Crusader Wargame
VON RYAN'S HOLY WAR
Von Ryan was determined to defeat the Saracens and their allies. The Mosque of the Blue Dome stood on the hallowed ground of a Christian Church which had held the sacred bones of Saint Neville. Von Ryan had called on his German countrymen to join with the Templars to re-take the Holy Land.
Matalan was in no mood to surrender more land to the infidels. The Saracen king was well repected in the Muslim world and his call to Jihad was answered with zeal. However, he knew that the Christians were also zealous and he ordered the capture of the giant holy cross carried by a group of peasant crusaders. He also secretly ordered the assassination of Von Ryan.
Matalan was a charismatic leader but his ability to motivate his followers was not always matched by his tactics. His horse archers were ordered to charge the crusaders without first making full use of their deadly archery.
Von Ryan knew he had to gain possession of the oases before thirst weakened his men. Both the oases and the mosque were attacked simultaneously. His knights were supported by two units of archers. The smaller unit moved in to some ruins and fired at the Muslim fanatic Yellow Robes. The crusader order warriors and the other knights of Christendom were exceptionally well armoured. In close combat they could slice through many times their numbers in the lightly armoured and medium armoured Muslims. Hordes of Muslim warriors kept coming, however.
Even the Christian peasants led by Philip the Good held off a Muslim attack. Four fanatical priests inspired the peasants to fear nothing. The 8' tall cross of shining silver was allegedly the cross that Saint Neville had been tied to and left to rot by the pagans many centuries ago. His refusal to denounce his faith had led to his death sentence. The peasants refused to surrender it and beat back an attack of mounted Muslims.
The Christians did not have it all their own way. Matalan bravely charged into combat; he came peilously close to death but his followers later rejoiced that Allah had protected him. The Yellow Robes forced Christian archers from their vantage point in the ruins opposite the mosque. The mounted Templars killed many times their numbers but failed to capture the mosque. Muslim forces prevented the Christians from capturing the oases.
The disheartened Christiand gritted their teeth as they realized that the the holy ground of Saint Neville remained in Muslim hands. They also eyed , with trepidation, their near empty water bags
FIGURES AND RULES
Brands of figures included Timpo, Supreme, Hat, Britains, Armies in Plastic, Call to Arms, Dulcop, Reamsa and assorted others. The Supreme figures were based only and are in their original basic paint scheme. The mounted Timpo Arabs are converted metal copies. Hat Nubians, Armies in Plastic Sudanese and my 'Lionians' are converted from Timpo Action pack, made up most of the Muslim lights. Detail Saracens made up much of the force. The Crusaders are mostly made from HK copies of Britains Detail and Timpo swoppets.
The wargame rules were based on unit movement with individual movement inside melees. Dice were rolled for each individual figure. Highest dice roll, with modifiers wins, provided the enemy's save does not nulify it. In melee a victorious figure would move into the space of the killed warrior. The victorious unit would also push back the enemy unit twenty centimetres. On reaching half strength the defeated unit would roll for morale. On defeat it was removed.
The first move was simultaneous as both players rolled the same number. After that moves were decided by initiative dice roll. Objective were secretly given by myself as umpire to Mat (Matalan) and Ryan (Von Ryan). Muslim objectives were to keep the mosque free of infidels, capture Saint Neville's Cross, kill Von Ryan and keep the oases clear of crusaders. The last objective was achieved. Crusader objectives were to capture the oases within eight moves or suffer in combat ability, capture the mosque and capture the enemy camp.
CONCLUSION
Even though the Muslims had much greater numbers I think I over compensated the crusaders with their high bonus rolls on the dice. I would reduce these in another game or limit much of them to the charge only. I would have liked to have seen the horse archers used their true advantage in the game.
Von Ryan was determined to defeat the Saracens and their allies. The Mosque of the Blue Dome stood on the hallowed ground of a Christian Church which had held the sacred bones of Saint Neville. Von Ryan had called on his German countrymen to join with the Templars to re-take the Holy Land.
Matalan was in no mood to surrender more land to the infidels. The Saracen king was well repected in the Muslim world and his call to Jihad was answered with zeal. However, he knew that the Christians were also zealous and he ordered the capture of the giant holy cross carried by a group of peasant crusaders. He also secretly ordered the assassination of Von Ryan.
Matalan was a charismatic leader but his ability to motivate his followers was not always matched by his tactics. His horse archers were ordered to charge the crusaders without first making full use of their deadly archery.
Von Ryan knew he had to gain possession of the oases before thirst weakened his men. Both the oases and the mosque were attacked simultaneously. His knights were supported by two units of archers. The smaller unit moved in to some ruins and fired at the Muslim fanatic Yellow Robes. The crusader order warriors and the other knights of Christendom were exceptionally well armoured. In close combat they could slice through many times their numbers in the lightly armoured and medium armoured Muslims. Hordes of Muslim warriors kept coming, however.
Even the Christian peasants led by Philip the Good held off a Muslim attack. Four fanatical priests inspired the peasants to fear nothing. The 8' tall cross of shining silver was allegedly the cross that Saint Neville had been tied to and left to rot by the pagans many centuries ago. His refusal to denounce his faith had led to his death sentence. The peasants refused to surrender it and beat back an attack of mounted Muslims.
The Christians did not have it all their own way. Matalan bravely charged into combat; he came peilously close to death but his followers later rejoiced that Allah had protected him. The Yellow Robes forced Christian archers from their vantage point in the ruins opposite the mosque. The mounted Templars killed many times their numbers but failed to capture the mosque. Muslim forces prevented the Christians from capturing the oases.
The disheartened Christiand gritted their teeth as they realized that the the holy ground of Saint Neville remained in Muslim hands. They also eyed , with trepidation, their near empty water bags
FIGURES AND RULES
Brands of figures included Timpo, Supreme, Hat, Britains, Armies in Plastic, Call to Arms, Dulcop, Reamsa and assorted others. The Supreme figures were based only and are in their original basic paint scheme. The mounted Timpo Arabs are converted metal copies. Hat Nubians, Armies in Plastic Sudanese and my 'Lionians' are converted from Timpo Action pack, made up most of the Muslim lights. Detail Saracens made up much of the force. The Crusaders are mostly made from HK copies of Britains Detail and Timpo swoppets.
The wargame rules were based on unit movement with individual movement inside melees. Dice were rolled for each individual figure. Highest dice roll, with modifiers wins, provided the enemy's save does not nulify it. In melee a victorious figure would move into the space of the killed warrior. The victorious unit would also push back the enemy unit twenty centimetres. On reaching half strength the defeated unit would roll for morale. On defeat it was removed.
The first move was simultaneous as both players rolled the same number. After that moves were decided by initiative dice roll. Objective were secretly given by myself as umpire to Mat (Matalan) and Ryan (Von Ryan). Muslim objectives were to keep the mosque free of infidels, capture Saint Neville's Cross, kill Von Ryan and keep the oases clear of crusaders. The last objective was achieved. Crusader objectives were to capture the oases within eight moves or suffer in combat ability, capture the mosque and capture the enemy camp.
CONCLUSION
Even though the Muslims had much greater numbers I think I over compensated the crusaders with their high bonus rolls on the dice. I would reduce these in another game or limit much of them to the charge only. I would have liked to have seen the horse archers used their true advantage in the game.
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