The Crusades
One Hour Wargames
Rules

This variant of One Hour Wargames Medieval Rules covers battles of the first three Crusades as well as battles involving the Crusader states during this period. Following Neil Thomas’s convention in his Ancient and Medieval Wargaming book the various Moslem armies of the Middle East will go under the generic name of “Saracens”. Similarly their foes will be known as “Crusaders”.

I usually play One Hour Wargames at a reduced scale which you can read about here and I play using 1/72 plastic figures.

UNIT TYPES

The game features the unit types of Archers, Cavalry, Crossbows, Horse Archers, Knights, Men-at-Arms, and Levies.

Archers

Units are armed with a bow (not with a crossbow). They rely upon their bows for impact on the battlefield. This makes them effective at a distance but quite vulnerable in hand-to-hand combat especially given their lack of heavy armour. Both Saracens and Crusaders can use Archers. For the Crusaders, archers were often provided by Maronite or Syrian Christians and early in the period Crusader infantry might be bow rather than crossbow armed.

Movement 6”

Shooting Range 12”

Shooting D6

Hand-to-Hand D6 - 2

Cavalry

Cavalry move faster than infantry and are quite well armoured. Cavalry in the Crusades were usually armed with lance and bow allowing them to attack at both range and close up. The core of Saracen armies will be cavalry. Crusader armies have Turcopoles as similarly armed cavalry.

Movement 12”

Shooting Range 12”

Shooting D6 - 2

Hand-to-Hand D6

Crossbows

Crossbows are assumed to operate in close order and equipped with crossbows. Crossbows are referred to as “Archers” in the One Hour Wargames medieval rules. They are renamed “Crossbows” here. Read the text in the book under the “Archers” heading for the description of the Crossbow type. Only Crusaders will have Crossbows.

Movement 6”

Shooting Range 12”

Shooting D6 + 2

Hand-to-Hand D6 - 2

Horse Archers

Horse Archers are lightly armed, mobile and aim to stay out of contact an enemy and attempt to destroy them by showering them with arrows. Most Horse Archers would be Turcoman tribesmen. Only Saracens will have Horse Archers. There are two special rules for Horse Archers - the Horse Archer Charge and Horse Archer Withdrawal rules. Note that Horse Archers can both move and shoot when subject to the Horse Archer Withdrawal rule.

Movement 12”

Shooting Range 12”

Shooting D6 - 2

Hand-to-Hand D6 - 2

Knights

Knights are as described in the One Hour Wargames book. Knights represent European crusading knights, Outremer knights and the knights of the military orders. Only Crusaders will have Knights.

Movement 12”

Shooting Range n/a

Shooting n/a

Hand-to-Hand D6 + 2

Levies

Levies are described in the One Hour Wargames book as rather unenthusiastic infantry equipped with spears and shields but little in the way of armour. However for the purposes of this variant all Saracen infantry who are not Archers will count as Levies e.g. Seljuk and Kurdish infantry, Ahdath town militias and Sudanese spearmen. For the Crusaders, troops such as armed pilgrims, poorly trained foot sergeants and the arrière-ban will count as Levies.

Movement 6”

Shooting Range n/a

Shooting n/a

Hand-to-Hand D6

Men-at-Arms

Men-at-Arms are as described in the One Hour Wargames book. The Men-at-Arms type, as well as dismounted knights, will also include any highly trained professional infantry of the Crusader states and military orders. Only Crusaders will have Men-at-Arms.
Note as per the standard rules, Men-at-Arms use the Armour Modifier so acquire half the number of mandated hits because of their armour.

Movement 6”

Shooting Range n/a”

Shooting n/a

Hand-to-Hand D6

ADDITIONAL UNIT TYPES (Optional)

Any of these types may be optionally adopted.

Combined Arms

This is only available to Crusaders. Crusading armies would sometimes mix crossbow troops with spearmen. To reflect this the Combined Arms type has diminished firing and hand-to-hand capability but has some steadfastness. Combined Arms use the Armour modifier when taking shooting and hand-to-hand hits.

Movement 6”

Shooting Range 12”

Shooting D6

Hand-to-Hand D6 - 2

Rabble

Often armies in this period included some very poorly armed troops such as armed pilgrims or the Ahdath town militias of Syria. If you wish to distinguish these from the Levy type above then the Rabble type can reflect this. Both Crusaders and Saracens can have Rabble. Rabble are the same as Levies but have a –2 modifier in hand-to-hand combat.

Movement 6”

Shooting Range n/a

Shooting a/a

Hand-to-Hand D6 - 2

Light Cavalry

Some light cavalry such as Bedouin were armed with a lance but not with a bow and fought by closing to contact. Only Saracens have Light Cavalry.

Movement 12”

Shooting Range n/a

Shooting n/a

Hand-to-Hand D6 - 1

NEW RULES

In addition to the new unit types above and the new rules below, all other rules remain the same as the standard One Hour Wargames medieval rules.

Horse Archer Charge. Horse Archers may not frontally charge an enemy. Horse Archers may charge a flank or rear without this restriction.

Horse Archer Withdrawal. Horse Archers in contact with the front of an enemy may optionally withdraw directly back a full move from hand-to-hand combat in their Movement. They end their move facing their enemy (12” away). They may not withdraw -

• If they have enemy engaging on their flank or rear; or

•  if enemy or friendly units or impassable terrain or the edge of the tabletop, block their route.

In addition the Horse Arches may shoot at, but only at, the enemy they just broke off from in the Shooting phase.

Combined Arms Casualties. Combined Arms halve the number of mandated hits from Shooting and Hand-to-Hand (i.e. the same as Men-at-Arms) because of their amour.

DESIGN NOTES

The Crusades represented the clash of two completely different military systems. To reflect this I have substantially increased the number of unit types.

I wanted to capture the unique tactics of Horse Archers in Saracen armies and the Crusader reaction to the. In particular I wanted to capture these features of Horse Archer warfare–

• Horse Arches would stand off from their enemy and shower them in arrows.

• Horse Arches would attempt to split off parts of the enemy formation and draw out the enemy – especially knights – by feigned retreats. The split off part would then be overwhelmed.

• The Crusaders, as a reaction, made significant use of Crossbows and Archers to keep the Horse Archers at a “safe” distance.

The Horse Archer Charge rule is intended to have Horse Archer fight by ranged archery. Crusaders would then need to use their archery to keep to Horse Archers away (as the Horse Archers will usually loose a “shoot out”). The Horse Archer Withdrawal is intended to facilitate feigned retreat tactics.

ARMY SELECTION

The following army selection tables are based on the army lists in Neil Thomas’s Ancient and Medieval Wargaming book.

Crusader Armies with 6 Units

╔══════════════╦════════════╦════════════╦═══════════════╦════════════════╦═══════════╗

║ Dice Roll    ║ Knights    ║ Cavalry    ║   Crossbow /  ║ Men-at-Arms    ║ Levies    ║

║              ║            ║            ║    Archers    ║                ║           ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════╬═══════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╣

║     1        ║    1       ║    1       ║      1        ║      2         ║    1      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════╬═══════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╣

║     2        ║    2       ║    1       ║      1        ║      1         ║    1      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════╬═══════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╣

║     3        ║    2       ║    1       ║      1        ║      0         ║    2      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════╬═══════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╣

║     4        ║    2       ║    2       ║      1        ║      1         ║    0      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════╬═══════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╣

║     5        ║    2       ║    1       ║      2        ║      1         ║    0      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════╬═══════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╣

║     6        ║    3       ║    1       ║      1        ║      1         ║    0      ║

╚══════════════╩════════════╩════════════╩═══════════════╩════════════════╩═══════════╝

Note: The Crossbow / Archers column means the player can use either type in their army.

Saracen Armies with 6 Units

╔══════════════╦════════════╦════════════════╦═══════════╦═══════════╗

║ Dice Roll    ║ Cavalry    ║ Horse Archers  ║ Archer    ║ Levies    ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╬═══════════╣

║     1        ║    2       ║       2        ║    2      ║    0      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╬═══════════╣

║     2        ║    2       ║       2        ║    1      ║    1      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╬═══════════╣

║     3        ║    2       ║       3        ║    1      ║    0      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╬═══════════╣

║     4        ║    3       ║       1        ║    2      ║    0      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╬═══════════╣

║     5        ║    3       ║       2        ║    1      ║    0      ║

╠══════════════╬════════════╬════════════════╬═══════════╬═══════════╣

║     6        ║    3       ║       2        ║    0      ║    1      ║

╚══════════════╩════════════╩════════════════╩═══════════╩═══════════╝

Extra Horse Archer (Optional Rule). Historically the Saracens usually outnumbered the Crusaders. Consequently a Saracen Army may have an additional Horse Archer unit for 7 total units. (This should also assist scenario play as Saracens generally have weaker units.)

SCENARIO

This scenario is loosely based on the Battle of Arsuf between a Crusader army commanded by Richard the Lionhearted and an Ayyubid Egyptian army command by Saladin.

ARMIES

Saracen (Ayyubid) Army*

2 Cavalry

2 Horse Archers

2 Archers

1 Levy

* Note the Saracen Army has seven units.

Crusader Army

3 Knight

3 Combined Arms

In addition the Crusader Army has one unit of Baggage with these attributes –

• Baggage may only move on a road. Movement is 6”. It does not receive the road movement bonus.

• Baggage has 15 hit points.

• Baggage has no offensive capability – it cannot shoot or fight hand-to-hand.

• Baggage has no flank or rear. Thus when attached by an enemy the enemy does not get the flank or rear attack modifier.

• Horse Archers, in this case only, may charge Baggage.

SETUP

The board has no terrain features except for a road running North to South.

The Saracens set up first anywhere in the pink area.

The Crusaders are then placed on the board anywhere in the blue area. Note the Baggage must be on the road.

The Saracen player makes the first move.

OBJECTIVE

The Crusaders win if the Baggage and at least one other unit exits the Southern board edge, or if they destroy the Saracen army.

The Saracens win if they destroy the Baggage or if they destroy the Crusader army.

The game lasts 15 turns. If there is not a decision then the game is tied.

November 2023