The Wargamer

HAIL! AND WELL MET, TRAVELLER!

Crusader Rex is a new wargame from Columbia Games that recreates the Third Crusade. Two players take the roles of the Franks and Saracens, as the game names them. Over the course of the game, players attempt to conquer the Holy Land in order to gain and retain control of seven key cities from Egypt to Syria. 
Like most Columbia Games’ board games, Crusader Rex is a “block” game: playing pieces are wooden blocks that stand on their sides, hiding their unit identifications and strengths from the opponent. 

Crusader Rex was designed by Jerry Taylor and Tom Dalgleish, the team behind Columbia’s Hammer of the Scots. Players familiar with the mechanics of that game will pick up Crusader Rex in less time than it takes to read this review.

A TALE OF BRAVERY AND HEROISM FROM FAR, FAR AWAY

The Third Crusade was waged in the waning years of the 12th century. It was the crusade of King Richard III and Frederick Barbarossa. When most people (who even know what the Crusades were) think of the “The Crusades,” it is likely the Third which comes to mind: knights on stallions clashing with Moslem cavalrymen outside of grand soaring castles dotting the Holy Land. 

Although politics did play a significant role in the actual conduct of the crusades, Crusader Rex is a war game, and as such, political considerations are minimized, with only a few optional rules addressing limited political effects (which mostly serve to add/remove units from the battlefield). And even though the Templar Knights are present in force, there are no buried church secrets being unearthed from beneath the former Temple of Solomon.

The game itself plays on a grand scale. Units are identified by their leaders: nobles and military orders for the Franks and Emirs, and nationalities for the Saracens. Sweeping armies of knights on horseback ride from city to city, laying siege to castles and harrying opponents from the battlefield. When reinforcements arrive, Crusaders come en masse from Europe, and Saracens build a steadily-increasing force on the eastern edge of the map (more on this later).

Although units are individually-named, especially when following a noble or Emir, it is not hard to imagine large contingents of foot soldiers charging headlong into the fray, leaving behind a trail of body parts and blood-red rivers.

WHAT FINE REGALIA, BEFITTING OF A KING

The game comes in an attractive bookcase-game box. Like other Columbia games, the box is a standardized generic black clamshell box with the Columbia logo. The “cover” is a four-sided slipcover sleeve that fits over the box, with a dramatic painting of Crusaders on the front cover, and standard game information (playing time, complexity, sample graphics, etc.) on the back. The back also includes a picture of the game laid out and set up, as well as a painting of a Crusader foot soldier who bears a passing resemblance to at least one Columbia staffer.

Inside, players will find a four-panel folding map, a rulebook, a bag of wooden blocks in three colors and a sheet of stickers for the blocks, a small deck of cards, and four dice. Because of the geography of the Holy Land, the map is a long, narrow map. This is noteworthy only in that it may impact the size or shape of table needed to set up, if players have a dedicated nook in their houses for boardgames. 

The rulebook is only 8 pages, and includes a variety of historical and design notes. It is a clear and easy read, with diagrams in the appropriate places for specific mechanics, such as step-losses during combat. Columbia uses a numbered rule system, with large, clear headings. Sidebars contain historical notes and optional rules. The historical notes will not inform scholars of the Crusades, but even well-read fans of history will likely learn something from them.

Although the art for the blocks is attractive, it is on a separate sheet of stickers that must be mounted to the blocks by the customer. This is a painless process, but does add 10-15 minutes to the initial set-up process the first time the game is played. The blocks come in three colors: orange for the Franks, green for the Saracens, and the one black block for the Assassins. There are two extra blocks each in green and orange, which serve nicely as markers for the turn, or half-hits inflicted during castle stormings.

The cards are numbered 1-3, with a few special cards. All of the numbered cards have the same artwork for each number, and the special cards are text-only. They are a sturdy cardstock, but the coating is not very slick, which can make shuffling a challenge. A few times, we just put all the cards on the table and mixed them up like kids shuffling a game of Go Fish, or a set of dominos. This seemed to work as well as anything else.