Third Crusade And the Tuetoburger Wald

We went from the cold of Russia last week to the scorching sands of Outremer this week. Another block game from Columbia Games (Crusader REX) this time recreating the Third Crusade, the one where Richard the Lionheart turns up, along with some other important Frenchies and Germans. The aim of the game is to win outright by taking all of the main cities i.e. Jerusalem, Antioch, Damascus etc. about seven all in or win by holding the most at the end, it runs from 1187-1192 and there are six turns per year with the last being a winter turn.

It is a very pretty map and the colours of the blocks is fairly striking, orange and green in the main. I took the Saracens and Kevin handled the Christian locals and the Crusaders. After the first turn or so it quickly became obvious that this was Hammer of the Scots but with sand, the mechanics were very much the same as was the playability. You start out with grand ideas and build up some big armies but then find that when winter approaches you have to make a dash for a castle or your troops melt away, so you can run about daft during the 'campaign season' at the beginning of the year but then have to look over your shoulders for castles to garrison over the winter and start withdrawing your men so that you do not lose them. There are some differences of course and castles are crucial in this game, there are not a lot of battles but you can spend a lot of time besieging or storming a city or castle, and as you would expect the advantage lies with the defender. I suppose it does what it says on the tin, it is relatively easy to play once you get used to the rules and it doesn't last forever, about three hours is probably fine after the first couple of games.

How did our game go, well we naturally made some mistakes but by the end we had it off pat I think. I struck hard at Aleppo and Antioch and kicked the locals out, but I didn't realise that the Germans were coming overland and could turn up behind me, so I messed up and let them take back Antioch. However I started taking all the castles in the area and especially the ports so that no more Crusaders could turn up unexpectedly, this was a highly effective strategy and allowed my armies to remain in the field for the start of the next year, albeit spread out. I took Tripoli and just at the last minute I launched a huge assault on Jerusalem, this was a titanic struggle and I came within an ace of taking the Holy City, sadly there are only four combat turns and at the end of this there were two men and a dog on the city walls but I had to cease the attack. No matter, I held four of the prizes while Kevin held three.

I read some fiction about a year or more ago, Harry Sidebottom, and enjoyed them, they had been out some time so I picked them up very cheaply, I have just finished the excellent non-fiction Rome: A City In Seven Sackings, and thought I would like to try some more fiction for a change, somewhere I saw Ben Kane recommended so picked up his three books (all hardback) on the Varus debacle in the Tuetoburger Wald, I got two of them for 1p each. I have been riveted by the story of Centurion Tullus and his nemesis Arminius. I, like most other people no doubt, have always thought of Quinctilius Varus the Roman commander of the three legions wiped out in the forest as an idiot. Kane puts Varus in a different light and shows him as a real man rather than a cipher and a byword for military incompetence, yes he made a mistake and was literally led down the garden path despite being warned, but I felt very sorry for him as his world collapsed around him. And the good thing about enjoying Ben Kane is that he has several other series already out there which I suppose will be available again for a couple of pence.

I have now got my General and officers primed for the Seleucids, this means in effect the army now has enough choices to take to the field up to at least 3,000 points. It is not finished by a long shot though, you know I have a couple of cavalry units still to add, along with Thracians, I have been looking at a 'Late' Seleucid list by a gentleman called Jeff Jonas who is a bit of an expert in Successor armies, so to this end I will also be adding some mercenary hoplites and massed Iranian/Mede archers, alright the latter are the bottom of the barrel but a large number of them cannot be ignored, oh, and a couple of bolt shooters as well, so no hanging the brushes up for a wee while yet.