Crusader Kingdoms: The War for the Holy Land

Crusader Kingdoms: The War for the Holy Land Rulebook

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

Crusader Kingdoms is a game for 1-4 players set in the era of the Crusades, where each player controls one of Outremer's main Christian or Muslim kingdoms, with the goal of expanding it through intrigue and conquest.

2.0 Game Components

2.1 Cards

Comprised of two decks: one Muslim (green back) and another Christian (red back). They can be of three types:

EVENTS: Have an explanatory text that describes its operation.
TROOPS: Marked with a number that indicates their strength.
RESPONSE: Depending on the text of the card, can be played during the player's round, or during the round of other players; and can be used alone or in combination with other cards of any kind.

Examples: Event card "Raid" (Choose a player who must discard one card at random from his hand); Troops card "Turcopoles" (strength 2); Response card "Militia" (Add 2 DICE to the defense of a castle in response to an attack).

2.2 Castles and Garrisons

When castle counters are placed in the map regions, they indicate who controls that region. There are four different colors of counters, one per player. Only one castle counter of any one color is allowed in a region at a time. One garrison counter of the same color is allowed per castle, per region. Garrisons add to the defense of a controlled region.

Red and blue counters are for the Christian players while the green and yellow represent the Muslim players. The Christian and Muslim shields are used in various places in the game, they represent the two conflicting religions in the game.

2.3 Dice

Custom dice are included and represent hits during attacks. The Muslim shield result represents a hit for a rolling Muslim player. The Christian shield result represents a hit for a rolling Christian player. A 6-sided green die is also included for Muslim Bot Attack rounds.

2.4 Card Bonus

It is used to show how many more or less cards the player will draw at the beginning of the next turn (and to decide winners in case of draws in the last turn). Its position may be between -2 and +2. Use a garrison counter to track each player's card bonus.

2.5 Map

There are two maps included in the game. Both maps are divided into regions that have a number inside a shield to indicate its Region Defensive Value.

The Saladin and the 2nd Crusade board is used for the 3-4 player games. Players face each other on the game board and play head-to-head. There are areas for cards and game pieces as follows: Draw, Discard, Castle Pool, and Garrison Pool. The Christian and Muslim Card Bonus track is also on each respective side. Place any undealt cards in the Draw Deck area face down. If a card is played, place that card in the Discard area face up. Any card that says "Stays in Play" for a turn is held on the table face up for the remainder of the turn in front of the appropriate player. Available castles and garrisons can be kept in the appropriate pools for those counters.

The 1st and 3rd Crusades board is used for both the Solitaire and 2-Player cooperative versions of the game against a Muslim Bot player. Unique to this map, each region also has a region number from 1 to 14 used by the Muslim Bot player to determine its order of attack. Plus there are Victory Points in each region that determines the winner of the game in solitaire and 2-player cooperative versions.

The Christian player's side is identical to the The Saladin and the 2nd Crusade board description. The Muslim Bot player side is across the board and faces the player. The Muslim Bot player has the following areas: Muslim Hand, Muslim Discard, Muslim Response, Muslim Army in Play, Castle and Garrison Pools, and the Muslim Card Bonus.

The Muslim Hand represents the Muslim's Bot Hand for the turn and are placed face down. Cards are played and revealed one at a time from the top during the Bot player's turn. As these cards are played, they are placed face up in the Muslim Discard area. Muslim Response cards that are drawn are placed in the Muslim Response area face up to hold until played, then they also are placed in the Discard area. Muslim Troop cards that are drawn are placed in the Muslim Army at Play area face up until they are used, then discarded. Castle Pools, Garrison Pools, and the Muslim Card Bonus function the same as the Christian player.

3-4 Player Map (Competitive)

Region name.
Player Card Area: Used to organize the play of the cards and hold the available castle and garrison markers.
Card Bonus: Used to modify how many cards are drawn.
Region Defensive Value: Added to the defender in combat.

Solitaire and 2 Player Map (Cooperative)

Turn track; map name.
Region Number*: Used to determine where the Bot Muslim player attacks or adds troops.
Victory Point*: Used to determine victory against the Bot Muslim player.
Muslim Bot Card Area: Used to organize the Bot player cards and how they are played, plus hold the available castle and garrison markers.

* These are unique to the Solitaire and 2-Player version of the game.

3.0 How to Play the Game

The following base rules are for both the 3-4 player games and the solitaire/2-player game. Solitaire and 2-player games have additional special rules listed later in this rule book that add to and/or modify the base game rules.

The game is divided into 3 turns. The turns have the following sequence:

Each player draws the appropriate number of cards (see Deployment Table and How the Card Bonus works) belonging to the Muslim or Christian decks, according to the religion of his kingdom.
The card bonus counters are set to 0.
Starting with the first player that appears in the deployment table, and following that order, players can make one (and only one) of the listed actions (see Game Actions below).
The players perform actions following the order of the deployment table until, consecutively, everyone has passed.

4.0 Game Actions

The actions that players can perform during their game round may be ONE of the following:

ATTACK: The player selects a border region (i.e. a region connected to one he controls) and announces the attack.
INCURSION: The player selects an opponent with whom he has a border and makes an incursion.
PLAY AN EVENT: The player shows the card and proceeds according to its text.
DISCARD: The player voluntarily discards one of his cards (which he places in the discard pile face down).
PASS: The player announces that he will not do any of the previous. If all players pass consecutively, the turn ends.

NOTE: This means that players can pass sometimes, and continue to play later in the turn. But they must be careful because if they all pass consecutively the turn ends and they can end up carrying over to the next turn cards they wanted to play. In the game for 1 or 2 players, as an exceptional rule, if a player passes he is done for the turn.

4.1 Attack

The attack is carried out following this sequence:

The player selects a border region, which must belong to another player or an independent kingdom, and announces the attack. (If the player does not control any region he can only attack one of his starting regions).
Then he will put face down on the table, all the Troop cards from his hand that he wants, and optionally any Response cards (as long as the text printed on the card allows it).
Any player (although he will usually be the owner of the region targeted by the attack) can place (face down) the Response cards he wants on both the attack and the defense of the region (see the text printed on the card).
The defender can use one or more of his garrison counters in and adjacent to the attacked region, in order to obtain extra dice in defense (1 extra die for each garrison counter used). Once garrison counters are used, they are removed from play.
The cards of the attacker and the defender are revealed and the combat during this attack is carried out.
If the attacker wins, any castle and garrison counter in the region are removed and the attacker places one of his castles and chooses between advancing one position on his Card Bonus counter, or adding one garrison counter to one region that is controlled by one of his castles including the region just captured.
The defender reduces his Card Bonus counter by one position.
All cards used during this go to the discarded deck.

Combat During Attack

The attacker adds the value of his troop cards and rolls that number of dice. Each favorable shield result is a hit.

Then the defender adds the defensive value of the attacked region and +1 for every garrison counter he chooses to use in the defense of that region, rolling that number of dice. Each favorable shield result is a hit.

If the attacker makes more hits than the defender, the attacker wins. If he makes the same number of hits or less, the defender wins.

In the case of an attack to an independent kingdom (empty regions), any player can throw the dice for the defender.

4.2 Incursion

The player selects an opponent with whom he has a border (at least one region connected), and discards one of his Troop cards of his choice.

ROLL ONE DIE: With a favorable shield result the opponent discards one random card.

4.3 Events

The player shows an Event card and proceeds with what is described in the printed text.

If the event is marked with the phrase Stays in play for the entire turn, it is kept face up in front of the player to remember that its effect lasts the entire turn. If not, it is discarded after its effect.

Some events result in an attack, in those cases they proceed as described in 4.1 ATTACK.

Example: Event card "Truce": For the remainder of the turn each ATTACK between you and one chosen player lowers the attacker 1 card bonus or remove one garrison, defender chooses. Stays in play for the entire turn.

4.4 Discard

The player discards one of his cards face down.

4.5 Pass

The turn is given to the next player. Players without cards can only do this action. If all players pass consecutively, the turn ends and any cards remaining in their hands are carried over to the next turn, reducing the number of cards they will draw on the next turn.

FOR EXAMPLE: if a player passes with 3 cards in his hand, the next turn the draw number is reduced by 3.

5.0 End of Turn

Cards will be played in the order described until all players consecutively pass. Next, the turn marker is advanced one position. Then the discard piles, Stay in Play Cards, and unplayed card piles are re-shuffled together (Christian and Muslim decks separately).

NOTE: When the turn ends, some players can still have cards in hand, which will be saved for the next turn.

6.0 How the Card Bonus Works

Each time a player wins a region, he advances the Card Bonus by 1 (or adds a garrison counter to a controlled region), and each time he loses a region he will roll it back by 1.

The bonus score can't exceed +2 or be less than -2 (negative variations outside this range are ignored, and positive are exchanged for garrison counters).

At the beginning of each turn, each player will draw the cards indicated in the deployment table, adding or subtracting cards to that number as indicated by the Card Bonus counter. The resulting number will be reduced by the number of cards saved by the player from the previous turn. Then the Card Bonus counters are all reset to the 0 position.

EXAMPLE: A Christian player has a card draw of 8 cards per turn. He has a Card Bonus at +1, and has saved two cards from the previous turn. He will draw 7 new cards in total (8+1 Card Bonus, -2 he saved). He will start with 9 cards (7 that have been drawn +2 he had previously saved) and with the bonus reset to 0 for the next turn.

7.0 3-4 Player Setup

The 4 players game is set in the 2nd Crusade, and the 3 players game in the era of Saladin.

7.1 Deployment

Use the side of the map titled Saladin and the 2nd Crusade. Players place one of their available castles in each of their starting regions. Yellow and Green players draw their cards from the Muslim deck and Red and Blue players will draw their cards from the Christian deck.

NOTE: Empty regions are independent kingdoms.

4 Players	Castles	Color	Regions	Cards
Emirate of Damascus	7	Yellow	Damascus, Homs	8
Kingdom of Jerusalem	7	Blue	Jerusalem, Acre	8
Principality of Antioch	7	Red	Antioch, Latakia	8
Emirate of Aleppo	7	Green	Aleppo, Edessa	8

3 Players	Castles	Color	Regions	Cards
Saladin	9	Green	Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Edessa	12
Kingdom of Jerusalem	7	Blue	Jerusalem, Acre	8
Principality of Antioch	7	Red	Antioch, Latakia	8

NOTE: Players of the same religion tend to band together, but they can and often do attack each other. In the end only one of the four players wins.

THREE PLAYERS SPECIAL RULES: Christians may not do the Attack action against one another.

8.0 Winning the 3-4 Player Game

The game can end in two ways:

By sudden victory, whenever a player has placed all his available castles in regions on the map, he wins immediately.
At the end of the third turn, the player with the most castles in regions on the map wins. In case of a tie, the one (or ones) with the highest Card Bonus counter wins the game.

9.0 Solitaire and 2 Player Setup

In the solitaire version the player controls the forces of the 1st Crusade who try to make their way to Jerusalem. The 2 players cooperative version is set in the 3rd Crusade. The solitaire and 2-player versions use all the rules from the 3-4 player game with the modifications and exceptions below.

9.1 Deployment

Use the side of the map titled 1st and 3rd Crusades. Players place one of their available castles in each of their starting regions. All empty regions are considered to be Muslim and should have green castles placed within.

The Green (bot) player draws his cards from the Muslim deck and Red and Blue players will draw their cards from the Christian deck.

2 Players	Castles	Color	Regions	Cards
Richard the Lion-heart	All	Red	Tripoli	8
Leopold V	All	Blue	Antioch	8
Muslim Bot (not a player)	All	Green	Rest of the regions	12

1 Player	Castles	Color	Regions	Cards
The 1st Crusade	All	Red	Marah	12
Muslim Bot (not a player)	All	Green	Rest of the regions	8

The following cards are not used for play and must be removed from the decks before starting:

MUSLIM DECK: Remove one 4-value troop card, and the events: Mercenaries, Independent attack, Jews, Succession, Watchtowers and Truce.
CHRISTIAN DECK: Remove the cards: Concerted Attack, Assassins, Troubadours and Spies.

9.2 Increasing Difficulty Levels in Deployment

To create a greater challenge for the better Christian Crusader players, increase the Muslim Bot card draw to 14 cards in the 2 player game and to 9 cards in the 1 player game. To make the greatest challenge for greatest Christian Crusader players, increase the Muslim Bot card draw to 15 cards in the 2 player game and 11 cards in the 1 player game.

10.0 Solitaire and 2 Player Game Special Rules

CARD BONUS AND GARRISONS: The card bonus and garrisons may only be increased or reduced by Event cards, and not by conquering or losing regions.

PASS: If a player passes, can no longer play, and carries the cards in his hand to the next turn according to the standard rules he is done for the turn. The Muslims however, continue to play all their cards.

MUSLIM ROUNDS: In the 2 player version, each player plays a Muslim round after playing his round (so the Muslims alternate rounds with each Christian player). If the Muslims attack or play any event, it will affect the player who is playing his round.

If both Christian players have passed and are out of the turn, the Muslim Bot player continues playing his cards against the Christian players, using standard rules for choice of attacks (for example they attack the adjacent Christian controlled region with the lowest Region number).

10.1 Muslim Bot Game Rounds

Muslim Bot alternates rounds of play with the Crusaders as if they were a player. Each round, they reveal the first card from the hand they drew that turn, and play it following these rules:

EVENT CARDS: They are applied instantly against the player drawing the card (if applicable).
RESPONSE CARDS: They are left face up in the Muslim Response Area, if they accumulate they are stacked in the order in which they've been drawn. If the Crusaders make an attack where they roll 3 or more dice, the Muslims immediately respond by playing the top Response card, and once used discard it.
TROOP CARDS: They are left face up in the Muslim Troop Area, joining other Muslim Troop cards in the area (if any) and forming a single "army."

After playing the card, if they have an "army" on the table, they roll the 6-sided green die; if the result is less than the total of the army's troop points on the troop cards, they attack the adjacent Christian controlled region with the lowest Region number (from those belonging to the Christian player playing the Muslim round).

After resolving the attack they discard the attacking cards following the standard rules. Muslims do not roll to activate their army if the Christian player(s) do not control any regions.

If the turn is over and the Muslims have Response or Troop cards in the Muslim Response or Troop Areas that they have not been able to use, they are carried to the next turn.

KEY RULE: Unlike the players, the Muslim Bot player does not reduce the cards they draw by the number of cards saved from previous turns.

10.2 Clarifications About the Muslim Cards

LEADER CARD: If there is a Muslim army on the table, it is added to it, otherwise it is played like the other response cards.
REGROUPING CARD: If there is a Muslim army on the table, it is placed in the Muslim Troop Area on the game board, otherwise it is discarded. After an attack, the Troop card with the highest value will remain in the Muslim Troop Area, and the regrouping card will be discarded.
ADD TROOPS CARD: The garrison is placed in the Muslim controlled region with the lowest possible region number.
COMMERCE CARD: Increase by 1 the Muslim Card bonus and discard.
SEDUCTION CARD: If the drawn Christian card is a Troop or Response card, it is immediately deployed on the table as if it were a Muslim card. If it is an Event card and the Muslims can play it in their favor, they do so immediately, if they can't discard it.

11.0 1-2 Player End of Game and Victory Points

At the end of the last turn, the Crusaders win victory points for each region they control. Also they add or subtract as many victory points as the difference between their card bonus and that of the Muslims (if any). The victory level reached will be:

15 OR MORE VICTORY POINTS - VICTORY: Your Crusade has been a success, others will try to emulate your achievements in the years to come.
11 TO 14 VICTORY POINTS - MARGINAL VICTORY: The position of the kingdoms of Outremer is not very strong and their future is uncertain.
10 OR LESS VICTORY POINTS - DEFEAT: You will be soon swept away from the Holy Land, and your Crusade will probably be the last.