State of Play: The Battle of Harran – 4 July 1187 (Commands & Colors: Medieval – Crusades Exp.)

   

 

Opening set-up, Crusaders' POV.

For the first time in a while, T and I played games on consecutive weeks. Last week was at my place, and we took a run at recent arrival WWII Commander, Volume 2: Market Garden (Compass Games, 2025 – there’s an “initial thoughts” post available here), but this week we had to play at T’s place, so I told him to set up whatever he liked. After an exchange of comments with Grant from Pushing Cardboard, I nearly asked T to pull out Commands & Colors Tricorne (Compass Games, 2020), but I gave him carte blanche to pick something and, of course, he went with Commands & Colors: Medieval (GMT Games, 2019), specifically the Battle of Harran from the Crusades expansion (GMT Games, 2024).

Game set-up from the Seljuq side, with Claude officiating.

Now, here at A Fast Game, the clue is in the name. I like a long and complex game, but most of my face-to-face gaming opportunities have about a two-hour or so ceiling, so we play a lot of shorter or smaller-scale games. But now and than a game truly lives up to the moniker of a fast game, and the Battle of Harran was it. I wasn’t familiar with the battle before we sat down to play, and honestly, I can’t really claim superior abilities or insight for the win, just a stellar card draw on the opening round.

The Seljuq opening hand.

The Seljuq player starts first. He has some other advantages in the scenario as well; one extra card in his hand (6-5) and a few extra Inspired Action tokens 4-2). Looking at my opening hand, Line Command jumped out at me. I had a line of eleven units, ranging from Light Mounted Bow running from the Center to my Right Flank, with three Crusader mounted units – A medium Cavalry flanked by two Mounted Knight Cavalry, led by Baldwin II and Jocelin respectively – before them. An envelopment was by no means a sure path to victory, but it was historically accurate.

At the end of that action, both Heavy Cavalry units had fallen, their respective leaders escaping to the infantry line on the back of the Crusader lines, while the remnants of the Crusader Medium Cavalry, reduced to a quarter of their initial strength, held their ground in a delaying action. (Two banners.)

The Seljuqs' big opening move, just before the carnage.

T’s response was to try to get two cavalry units up to challenge the Seljuqs in the Center, where I happened to be weak, and brought his Medium Infantry, rallying to Jocelyn’s Command, to brashly meet Jikirmish’s bloodied but ready Heavy Cavalry.

The Infantry took a block, but their strength was halved in the Heavy unit’s retribution. Throughout the first round, the Crusaders fought valiantly, causing losses along my lines, but they could not translate their successes into Victory Banners.

The battle was decided quite definitively on the Seljuq Right flank.

To open the second turn, I opted for an Outflanked order which allowed me to get a couple of my Light Mounted Bow into the fray on my Left, while my Heavy Cavalry to deal with the remaining block of Medium Cavalry and Jocelyn’s Infantry. (Two more banners.)

In response played a Scout order, and in true knightly tradition had Baldwin advance his Heavy Infantry – which he had enjoined after his narrow escape in the previous round – to meet Soqman in battle once again, only to fil in lading a single blow on their target. In return their numbers were depleted, but they remained on the battlefield, their honour allowing no escape.

My third – and last – order was given to the Seljuq Leaders and their attached units, but as it was, only one saw action, The Leaders order grants the activated units an extra dice in combat. T had no First Strike to hand to counter the blow.

The Crusader casualties.

In keeping with history, Baldwin was lost to the Crusaders with his Heavy Infantry who were cut down with roll of three Red symbols and a pair of crossed swords. A helmet result on a single die ensuring his fate, though Jocelyn did escape such an end this time. (The final two banners of the game.)

That was the fastest route to victory either of us has seen. Commands & Colors doesn’t normally play out quite that quickly. The shortest game we had seen in the past was when we were both old hands at Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010), playing a five-banner game – probably our second or third run at Rolica (French First Position), and was resolved in favour of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance in just five turns. This was more like the judgement of an angry god with his thumb on the scales of chance. But a win is a win. T took it stoically, no table-flipping involved.

The orders played on both sides.

We should have one more game before he’s off again overseas for a couple of weeks, so I’m going to try to get a Ten Wargame Challenge game to the table. In the meantime, I’ve got a couple of other games I want to write up, and I’m working on A Fast Game’s first feature article (which I have alluded to in a post a few months ago, but regular readers will know it when they see it), and I’m going to try to squeeze some solo play in there as well. So, I have enough to keep me busy for now.

Claude was unimpressed by the Crusaders' performance on the night.

Note: The keen observer will note that the Crusaders’ Heavy Mounted Knight units, which made up the bulk of their cavalry, are represented by regular Heavy Cavalry units. T had already set up the game when I arrived, so rather than taking the extra time to replace the units, we played them as their superior units. This might have affected the results if not for the fact that all the units, even the Seljuq Light Bow, were hitting predominantly with Red symbols when they hit. The mix-up had any adverse bearing on the result, which was glorious, and will be spoken of in hushed tones by the old men who sit at the city gate for many years to come.