"Medieval suggestions" Topic

I'm in the midst of reading Dan Jones' book on the Templars tinyurl.com/suu3ly5

and while the time frame is not something I've really played, this book has piqued my interest in the period.

So, two requests:

Any other books on the time frame that you've enjoyed and don't require a long time enthusiast's knowledge, and that you can recommend.

And, in keeping with the forum, what rules sets, that are currently available, do you prefer? I generally prefer skirmish style games, but other basing could be interesting, considering the era and the knowledge I do have of it.

Thanks!

Medieval is a great period to get into! If you want to try my free skirmish rules you can download them from this link

A lot of people like Lion Rampant for Medieval skirmish games: players command several groups of (IIRC) 6-12 figures, so forces of maybe 24-50 figures per side. Personally I find it a bit random (a failure on the command roll for one group stops all the others for moving). I might be inclined to use the later "Rampant" rules that you can test for each unit. Whatever you do with them, do play the various scenarios provided: they give a good, quick game which isn't just "fight to the death".

As for books, I can wholeheartedly recommend 'Cr.usader King', the story of King Baldwin and the Crusades. Easy to read and well written

link

When you say "period", that's kind of a hard thing to nail down as the Middle Ages really lasted from, roughly, 500AD to 1500AD. That's a very long period of time.

My recommendation is based upon your interest in crusading orders and 'Crusader King' goes into a lot of detail that many other books never touch on.

'Men of Iron by Howard Pyle is a good fictional account; a classic.

'The Blue Gonfalon at the First Crusade' by Margaret Ann Hubbard

link

'Where Valour Lies: A Story of the Crusades'

link

Later period Crusades:

'The Blood Red Crescent' by Henry Garnett

link

Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, wrote a few short stories which take place during the crusades. Gates of Empire and a few other stories are in an anthology of his work under the title "Sword Women and other historical adventures".

I would highly recommend anything done by Sharon Kay Penman.

She focus mostly on England but I found her books to be quite good.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into them shortly!