Welcome back—we return to the pageantry of medieval Spain! In this second of three parts drawn from a live Levy & Campaign playtest, Phil Dreher reports on his Muslims’ climactic year against John Campbell’s Christians in the 1085-1086

scenario of Almoravid, via Vassal magic by Miguel Ángel Sánchez Galán and Peter Wagner.

Who will break the stalemate of the Zaragoza border war? Is Rodrigo El Cid Campeador—back in King Alfonso’s grace—bound for great deeds or merely the menace of Muslim shepherds? Will León, Castilla, and Aragón develop the military pressure to extract tribute gold in Parias dinars? Or will the emirs bow to call in to the Almoravids of Africa? And then what great clash of arms might smash or reset the Taifa mosaic of al-Andalus?

Phil’s thoughts mainly relevant to playtest rather than narrative appear in italics. [Volko adds explanatory and design-related comments in brackets.] All art is playtest only and all game details provisional not authoritative. In Part III to come, we will sample the testers’ observations and reactions to the gameplay.

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Early Spring 1086

Enough of my wintry musings. Spring has sprung on the Iberian Peninsula. We begin Levy, and John draws Illness of the Emir, forcing al-Mustain into risk of immediately Disbanding. I draw BERENGUER RAMÓN, a very cost-effective way to get the benefits of COUNT OF BARCELONA.

The total reset at the beginning of Spring is honestly a bit overwhelming, as I’m given a fresh slate to start assigning Capabilities to my Lords again. I have a bit of good luck in the Muster, and John has some bad luck: Al-Mutawakkil hails the call right away; Álvar stubbornly refuses to answer. Realizing the importance of protecting myself from Calendar-stealing occurrences like Drought, I Muster the Camels Capability.

[In Almoravid, as in Nevsky, most Muster of Ready Lords requires a Levy action and a die roll within the Lord’s Fealty rating, the varying willingness of medieval barons to depart their domain and go on campaign. In this case, the Muslim emir of Badajoz—al‑Mutawakkil—rolled within his range on the first attempt, while Alfonso’s captain Álvar Fáñez failed several actions’ worth of rolls, apparently claiming to be otherwise indisposed. – Volko]

SISNANDO [Alfonso’s Moorish-Christian ambassador and governor—a Capability card that removes Jihad – Volko] shaves off another half-VP for me. John is reaching the point where he will have to decide whether to allow Toledo to essentially become a completely Neutral Territory or leave some Jihad in Toledo (see below) so that he can still Conquer the citadel. I defer Yusuf and Sir for the 2 VP pickup, bringing me to 16. With al-Mutawakkil raised, John’s VP total is down to 9 [because Badajoz stops paying Parias, costing the Christians 1VP off of the map – Volko].

We move to the Campaign phase. I prepare more conscientiously around trying to link up Lords to work as Lieutenant-Lower Lord pairs in the hopes of launching some effective offensives with or without the Africans.

In the northeast, Christian Lord García begins an immediate counterattack, Marching south to lay Siege to Calahorra. Al‑Mundir begins making his way from his Seat on the eastern map edge to the Muslim border Fortress of Tudela, though the progress is slow since he has to Feed the Count’s retinue as well as his own. He has to stop in Zaragoza. Rodrigo moves across the nominal border into the Conquered Fortress of Medinaceli. Meanwhile, Zaragoza’s ruler al‑Mustain is first to actually arrive at Tudela. García ships in Provender to support his Siege of Calahorra.

In the West, al-Mutamid of Sevilla moves up closer to his new ally at Badajoz.

John activates Alfonso and notes he has a strategic problem. He doesn’t have any Lords active on the Western Front, where al-Mutamid and al-Mutawakkil threaten. He wants to defend the West, but also needs Alfonso shuffling Lords around as his marshal. Fortunately for John, I have overlooked the opportunity in the West in order to spend more Command cards organizing near Zaragoza in the northeast.

Thus, a Western invasion does not materialize this Season. Instead, al-Mundir arrives in Tudela and begins taking on Provender in order to prepare for action the following Season. Abd Allah also activates at Granada in the south and takes advantage of the GUADALQUIVIR fleet to transport his army to Valencia and meet up with Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr himself simply Taxes.

Rodrigo moves back into Toledo. García advances his Siege and is able to force a Surrender on Calahorra as Alfonso links up with him.

We leave the turn off with things concentrated heavily in the Eastern Front. We will see in our next session how things develop with tweaked Capabilities and clarified Taifa Coin rules.

Late Spring 1086

The latest from the Iberian conflict …

The continuing illness of his father (second draw of ILLNESS OF THE EMIR in two turns during Christian Events) sees al-Mustain increasingly eager to go home. “Listen, brother,” al-Mutamid tells him in a missive, “these days they won’t even let you in the building to see him, the best you can do is send him a care package maybe.” The missive accompanies a bag of gold. “Just a little something me and the other Taifa Lords got together for you. Peace be upon you.” Al‑Mustain agrees to remain in the field a Season longer.

John’s war machine is able to get up and running now. Sancho, Álvar, and Pedro readily answer the call to war this time. He also takes Bishoprics, giving him access to more heavily armed and armored Vassals. John has dropped the SISNANDO DAVÍDEZ ability that has been quelling Toledo. This is one of the trade-offs to consider in the game—your opponent’s Jihad and Conquer markers mean points for them now, but also the possibility of greater profits later. John is at risk of rendering Toledo fully Neutral—a Neutrality that the Christian Lords must respect, such that John could no longer Conquer the Taifa entire.

I again defer the Africans. Two VP is a lot of guaranteed VP, and my army is still looking pretty healthy. We’re headed into Campaign with me holding something like 17.5 points to John’s 10 or 11. I reiterate that I think my lead owes a significant amount to overpaying my Taifa Lords in the previous year, so I would want a second crack at this scenario before deciding that deferring the Almoravids is too potent.

[Deferring Almoravid entry has been worth 1VP, then 2VP, then after this playtest 1½ VP. The award to the Muslim side represents the value of maintaining the Andalusian Taifa dynasties’ independence from the fundamentalist Berber Almoravids (much like, in Nevsky, the VP to the Novgorod Republic for deferring a call to arms of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes). Not long after the emirs invited Yusuf ibn Tashufin to help push back the Christians in 1086, he would return to conquer the Taifas and plant an Almoravid empire in Iberia. – Volko]

John has another aggressive turn. Alfonso and Sancho link up, and the two Christian kings Besiege Huesca and starve it into submission. El Cid launches raids from his outpost in northern Toledo Taifa. The “Paris gun” strategy of CABALGADAS/AL-GARRADA is being notably nerfed: it now costs a Provender to use and takes up the whole Command card regardless of how much range is used. El Cid is able to Ravage both Toledo and Trujillo, the only places in Toledo Taifa that have Jihad markers left.

My turn is much more focused on preparing for the rest of the year, as I maneuver all of my Lords into Lieutenant-subordinate pairings. Abu Bakr and al-Mustain have now been separated, like two unruly boys snickering and passing notes at the back of the class, and placed with more competent commanders, Abd Allah and al-Mundir, respectively. These pairs maneuver to defend the Seats of Lérida and Zaragoza. Meanwhile, al-Mutamid links up with al‑Mutawakkil in the West, and the two begin logistical preparations for a summer Campaign into western León.

Ending Spring also brings in the last Growth phase. Although John has done the lion’s share of the Ravaging this game, he’s also the bigger beneficiary, since most of his Ravages flipped to my allegiance after he subsequently Conquered the Ravaged territories. I focus on removing Ravages outside the Taifa of Zaragoza as much as possible—al-Mustain is already in danger of heading home, and I don’t need to give the Christians more screws to turn. After removing the Ravages, the score stands at something like 15.5 to 9.5.

We move through the Summer Levy phase before deciding to pause for the day. John draws INDULGENCES and suddenly has an intemperate mob of armored Frankish brutes demanding to help him. The Church is fully backing his efforts at the moment.

I contemplate allowing al-Mustain to go home. The Taifas box is rather poor these days, and I will have to make some layoffs eventually. Though he is from the Leopards Eating People’s Faces party, I find John persuasive when he reminds me that allowing al-Mustain to Disband will result in a windfall of Coin for Christendom. (Then again, how good is Coin, really?) Al‑Mustain gets another bribe to stay in the field for a Season. I Levy WAR DRUMS and the double-Mule Capability during my Muster phase.

Summer of 1086 sees Yusuf arrive on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. The Summer promises to be a real blockbuster.

Early Summer 1086

A word to the wise from a great fool: Review your plans before committing to them. Today we completed the Campaign phase for Early Summer of 1086. Yusuf is on the board now, but so are powerful Crusader and BISHOPRIC VASSALS. I adopt the plan I drafted the morning before with maybe less thought than I should have. All of my Taifa Lords are paired up, with a 3‑Command Lord overseeing a 2-Command Lord.

The Season opens in the wake of a Zaragoza under assault, with Huesca the Christians’ most recent Conquest. The turn begins with Sancho shipping in more Provender to this new forward outpost. Al-Mutamid begins an offensive in the West, spending one turn preparing and a second turn establishing a Siege around Coria. Alfonso begins coming west to respond on that front, leaving Sancho alone in Huesca. But just as he arrives at his overnight stop in Burgos, he receives news that Abd Allah has mobilized in the East and has descended on Huesca. Sancho hides behind the Walls while Abd Allah burns the countryside. As he is a Lieutenant, WAR DRUMS allow him to harvest double-Loot. [I have since nerfed this Capability to obtaining extra Provender rather than double-Loot. – Volko]  

On balance, this move is really an error for me, but it illustrates a couple of interesting things. It forces John to reconsider his direction of play; Alfonso reverses course to chase off Abd Allah. John does not know that I am out of Abd Allah cards for this Campaign, nor does he know what Capabilities my Lords have this Season.

However, this is part of why my move is an error as well. My Lords are really not in a position to fight Alfonso, presumably loaded up with Crusaders and accompanied by García Ordóñez and a Sallying Sancho. Without a second card in the stack, they are not even in a position to return to Zaragoza and profit from their Loot to extend their Service. And WAR DRUMS is double-edged here since I had to leave behind Loot in order to escape the field. So I have wound up giving John two Loot—and thus two extra Service boxes for his troops—plus taking on the obligation to Feed Abd Allah and al-Mustain, in exchange for a measly half-VP and forcing him to effectively waste a Command card by having Alfonso reverse course. Not a good trade for me.

Al-Mutamid is unable to starve Coria into submission. John sends El Cid into action in Toledo, Ravaging Locales that are in Jihad. He contemplates trying to relieve the Siege of Coria. That he considers it must mean that El Cid is also enjoying Crusader assistance. But I’ve trained John at this point to be very afraid of my Missile units. He’s well aware that my forces generally don’t leave home without some kind of ranged armament on hand. Rodrigo eventually decides to cross back into León to benefit from his Loot.

The other major problem for me to figure out is getting Yusuf into the fight. Yusuf starts with just a single Mule now. There’s no way to have him March and take on enough Provender to Feed his massive army in his first turn. If you want Yusuf to move, you will have to Pay him.

Another important note is the tradeoff you make by taking the GUADALQUIVIR ability. GUADALQUIVIR only applies to Taifa Lords. The same card has the AFRICAN FLEET hold card, which would allow any Lord, including the Almoravids, to March instantaneously among Port spaces.

Yusuf uses two Command cards to March to Córdoba, then Toledo, and two Coin to avoid Calendar consequences. Next turn I’ll be able to Levy enough Mules that he can supply from there, and I may wind up Levying the two-Seat Capability for him as well.

My penultimate card is al-Mundir. Right now, al-Mundir, Abu Bakr, Abd Allah, and al-Mustain are all crammed inside the citadel of Lérida. [Actually, some of them must be camped outside the citadel, as the Fortress Stronghold’s Capacity is two Lords. – Volko] Zaragoza is basically completely open, protected only by its local Garrison. John has Alfonso, Sancho, and García Ordóñez sitting in Huesca. The Taifas box is short on Coin, and I have some grumpy Taifa Lords and hungry Almoravids to keep in the field. I decide to Tax.

With one card left, John cannot directly Conquer Zaragoza anyway. And though he has only used two Alfonso cards this turn, who knows if he has reserved one for card 8? Plus, if I try to use al-Mundir to reinforce Zaragoza, I’ll be taking him off his Seat. All things being equal, I want Lords lined up with their Seats because having steady Coin has been central to my war-making efforts. I am also thinking about the possibility of having Zaragoza stand down and begin making Parias payments.

Card 8 turns out to be Alfonso after all, but John decides to have Alfonso (with the help of Adalides royal guides) run to Zaragoza’s southern border in Toledo instead. Zaragoza is safe, with Lords from neither side present. My last card is Yusuf. As noted before, Yusuf is headed to Toledo.

We leave off at the top of Levy tomorrow, and another decision about who to Pay and how much. Al-Mustain is at risk of Disbanding. I am somewhat inclined to allow him to go. John has racked up a lot of points in Zaragoza but has not taken the Seat itself. He has no Lords at the City. If I allow the Taifa to become a Parias Taifa, the Seat will turn Neutral, and John will be unable to Conquer it. I would be trading him 1 VP and 4 Coin to basically permanently deprive him of 5 VP (3 for Conquering Zaragoza and the 2 additional VP he that would get from Reconquista, 3VP rather than 1VP from Parias).

But there are knock-on effects to consider as well: I would lose al‑Mustain’s troops, his Lordship (which might be useful to Levy Capabilities for the Almoravids), the threat that I might use his Command cards, to either threaten an attack or collect Taxes. It’s the first time that I am seeing some strategic benefit to allowing a Taifa Lord to stand down though. It’s a lot to think about.

Late Summer 1086

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.

St Augustine

 My loneliness is killing me, and I must confess I still believe.

Britney Spears

I come to you in a spirit of confession and repentance. The sincere and deeply felt contrition of the soul is the first step towards expiation and the correction of error, and the time has come to acknowledge that, hitherto, I did not remotely understand Taifa Politics.

Oh yes, I read the rules section, I pondered the aid chart, had a crude thought that generally it was better to keep Taifas Independent rather than letting them fall into Parias status, and better to keep them in Parias status than let them succumb to the Reconquista. More victory points for him bad, less victory points for him good. But it was all rote understanding, like reciting ten “Ave Volkos” before bed by a mere sense of dull guilt and obligation. Yesterday, that changed, and the fire of understanding came alive.

Let us review the board position briefly as we begin the late-Summer Campaign of 1086: Al‑Mutamid and Al-Mutawakkil are linked up besieging Coria, one of the few conquerable Christian Locales that’s easier for Muslims to reach than Christians, being connected to Badajoz by roads while Lords coming from León have to cross Passes at some point. Of course, being outside of Badajoz Taifa means that these Lords don’t get to Muster this turn.

In the middle, we have mega-Lord Yusuf sitting in Toledo, ready to Muster, and then in the East we have four Lords all crammed into Lérida: Abu Bakr, Abd Allah, al-Mundir, and al‑Mustain.

Consider the predicament of poor Al-Mustain. He has been mobilized now for nearly a year and a half, pausing only to return home for winter. Yes, he has strengthened the future of his dynasty by marrying into the family of Abu Bakr, but he has seen his province brought to ruin. Nearly every town and fortress, barring Zaragoza itself, has been conquered and ravaged by Christian troops. The Christian kings sit poised at either end of his kingdom in recently conquered lands, armies swollen with crusaders seduced by the promise of riches here and in the hereafter. Every season he reminds the other lords that he has fulfilled his obligations several times over, and he is lured in to sign on for just one season more by his comrades. And this past season he was spared a final humiliation when Alfonso arrived at Zaragoza only to continue on his way.

Worse, I don’t really have the funds to sustain all of my army in the field for much longer, and I’m not well-positioned to fight those corpulent Crusader armies. Putting Muslim Lords into a shape where they can successfully manage a field battle takes time. Their single-unit Vassals and painfully low Lordship means putting a strong army in the field requires careful cultivation. As I mentioned, John’s pretty much instantly boosted all of his armies into massive Armored death machines with the addition of Crusaders. Because of fog of war, I don’t know exactly where they are, and it is extremely risky to find out.

And this, friends, is the moment where at last I begin to understand the power of Taifa Politics. Zaragoza is doomed… unless! Unless they cut a deal and start making Parias payments. Yes, John gets a VP. Yes, he gets a windfall of 4 Coin. But now Zaragoza is off the board as a target. The City of Zaragoza, being unoccupied by either Lord, becomes Neutral. No matter how many Knights are on Sancho’s Lord Mat, the city will never fall. John’s point accumulation in Zaragoza is held down to just his already-conquered strongholds, plus one. Al-Mustain finally goes home, and Zaragoza begins paying tribute to León in exchange for peace.

At Call to Arms, I muster the second Almoravid Lord, Sir ibn Abu Bakr. Once one of the Almoravids has mustered you are no longer eligible to earn points for deferring them. I see no downside to calling Sir here.

This turn begins with Al-Mutamid and Al-Mutawakkil making preparations to starve out Coria, the aforementioned low-hanging fruit. Unfortunately, they don’t have enough Provender on to make immediately advancing the siege viable, nor are they really well-tooled for a direct storm of the town, particularly since Walls are now protecting defenders on a 1-5 [since re-nerfed to 1-4 – Volko]. Spending a card to Supply gives Alfonso and El Cid enough time to ride to the town’s aid. I spend a long time thinking through what to do here. Even though Al-Mutamid is running around with a full complement of Javelins, it’s risky to engage so many armored riders, and Al-Mutawakkil lacks any ranged troops whatsoever. The two decide to avoid battle, riding south towards Mérida.

What follows on the Western Front is a cagey game of cat and mouse. El Cid and Alfonso try to make headway into Badajoz, while Al-Mutamid moves into Toledo Taifa so that Yusuf can link up with him. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted, as Yusuf’s massive army, supplemented by his local allies, chase Alfonso and El Cid south through Badajoz. Both armies are awkwardly positioned, effectively cutting each other’s supply routes. Eventually the Muslim forces arrive back at the seat at Badajoz and the Christians are forced to withdraw to Mérida, but supply problems and mismanagement see Al-Mutawakkil Disband. Badajoz joins Toledo and Zaragoza as another neutral Taifa paying for peace.

Since I still have Lords sitting at Badajoz itself, I am able to take the City over, placing Jihad markers on it. [This “Hostage Populace” game rule reflects the fact that the Muslim Lords at Badajoz had been allies against the Christian enemy and so welcomed into the walled City. When the local emir al-Mutawakkil buckled and resolved to pay off the Christians for peace—in game terms, Disband and render his Territory a Parias Taifa—the allied Muslim Lords already inside the City’s gates took over control of the City in the cause of true Islam. – Volko]

The Christian army outside Mérida elects to Recognize Neutrality. “Recognition of Neutrality” is a choice that I’m finally starting to understand—essentially, when a Taifa turns Neutral, any former enemies rampaging across the province get to decide whether they will stop fighting in a given Locale or if they will make an example of it. If they chose to make an example of it, the Locale remains aligned to its former masters, giving them a temporary point bonus. But the newly acquired possession also presents a target for Ravage and Conquest attempts and thus for greater point-scoring in the future. The next Command card sees the Christian Lords slinking back towards León through Toledo, stopping just short of the border in Muslim-controlled Talavera.

The Eastern Front sees a much calmer turn. In the interest of controlled demobilization, I have Abu Bakr make his way back to his Seat at Valencia. My idea is also part of some changing views that I am developing about my Taifa Lords. I want him back at Valencia so he can Tax and serve as a regular source of useful Coin income. I am also thinking that I could potentially use his Lordship to Levy global Capabilities, allowing more forward-positioned Lords to use their Lordship for combat abilities or Transport.

Of course, this is another idea that’s victim to a bit of under-baking on my part—I wind up having to spend a Coin to keep Abu Bakr in the field because I don’t have enough actions for him to eat enough for the journey and make it back to the Seat in one turn, and I already have to use two Command cards to accomplish that. So, I’ll net probably one Coin from keeping him in the field? This will be a better idea in our next iteration, when I probably will be more inclined to leave a Lord like him back in the first place.

Al-Mundir also takes another Coin. I play the Muslim faction like an accountant, always concerned about taxes and audits.

That concludes summer, which sees another major wave of resource attrition as Carts and Mules are diverted to the Harvest. Autumn sees the potential arrival of a Burgundian crusader army under Duke Eudes.

Early Autumn 1086

Ill tidings from Al-Andalus! The Taifa Lords surrender all pretense of serving God and the Umma, debasing themselves to a foreign reprobate because they lack the will to stand and die like men of faith.

This penultimate turn begins with a favorable draw of events, generally. John reveals DROUGHT, which I’ve long-since shielded myself against with CAMELS. [I subsequently have nerfed Camels a little: you now have to discard the Capability when you use it to cancel ARID TERRAIN or DROUGHT. – Volko] John takes a Hold card as well. My draws are DEBASED DINARS, disgorging some of his hoarded Coin, and TAIFA MARRIAGE, buying me an added Campaign with two of my Lords. My notes don’t reflect which two, and it foreshadows the utter tragedy of this turn to say that it does not matter.

We move through Muster. Now it is John who is forfeiting Muster actions because his Lords are out of position. [As we have seen, Lords in the Levy & Campaign Series may participate in Muster only when on Friendly ground. –Volko] For my part, I add the double-Seat ability for Yusuf and Sir. [This Capability card is AL-YAZIRAT AL-HADRA (Algeciras). It represents Yusuf’s preparation of an Almoravid bastion-port over the summer of 1086, before his army marched northward. –Volko]

A future consideration when contemplating the timing of calling in the Almoravids is how long it takes them to really tool up for a fight. You are either stuck paying tons of cash to keep them afloat or tons of time making sure that they can ship in enough Provender to keep going. I realize too late that my brilliant idea to keep Abu Bakr in the field is not worthwhile, as he’s not eligible to Levy the particular Capabilities that would have been useful to me. Alas. [Arts of War cards in Levy & Campaign bear the coats-of-arms of those Lords to which they apply, including who can Levy which Capability. In this case, Phil probably sought Capabilities to augment the Almoravids that only Almoravid Lords Yusuf and Sir can Levy. –Volko]

John calls in Eudes. Eudes has some good Vassals and probably some impressive abilities, but he’s actually quite fragile on initial Muster—worth thinking about as well in timing the Call to Arms of Yusuf and Sir, which starts the clock ticking to bring in Eudes. The early Summer call-in of the Almoravids has some benefits: 3 VP (Volko revised the rules to reduce the benefit of deferral from 2 to 1.5 points per 40 Days), two 8-card turns with these massive armies, and Eudes appearing late enough that he really will only have one turn to accomplish anything.

This campaign season sees another round of donations to the increasingly pitiful Taifas box, though I am careful to keep a Coin with Al-Mundir [should he become Besieged and thereby unable to tap the Taifas box Coin – Volko]. Al-Mundir is also the only declared Lieutenant, working with Abd Allah. Abu Bakr, you will recall, is lounging in Valencia. Sir has not moved from Algeciras, and Marshal Yusuf is sitting in Badajoz with Al-Mutamid.

The turn starts with John completing Alfonso’s withdrawal into León. He plays the AL-QADIR – PUPPET-EMIR card to remove Jihad from Toledo Taifa in two places: Talavera and Toledo City. I think removing from Toledo itself may be an error since it renders the City Neutral, which keeps John from being able to Conquer it and with it the Taifa. But there is a lot of addition by subtraction in Almoravid, I think, and a focused effort with an achievable goal seems better than unfocused efforts accompanied by wishful thinking.

Alfonso gathers a full stack of Christian Lords: El Cid, Pedro Ansúrez, and Alvar Fañez are all with him. But moving that many troops is a huge ordeal, and he has to spend the rest of the card supplying as soon as he arrives back in León.

Yusuf also takes a preparatory tempo. He’s carrying DAWUD IBN AISHA in addition to the ability AYAH (AL-YIZRAT AL-… something, the double-Seat ability) [this is AL-YIZIRAT AL-HADRA AL – Volko], so every Supply gives him 3 Provender. He and Al-Mutamid step up to Mérida first, then ship in huge amounts of food from the coast. Suddenly he can make some moves.

The next card sees Eudes move down with Sancho and García Ordoñez in Huesca. This is the last bit of calm from John before the storm. Yusuf moves up to Coria once again and commences another Siege against the Town. I am hell-bent, it seems, on netting myself a half-point (Coria is Ravaged, so when I add my conquer marker, the Ravaged half-point will flip and count in favor of the Christians).

Then it happens. Sancho and García March together down to Lérida. Al-Mundir must decide whether he wants to run behind the walls or peek at the enemy army first. At least, that’s how I think of it, which is why it all goes so disastrously awry hereafter. Because really the choice is between leaving his troops comfortably garrisoned in their quarters OR wake everyone up, have vassals and commanders muster their troops, et cetera. In other words, if I fight, I must Feed, regardless of what comes of it.

So, I opt to fight. After all, it worked for Pedro Ansúrez back in early 1085. Have look at the enemy army, run off the field, avoid any permanent casualties, and call it a day. Al-Mundir is reasonably well-armed. He has got the COUNT OF BARCELONA supplementing his forces [adding two Knights and two Men-at-Arms units – Volko], and he has Crossbowmen. Abd Allah on his flank is without Armored troops but has the benefit of bows. Because of the Array of Battle, however, each of our stronger Lords is lined up against the weaker Lord. García’s army is supplemented by BISHOPRIC troops and looks quite menacing. Sancho’s army is substantially smaller, but it has solid contingents of Armored troops.

I decide to immediately Concede the Field rather than fight through a Round inflicting full casualties. This is probably an error too, a case of nothing ventured nothing gained. Abd Allah was likely to get wiped out regardless of my decision to Concede. Because all his troops are Unarmored, he’d still be hoping to roll aces after the battle to reconstitute any units. [Unit recovery from Rout in Battle requires a roll of unit Protection or less, meaning a “1” for Unarmored units. – Volko] Meanwhile, Al-Mundir could have got a Round in for full damage [rather than x½ for Conceding], likely survived long enough to Concede the Field in a second Round, maybe put Sancho out of action.

Instead, I decided to turn and run, inflicting few hits on John. Abd Allah was wiped off the field. None of his troops reconstituted. Instantly, Granada is a Parias Taifa. Al-Mundir suddenly has to feed his corps of hungry soldiers with nothing left in the larders. “Please, fellas!” he begs, “Lérida is fine! We can hold out forever! Don’t you remember we have gold? So much gold, have some gold!” He throws them a bag of Coin while obscuring the portal to his very empty vaults.

But now it’s my Command card. Ho-ho, John is in for it when he sees what I’ve got up my sleeve! It’s Sir ibn Abu Bakr. Sir has a scary looking army, but he’s far away and he’s slow. He makes it two spaces closer to Lérida, then stops, winded.

I sit on tenterhooks waiting for John’s next card. By some miracle, it is El Cid, who is put on supply duty for the huge concentration of Christian forces around King Alfonso. Saved! I think. Al-Mundir is my very next card. Lérida has Gardens, so I have him stock up on much needed Provender. Take that John! Thwarted by the very conceit of the game itself—the difficulty of coordinating among geographically dispersed armies.

And then a simple, elegant knockout blow. John deploys the CABALGADAS Capability to Ravage at distance further south in Lérida. This is now the first Christian Ravage marker put down in the province, so Al-Mundir loses a Calendar box of Service [because every odd Christian Ravage marker placed in Taifa shifts its Lord one box], which he cannot afford to mitigate with Coin from his mat. He is under Siege [by Battle victors Sancho and García], so he cannot get Coin from the Taifas box. So, he gives it up. He Disbands. Lérida too, forks over cash and dignity. This time John opts to maintain the siege of Lérida, giving me temporary Jihad points, with the plan to overrun the fortifications in the next Campaign.

Nothing compares to those headline events. Yusuf remains frustrated outside of Coria. Alfonso hoards gigantic amounts of Provender to Feed a gigantic army. And I’m nearly out of Lords and running out of options. At least there’s only one turn left to survive!

Late Autumn 1086

For two years, Alfonso and Sancho have driven into the divided remnants of al-Andalus to try to bend the Iberian Peninsula to their will. Now Winter approaches again, and with it the promise of a long truce, the balance of power altered, perhaps forever.

John’s last turn has closed the gap in our scores. He’s now at 17 points to my 19.5 at the outset of the turn. All of my Lords are out of position, other than a very comfortable Abu Bakr, who sits in Valencia eating grapes. Sir is sitting in Parias-paying Almería—Neutral Taifas are not Friendly Locales required for Muster, a rule I frequently overlook until my Lords are sitting around unable to take on new Assets or Capabilities. Yusuf and al-Mutamid besiege Coria. For his part, John cannot Muster with Sancho and García Ordoñez. This is the trade-off each made for operational considerations.

Events come out. John draws two Hold cards. I draw the Muslim Al-Qadir event [al-Qadir historically, after the Christians gave him a seat, balked at paying his due Parias – Volko], which puts a Jihad down on the map. I drop it in Alcántara on the way between Badajoz and Coria, thinking about potentially wanting to put it somewhere where Yusuf can reach. Had I remembered the Muster rules in time, I would have dropped it on Sir in Almería, who would then have been in a Friendly Locale and could have at least used his Lordship.

My plan this turn has three basic components: (1) I need to conquer Coria, (2) I need to be able to fight Alfonso, and (3) I need to respond to the imminent loss of Lérida.

To these ends, I give Abu Bakr AL-GARRADA, the remote raiding ability during Levy, and I frontload Yusuf Command cards in the Campaign Planning phase. I put Abu Bakr cards in both the middle and end of my Plan stack. Recent changes to the remote raiding cards on either side require the Ravaging Lord to both pay a Provender to use the ability and spend an entire Command card doing so. I’m trying to make sure Abu Bakr gets food quick enough that he can get off a raid or two before Sancho can potentially move south to counter him, without depriving Yusuf of the ability to act quickly to take Coria.

Of course, nothing ever goes quite to plan. Sancho begins advancing his Siege of Fortress Lérida. John is in one of those awkward positions. His Lords Sancho and García were already committed to the Siege, so they could not Muster to acquire the BATTERING RAM ability that John generally relies on to starve out Besieged Locales. He could have Mustered the ability with Eudes, but that would have meant spending a Command card just to bring up Eudes to the Siege, while John also needs cards to advance the Siegeworks and for Alfonso to carry out his operations.

John winds up conducting two Siege actions with Sancho, but the City holds firm. All my contingency planning with Abu Bakr turns out to be unnecessary. My first cards with Yusuf get lucky. He is able to take on 9 Provender on his first Command card, then advances the Siege on the second and rolls a very fortunate ace to bring Coria to heel. John’s focus also switches west, as his next Command card sees Alfonso activate to take on Provender in preparation for a March south.

Sir activates as well. Other than taking advantage of the moment to play MALIKI ISLAM, which adds 2 Jihad markers to Granada Taifa where he’s hanging out, he takes on some Supply. But I don’t have more cards for him, so he really won’t accomplish anything more. I have some ideas on how to use him more effectively next time, which I’ll put in a later report containing my reflections at 30,000 feet.

John marches his mega-army of Alfonso, El Cid, Pedro, and Alvar down to Trujillo Castle near Toledo’s border with Badajoz. Trujillo has an accumulation four Jihad markers by now, a consequence of various Jihad Event cards, long periods of the game when Toledo was the only Parias Taifa, and me trying to keep some parts of Toledo Friendly to the Muslims. John moves in with Alfonso one turn, then moves to Storm the Castle the following turn with El Cid, using the benefit of the El Cid Capability to pull SURPRISE out of the deck. SURPRISE gives him an instant second Siege marker, i.e., two Rounds to win rather than one. [A slight misreading of SURPRISE here, which requires March to a Stronghold where no Lord for the instant extra Siege and Storm with Walls -2. So no need for Alfonso to March there first. (Not much of a surprise if Alfonso is already there!) – Volko]

A side-note about playtesting. Volko is a somewhat inscrutable, sometimes seemingly capricious deity. Lately he’s been tinkering with the numbers around Walls, Storm, and related Capabilities. Halfway through 1086, we discovered that Walls had suddenly become 1-5 saves in Castles and Fortresses instead of 1-4 [a change since reversed]. And now we are told that SIEGE TOWERS take an extra combat Round before they come into effect and apply only a -1 reduction to Walls protection. There are some other changes to rewards for different Strongholds. (John has followed these changes closer than I have, because I am generally not in a position to Storm Strongholds).

And John is appreciating some of these changes as the Storm attempts gets under way. Although the Castle’s Garrison is just a Men-at-Arms and a Militia unit, they are able to weather most Hits. Again, John is slightly wrong-footed—El Cid has SIEGE TOWERS, but he is first on the card. John wants to bring in Pedro in the second Round, because he has a larger and more powerful force, but he lacks SIEGE TOWERS. The Castle’s small size is actually a powerful defense mechanism, as it prevents John from bring the full force of his four Lords to bear. Only one can be in combat at a time. John is ultimately successful, but at the cost of two Men-at-Arms unit from Pedro and one from El Cid—a Crusader Knight unit is Routed in battle but recovers. John Conquers the Castle, taking those Jihad markers off the board and placing a Conquered marker instead.

[Various aspects of the above sequence would be different under changes in part spurred by this playtest. SIEGE TOWERS are now on the lower half of the same card as Surprise on the upper half, a nifty way to show that it would be quite difficult to surprise a castle’s garrison while building or pushing around siege towers. At the same time, SIEGE TOWERS now apply to whatever Lords are in front—the Storming Lord are willing to share them. – Volko]

My last Command card for Yusuf comes in to play. I contemplate a few end-of-game options. I could rush him north into León to try and pick up a quick half-point ravage. But I decide against this, figuring that I risk being caught in battle by Alfonso and company, where a loss could see a late Disband of Al-Mutamid, whose Taifa status changes are triple the normal value. Instead, I make a shorter March down to Mérida, blocking Alfonso’s forces in Trujillo and, importantly, impeding their path into Sevilla. If they could get into Sevilla, they could Ravage and potentially inflict enough Service damage on al-Mutamid to send him home. John doesn’t like the look of going up against Yusuf and al-Mutamid, even with all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, so he instead slinks back into León.

I think he might have tried for more points with a last-ditch effort of flinging Alfonso at Yusuf. I would have been put in a more awkward position than I think he realizes. I could withdraw and let him waltz into Sevilla and burn the Taifa into the ground until Al-Mutamid cried uncle, or I could stand and fight him and risk al-Mutamid’s Disband, Parias payment, and concession of points. Al-Mutamid has a slight Calendar buffer, but two shifts would have taken him out as the curtain falls.

My last card is Abu Bakr. The Fortress at Lérida has held out through the end, and so my brilliant plan to retaliate against Reconquista Lérida with long-distance Ravaging is thwarted. I consider simply Passing on the card—Abu Bakr has no way to put points on the board for me. But instead I opt to keep with tradition and have him Tax.

And thus concludes the conflict. The final score stands at 18 points for the Christians (8 Conquered markers on the board, 5 Parias Taifas, plus 10 Ravages at ½ point each) to 20 for the Muslims (1 Conquered marker on the map, 12 in the box, and the rest in Jihad and Ravage).

Some Final Thoughts

In 1492, the last remnant of al-Andalus surrendered to the armies of the Reyes Católicos as Granada capitulated to its besiegers. Though Muslim subjects continued to live in Spain until their eventual expulsion by royal decree in 1609, even mounting the occasional armed uprising, thereafter the Iberian Peninsula remained under the control of Catholic monarchs. Nonetheless, al-Andalus’s mark across Spain remains indelible, seen in the art and architecture of southern Spain in buildings created by the Moors or built by the Christians as an homage or imitation of Moorish grandeur. It can be heard in the music and vocalizations of flamenco as well, reminiscent of the quavering Muslim call to prayer. Indeed, I often put on a flamenco playlist in the background during my sessions with John, to put myself in the mood for an evening’s turn. And so, it’s a bit bittersweet to see this game conclude, and to see my nights after work return to something a bit more normal, at least for a little while. – Phil

[In Part III, we will take in Phil’s reflections on this playtest as well as those of his opponent John. Thank you for following along here, and please join us then!  – Volko]

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