"Best Ruleset for the Crusades?" Topic

Which Medieval ruleset best suits the warfare of the Crusades?

I have only played "Lion Rampant" and its okay. I don't like the one inch between bases rule, but other than that not bad. But I would eventually want to do larger battles.

Large battles, Sieges, or Skirmish? Northern Crusades, Spain, or the Holy Land?

Not sure what Bill wants but Spain and the Holy lands for me, especially the First Crusade in the latter.

Battles, skirmishes, sieges in that order.

One Hour Wargames

Shattered Lances. Written specifically for the Crusades.

Shattered Lances

I've played toys since WRG4th edition and yet I could never grok Shattered Lances

Soldiers of God, early Crusades.

Mass combat rules, raiding rules, and siege rules all in one game.

Great production, cool deck of cards as well.

Another recommendation for Shattered Lances. Especially enjoyed it for battles of the Spanish Reconquista.

Either Shattered Lances (Brendan Moyle) or Ironbow (Perfect Captain), as they are written for the period.

Comitatus (Simon MacDowall) should work for the First Crusade, but you would need a bit more input from the players/scenario designer as it covers a wider period.

I'd be very interested if anyone can suggest a set of siege rules for the period.

Two Hour Wargames "Montjoie" does small actions and sieges and has Outremer lists, not sure if they have an exact match for this now.

Cheers
David

Tactica Medieval is worth picking up for siege rules. There is a stand-alone siege game included, that is simple and fun. It would work well for the Crusades.

You can still get used copies on Amazon for $19 USD or so.

Captains and Kings – Includes a Kingdom of Jerusalem Campaign as well as well as two others. Here's the TOC.

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What: Medieval Warband combat in the 9th to 13th Centuries.
Scale: Each 6 to 12 figure unit represents 40 – 60 actual combatants.
Your Role: Players start as a Captain in command of one unit. But if you succeed in battle, you gain fame and more units on your way to becoming King.
Play-ability: Designed for solo, same side and head to head play.
Captains and Kings can be played in a variety of ways and contains the following:

• Fourteen different armies, from Viking Raiders to Crusading Knights.
• Three complete Campaigns including the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Danish raids on England and Ireland.
• Complete rules for carrying out sieges.
• Ten unique but interlocking scenarios.
• Rules for fighting small raids to large battles, with up to 100 figures per side.
Captains and Kings can be played with any figures you already have whether metal, plastic, or paper. Play it as a Campaign where all battles are linked together or as a one-off game.

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Rally now, the one inch rule is tyranny! We ignore it-----

That is what I want to do but the guys I game with are stubborn. The rule makes no sense.

Deus Vult…written specifically for the Crusades.

Ager Sanguinis is a great set of Crusades rules as the name indicates. Its also good for dark age mayhem any where in Europe. I like Shattered Lances too.

I'd be very interested if anyone can suggest a set of siege rules for the period.

Captains and Kings has detailed siege rules from the beginning to lifting or completing the siege.

Here's an AAR.
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My rules, "Vows of Iron" have worked well for our first crusade games. Horse archers have some special abilities in the rules which make them difficult to deal with.