Saludos, damas y caballeros—We arrive at our final installment of Phil Dreher’s full-length scenario replay of Levy & Campaign Series Volume II, Almoravid. In this final chapter, Phil’s opponent on the Christian side John Campbell joins him for their wrap-up reflections on Volume II, their campaigning, and strategy lessons. As before, all art here is playtest only and all game details described provisional rather than authoritative.

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Levy & Campaign—Differences from Volume I

John: As background, I had a fairly solid knowledge about the Spanish Reconquista and crusading in the 11th Century. I had played Nevsky only solitaire, and so any mistakes I made were really never uncovered as there was no one to point them out. Fortunately, the rules are clear, I taught myself the game and only had to ask a handful of questions. 

Each turn in Levy & Campaign begins with a Levy phase where you can bring in Lords and Muster Transport (Mules and Carts), Vassals, and Capabilities such as raiders or Crossbows. Mules are very useful if one needs to cross mountain Passes with Provender, but you must Feed them. It is not required but really helpful if one can amass enough Transport to reach back to a Supply source, but generally speaking that’s not usually the case if you’re on the offensive. 

After Levy comes the Campaign phase. Depending upon the Season, you will have 7-8 Command cards to pick from each corresponding to one of your leaders. Getting the order down is one of the funner aspects of the game because, much like a chit-pull system, your opponent might get to a Locale just before you or take a Castle just before you arrive to defend it, and so on. 

Phil: So there’s obviously a good deal in Almoravid that’s pretty similar to Nevsky. You still spend whole turns, especially as the Muslim player, where the wisest thing to do is to sit tight, Muster Capabilities and Assets, and use your Commands to Tax. You know, it is the Levy & Campaign Series, and so Levying is 50% of the product. Field Battle is still rare, brief, and violent. Far more likely is the kind of cagey chase that occurred in Early Autumn 1086 between Yusuf and Alfonso, as much about Provender management as about arms and armor.

Let’s talk about some differences, and some of the different factors that may be worth thinking about when John and I do our next session, or as Volko tweaks the rules after watching us from his home dimension which I assume is composed of pure mathematics.

Different Lords—Christian, Taifa, Almoravid. The difference between Christian and Muslim factions is far more pronounced than that between the Teutons and the Rus. The Teutons might have been a bit tougher pound-for-pound, but both sides had relatively comparable Lords. To me, as the Muslim player, the Christian Lords look like fancy Cadillacs. Shiny Armor, lots of Command, lots of Lordship, multi-unit Vassals. Every Christian Lord starts with a Provender already on board—that is, ready to March without any further action being necessary. These are Lords who are all-around useful in seemingly every circumstance.

My Muslim Lords, meanwhile, basically fall into three categories:

• Standing alone is Al-Mutamid is like a Toyota Camry or Honda Civic. Long operating life. Sensible features—two Lordship means I can think about adding a Transport and a Capability or Vassal in the same turn at least, and he’s even got a nice multi-unit Vassal. Three Command to get you where you need to go. Add the HASHAM ability to squeeze out an extra Command—it’s like putting the spoiler, double-muffler, and flame paint on him. You could almost be convinced he was a sports car.
• What to make of the other Taifa Lords? A bit like a half-preserved ’89 Geo, owned by a decent-mechanic who’s just about keeping the thing running. Just one measly Lordship. With Wastage rules, an ill-planned turn sees your Taifa Lord strain like Sysyphus to add an Asset to his mat, only to see wastage take the Asset away at the end. Fewer Armored troops, generally one-unit Vassals. Tooling them up for Battle is agonizingly slow.
• And then there are the Almoravids, Yusuf and Sir, who are like an entirely different beast. Big, monstrous Humvees. Gas mileage, in the words of McBain: “One highway, zero city.” Here are Lords that are built to fight and to win. The downside is that Feeding them requires either spending turns tooling them up, adding capabilities like DAWUD IBN AISHA or AL-YAZIRAT AL‑HADRA that make their Supply actions more efficient, or literally paying to keep them in the field as they repeatedly outpace their resupply abilities. To say nothing of what happens when they link up with your Taifa Lords, who are then forced to Feed them when the Almoravids run out of their own provisions.

Also worth noting that the Christians start out with a Marshal, which gives a ton of operational flexibility to them. A Marshal, unlike a Lieutenant, can add and drop Lords at will as he passes by them. Alfonso’s nickname should be the Taxista, since a good chunk of his work involved ferrying around his compatriots. They’ve also got the ALFÉREZ ability that allows them to designate Lieutenants in the midst of a Command card at the price of one Command. My only Marshal shows up in the second half of Scenario F, and I do not have a Capability equivalent to ALFÉREZ.

In our next playthrough, I’ll be thinking more about applying a division of labor and using some Taifa Lords to sit back and accumulate global Capabilities and keep the Taifas box full. 

Terrain. Some aspects of Almoravid are actually simpler than Nevsky, and terrain is one of them. There are only two kinds of Ways, Roads and Passes, with Passes being more restrictive. Many of the borders, for instance, most of the border of León, can only be crossed by the more restrictive Passes. There are some subtle twists and turns to the Ways that have surprising results, such as when both Yusuf and Alfonso were on the wrong sides of their own Supply lines, cutting each other off.

Seasons. This is a second aspect that is generally simpler than Nevsky. Nevsky is a bit like playing HORSE poker—a little Hold ‘Em, a bit of Omaha, a little Stud, and hey just for kicks a bit of Razz and hell why not a bit of Eight-or-Better Hi-Lo while we’re here. Each Season a different length, different Transport Assets are suddenly useless, different things need to be the focus of operations. 

Leaving aside things in Almoravid like Curias and Winter, the actual operational Seasons here play fairly similarly to each other. The difference between seven Command cards in Spring and Autumn versus eight in Summer is not nearly as pronounced as four versus six in Nevsky. In short, Nevsky is often as much about figuring out how to beat the terrain and the Seasons as it is about beating your opponent. Almoravid sees you focused more straightforwardly on your opponent.

Because you have more Command cards in each turn, but about the same number of Command cards per Lord, you have to think a lot more about where to put your emphasis. Trying to put too many balls in the air is a surefire way to drop all of them. 

Reflections on Our Campaigns …

Tactics flow from superior position.

Bobby Fisher

John: I can’t say that my failure in conquering Toledo in early 1085 cost the Christians the game. When I look over the final board composition—the armies’ strengths, Castles, Towns and Fortresses won and lost—I feel good. Enemies vanquished, their lands Ravaged, our borders expanded: it feels like victory.  Alas, without the crown jewel of Toledo or its equivalent all is for naught. An entire month’s Command—movement-Provender-Siege-Supply-Siege, wash, rinse, repeat—down the drain due to negligence of the defense of the Siegeworks, which allowed al-Mutamid to come in and push out Álvar Fáñez.

At that point forward, I spurred my Christian subjects to almost reckless endeavors to close the gap and retake Southern Spain from the Muslim invaders.  The chronicles hereafter must be taken with a grain of salt. Most of what is written comes from an aging king whose memories are not nearly as swift as his steady steed that carried him as he weathered two Sieges and led the drive for Reconquista.

1085. Alfonso in the Spring Marches to Toledo with García in tow. Siege Supply Siege, wash rinse repeat is the order of the day. City defenses hold and Alfonso makes a fateful decision to leave Pedro alone to man the Siege while Alfonso and Álvar head north to prepare for the next Season. Calamity ensues when al-Mutamid strikes and drives Pedro from the Siege. Since culminating a Siege takes a full Season of effort against even not fully capable enemy Lords, the Christian King decides to forego any further action against Toledo.

Our efforts require the enlistment of El Cid, a mercenary lately of employ with the Muslims. He along with King Alfonso VI raze and Ravage the province of Zaragoza in hopes of turning al‑Mustain against his Taifa compatriots and into a Parias tributary. By late Summer, Muslim forces have advanced in our lands and taken our Castle at Calahorra.

In what turns out to be the best Campaigning Season for the Christians, the first Autumn sees a combined force of Alfonso VI and El Cid Conquer the Muslim’s Fortress of Medinacelli and their Castles of Calatayud and Guadalajara.

1086. In the Spring, Christian forces manage to take Huesca (a Fortress just north of the City of Zaragoza). In early summer, the African commander Yusuf arrives. El Cid considers relieving the Siege of our Town of Coria in the West but decides against it. Later Alfonso VI joins forces with El Cid and their threat lifts the Siege of Coria. 

In Autumn 1086, the Christians rally back home across the mountain range and await the arrival of Yusuf. We opt not to go full-frontal attack. García and King Sancho in the East defeat the combined armies of al‑Mundir and Abd Allah. Abd Allah was slain on the field while al‑Mundir sensibly decided to turn Neutral after we razed just a single Locale in his Taifa’s Territory.

A game of cat and mouse ensues with Yusuf’s main force. El Cid manages at heavy cost to Storm a small Castle full of Jihadists in southern Toledo Taifa. With one Command left, King Alfonso VI could have launched an assault at Yusuf and others but decides the better of it and heads back to León.

Phil: The Tough Guys—Almoravids. At the time that I brought in the Almoravids, my thoughts on my situation was that, actually, I could have comfortably just deferred them for the remainder of the game to accumulate eight more points (it would now be six more points after the latest balance tinkering). The Taifa Lords could just hold out, maybe toss out a Ravage here or there to keep it interesting, but generally just coast to victory. I called them in during the early Summer because I wanted to give those shiny Humvees a spin!

It turned out, though, that my position was not quite as solid as I thought it was, and that a few more of my Taifa Lords were taken out than I expected. Within two turns, the only Lords I had on the board were two Taifa Lords, Al-Mutamid and Abu Bakr, and the Africans Yusuf and Sir, of which really only Al-Mutamid and Yusuf were operationally active in a meaningful way. Since I don’t think that Yusuf’s presence created an opportunity cost that deprived me of the ability to preserve Al-Mundir and Abd Allah, I have to conclude that bringing in the Almoravids basically saved me from my own stupidity.

Bringing them in as late as I did meant that I lost time tooling them up. Basically, you should expect that the Almoravids will either be useless or expensive the turn you bring them in, because you won’t be able to add Transport or Capabilities that make them at least a little more self-sufficient. Neither Sir nor Yusuf can take the HASHAM +1 Command point boost for having a cavalry elite, a restriction that makes them a little bit slow to get into the fight once they are ready to move. [Design note: The presence of Yusuf’s elite “Black Guard” as an Almoravid vanguard is already accounted for in his “3” Command rating and therefore is not duplicated in an option for him to benefit from HASHAM. Historically, the Almoravids in 1086 saw themselves in strange lands and untrusted company and so moved only slowly and deliberately from their summer landing at Algeciras to their late-October clash with Alfonso at Sagrajas. – Volko]

In fact, replaying the scenario, I might try bringing in Sir first, before his Marshal Yusuf. Sir can spend his turn tooling up, carrying out the army’s tasks of taking on Provender and then Levying a Capability like AL-YAZIRAT AL‑HADRA [doubling the efficiency of the Almoravids’ Supply source at Algeciras]. Yusuf then could show up with his 3 Command and more quickly bring Sir somewhere useful. I might also recycle the GUADALQUIVIR global Capability sooner in the hopes that I would redraw it as the AFRICAN FLEET Hold event, where it could help put these Lords into action. [“Global” here means a Capability card that affects all or several Lords on a side, not just attached to one Lord. The GUADALQUIVIR Capability and AFRICAN FLEET Event both provide amphibious movement but appear on the same card and so cannot both be in play at once.]

To the extent that I held off on calling these Lords to forestall the arrival of the crusader Eudes, this was either very effective or completely unnecessary. Eudes Mustered in Early Autumn of 1086 and accomplished little, being generally too fragile to contribute. Much like the efforts against COVID, it’s hard to know if my efforts looked successful because they were an overreaction or if they looked like an overreaction because they were successful. I may try bringing the Almoravids in earlier next time just to see what happens if Eudes has a bit more room to breathe. 

The Tough Guys, continued—El Cid. John immediately Levied El Cid. To me, this intuitively seems like the best move for him, at least in any given run-through of Scenario F. Yes, he could wait for me to pay El Cid first, so I’d be out the three coin as well as the Lord, but the value of permanently depriving me of a Lord with some strong Capabilities is definitely worth it at 2 VP, especially early in the game when the Christian player has a long time to make up the difference. 

I don’t envy Volko in trying to balance this aspect across the board for the game, since I think the sweet spot would make three options viable for the Christian player, if not exactly equal: (1) recruiting El Cid right away, (2) letting the Muslims mobilize him and then recruit him, (3) letting the Muslims mobilize him and never recruit him. Maybe a greater VP penalty for recruiting him once he has been Mustered by the Muslims, as Alfonso has to debase himself a bit more to beg El Cid to come over to his side? Fortunately, my job is merely to point out problems and leave others to sort them out.

[Phil and John’s and other playtests generated a long discussion with the rest of the Almoravid development team that yielded new rules and cards to try to get this tricky balance of Rodrigo’s cost and risk right. El Cid naturally must be a potent force should a player summon him to action. And summoning him should rest in the players’ hands. But he should be a mixed bag for either side—an untrustworthy freebooter—as historically each side hesitated to rely on him. In the game, his Muster must not be an obvious choice nor one that always tilts the war to one side or the other. – Volko]

… and Strategic Issues Raised

Phil: Taifas, Taifas, Taifas—Coin and the Taifa Box. During the course of the game, a tweak was made to Taifas Coin (aside from the frequently noted error) such that Taifas Coin could not be spent on a Lord under Siege. [This change returns to the same, more realistic restriction on Paying Lords as in Nevsky. – Volko] I thought little of it at the time, but it turned out to be utterly pivotal when it came to the attack on Lérida in our game—a small but vital difference that gives you something to think about. I go back and forth whether it might also make sense to cut Lords off from the Taifas box when they are in Christian territory as well. Thematically it makes sense to me that the Lords can’t access the collective wealth of the Taifas when too far from home. On the other hand, attacking León is not easy as it is, and I’m not sure it needs to be any harder.

Speaking of Coin…

Curias and Winter, actually you can take it with you… A few more thoughts about Curias and Winter. Muslim forces actually can take advantage of the Taifas box to protect Assets from the winter reset. Indeed, a shrewd Muslim player might want to forestall Mustering certain Lords in the hopes that they could Muster, donate all their Coin, hit Winter, and then benefit from the automatic re-Muster and the reappearance of another windfall of Coin. Meanwhile, all that accumulated Christian Coin is wiped out. If you’re not able to keep a Lord Mustered, let him fall to Parias without a second thought. Chances are four Coin are not as valuable to the Christian player right before Curias or Winter as they are at the outset of Spring or Summer.

But there’s a wrinkle to think of with respect to Curias, because the current rules allow for Curias to skip both Levy and Campaign for the Fall, and Winter only deals with Feed/Pay/Disband. In other words, once Alfonso invokes Curias, the Muslims can’t add any more Coin to the Taifas box. Thus, there’s a bit of incentive for the Taifa Lords to dump all their donations in the Taifas box in late Summer or whenever the Christian player becomes eligible for Curias. (I leave to the sound judgment of the designers whether this aspect is too gamey, and whether anything should be done about it.)

[I am happy with the Muslims’ dilemma of how much to consolidate their war chest in the Taifas box for security and efficiency or to hold it individually in case of Siege. A related decision for both sides, by the way, is how much to Coin to hold and how much to spend, because a DEVALUATION Event can on any turn nick a side’s unspent Coin. – Volko]

Taifa Politics. And Taifa Politics remain a really interesting aspect of the game. The Muslim player, by influencing which Lords are active and which go home, has the power to greatly reshape the scope of the game. With a bit of Coin and a single VP you can basically declare the game over, for a while, in a given Taifa. It doesn’t always feel good to do this, but it often makes sense. 

Remember the example of that most famous figure of Reconquista-era history, Homer Simpson. Specifically remember Season 8, Episode 3 of the Simpsons (or for our Spanish compañeros, Los Simpson), “The Homer They Fall.” Homer has “Homer Simpson Syndrome,” a medical condition in which his undersized brain is more protected by all the liquid around it, such that he is nearly immune to being knocked out. He becomes a successful amateur boxer, as his opponents tire themselves out ineffectually trying to beat him.

And that’s you, as the Muslim player. You’re not the best fighter. If you’re me, you’re not the smartest player at the table. But you’ve got the point advantage, and all you need to do is preserve that through the end. Absorbing blows is your whole game plan. Going Parias in the right moments is part of that game plan.

And beating you? Beating you takes a Drederick Tatum. It takes consistent pressure that eats into your lead a point or point and a half at a time. It takes a bit of daring to catch you at a vulnerable moment and press for the Reconquista instead of the Parias. And it takes, sometimes, just a little bit of luck.

John: Some final, overall strategy lessons for me …

Be organized.  Not having sufficient Transport or a reliable way to get Provender will grind your march to a halt very fast. 

When should I rally Vassals? This is situation dependent and I rarely run around in enemy territory with a size 6 or less army though they are much easier to manage Supply-wise.  That said, late game it clicked to me that In spring you should go heavy on Transport and move Lords near to the areas of operations you want them in. In Spring and Summer, go for Vassals and push on your goals. 

Choose your Battles. These are very dicey affairs. If you are the aggressor, then you want to have a distinct advantage in manpower or fighting power over your opponent or a combat Capability. Losing a field Battle can be disastrous, so I do not recommend throwing your armies at your opponent.

Pay attention to the Calendar. I am very good at this (see “Stay Organized” above). It will tell you what Lords have their Vassals Levied, when your Lords are planning to Disband, who is eligible for Mustering and when, plus what are the Seasonal conditions. At the end of certain Seasons, Ravage markers go down by half for Growth or Carts and Mules are halved in number for Plowing or Harvest.

Goodnight, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

Phil: “What are you up to? What do you mean you’re repelling crusaders in 11th-Century Spain?” My poor wife has been very patient with me and the amount of time that gets taken up in this run-through of Scenario F. She will be grateful to have me back for a few days. I myself need a bit of a recharge, maybe a palette cleanser, before plunging back in, so I think it will be at least a few days before John and I pick up with another run of Scenario F. But I do look forward to it and to seeing what another iteration with the two of us a little sharper for the experience will look like. 

Till next time—stay safe, wash your hands, and peace be with you all.

Phil

John: The system works elegantly, and there are many tense moments when playing. There are many tradeoffs to be made, and you’ll often have the feeling you cannot be everywhere at once. Agonizing decisions must be made such as to relieve a Siege, or to continue a Siege at the end of a Campaign but then not be able to Muster on the following Levy.

I’m in love with the game and can’t get enough playtime.

Cheers,

John Campbell

Columbus, OH

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Previous Article: 

Mío Cid: Almoravid Testers’ Replay – Part I

Mío Cid: Almoravid Testers’ Replay – Part II