Dawn of Battle

by

Worthington Publishing

 Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away; no that isn't it. The world was young once; nope not it either. Let us try this: many years ago, when my body did not creak and moan with movement, there was a magical land called SPI (okay it was just a building that made games, but you get my drift). Simulations Publications Inc. in 1975 published a set of games called PRESTAGS (Pre-Seventeenth Century Tactical Game System). It offered the grognard a chance to simulate battles from the Egyptian New Kingdom until the late Middle Ages. It was amazing. For the price of one game, you could fight tons of historical or fictional battles from a few hundred or more years. The game system was an immediate success. The same idea was published by 3W (World Wide Wargames) in Strategy & Tactics issue 127 in 1990. This version was designed by the giants Jim Dunnigan and Albert A. Nolfi. Once again, the game was a big success. Since then, the formula has been tried by several different publishers with mixed results. I have been looking for a revamped version for many years. Then out of the blue I found out that Worthington Publishing was going to produce their own take on the idea of warfare through the ages. This design is a totally redone version of Victory Point Games 'Ancient Battles Deluxe' by Mike Nagel. Worthington Publishing was nice enough to send me a copy to review. I was as happy as the dog getting a biscuit on Quick Draw McGraw; it is a visual:

 Ancient Military History is by far my first love. So, any game that can simulate it is going to catch my eye. However, the game also allows you to fight battles right into the beginning of the Gunpowder Age. Let us see what comes in the box:

Hard Mounted 22” x 34” game board 

Three to five sheets of die-cut counters 

Two Player Aid Cards

80 marker cubes in two colors (red and yellow)

Two decks of 72 cards each 

Plastic bases for the stand-up leaders

Rules Book

Scenario Book

Counter Tray

 

 The components are well done and appear to be able to take years of gaming. The first thing you will notice about the game board is the dearth of any terrain except open. Most battles fought during this large amount of time were fought on open plains, so it is entirely understandable. The hexes are very large at over 1.5"s. If you wanted to you could play with minis. The Turn Record Track, Army Panic Track, and the obligatory Elephant Effect Table (Pachyderms can be tricky assets) etc. The counters are large, and it is very easy to read their information. They also have a picture on them denoting what troops they are. Leaders actually have plastic bases to stand in. There are eighty red and yellow marker cubes. These are all uniform in shape and size, so no weird pieces hanging off their sides. There are two packs of game cards with seventy-two cards in each. One deck is blue in color and the other is red. The two Player Aid cards are exactly the same with one for each player. They are full-sized and in color. The Rules Book is twenty-pages long. Only sixteen and a half are used for the actual rules. The last three and a half pages are dedicated to creating your own scenarios from history. The Scenario Book is forty-one pages long and comes with twenty scenarios. Each listing visually shows what units you need and comes with a good- sized map picture of where to place them. The game comes with a handy counter tray. So, the components are not stylish by any means, but are well done and completely utilitarian,

 

 This is a list of the battles:

 The designer has picked a few battles that you do not see many, if any, simulations of.

Various Cards

 This is the Sequence of Play:

1. Remove Leaders

2. Receive Action Points

3. Determine Initiative

4. Place Leaders

5. Melee Combat

7. Turn End

 The game rules are simple but do give you all the bells and whistles of combat during the chosen age. The game is meant to be played by two players but can be easily played solitaire (as can almost any game). Leaders and morale are the two most important ideas in the rules, as it should be in the ages portrayed in the game. The counters are generic because they have to be. No one would want a game that had a separate set of immersive counters for a game that has twenty scenarios and they come from almost 3000 years of warfare. So, the game is not as immersive as some other games are. You will just have to use your imagination. The game is based on the cards and Action Points that the player picks or chooses to use. The cards add a ton of 'friction' to the game. You can really get lost in the counters of troops for so many centuries. There are also 'Camp' counters that represent your troops' quarters before the battle. To lose one's camp was a terrible sin. Many an army just disintegrated with the loss of their camp. This is just one more historical piece of ancient and medieval battles that is in the game.

This is a blurb about the cards:

"The game’s primary engine is comprised of an action deck used to determine command, the randomly determined outcomes of actions, and melee combat. Additionally, action cards provide special effects that players can use to enhance their units’ abilities as well as the narrative of the gaming experience. The action deck provides a unique means of resolving a battle in an experience that will never be duplicated."

 So, you can see that even though each battle can be setup the same, it does not mean they will play out the same.

 These are some of the generals you get to portray:

Antiochus the Great

Caesar

William Wallace

Pyrrhus

Saladin

Phillip II of Macedon

Belisarius

Brian Boru

Bohemond

Edward I

 The only real problem with the game is the sheer number of counters that come with it. It does come with a counter tray, but it is too small to deal with the tons of different troop types. The box is large, but because of the mounted map there just does not seem to be enough room. So, setting up the different scenarios is a bit of a pain. I think I will ditch the counter tray and go with zip-lock bags.

 Sample Scenario setup pages:

 Thank you, Worthington Publishing, for letting me review this excellent game.  As I mentioned in my last Worthington Publishing review, I had not really been able to tear myself away from this game to do a proper review on it. I would sit down in front of it and just forget about the review and setup another battle. Worthington Publishing is working on some additions to this game. This will add more battles and probably some terrain to simulate more tactical problems/choices for us armchair generals. The map has even been designed to be able to add another to one side to make for even larger encounters.

 This is a list of battles that Mike Nagel has all set for working with the original map:

BCE 717 - Che - Yen vs. Cheng

BCE 547 - Thymbra - Lydia vs. Persia

BCE 331 - Gaugamela - Macedonia vs. Persia

BCE 326 - Hydaspes - Macedonia vs. India

BCE 321 - Hellespontine Phrygia - Successors vs. Successors

BCE 301 - Ipsus - Antigonids vs. Seleucids

BCE 295 - Sentinum - Rome vs. Samnites

BCE 280 - Heraclea - Epirus vs. Rome

BCE 218 - Trebia - Rome vs. Carthage

BCE 217 - Raphia - Seleucids vs. Egypt

BCE 216 - Cannae - Carthage vs. Rome

BCE 206 - Illipa - Rome vs. Carthage

BCE 202 - Zama - Carthage vs. Rome

BCE 53 - Carrhae - Parthia vs. Rome

CE 1081 - Dyrrhachium - Normans vs. Byzantines

CE 1176 - Legnano - Holy Roman Empire vs. Lombards

CE 1177 - Montgisard - Crusaders vs. Ayyubid Sultanate

CE 1214 - Bouvines - France vs. Holy Roman Empire

CE 1244 - La Forbie - Khwarezmians vs. Crusaders

CE 1421 - Kutna Hora (Day 1) - Holy Roman Empire vs. Taborites

CE 1421 - Kutna Hora (Day 2) - Holy Roman Empire vs. Taborites

 These are what he has planned for Volume 2 with terrain tiles:

BCE 1457 - Megiddo - Egyptians vs. Canaanites

BCE 490 - Marathon - Greeks vs. Persians

BCE 479 - Platea - Allied Greeks vs. Persians

BCE 333 - Issus - Macedonians vs. Persians

BCE 217 - Lake Trasimeno - Carthaginians vs. Romans

BCE 197 - 2nd Cynoscephalae - Antigonids vs. Romans

BCE 168 - Pydna - Antigonids vs. Romans

BCE 57 - Sabis River - Barbarians vs. Romans

BCE 48 - Pharsalus - Populares vs. Optímates

CE 16 - Idistaviso - Germans vs. Romans

CE 315 - Cibalae - Byzantium vs. Rome

CE 451 - Catalaunian Plain - Rome vs. Huns

CE 955 - Lechfeld - Magyars vs. Holy Roman Empire

CE 1066 - Hastings - Normans vs. English

CE 1104 - Harran - Seljuk Turks vs. Crusaders

CE 1221 - Indus - Kwarazimids vs. Mongols

CE 1223 - Kalka River - Mongols vs Russians

CE 1346 - Crecy - France vs England

CE 1356 - Poitiers - France vs England

CE 1385 - Aljubarrota - Portugal vs. Castile

Robert

Worthington Publishing:

Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)

Dawn of Battle:

Dawn of Battle — Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)

 Granada: Last Stand of the Moors 1482-1492

by

Compass games

 The Moors at one time had conquered the whole of the Iberian Peninsula and were on their way to taking France before they met Charles the Hammer of the Franks in 732. After the Moors lost that battle they kept most of Spain and Portugal except for some pieces that Charlemagne had recovered for Christendom. The fighting in Spain has given us El Cid. Once a famed Christian hero, he now seems to be just a mercenary who fought for both sides. The Moors made Spain the center of learning and culture during the early Middle Ages. Their architecture is still a site to behold. The battles for Spain waxed and waned for a few hundred years until only the area around Granada was left to the Moors. At that time Ferdinand and Isabella (yes, those two) by their marriage brought all of Spain except Granada under their rule. So, this game would be about one of the last Crusades ever to occur. Oh, and Ferdinand and Isabella had a daughter who married a Hapsburg prince, and their son became Charles V, the first ruler to have an empire that the sun never set on. They also gave some cash to Christopher Columbus. As an aside, their daughter was called Juana the Mad. Her Hapsburg prince had died young and she had this slightly odd obsession of carrying him in his coffin everywhere she went. One wonders if the Nose Gays were enough. But I digress, the game takes us back to Spain before Columbus and the last 10 years of any Moorish holdings there. So, what comes in the box:

22” x 34” mounted map

137 Rectangular wooden blocks in various colors

2 Sheets of stickers (for blocks)

2 Draw bags

20 Wooden Castle shape (10 white, 10 black)

20 Wooden Cylinders (10 white, 10 black)

20 Wooden cubes (10 white, 10 black)

7 Wooden markers (various sizes and colors)

3 Decks of cards (72 Christians, 66 Muslims, 17 Naval)

1 Victory Point track

2 Reference cards (identical)

1 Rules booklet

 This is Compass Games Product Information:

Complexity: Low to Medium (4 out of 10)

Solitaire suitability: Low (3 out of 10)

Time Scale: 1 Year per turn

Map Scale: Point-to-point map

Unit Scale: Units vary from 500-1500 men

Players: 2

Playing Time: 3½ to 4 hours per game

 They have written up a very well done and concise history and game description. I could not best it so here it is:

"Anno Domini 1482. For the past few centuries, the Iberian Peninsula has been a complex battlefield of crossed interests, kings’ ambitions and noblemen’s intrigues. The Muslim power, once uncontested under Cordoba’s Caliphate banners, lies languidly in the last Moor stronghold in Al-Andalus, the marvellous city of Granada.

The last rulers of the Alhambra (“The Red One”) have been buying peace from the powerful Christian kingdoms for decades. Weakened by internal family divisions, they now face their darkest nightmare: a nuptial union between Castille and Aragón in the figures of Isabel I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic Monarchs.

Through cunning diplomacy and negotiations, large armies are congregating to push to the sea the last Muslim presence in Western Europe. The Pope promulgates the last Crusade and military orders join the mixed army of Castille and Aragon, along with mercenaries all over Europe. The Nasrid Kingdom tries to gather its men and garrisons, sending messengers to North Africa for military support and reinforcing the numerous castles and watchtowers all over its lands.

But deception and treason will play their part (Ferdinand II will be the main inspiration for Machiavelli’s ”The Prince”). Boabdil is conspiring to reach the throne in the city of the pomegranates whereas his uncle, el Zagal, is well known for his hit-and-run ambushes and guerrilla warfare. Will Catholic Monarchs be able to consolidate their dream of a united Iberian realm to continue towards world-wide domination? Will the Nasrid Kingdom accept the challenge and fight in a stubborn resistance until it breaks its enemies’ will to continue the fight?

Granada: The Last Stand of the Moors, 1482-1492 is a game for two players in which they will decide the outcome of this decisive historical episode in less than 4 hours.

Units are represented by blocks depicting their strength but also their origin: Castilians, Aragoneses, Leoneses and mercenaries for the Catholic player, and different clans like Banu Sarray, Zegríes, Banu Bannigas and proper Nasrids for the Muslim player.

The map is point-to-point, covering the ancient Nasrid Kingdom in southeast Iberia (present-day Spain). Granada, the capital, is the jewel of the realm: the game ends if it falls into the Catholic player’s hands.

Each season, players receive a predetermined number of cards which they can use to move their armies and fleets or rally new units. When a battle occurs, each regiment is summoned by the play of one card of its nationality, so as Tamerlan said: ”It is better to be present with 100 soldiers than absent with 1.000.” In other words, be sure you have the right cards to send your troops into battle.

As an almost Renaissance war, different weapons will also be present. Cavalry charges and crossbows will be extremely dangerous if well combined, whereas artillery will have a significant value when maintaining or defending sieges. Your fleets will fight for sea control, enabling the transport of North African reinforcements, Catholic naval movements or blocking sieged ports.

Balanced and historically accurate, the game is easy to learn but difficult to master. The Catholic player will have to decide which invasion route to choose and whether he will create a massive army, leaving the Muslim player time to reinforce his strongholds, or go for a quick campaign where losses will be difficult to replace. The Nasrid player, on the other hand, will enjoy a central position but he will need to be cautious about the internal problems that can arise— the Boabdil revolt is almost an inevitable danger to face and crush.

As the Catholic player, will you gain fame and glory accomplishing the Reconquista and enlarging your kingdoms in one unified powerful state? And as the Muslim player, will you resist and save Granada or will you become the last King of the Nasrid dynasty?"

 The writer made a reference to Tamerlane(Timur) so I had to add it.

Some of the Cards

 The map is mounted and is done as a very nice period piece. You get the feeling that you are maneuvering around Medieval Spain. The small period illustrations on the map for castles etc. really add to the players' immersion. There are three main victory point illustrations on the map. These are: Castle, Watchtower, and Resource Location.  The blocks, and there are a lot of blocks, are all uniform in their different shapes. Most of them come in black and white. There are also white and black square castle pieces, and round Watchtower ones. Their colors denote which side has control. These pieces really caught my eye when I opened the box. They are just an extra little thought to bring even more immersion to the game. There are two sheets of stickers; remember, a lot of blocks. They are most definitely little pieces of artwork. The stickers are also large enough to actually enjoy the large amount of work put into them. Again, they are done in period artwork. The two Player Aids are made of hard stock and are in color. They fold out to give you two pages of information, and a full mini map on the inside. This has the block setup and placement shown as illustrations instead of saying "put x amount of y in Granada". This speeds up setting up the game tremendously. Next, we have two Battle Reference Cards. These are hard stock and are in the same color as the Player Aids. The writing on the sheets is somewhat small. However, there is so much information on them I understand why. Either that or you would be faced with shuffling through a few different Player Aid Sheets. You are given one white and one black draw bags. Once again just another nice touch instead of having to use a paper cup etc. The Rules Booklet is twenty-eight pages long. The rules take up the first twenty pages. Then comes Design Notes, and a great four page history of the facts behind the game. Now we come to the three decks of cards. These are of the larger variety that you find inside games. As you can see above, each one is its own small piece of beautiful Medieval art. Each time I look at one of the cards I see another excellent detail that escaped me the first time. Kudos to the artist and Compass Games for these. So that it about it. In the box you have an array of extremely well done components that are obviously a mixture of a 'normal' wargame and a Euro game. I am extremely impressed with the level of detail included in them.

Love the rats

  

  There are no scenarios in the game. This is just about the campaign in its entirety. The Instant Victory conditions are:

The Christian Player must capture the Alhambra Castle in Granada.

The Muslim Player must eliminate both the Ferdinand II of Aragon, and the Isabella I of Castile blocks in combat.

 If the game runs its course both sides add up their Victory Points at the end of the first turn of the year 1491-1492. The higher total wins, and if there is a tie the Muslim player wins.

"6.1 Sequence of Play Outline

A. Turn Order Step [6.2].

B. Turns I and II [6.3].

C. Reinforcement Step [6.4].

D. Turn Marker Step [6.5].

6.2 Turn Order Step

At the beginning of any year, each player bids for turn order by placing a card from their hand (any card with a number in its bottom right corner) face down on the table; then they are simultaneously revealed. The player whose card has the higher number chooses who will move first for both turns in the current year. Place the Initiative Marker on the “I” space (“II” space if year 1482) of the current year on the Turn track, with the first player’s coat of arms face up. Both players must discard the card they played.

6.3 Turns I and II

There is only one turn during the first year (year 1482, which starts in turn II) and the last year (year 1491-1492, which ends after turn I).

Each other yearly cycle consists of two turns: turn I and turn II. Each turn consists of the first player conducting movement and combat, followed by the second player conducting movement and combat.

When turn I ends, move the Turn Marker to II and play the turn II. The player who was first in turn I is also first in turn II.

After turn II, advance the Turn Marker to next year and begin the Sequence of Play again. After 7 years, at the end of the year 1491-1492, the game is over.

Turn I: Turn II:

1. First player Movement Phase 1. First player Movement Phase

2. First player Combat Phase 2. First player Combat Phase

3. Second player Movement Phase 3. Second player Movement Phase

4. Second player Combat Phase 4. Second player Combat Phase"

 

 So, what is like to command armies in late Medieval Spain? With the backdrop of the game, and the components being so good, does the game play also deliver? In a word, it is a resounding yes! The rules are easy to learn and remember, but the play is deep enough for the player to get lost in. Everything about the game screams immersion. You do not feel like you are just pushing tanks around a beautiful medieval landscape. You would think that the game would be very tilted on the Spanish monarchy side. In actuality, there is enough backroom politics for both sides to help tip the scales in their favor. Playing as the Moors, you will have to judge when is the right time to defend or go on the offensive. There are more Spanish forces than you have, but not incredibly so. Playing as 'Their Catholic Majesty's' you need to be aware that you cannot attack everywhere, or you will get your nose rapped. This is not 1941, it is medieval warfare with sieges as one of the most important parts. The cards and rules make sure that all good plans will go awry. So, there is a bit of luck involved, but in reality luck has always been a part of warfare. 

 The game designer, Jose Antonio Rivero, says that Granada took a lot from the classic Sekigahara game. The latter had 'Loyalty Challenge Cards', where Granada has 'Morale Challenge Cards'. In Granada, units do not switch sides with a Morale Challenge Card. They just cannot participate in in that given combat. There is the possibility of the Christian player using the Boabdil Mixed Army to start a Civil War for the Muslim player. The use of siege guns by the Christians is a very powerful weapon. This is one of the wars that show the military changes being brought by the use of gunpowder. 

 The game does come with one sheet of 'Clarifications'. There is a small bit of information about the stickers and blocks. It also spells out some Setup information, although it was clearly plain to me. Next is a change in one of the rule's small paragraphs. It ends with a Siege Example. This is actually more than half the page.

 

 

 Thank you Compass Games for allowing me to review this beautiful and great playing game. I have come a long way from just being able to play, and enjoy, hex and counter games. Block wargames like this one have also stolen a piece of my heart. I know it is still May, but Compass Games Expo will be coming up on November 10-14 and will take place in the great State of Connecticut. For those of you who do not live in New England increase the zoom on the map to the right of New York State and you will find us. The only one I missed was last year's Expo. They are well worth the trip.

Robert

Granada: Last Stand of the Moors 1482-1492:

Granada: Last Stand of the Moors, 1482-1492 – Compass Games

Compass Games:

Compass Games – New Directions In Gaming

Compass Games Expo:

Compass Games Expo 2022 – Compass Games

Does anyone else think the Queen looks like Cersei?

Crusader Kings may be familiar to readers of this blog from a computer game of the same name.  Free League Publishing and Paradox Interactive have tried to distil the essence of the long, expansive, crunchy computer game into a much shorter a play-in-an-evening board game.  Have they been successful? Read on…

The title ‘Crusader Kings’ is a bit of a misnomer for this game.  The whole Crusades aspect of the board game is largely abstracted away into a progress track at the bottom of the board.  What this game should be called is Family Fortunes – Medieval edition.  Your prime focus is making babies, marrying off your heirs and spares and expanding into rival territories, through subterfuge or direct conflict.

Four Player set up

At the start of the game, each player is given a historical family and King to rule over, for example, The House of Normandy led by William the Conqueror.  Managing your King and their children and siblings’ Traits (positive and negative); i.e. making sure your Dim-witted daughter marries the Lustful Son of an opponent, differentiates this game from the crowded medieval Europe dudes-on-a-map archetype.

Gameplay

The game is played over three Eras, each comprising three Rounds, which again have two turns…  This is fairly standard fare for most Euro gamers but is a bit of a departure from a wargamers UGOIGO experience.  In a turn, one Action Card per player is resolved and it is the selection and playing of these cards (during a Turn) which really drives the game forward.  The game will normally end after 18 turns for each player or if any player reaches the Jerusalem space of the crusade progress track before then.

The Crusade Track in all its glory...

The slowest part of the game, but arguably the most important, is the beginning of each round, where each player attempts to make a marriage for a member of their family and chooses two of the eight action cards in their hand to play on their turns.  They must also choose the order in which they’re played during the turn, which does have significant consequences.  Once all players are familiar with the different actions there is little down-time between your turns as every other player's Action card may also affect you in some way.  

Your starting King and family will have specific traits, but thereafter every character in the game, has a randomised trait that is either positive (green trait – example: Strong, Honest, Pious, Scholar etc.) or negative (red trait – example: Imbecile, Deceitful, Lunatic, Lustful etc.) which will gradually feed into your trait bag and are used to check whether any attempted action throughout the game is successful or not via a Trait Check.

5 Player - 2nd Era, things are getting busy

Trait Checks are the unique selling point of this game and provide the jeopardy and a lot of the story which this game tells.  A Trait Check is where a player draws traits from their bag hoping to draw a green (success) trait in order to complete the chosen action.  Every action also has a Critical Trait – if that particular trait is drawn during the check then a green trait is actually treated as a failure and red as a success. 

For me, the addition of Critical Traits provides thematic immersion and also an element of strategic thinking.  For example, if am attempting a Build Action which has Critical Traits of Humble (Green) and Ambitious (Red) and I draw any green except Humble I am successful and can plonk a castle down in a territory I control. If I draw Ambitious, which on any other Trait Check would fail, I can still build my castle as it is the Critical Trait for Build.

Invest to draw an extra Trait.  Lucky that a Critical Trait (Deceitful) was drawn

Aligning marriages to reflect the traits and critical traits that you want to further your families influence is where the strategic piece comes in.  Often you are desperate to make sure your ruler has an heir that any marriage will do, but it is a sweet feeling when you’re able to snag first player (by successfully crusading) and marry an available partner with the Cruel trait.  Although this is a negative trait it is considered critical for Crusading and Invading and you can choose more of those actions in future knowing you’re more likely to succeed.

I like games where I don’t have absolute control of the units in my command.  It seems fitting to me that even if I order something to happen in my territories, it doesn’t necessarily occur.  I wouldn’t appreciate this aspect in an economic game but where I am trying to control a lunatic son or imbecilic daughter as part of my dynasty it feels apt.  Often in this game, it is the memorable failures that develop the story of your dynasty more than an automatic Tax action for example.

Child  #1 needs to die

During each Era, every player will play 6 of their 8 actions cards.  The action cards are drawn from 5 decks and there are a specified minimum and maximum number of draws for each deck.  For example, you can’t just draw 8 Realm cards that allow you to Build/Develop on your turn.  The only mandatory card draw is at least one from the Crusade deck (which incidentally is a good way to kill your Drunkard King in favour of his Brave son).

Aside from the Crusade Deck, the other Action Card decks are the War deck (moving and invading with your army), Intrigue Deck (Plotting and Overthrowing other players control of territories), the Realm deck (building castles and giving your dynasty additional powers) and finally the Tax deck, which are the only action card which don’t require a Trait Check and provide the main source of income in the game. 

The box all packed up. Game will start in 30 minutes...

Each Action Card also has an event which will be triggered after the chosen action has been resolved. Generally, the events on the Realm, Intrigue and Tax cards are bad for the acting player or good to the other players.  Whereas the Crusade cards events are generally good for the acting player and bad for the others.  However, the risk of going on a crusade shouldn’t be underestimated. Your ruler could easily be killed triggering a succession, or crisis if there is no heir (a terrible outcome for your dynasty).

The 5 Action Decks

There are a variety of pitfalls in this game for the novice player and it does definitely reward repeated plays.  The game manual has even gone as far to advise new players not to crusade without an heir – which was something I didn’t appreciate on my very first teaching play through and immediately failed on a crusade.  I learnt not to do that again and we all agreed to reset the board state.  Don’t be like me, a Succession Crisis is not something you can come back from.

4 Player Initial Setup

In my very unsuccessful attempt to play the computer Crusader Kings II several years ago, I realised how important Casus Belli was in order to attack another kingdom.  The same is true in this game and War is an exercise in politics and logistics before actual combat, which is unfortunately abstracted out of the game to a quite disappointing Trait Check.  Albeit one in which the affected player(s) will invest in an attempt to sabotage the check.  In the plays I’ve had of the game, direct conflict almost seems like an after-thought.

The game provides six scenarios, the first five loosely describe a chronology of some of the notable crusades from history.  The sixth scenario is a tournament scenario designed for four players whom each starts with Casus Belli against another player.  This is designed for more direct conflict and succeeds to an extent but resolving battles feels almost as light as vanilla-Risk and consequently unsatisfying.

Rules book - is a little loose

Components

This game has come through a successful Kickstarter campaign and subsequently, all of the components and art look top quality.  I think the board and card art aesthetic is spot on.  The player boards are of normal card stock but are perfectly fine. The miniatures, although they are almost superfluous, look good albeit a bit large for my tastes.  And you get 6 good-quality drawstring bags in individual player colours. The level of quality in components is largely indicative of most Kickstarters these days in all but one area…

Lots of tokens and bits to play with

The tokens throughout the game were impossible to get out of the counter sheets without some tearing.  Some of the counter sheets were better than others but I had a distinct problem with two of the five sheets.  Even in the good sheets there was some tearing.  This was disappointing but I’ll put it down to a bad batch – glue running out, or punch out tool needed sharpening as the cause. As the rest of the components, even the insert, were of a high quality.

The rules provide a bot player to use when playing with fewer than 3 players.  Although I am pleased to see the inclusion of a bot for solo or 2 player use, due to the light tactical element and story-driven narrative I can’t see myself using or enjoying playing against the bots.  I just don’t think there’s enough mechanically to justify the time.  The game is best with three of four other opponents around the table and I hope that I can explore a bit further in those circumstances.

Criticisms

Mechanics are a little loose for my tastes and the combat is a bit disappointing.  I really like the theme and the story is, as other reviewers have suggested, really where this game shines.  The publishers have by necessity condensed the crunch and tactical weight of the computer game down into 2-½ - 3 enjoyable hours that can be easily finished in one sitting. 

The main strategic element of this game is building your trait bag.  This is a fun element and significantly drives the narrative, e.g. choosing the right spouse and murdering the wrong spouse to find a more suitable match but the strategy is limited in other areas of the game.  The crusades are more of a game timer than a viable strategy, although a successful crusade does provide additional powers.

Nice bags

The miniatures feel a little tacked on as well.  I imagine these were a stretch goal of the Kickstarter campaign, but in reality, the Control Tokens -represented by a large cavalry miniature serves to distract a little from the foot-soldiers of your actual army.  

Conclusion

This is a game that borrows my favourite mechanic from a wide variety of other games and remixes them into an enjoyable but less-coherent experience.  It takes the dual-natured action cards from Gloomhaven, the bag-building and chit-pull mechanic from Quacks of Quedlinburg, the pre-programmed movement from Colt Express and the theme of medieval European wars from so many other games.  If I had to pick a favourite element from those games then Crusader Kings has borrowed them all but unfortunately, it’s not quite the sum of its parts. 

Uggh - tear down is a right pain

The narrative arc that is played out is as good, and often as funny, as any I have experienced playing board games.  I will come back to this game and will enjoy subsequent plays of this for the story and inter-relationships that happen between mine and my opponents’ dynasties.  However, if I’m looking for a crunchy, tactical, bewildering experience that I experienced when faced with the computer game then this isn’t it but I am looking forward to seeing what the next video-game to board-game adaption is.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen a plethora of board games be converted into digital form and come with companion apps, it is not so common for a computer game to make the transition into the cardboard world.  From recent memory, we’ve had Doom, XCOM the most successful mover has been This War of Mine.  However, I think we’ll continue to see more fusion between the two formats and I’m excited to see what that blending will look like in 5 years time.

Publisher:  Free League
BGG Page: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/253574/crusader-kings
Players: 3-5
Designer: Tomas Härenstam
Playing Time: 3 hours