A Stream Runs Through It. A Raid Scenario for the Crusades using TtS.

The Scenario

This is a straightforward To the Strongest scenario for the Crusades period. It was devised to be played by four players, though a two or three player game is entirely possible; in the event of a three player game I suggest that the Franks are played by one player (the Franks have less units).

The scenario is based on the premise that the Franks are launching a large scale raid into Saracen territory with the object of pillaging two large and prosperous villages. Unfortunately for the Franks, their plan has become known to the Saracens and their ambition will be forcefully opposed.

Each of the forces (x4) comprises 90 points worth of troops – it’s a raid not a full sized battle. However, the Saracens have had to pay 10 points (2 for each village section) for five camps and these form the basis of the scenario – hopefully they will be too tempting for the Franks to resist. Each camp adds a victory medal to the Saracens VM pool, so the points have not been wasted but, they have been double costed to reflect the semi-fortified nature of the ‚camps‘ being sited in buildings. If lost, each camp will cause the loss of 3 VM – very tempting for the Franks!

The Battlefield has been laid out on a twelve by six table. The box size is 200mm x 200mm: 18 by 9 boxes overall.

The new stylised terrain, including some virgin stream sections, looks very angular but works a treat in game terms.

The Franks (right) will deploy one command first, anywhere up to two boxes in; then the Saracens (left) can deploy a command anywhere up to three boxes in; and so on until all four commands have been deployed.

The Franks will move first.

The terrain definition sheet, just so everyone knows what is what. The biggest changes to the basic rule definitions are that light cavalry struggle in difficult terrain (because horses don’t really like rough ground), and I treat ‚town‘ boxes differently. Oh, BLOS stands for Blocks Line Of Sight [beyond box], and high means hills or town boxes.

Franks. Player1.

Command 1. Heroic General: Brother knights; foot sergeants; Turcopoles.

Command 2. Heroic General: Knights; 2 foot sergeants; Armenian light cavalry.

1 munitions chit.

5 points of discretionary spend.

Franks. Player 2.

Command 1. Heroic General: Knights; foot sergeants; crossbowmen (light infantry); turcopoles.

Command 2. Heroic General: Knights; 2 foot sergeants; turcopoles.

5 points of discretionary spend.

Saracens. Player1.

Command 1. Heroic General: Ghulam cavalry (upgraded); Syrian cavalry; 2 Turcoman horse archers.

Command 2. General: 2 Syrian cavalry; 2 Adhath; 3 archers (light infantry).

4 munitions chits.

4 points of discretionary spend.

Note how I’m choosing to mark commands, upgrades and generals. Units have the usual number bead to indicate which command units belong to; blue beads indicate an upgrade is in effect; yellow beads indicate a general, red beads indicate him being heroic. I’ve stopped using more colours than than this – see more about this later in this post.

Saracens. Player 2.

Command 1. Heroic General: Ghulam cavalry (upgraded); Syrian cavalry; 2 Turcoman horse archers; Adhath; 2 archers (light infantry).

Command 2. General: 1 Syrian cavalry; 2 Turcoman horse archers.

4 munitions chits.

4 points of discretionary spend.

Each player will get to choose how to use a small amount of discretionary spend (4 or 5 points). This can be used to upgrade units, or buy heroes or munition chits.

I have recently changed the way units are marked. In our last game I used beads of various colours to denote troop types. However, I thought this was cumbersome and decided to only use one blue bead in this game to mark units that have been upgraded. If a unit has a blue bead it is easy to see what the upgrade means by simply referring to the blue highlighted upgrade in the army lists.

All other upgrades (highlighted pink) are merely stated as being in effect and generally effect a whole troop type: For instance, all knights can be stated to be impetuous or ferocious. No troops in this game have a stated upgrade but might have at the players choice – upgrading to Impetuous is a freebie, guys!

The Syrian army list sheet is laid out in exactly the same way.

You will also notice that each list comes with period specific notes and rule amendments for the army.

My quick reference sheet is also a little different to the one that comes with the rules.

I have made several small changes here, most notably to some saving throws and to ammunition chits – the latter having been entirely removed from the game and replaced by a simple rule mechanism. I removed ammunition chits because they look rubbish on the table and because, for this period, there are simply too many units that need to carry them around: things still go out of ammo, just in a different way. For other games, like the Punic Wars, I’ll stick to ammunition chits, mostly because of the javelin armed troops, and the fact that there are far fewer shooters.

Anyway, there it is, a very simple scenario for Wednesday night.

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Autor: JAMES ROACH / Olicanalad’s Games

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