State of Play: Tel Danith - 14 September 1115 (Commands & Colors: Medieval – Crusades Exp.)

 

Camping, Crusader-style.

Sometimes I feel bad for my long-time Monday game night partner and longer-time brother-in-law, T. In all flavours of Commands & Colors we’re pretty evenly matched. But every so often the gods of dice and cards take umbrage at some perceived offence, and in their petty manner they contrive to deny him any gaming satisfaction.

To wit, this week we played at T’s place, so, of course, a scenario from the Crusades Expansion* (GMT Games, 2024) for Commands & Colors: Medieval (GMT Games 2019), as set up and ready to go when I arrived. This time, it was Tel Danith; I went to sit on the Seljuk side, but T insisted I was to take charge of the Crusader forces. After our previous exchange and the humbling 6-0 defeat he recently suffered as the Seljuks at Harran, T would have been eager to return to the Crusader camp, but he insisted, and I didn’t argue.

Initial set-up.

On the face of it, the Seljuks may have an advantage in numbers – twenty units on the board, compared with the Crusaders’ fourteen. For mobility the Seljuks have fourteen mounted units to the Crusaders’ eight, although five of those are Knight Cavalry. On top of that, all the Seljuk Medium Cavalry are armed with bows. Personal artillery seems to have a greater diminishing effect in C&C Medieval than in any other flavour of Command & Colors.

I’ve learned the hard way not to underestimate a smaller Crusader force (again playing the Seljuks), receiving a particularly clarifying lesson on the shores of Lake Antioch. There, a combination of the disfavour of the card and dice gods on my part, along with some clever execution of orders and outstanding rolls on T’s side, saw an 8-1 victory for the Crusaders.

First blood (and poor sticker application).

The situation in this scenario is as follows; supporting Crusader forces gathered to Baldwin I of Jerusalem’s aid when news was received of an invasion lead by Bursuq under the auspices of the Sultan. When Bursuq heard of the gathering force, he demurred, crossing the border once again. When some of the Crusader forces had dispersed, Bursuq, himself having lost some of his forces due to internal disputes, chose to attack Jerusalem with his own diminished but still viable army. Baldwin’s superior intelligence warned him of the danger, and he rode out to meet the treat, descending on Bursuq’s army while they were setting camp. The Seljuks counterattacked, but at the end of the day, the bloodied Crusaders prevailed.

The first five Orders for the Crusaders,

My Crusaders opened with movement on the Right flank, making for the camp tiles on that side. A special rule states that if a Crusader unit occupies a Camp hex at the beginning of their turn, the player can remove it; when all four are removed, the Crusader player earns a permanent victory banner. It took five rounds to accomplish, but the decampment of the Seljuk aggressors earned my fourth banner.

In all, the bout covered eight rounds. Auxilia, Medium Infantry, and Light Bow Cavalry fell like wheat before the scythe. Everywhere was blood and fear.

End state.

Whatever led to T’s loss, it could not be blamed on a lack of fighting spirit. With what cards he had (and with the occasional murmur of, “Who dealt this rubbish?”), he brought the fight to the Crusaders. This may have been his downfall. In the same situation, I would have (where I could) use my light troops as artillery, trying to pick off the enemy as I could with arrows and javelins rather than committing them to near certain death. In consecutive ruounds, two banners were secured for the Crusaders by defending units putting multiple retreat results on Seljuq Light Cavalry, forcing them off the board

If I have a score advantage, I can often get a little callous with my troops, taking greater risks to press an advantage. I’m willing to risk the loss of a unit or even a leader if it will bring me closer to victory. In this case, an Order Two Units Left allowed me to activate the Turcopole Light Bow Cavalry on my Left who, capitalising on their accomplishments on the previous turn, gained the last three banners I needed to secure a win of 8-0.

Seljuq banners and casualties.

T must have greatly offended the gods of chance. While his Seljuq army (at least the ones he could bring into the contest with his limited card options) fought bravely, and sent many Crusader souls to their eternal rest, he once again could not gain a single banner.

 

* I tend to use the Crusades Expansion as short-hand for what, in truth, should be referred to as “Commands & Colors: Medieval – Expansion #1 Crusades Mid-Eastern Battles I”. This distinction is crucial, as the I at the end of Mid-Eastern Battles suggests at least a second set in development, and, of course, the Holy Land wasn’t the only place that saw Crusader battles. I for one would be overjoyed to see an expansion covering major battles from the Northern Crusades, a crucial but often overlooked portion of European history.