RPGPundit Reviews: Crusader Rex
This is a review of the board wargame "Crusader Rex" by Columbia games. It is part of the same series of "block" games as Richard III and Julius Caesar, which I've previously reviewed.
Now, if you've read those reviews you'd know that I've absolutely loved those games, and this being essentially the same format (though the games are each adapted from the previous ones to fit the particular scenario), I can spare some time for the readers who simply want to know whether I say "yea" or "nay" to the game: I say "yea". If historical wargames are your thing, you really should go buy this game, and all of Columbia's other wargames in this series. Go! Go and buy a last minute christmas gift for yourself or others; or if you're reading this a bit late, go and spend your christmas money on this! Go now!
But wait one second! There's something I should mention. I got a particular treat from the publisher with this game; a special hard "mounted" map. The usual maps that come with this series of games are beautiful but are printed on relatively soft paper; the mounted maps are the same art but on a hard mounted surface, which seems much more durable, and all-around awesome. You can get these through special orders, but from what I understand about Columbia Games' policies, you can also get any of their games in this series with a mounted map if you pre-order their newer games. This, in my opinion, is very worth it, and a great deal. So keep that in mind when looking out for the newer wargames Columbia releases. Even if you have to pay the extra price, I think you'd find the mounted map totally worth the difference.
So, now on to the longer review. The particular format of this game, like the others, is a boxed game with a slip cover; like the previous ones the cover features some excellent art, in this case of Richard the Lion Heart and a group of knights in front of a fortress. Inside you get the map (mounted or not), rules, some cards (in this case particularly beautiful cards with impressive full-colour medieval art) and a bunch of wooden blocks for the playing pieces, along with stickers of the units you have to put in the blocks yourself. I've come to enjoy this "some assembly required" aspect of the game, as the process of carefully applying the stickers really familiarizes you to the game's units. The blocks are played in game standing up, so that each player can see only his own units (facing him) while he can see the blocks but not the particular units (facing away from him) of his opponent. This simulates the "fog of war" and its only when two opposing forces get into combat that the blocks are laid down and revealed. The blocks are also set up to keep track of the strength (hit points) of each unit, each side of the block's face having a different point value, so that whichever face is pointing up indicates the current health level of that unit.
Like the previous games, this one tries to mimic a specific period of war in history; Richard III handled the War of the Roses, Julius Caesar the war between Caesar and Pompey, and this one covers the Third Crusade. Being an historical recreation, the game makes some effort to be accurate in its portrayal, this means that the sides are not evenly matched for "balance"; it is in each game easier to play one side than the other; or often one side must score important victories earlier in the game in order to have a chance of winning. That's an important detail to keep in mind, and in this case the Crusaders are the ones who play at some disadvantage compared to the muslim forces, as many of the Crusaders' best forces must make a complex series of movements to be able to enter the game (reflecting the distance and effort of travel to the holy land); on the other hand, they do start with one more major city than the Saracen player, meaning that the latter must at some point take the offensive. That said, the game strikes what is for me a perfect balance between playability and historicity. Others who may be looking for a more "even" game, or perhaps a few who would be looking for more intricate historical detail, might disagree. But the fact is that this is not one of those "german boardgames" where the subject is just a window dressing to a set of mechanics; nor is this one of those ridiculous intricate old-school wargames that require huge amounts of rules-study to learn and literally days to play; in fact, the rulebook is only 8 pages long, and the game takes roughly 2-3 hours to play.
The game is played in the Holy Land, and the key to victory is in the major cities of the region. There are seven of these, and the victory condition is to hold the majority of these cities as of the end of the last turn. If any player ends up controlling all seven cities at at the end of any turn before the last turn, the game ends immediately with a victory for that player.
The game is played over a series of six rounds that each represent one year, starting in 1187. Within each year, there are six "turns" played. At the start of each year, each player receives six game cards; these cards represent initiative, determining who will play first, as well as moves allowed in that turn (each card allows for one, two or three "moves", each of which lets you move any number of blocks that are in the same place on the map), or special events. Event cards are played instead of one's regular move that turn, and include things like "Assassin" (where the special block representing the dreaded Assassins will attack a single opponent anywhere on the map, and even in the winter turn when no combat is usually played), Guide (which increases your movement allowance), Intrigue (which lets you copy the card your opponent played last turn), Jihad (which lets you move a unit and attack first, usually defenders attack first), or Manna (which adds one "step" of health to three separate units).
Individual movements allow a player to do one of three things: a land move (done along roads) where he moves any number of blocks that are in the same area, though not necessarily to the same destination; a sea move, where he gets to move a single piece from one friendly port to another; or a muster, where he uses the move to draw any number of pieces within range to a single point on the map.
Each block unit will have its own movement value on the piece (indicating how far it can go in a single move), as well as its Strength markers (the current strength level indicates both how many hits it can take and how many dice it gets to roll in combat), its battle rating (indicating in what order they attack in a battle, and the number they must roll equal or less than on any die to score a hit) as well as their name and "home castle".
Combat (which takes place only after both sides have completed their movement for that turn) is divided into battles or sieges; if a defender decides to fight outside of the castle, its a battle, otherwise its a seige. Each have their particular rules. Defenders usually get to strike first, and a battle lasts a maximum of three rounds, after which the attacker is obliged to retreat if any defenders are left out in the field. The basic order of combat involves the units' attack rating, which are rated by letters (A, B, C, etc), so that in a battle all of a defender's "A" blocks get to strike first, then all of the attacker's "A" blocks, after which all of the defender's "B" blocks act, then all of the attacker's "B" blocks, etc. Hits are applied to the strongest enemy unit available, and damage is immediate, meaning that theoretically some units can get wiped out before they have an opportunity to strike.
There are a number of special combat rules that modify these basic ones; Knights have the option to charge (improving their attack rating but risking additional damage), Saracen Nomads and crusader Poles can "harry" (fire and retreat at the same time), and reinforcements can arrive at the second round of battle for either side.
If the defender's forces on the field are destroyed, or if he put no forces on the field, the battle becomes a Siege. Unlike a battle, sieges can go on indefinitely, even over multiple turns. Defending forces are limited as to how many forces they can keep in a town for a siege, depending on the "castle limit" of the siege; this also limits how many attacking forces can attempt to "storm" a castle at the same time. In each round of a siege, the attacker can choose whether or not to attempt to storm the castle; if he chooses not to, the defender can choose to "sally", moving troops out of the castle to attack in the field. Defending troops in a siege require two hits rather than the regular one to lose a point of strength. At the end of each game turn, besieged blocks must make a roll to see if they lose strength due to siege attrition.
After the movement and combat turns, each player may then draw a single block to add to their current forces. The sixth turn of each year is called the "winter turn", and has special rules. Blocks can move normally but cannot enter battles or sieges; there is no combat in that turn, even in existing sieges. There is a single special movement card called the "winter campaign" card, which if played on the sixth turn allows the player who used it to fight a single siege battle that was already taking place; the siege attrition for the defender in this situation is more harsh than usual. At the end of the winter turn, any unit that is not in a town (and each town has a limit of how many blocks can occupy it) is eliminated (though it can return to play in the "draw phase" of a subsequent turn, excepting particular blocks like the crusaders or saladin's family, which are eliminated permanently if they die in battle or through winter or siege attrition). Finally, units wintering in towns not under seige regain some of their lost strength (blocks wintering in enemy towns regain less than blocks in allied towns).
As I already stated at the start of the review, Crusader Rex is yet another stunningly good wargame from Columbia Games; it uses the same basic rules as its other games, but like each of those, the rules have particular modifications which perfectly reflect the particular nature of warfare in the era and style of the conflict being represented. I really can't recommend this game enough, both to experienced wargamers and as a game that is simple enough yet interesting enough to those who have perhaps never played a historical wargame but would like to give it a try.
RPGPundit
Currently Smoking: Brigham Anniversary Pipe + Image Latakia
Pundit, is there a mounted map available for Julius Caesar as well?
Quote from: BedrockBrendan;496670Pundit, is there a mounted map available for Julius Caesar as well?
I believe so.
RPGPundit
It's too bad mounted maps are so expensive to produce. I hate gaming on what amounts to a poster.