aar from such a game: http://kampgruppe-engel.blogspot.com/2016/10/crusade-lion-rampant-big-battle-aar.html

The alternative activations create a even more fluid game and create more kaos, perfect for an medieval game.

That is what we ended up using!

[James Holloway]

Here are some photos from our playtest game. The scenario basics are sound, but we're going to make some tweaks to make it simpler and a little less cluttered on the tabletop.



John de Montlaur and his Templars charge in to drive off Barshak's forces.



Emir Aybeg sends his ghazis on an ill-fated flanking maneouvre.



Jolanda Contarini and her troops escort villagers into the safety of the tower.



Servants try to get away with valuables.



Defenders take cover in a ruined building.



Jolanda Contarini and her bodyguard.

[James Holloway]

A quick blog post about the report and some updates on our presence at Claymore:

crusadercastle.wordpress.com/2018/07/18/help-us-plan-a-scenario-part-3-playtest/

[James Holloway]

We're going to be at Claymore on Saturday running the final version of the scenario and showing off the Supreme Littleness Designs keep, so come by if you're going to the show!