Kingdom of Heaven - The Promise of St Louis - The Seventh Crusade - A New Deal

After last week's shocker we bravely tried again.  This time we had a completely different game, a real new deal, but it also brought home how this otherwise excellent game is just too random in its play to be truly a good game in terms of play.

1249

This time the Byzantine fleet lends aid and Louis IX and five units of Crusaders (10 steps) land in Acre.

The Muslims try some diplomacy on Armenia, but fail.

Louis marches on Damascus and calls for it to surrender, which it promptly does!  (At this stage, with just three cards played, the Crusaders are looking at a win).

Two further units of Crusaders arrive in Acre, but the ones in Cyprus who try to sail fail to make it.

Louis moves back to Acre.  The Pope sends support further building the Christian force in the Holy Land.

1250

The Muslim lands are affected by a poor harvest (the effect of which is the player loses one card - they only have 7 per turn/year).

Louis goes to Jerusalem and calls for it to surrender.  It doesn't.  Its Resistance Factor is 4, but traitors in the Christian ranks see this rise to 6.  But sappers and miners quickly reduce the RF to 3.  Then an epidemic breaks out, the Crusaders lose 3 steps and the defenders lose 1.  Battering rams bring the RF down to 1.

An-Nasr Yusuf starts a siege of Damascus (RF=5).

At Jerusalem Louis deploys catapults and the RF falls to zero, but a subsequent assault fails to take it and the RF creeps back up to 1.

At Damascus traitors in the Christian defenders see the RF fall to 2.  Yusuf assaults but it goes badly, and the RF increases to 3.

Back at Jerusalem Louis deploys a siege tower and the RF slips to 0 and the subsequent assault, though bloody, takes the city.

Yusuf calls on the Fortunes of War but is cruelly rewarded by a sortie from the defenders that raises the RF to 4.  The siege is not maintained come winter.

Burgundy and 2 more units of Crusaders land in Acre.

1251

Louis goes to Acre to pick up reinforcements before returning to Jerusalem.

Bad weather delays Muslims and then further delays occur due to aggrieved subordinates before even more heavy rains delays their movement.  They try some diplomacy on Armenia and that fails (gifts presumably got soggy).

Louis moves to Kerak which promptly surrenders.

Yusuf moves to Banyas.

Louis moves back to Acre.

1252

The situation at the start of 1252

Louis moves to Banyas and demands its surrender.  It says no.  RF=3, but it immediately raises to 5 given that there are traitors in the Crusaders ranks (an endless supply it seems).  Sappers and miners are deployed but fail to make a dint in the castle's defences.  A siege tower is constructed (RF=3), but the besiegers supplies are running low (RF=4) and they lose 1 step.  The Crusaders fill in Banyas' moat (RF=3).  A defender's foraging party is ambushed (RF=2).  An assault is launched and Banyas falls.

Meanwhile Armenia is subject to intense diplomacy.  First the Muslims try and fail.  Then the Christians try and also fail.  The Muslims try again, third time lucky, and momentarily succeed until the Christians demonstrate that their gift was really an insult and Armenia stays neutral.

1253

The situation at the start of 1253.

Again, the Muslims suffer from a poor harvest.  They still gather their forces in Aleppo.

Louis goes to Damascus.

More Crusaders arrive in Acre, joining Henry who gathers them up and joins Louis in Damascus.

Christian diplomacy on Armenia fails.

Game ends.

Christian VP 13, Muslim VP 12 which gives the win to the Christians.