Sword & Siege Crusades: Book II
by
Wargame Design Studio
Wargame Design Studio is at it again. I am a little late to the party. It was released a few months ago, but better late than never. You have so many famous rulers in this time frame of the Crusades. Frederick I Barbarossa, Saladin, and Richard I Coeur de Lion - also called Malik Rik by his Muslim opponents (supposedly by saying Malik Rik they would frighten their children to behave). In this game you also get the rather unsettling Fourth Crusade and its conquering of Constantinople. Apparently, none of the Crusaders had a compass and landed just a little astray. As an extra added attraction, you get probably the most famous Siege of Acre included (it had quite a few). It was included in the 'Art of Sige' by SPI and was one of my favorite board wargames. This is what WDS has to say about the game:
"Crusades: Book II" is the second title in a planned trilogy documenting the Crusades launched against the Levant over several hundred years.
In the mid-12th century, the eastern Mediterranean was a complex region of competing powers. The Latin crusader states, though wealthy in ports and castles, were short on manpower. The Roman (Byzantine) Empire, a Christian great power, had its own strategic priorities and a history of lost provinces. The Muslim world, while not unified, was increasingly capable of consolidating resources under strong rulers in Syria and Egypt. Warfare was constant, influenced by both politics and piety, with alliances shifting and control of strategic locations often more important than holding empty land.
“Crusades: Book II” picks up after the Second Crusade’s failure outside Damascus in 1148. The Crusader forces abandoned the siege due to supply issues, conflicting goals, and mistrust among allies. The Levant was left with a frontier society, the Latin states of the Holy Land, which were rich in sacred significance but lacked manpower. These states aimed to maintain their territories, secure routes, and expand influence where possible.
The early period of this era was marked by vulnerability in the north. The first battle in 1149 at Inab saw Nur al-Din defeat the Principality of Antioch’s army and kill its prince, highlighting the fragility of the crusader frontier. The Latin East was not a unified “Crusader Kingdom” but a collection of lordships—Jerusalem, Antioch, and Tripoli—each with its own priorities and rivalries. Cooperation was possible but not guaranteed, and a concentrated enemy force could turn a local defeat into a broader crisis.
From the 1150s to the 1170s, the strategic landscape shifted as Muslim power consolidated. Nur al-Din’s expansion in Syria escalated the conflict from border raids to a struggle for regional dominance. The Crusader states retained strengths such as formidable castles, access to the sea for supplies and reinforcements, and the ability to attract periodic aid from Europe. However, these advantages could be undermined if an opponent could choose the time and place of battle, coordinate multiple armies, and maintain pressure on several fronts.
The rise of Saladin marked a major turning point. Emerging from the politics of Egypt and Syria, he unified resources previously divided between rival courts to wage a more coherent war. This led to a growing ability to concentrate forces and apply pressure to the Crusader states’ weakest points. In 1187, the Frankish field army was defeated at Hattin, followed by the rapid loss of inland strongpoints, most notably Jerusalem. Even where garrisons held out, the strategic balance had shifted: the crusader presence could survive but no longer dominate.
This crisis led to the Third Crusade (1189–1192), notable for its scale and for figures such as Richard I, Philip II, and Frederick Barbarossa. It also highlighted a recurring theme in Book II—crusading involved logistics and coalition warfare as much as battlefield courage. Western armies had to transport men, horses, and supplies across seas and hostile coastlines, coordinate large forces from different realms, and convert tactical victories into lasting control. Coastal strongholds like Acre were crucial as ports, depots, and gateways, but inland dominance required field armies that the Latin states struggled to maintain year after year.
The years after 1192 marked the era's challenging middle, characterized by raids, sieges, and relief marches through towns, castles, and along connecting routes. The crusader states, now focused on coastal cities and fortifications, had to defend supply lines and prevent enemy armies from isolating strongpoints. Their opponents faced operational challenges, such as assembling forces over long distances, coordinating commanders, and sustaining pressure through repeated campaigns. This period saw the strategic balance tested directly by who could seize, hold, and relieve key positions.
From this unstable equilibrium emerged the Fourth Crusade, intended to strike eastward but ultimately remembered for a catastrophic diversion. The decisive factors were practical rather than ideological: fleets, transport capacity, and the ability to deploy an army where needed. Entangled in Byzantine internal struggles and supported by Venice, the crusading force turned against Constantinople. In April 1204, the city fell and was sacked, shocking contemporaries and reshaping the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean.
Between 1149 and 1204, the background covered in Book II is a story of momentum and miscalculation: how a frontier society tried to survive in a hostile landscape, how its opponents learned to coordinate and concentrate, how charismatic leaders and hard geopolitics could turn containment into reconquest, and how grand plans of kings could be derailed by money, weather, and temptation. If Book I ended with disappointment outside Damascus, Book II shows the subsequent long struggle to endure between crusade and counter-crusade, culminating in a finale that transforms the eastern world even as the original goal slips further out of reach.
The region where the game’s battles unfold encompasses the modern-day territories of Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, parts of Turkey, and Iraq. This area has been a theater of nearly 3,300 years of continuous warfare, spanning from the Battle of Kadesh (dated to 1274 B.C., the first battle to be recorded with significant detail) to the present-day conflicts.
Crusades: Book II includes 102 Scenarios – covering a variety of sizes and situations, including a solo tutorial scenario, five Training scenarios, Historical, Variant and What If versions for both head to head play and vs. the computer AI.
A range of maps are included covering all the significant locations fought over during the 3rd & 4th Crusades, the period between the 2nd and 3rd Crusades and some of lesser known locations.
The order of battle files cover the various forces that participated in the campaigns with other formations added in for hypothetical situations.
There are extensive 3d unit graphics covering all of the major armies involved.
Campaign and Scenario Editors which allow players to customize the game.
Sub-map feature allows the main maps to be subdivided into smaller segments for custom scenario creation.
Design notes which cover the production of the game, campaign notes and a bibliography that includes the sources used by the design team to produce this historical simulation game.
Crusades: Book II provides multiple play options including play against the computer AI, Play by E-mail (PBEM), LAN & Internet "live" play as well as two player hot seat.
Includes battles from all aspects of the 3rd & 4th Crusades + period between 2nd & 3rd Crusades - major encounters to small skirmishes. 102 stand alone scenarios and 4 campaigns. A sampling would be:
Inab
Ascalon
Lake Huleh
Butaiha
al-Buqaia
Harim
Bilbeis
al-Babein
Alexandria
Montgisard
Damietta
Hama
Jacob's Ford
Kerak Castle
Hattin
Jerusalem
Tyre
Safed
Acre
Arsuf
Constantinople"
Thank you WDS, for once again charging into the breach.
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