Outremer Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Historical Background
• Components
  • Campaign Components
  • City Token Assembly Diagram
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
  • A. Events Area
  • B. Building Area
  • C. Tactics Area
  • D. Spies and Governors Areas
  • D. Holiness Area
  • E. Map of the Levant
  • G. Battle Area
  • Playing with 2 or 3 Players
  • Player Areas
• You Can Start Playing!
• Game Turn
  • Events Phase
    • Saracens Capture a City
    • Saracen Track Bonuses
  • Planning Phase
  • Activation Phase
  • Construction
  • Prayer
  • Muster Troops
  • March
  • Battle
  • Income Phase
• End of Game
  • Scoring Influence Points
• Additional Rules
  • Bulls
  • Governors
  • Player Turn Order
  • Buildings
  • Rescripts
  • Markets
  • Card Discard
  • Capital
  • Tactics
  • Homs
  • Spies
• Glossary
• List of Symbols
  • Orders
  • Cities and Buildings
  • Units and Tactics
  • Goods and Other Resources
  • March and Battle
  • Bishops and Holiness
  • Other Symbols
  • Operators
  • Campaign Scenarios
  • Campaign Terrain Types
  • Campaign Traits

Historical Background

July 15, 1099 AD. The Crusaders took Jerusalem by storm. The First Crusade accomplished its main goal — the liberation of the Christian holy places from the Muslims. But behind this noble and purely "religious" mission lay the mercantile aims of each of the participants in the invasion of the lands of the Levant — territory stretching from present-day Turkey to Egypt from north to south, and from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the west to Jordan and present-day Iraq in the east.

Some crusaders fled Europe from the burden of taxes and unjust laws; others (usually landless knights) hoped to receive land from a new suzerain, readily taking vassal oaths. But there were also not a few who were inspired by the speech of Pope Urban II, delivered at the Council of Clermont in 1095: such knights sewed a cross onto their cloaks purely out of religious conviction. The leaders of the First Crusade, such as Bohemond of Taranto, Godfrey and Baldwin of Bouillon, and Raymond of Toulouse, understood that after the capture of Jerusalem it would be necessary to build a life and maintain a new order on the conquered territory. As a result, four crusader states were formed — the County of Edessa (1098), the Principality of Antioch (1098), the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099), and a little later the County of Tripoli (1109).

While the nobles received new lands, titles, and other benefits of the newly formed states, settlers poured into the Levant, inspired by the news of the capture of Jerusalem and the restoration of Christian primacy over the shrines of the eternal city. This was quite timely, since the three-year campaign had considerably worn down the crusaders' forces. The Vatican, closely watching the Levant after the end of the crusade, sent new legates and bishops to the courts of the Latin rulers in order to strengthen the influence of the Roman throne in the new territories and, in the future, gain supremacy over the local patriarchates, such as the Antiochian one. The Roman bishops sought by every means to expand their flock, sometimes breaking existing ties that the local patriarchs had long built with representatives of other confessions.

The economy of the new states required substantial monetary resources, and as a result the crusaders sought to monopolize trade in the Middle East and control all commerce.

The military and economic victories of some turned into the defeat of others. The Seljuks and various Arab tribes, which went down in the history of the crusades under the common name of Saracens, lost lands and influence over them as a result of the First Crusade. The Saracens demanded revenge, historical satisfaction, and constantly attacked the young states, sometimes capturing their leaders, as happened with Baldwin I, Bohemond of Taranto, and also with Count Baldwin of Edessa (Baldwin of Bourcq), who would later become Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem. These raids, and sometimes organized campaigns with sieges of cities, led to vassal service in the Middle East no longer being limited to 40 days a year, as in medieval Europe, but becoming year-round. This was a matter of survival. And in many ways this determined the difficult fate of the Levantine states.

Diplomatic intrigues, outright betrayals and espionage sabotage, the influence of the church and neighboring empires could provide the basis for a gripping modern TV series, and they inspired us to create this board game. It will immerse you in the whirlpool of events of the first half of the 12th century — the time between the First and Second Crusades. This period became the golden age of the crusader states in the Middle East.

In creating the game, we sought to honor the realities of the historical era, though we did not shy away from artistic interpretation. Any resemblance is not coincidental.

Components

• Game board
• Battle board
• Double-sided battle token
• 4 state boards
• 10 automa tokens (for 2- or 3-player games)
• 64 wooden troop pieces (16 of each color)
• 16 order tokens (4 of each color)
• 40 bishop tokens (10 of each color)
• 13 double-sided wall tokens
• 60 influence tokens valued 1, 3, 5, and 9
• 45 coin tokens valued 1 and 3
• 28 double-sided coat-of-arms/prohibition tokens (the prohibition side is used in 2- or 3-player games)
• 8 raid tokens
• 42 goods tokens
• 25 Saracen tokens
• This rulebook
• 12 event cards
• 13 assembled city tokens and 13 eyelets
• 32 rescript cards
• 20 Saracen cards
• 58 tactic cards
• 20 governor cards
• 4 player aid cards
• 26 building cards
• 16 spy cards
• 16 bull cards
• 1 Homs card

Campaign Components

• Scenario book
• Scenario "Beginning of the Chronicle"
• Campaign chronicle (a notebook for recording)
• 20 nickname cards

Scenario "Levantine Merchants": trade board, 8 event cards, 12 tactic cards, 12 building cards.

Scenario "Vassal of My Vassal": 16 oath cards, 8 event cards, 16 rescript cards, 8 spy cards.

Scenario "Rise of the Crescent": 10 commander cards, 8 event cards, 10 Saracen cards, 12 tactic cards, 1 commander figure with a stand.

City Token Assembly Diagram

Before your first game, assemble the 13 city tokens as shown in the illustration. Each city token consists of three parts fastened together with an eyelet. The top part of the token must be able to rotate — players turn it to raise or lower the city's level.

Goal of the Game

Write your name in history by ending the game with the most influence points. Players earn influence points each round by completing the tasks set before their state and spreading religious influence, and at the end of the game they additionally earn influence points for completing secret goals (bulls), achieving special conditions, and accumulated coins.

Setup

At the start of setup, each player chooses their state: Jerusalem, Tripoli, Edessa, or Antioch. Take 16 wooden pieces and 16 cardboard tokens bearing your state's coat of arms — they will be needed to organize the board. Set aside the pieces and tokens of states not in play (in 2- or 3-player games) next to the board — they may also come in handy.

Note: the single-color reverse side of the board is not used in play and illustrates the artist's work. Read more about this on page 11.

Place the game board in the center of the table and set it up by area as indicated below.

A. Events Area

1. Shuffle the event cards and, without looking, draw 6 cards from them. Place these cards face down in the event card space. Put the remaining event cards back in the box.

2. Shuffle the raid tokens and place 1 random token face down on each empty space of the Saracen track. Put the remaining 3 tokens back in the box without looking.

3. Shuffle the deck of Saracen cards and place it face down in the space under the event cards.

B. Building Area

1. Divide the building cards into three decks so that each deck contains cards sharing the same card back. Shuffle each deck and place them in the upper spaces of the building area as shown in the illustration. Turn the right-hand deck of level-0 building cards (buildings with a compass on the back) face up so that the "Bazaar" building is visible.

2. Reveal the top 3 cards of the left-hand deck (level IV, with 4 goods symbols at the bottom of the front) and lay them out on the market spaces of that column from top to bottom.

3. Reveal the top 5 cards of the central deck (with 1 or 2 goods symbols at the bottom of the front) and lay them out on the remaining market spaces from top to bottom.

In a 3-player game, take the coat-of-arms tokens of the state not participating in the game and cover the space with four hammers with the prohibition side. Lay out 1 fewer level I–II card.

In a 2-player game, cover the spaces with three and four hammers with prohibition tokens, and lay out 2 fewer level I–II cards.

C. Tactics Area

Divide the tactic cards into several decks:

1. Set aside 20 level-0 tactic cards (cards with state coats of arms on the front) — they will be needed later.

2. Find the level-IV tactic cards (with 4 goods symbols at the bottom of the front), shuffle them, and place the resulting deck face down in the right-hand space with one white sword. Reveal the top 3 cards of this deck and lay them out on the market spaces from top to bottom.

3. Shuffle the remaining level I–II tactic cards (with 1 or 2 goods symbols at the bottom of the front) and place the resulting deck face down in the upper central space with one black sword. Reveal the top 5 cards of this deck and lay them out on the remaining market spaces.

In a 3-player game, cover the space with four swords with a prohibition token, and lay out 1 fewer level I–II card.

In a 2-player game, cover the spaces with three and four swords with prohibition tokens, and lay out 2 fewer level I–II cards.

D. Spies and Governors Areas

1. Shuffle the spy cards and place them face down in the space with the flask, below the tactics area.

2. If this is your first time playing: find and set aside the starting governor cards (with the coats of arms of Jerusalem, Tripoli, Edessa, and Antioch on the front) — you will need them later. In your second and subsequent games, players choose their starting governors later, during setup of the player area.

3. Shuffle the deck of governors and place it face down in the space with one spear in the governors area. Reveal the top 5 governor cards and lay them out on the market spaces.

In a 3-player game, cover the space with four spears with a prohibition token, and lay out 1 fewer governor card.

In a 2-player game, cover the spaces with three and four spears with prohibition tokens, and lay out 2 fewer governor cards.

D. Holiness Area

1. Take the wooden pieces bearing the coats of arms of the states in play, and place them on the holiness track in the spaces of the matching color — these are the holiness markers.

In a 2–3 player game, place the holiness markers of the absent states on the far-right spaces of the holiness track (one space in a 3-player game, or two spaces in a 2-player game). Example setup, if only Jerusalem and Edessa are playing: [see illustration].

2. Divide the rescript cards into two decks — level I and level II rescripts (the back of level I rescripts shows a raven, level II shows a dove). Shuffle each deck separately and lay them face down in their spaces — level I rescripts to the left of the holiness track, level II to the right.

E. Map of the Levant

1. Place the wall tokens on the board as follows: the green token showing side "3" in Homs, and tokens showing side "2" in every other city except the capitals (Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem are the capitals). The geometric shape on the shield printed on the board must match the same shape on the wall token. The wall token shows the city's current level — for capitals this is 1 at the start of the game. Set aside the remaining wall tokens next to the board.

2. Place 1 goods token in every city except the capitals, so that the token's color matches the city's color and its shape matches the shape on the wall token. Each good has a unique color and shape: wood (Apamea, Tadmor), candles (Baalbek, Turbessel), steel (Damascus, Tortosa), horses (Acre, Aleppo), spices (Homs).

3. Place 1 Saracen troop token in every city except the capitals. Then add another Saracen troop token to each of the 5 central cities — Aleppo, Apamea, Baalbek, Damascus, and Homs.

4. Place the wooden starting-troop pieces in the capitals, in the quantity shown on the state board (Jerusalem — 4, Edessa — 5, Tripoli — 5, Antioch — 6). The coats of arms on the pieces must match the state's coat of arms. Remove the pieces belonging to non-playing states to the box.

5. Place 1 level-I bishop token of the matching color in each capital. (The bishop's level is shown on the front of the token.) The tokens are placed face down.

6. Set aside, next to the board, reserves of all coin tokens, influence points, the remaining goods, the remaining Saracen troops, and the assembled city tokens. On every city token, turn the central element so you can see the sector showing the starting city level — this equals that city's level on the map of the Levant (shown on the wall token or directly on the board); its sector is lighter than the other two. Leave room next to the reserves for the shared discard pile.

G. Battle Area

Place the battle board next to the game board and put the battle token on the value "0" on the track.

Playing with 2 or 3 Players

In a 3-player game, cover the capital of the absent state with a prohibition token. Do not place troops or bishops there. For the rest of the game, treat this city as if it does not exist (pieces and tokens cannot be placed or moved there, and it cannot be moved through).

Prepare the automa: take 5 automa tokens (1 order of each type, plus 1 boost token) and place them next to the board.

In a 2-player game, cover the capitals of the absent states with prohibition tokens, along with the city between them (for example, if Edessa and Antioch are absent, cover them and Turbessel). Do not place troops, bishops, Saracens, or goods there. For the rest of the game, treat these cities as if they do not exist.

Prepare the automa: take all 10 automa tokens (2 orders of each type, plus 2 boost tokens) and place them next to the board.

Important! In a 2-player game, only neighboring states are available for play. In other words, you cannot choose the pairs Jerusalem–Antioch or Edessa–Tripoli.

Player Areas

1. Each player takes the state board for the state they chose: Jerusalem, Tripoli, Edessa, or Antioch.

2. Take your starting coins from the general supply, in the amount shown on the board under the state's coat of arms, and place them in the storage area on your board.

3. Place all your troop pieces and bishop tokens bearing your state's coat of arms next to your board. Bishop tokens sit in reserve face down, and only their owner may look at their face.

4. Take 4 order tokens in your state's color (Jerusalem: white, Tripoli: yellow, Edessa: blue, Antioch: red).

5. Take the 5 previously set-aside starting tactic cards bearing your state's coat of arms on the front, and place them face down next to your board.

6. Place your capital token in the first (labeled) city space on your board.

7. Take 1 random bull card and place it next to your state board without showing its face to other players. Variant for experienced players: take 2 random bulls, choose one, and put the other back in the box. Once all players have taken a bull, return the rest to the box.

8. Take a goods token from the general supply matching the color of your capital and place it in the storage area on your board. Note that goods tokens are double-sided: the reverse (gray) side is used for spent goods.

9. If this is your first time playing: insert the starting governor card bearing your state's coat of arms under the middle part of your capital token, as shown in the illustration. In your second and subsequent games, each player draws two cards from the top of the governor deck, inserts one into their capital token, and places the other back under the governor deck.

You Can Start Playing!

Story campaign. In Outremer there are two modes of play — standalone games independent of one another, and a sequence of scenarios joined together by a story campaign. Even if you are sitting down to play for the first time, you can begin the campaign right away and immerse yourself in the history of this period, as well as unlock additional components not available in the base game. To do this, read the rules of the game and then move on to the scenario book. A new campaign begins with the scenario "Beginning of the Chronicle" — your first game will kick off the epic story of the crusader states' struggle for dominance over the Levant!

Game Turn

The game is divided into rounds, during which players jointly play through 4 phases: the Events Phase, the Planning Phase, the Activation Phase, and the Income Phase.

Events Phase

In this phase, a random historical event intervenes in the crusaders' plans, and the Saracens receive reinforcements and raid the crusader cities.

1. Event. The first player (whose marker sits furthest right on the holiness track) reveals the top event card from the deck, reads its effect aloud, and resolves it (it may be immediate or remain in effect until the end of the round). The lower (green) part of the event card is the result of the Saracen raid (see point 2b below).

To decode the effects of events and other cards, use the glossary and the list of symbols on pages 34–35.

2. Saracen actions. In the first round, skip all Saracen actions; instead reveal the top raid token and move on to the Planning Phase.

In the second and subsequent rounds, look at the revealed raid token on the Saracen track. Its color/good (wood, candles, steel, or horses) sets the activation color — only cities of that color/good will activate in this phase.

2a. Reinforcement. In every Saracen city of the activated color, place 1 Saracen troop from reserve. If the reserve of Saracen troops runs out, no new ones are placed during this step.

Important! New Saracen troops are never placed in the central city of Homs when reinforcements are resolved.

2b. Raids. Move 1 non-last Saracen troop from each neighboring city into every crusader city of the activated color. These crusader cities become targets of the Saracen raid. In this phase, crusaders do not fight the Saracens (no battles are resolved) — players only suffer the raid's consequences.

If the city of Homs comes under crusader control, it will be the target of a Saracen raid every round.

Each city is controlled either by the Saracens (if it contains Saracen troops — then it is a Saracen city), or by one of the crusaders (if it contains that player's troops — then it is that crusader's city). During raids and battle, the city belongs to the defending side; at the end of the raid or battle, the city's owner may change.

Important! If several cities belonging to different players must become raid targets, resolve these effects one after another in player order (by the position of the player markers on the holiness track, in order from right to left).

If several cities belonging to one player must become raid targets, that player may resolve the raids in any order they choose.

Subtract the raid strength (number of Saracen troops + any bonuses from the Saracen track — see Saracen Track Bonuses) from the city's strength (number of troops in the city + the wall bonus, equal to the number shown on the wall token): the resulting number determines the raid's outcome according to the text of the current event card. If the Saracens do not capture the city (see Saracens Capture a City), after the raid all the Saracen troops that took part return to the city they moved from, and players proceed to point 2c below. Discard the resolved event card to the shared discard pile.

Tip: so you don't forget which troops moved from which cities, place the troop tokens on the border between the origin city and the raid's target.

Example. The activation color is steel, and 1 non-last Saracen troop moves into Edessa from each of Aleppo and Turbessel (there is no raid from Tadmor, since it has only 1 Saracen troop there). Edessa has 3 troops and a wall of 3. The strength difference is (3+3)−2=4 in the crusaders' favor.

According to the current event card, "Wind of Change" (outcome table: 0 or less — lose the city; 1–4 — discard 2 troops, except the last one, otherwise −1 coin per troop not discarded; 5+ — discard 1 troop, except the last one), at a difference of 4 the player must discard 2 troops from the attacked city. After this, both Saracen troops return to Aleppo and Turbessel.

Saracens Capture a City

If the raid's strength is equal to or greater than the city's strength, the player is forced to lose the city:

1. The player retreats with all their troops (i.e., moves them) from this city into another of their neighboring cities. If this is not possible, all troops in this city are destroyed — they return to the player's reserve.

2. The captured city comes under Saracen control. Leave all the Saracen troops that took part in the raid in this city. Do not reduce this city's level (for more on raising and lowering a city's level, see the "Construction" section on pages 18–19).

3. The player returns to the captured city, from their board, all the goods tokens that this city produces.

4. Discard the governor card from this city's token. Return this city's token to the general supply.

2c. New target. Discard the revealed raid token to the shared discard pile — this reveals a bonus underneath it (see Saracen Track Bonuses). Then reveal the next token on this track — it sets the Saracen activation color for the next round.

Saracen Track Bonuses

Sword icon: The strength of subsequent Saracen raids, as well as the defense of Saracen cities, increases by 1. Bonuses of this type stack.

Double/triple sword icon: With every subsequent Saracen raid, move 2 / 3 non-last Saracen troops (instead of 1, as at the start) from each neighboring Saracen city into the raid's target. Bonuses of this type do not stack — only the highest bonus of this type applies.

Planning Phase

In this phase, the crusader leaders coordinate their actions with the Papal See and weave intrigues against one another in the struggle for the Vatican's resources: players plan their actions for the current and next round by placing order tokens onto the cross.

Each player, in turn order, places one order token from their reserve onto the cross, then places another one — in the same order. Turn order is the order of the player markers on the holiness track, from right to left.

Example. In a 4-player game, in the first round, following the starting order, the players place orders as follows: Jerusalem (1) → Tripoli (2) → Edessa (3) → Antioch (4) → Jerusalem (5) → Tripoli (6) → Edessa (7) → Antioch (8).

Each player starts with 4 double-sided order tokens (Construction, Prayer, Muster Troops, and March) with a base side and a boosted side. Each token can only be placed in the sector matching its type (Construction — only in the left sector, Prayer — in the top, and so on). In addition, each order token can be placed either in the inner cell of the cross (A), to activate the base order, or in the outer cell (B), to activate the boosted order.

The inner cell lets you carry out an action this round. There is no limit on the number of order tokens in these cells. If the inner cell is occupied, you may place your token on top of the others, but you must pay 1 coin to each owner of the tokens beneath the one you are placing. If you don't have enough coins, you must either place a different order instead, or, if that's not possible, pass.

Calculate your resources and plan your orders ahead of time, so you don't lose the chance to act at the most critical moment!

When placing an order token in the outer cell, flip it to its boosted side face up and immediately take the top card from the spy deck (see Additional Rules — Spies, page 30). The need to take a spy card is indicated by the spy symbol in the cell. The action of such an order token will only be carried out next round, but will receive a bonus effect. Outer cells that are already occupied cannot be used.

Important! In the course of one round, a player cannot place more than 1 of their orders into outer cells. This means that if a player places their first token in an outer cell, they must place their second token in an inner cell.

Example. The Planning Phase of the first round begins (holiness order: Jerusalem → Tripoli → Edessa → Antioch).

1. Jerusalem decides to place a Prayer token in an outer cell (the token is placed boosted side up) — now this cell is unavailable to other players until the end of the phase. As a boost bonus, Jerusalem takes the top card of the spy deck.

2. Tripoli places a Construction token in an inner cell.

3. Edessa also wants to play Construction in an inner cell: to do so, Edessa pays Tripoli 1 coin and places their token on top of the yellow token.

4. Antioch places a Muster Troops token in an inner cell.

5. It's Jerusalem's turn again. A second outer cell cannot be occupied within one round, so Jerusalem may either plan Construction (paying 1 coin to Tripoli and 1 coin to Edessa), Muster Troops (paying 1 coin to Antioch), or March (free, since that cell is still empty). Jerusalem chooses Muster Troops, pays 1 coin to Antioch, and places their token on top of the red token.

6. Tripoli places a Prayer token in an inner cell.

7. Edessa places a Muster Troops token in an outer cell and receives 1 spy card.

8. Antioch places a March token in an inner cell.

In a 3-player game, use 5 automa tokens instead of the absent player: 4 base-order tokens and 1 boost token.

During setup, the absent player's holiness marker is placed on the farthest-right space of the holiness track. This marker cannot move, so the automa will always act on the 1st and 5th token during the Planning Phase. The automa behaves like the 3-player rule described above: as the automa's move, shuffle all of its tokens face down, reveal 1 of them, and place it in the inner cell of the matching type. If you reveal the boost token, set it aside until the end of the phase and reveal 1 more token: place the new token in the outer cell of the matching type, if possible (if the outer cell is already occupied, place the token in the matching inner cell instead). At the end of the Planning Phase, return the boost token to the automa reserve.

Automa tokens follow the general rules of planning: the automa pays players coins from the general supply when it places orders on an already-occupied inner cell, and players must also pay 1 coin to the general supply if they place an order on top of an automa token.

During the Activation Phase, do not carry out the effects of automa tokens — simply return them from the cross to the automa reserve.

In a 2-player game, use all 10 automa tokens.

During setup, the absent players' holiness markers are placed on the two farthest-right spaces of the holiness track. These markers cannot move, so the automa will always act on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th token during the Planning Phase. The automa behaves the same as in the 3-player rule, with one note: if, after revealing a boost token, another boost token is immediately revealed, set both tokens aside until the end of the phase and reveal a third automa token — only this order will be placed in an outer cell this round (however, more often the automa will have two boosted orders each round).

Activation Phase

In this phase, the crusaders develop their cities, spread religious influence, strengthen their army, and seize new lands: players resolve, in sequence, the orders placed on the cross.

Activate all orders from the inner cells in sequence, starting with Construction and then proceeding clockwise, ending with March. If several tokens lie in one cell, they are activated one at a time, from top to bottom.

To activate an order, its owner resolves its effects (all of which are described further on) and then returns the token to their reserve. Activating your own order counts as your turn (many game effects only trigger on your own turn). At the edges of the cross's sectors are iconographic reminders for each effect.

Having finished activating the orders from the inner cells, move all the orders from the outer cells into the matching areas of the inner cross. These orders will only be activated in the next round.

Construction

Construction governs the development of your cities' economy.

Each city has three parameters:

1. The city's level, representing the development of its infrastructure and the prosperity of its inhabitants — this parameter determines how many coins the city produces each round, its combat bonus when defending, and access to new goods (cities can be level 1, 2, or 3 — the level is always visible on the open sector of the city token and on the wall token on the board).

2. The good produced by the city (wood, candles, steel, horses, or spice) — the city's owner keeps the goods they control in their storage area, and may spend them to pay for various effects.

3. Terrain effects — special properties affecting the capture of a city; these effects are used exclusively in the campaign — ignore them in a standalone game.

In addition, Construction lets you build buildings — technological upgrades to your state that apply to all of your cities and are recorded on your player board.

Activating base Construction, carry out one or both actions, in any order:

• Upgrade a city. Choose 1 of your cities and raise its level by 1, paying the cost in goods (i.e., spending goods) shown on the city token's current sector, after the dotted line. If you don't have one or more of the required goods, or don't want to spend them, you may pay 1 coin instead of each such good. This counts as spending the required good (this may matter for certain effects).

  To spend a good, flip the matching good token in your storage area to its gray side. Such a token cannot be spent again until the next Income Phase, during which it flips back. In other words, spending goods does not discard the tokens — it only makes them inactive until the end of the round. If a rule tells you to restore a good, flip the matching spent good token back to its colored side.

  By raising a city's level, rotate the circular element of the city token clockwise, revealing the next sector. Then flip that city's wall token on the board so its value matches the new level.

  Each sector shows the good produced by the city and the number of coins it yields during the Income Phase. The level-1 and level-2 sectors also show the cost of raising to the next level. Upgrading some cities to level 3 grants an additional good as a bonus: in that case, immediately move a token of that good from the general supply to your storage (it may be spent that same round).

• Build a building. Choose 1 card from the building market — of level 0, I, or II — and pay its cost in goods. The building's level equals the number of goods in its cost. The level-0 building, the Bazaar, may be taken for free.

  If you don't have one or more of the required goods, or don't want to spend them, you may pay 1 coin instead of each such good. This counts as spending the required good.

Place the acquired building card in an open, unoccupied building space on your state board, so its effect is visible. Lay building cards out from the bottom up, covering the lower ones with new cards. If all available building spaces are occupied (there are 4 on each board), you must discard 1 of your building cards — either the one you just acquired, or one already on your board. (For more on how buildings work, see Additional Rules — Buildings, page 27.)

Example. The player playing Tripoli activates base Construction, performing 2 actions:

1. Spends 1 wood and another 2 coins to upgrade their capital from level II to III; immediately after upgrading, the player receives 1 wood to their storage as a bonus for reaching level 3; they will receive another 3 coins later, during the Income Phase.

2. Chooses and builds Castle Chapels from the market: the player has no steel, so they pay 2 coins and move the card to their board. Now, after each activation of a Muster Troops order, the player will be able to train (add to the board) a new bishop.

By activating boosted Construction, you receive the effect of base Construction with a discount of 2 goods (the discount may be split across different base actions in any combination). You may also additionally build 1 building of any level. This works the same as building a level 0–II building, but level III–IV buildings also become available for purchase — these especially powerful buildings can only be obtained through boosted Construction. (The 2-good discount does not apply to building this additional building.) Thus, boosted Construction lets you obtain 2 building cards at once: one through the base action, and another through the boosted action.

Example of applying the discount. The player playing Tripoli activates boosted Construction and wants to build a building costing 3 goods. Thanks to the discount, they can do this for 1 good, or they can pay 2 goods and apply the remaining 1-good discount toward building another card.

Prayer

Prayer lets players move along the holiness track, which represents the contribution of the crusader states to the unification of the Christian communities in the Levant and, as a result, symbolizes the Pope's favor toward the leaders of the states.

Position on the holiness track determines turn order in the Planning Phase, and movement along this track rewards bonuses:

1. Rescript cards — decrees of the Pope, represented in the game by one-use cards. A player may discard a rescript to play its special effect, which changes the game's rules, or to spend the rescript as one or all of the goods indicated at the top of the card (in this case, any goods indicated but not used for spending are lost). The rescript's level equals the number of goods indicated on it.

2. Bishop actions, performed by bishop tokens. These clergymen spread the influence of your church and are marked on the map of the Levant with mitre-shaped tokens bearing the player's state coat of arms. Their level, I or II, is shown on the reverse. Tokens are placed and moved face down, hiding their level from opponents.

The owner of a token may at any time secretly check their bishop's level.

If, in one city, the combined level of one player's bishops is higher than any other player's, that city is considered their holy land. Checking for contested holy lands (where bishops of different players are present) happens at the end of every round (see the Income Phase, page 25) or through the effect of certain rescripts: bishop tokens are flipped face up and each side's combined level is totaled — whoever has the higher total owns the holy land. If the levels are tied, the city is not considered anyone's holy land. For cities with only one player's bishops, no check is needed. Holy lands earn their owner influence points at the end of each round and matter for completing the game through righteousness, and for the effects of certain bulls and rescripts.

Activating base Prayer, receive 2 holiness points. You may additionally spend up to 4 candles to receive 1 more holiness point for each good spent. If you don't have one or more candles, or don't want to spend them, you may pay 1 coin instead of each candle. This counts as spending the required good.

When receiving holiness points (whether from Prayer or outside an order), the player immediately spends all received points to move their holiness marker along the track. Each 1 holiness point moves the marker 1 space to the right. If the holiness marker must move onto a space already occupied by another marker, it jumps over it, as if the occupied space cost 0 holiness points to pass (see the example below).

By stopping on a space with a bonus, or by passing through one (including when your holiness marker jumps over a space occupied by an opponent's marker), the player receives that bonus. The player must finish the entire move along the track before claiming the spaces' bonuses:

• The player receives the top card from the level-I rescript deck.

Important! The limit of rescripts for each player is 3 cards. If a player receives a rescript beyond this limit, they must immediately begin discarding rescripts until only 3 remain (until the player discards down to the limit, they cannot use those cards or spend them as goods).

• The player receives 1 bishop action (either training a bishop or moving a bishop).

As a bishop action, the player performs 1 of 2 actions:

1. Train a bishop: place a new bishop token bearing your symbol in a city under your control from your reserve (if you have no bishops left in the game, instead place your new bishop in any city under your control; if you have no bishops left in reserve, you cannot perform a training).

2. Move a bishop: move one of your bishops to a neighboring city (it doesn't matter who controls that city — you yourself, an opponent, or the Saracens).

If a player receives several bishop actions within the activation of one order, they must perform all trainings first and only then may perform movements (each bishop token may move no more than 1 time).

Note: during setup, players do not receive bonuses from holiness-track spaces when they place their pieces (this may change within the campaign).

Example. The player playing Jerusalem activates base Prayer and wants to receive 4 holiness points: 2 from the base effect, 1 for spending 1 candle, and 1 more for 1 coin. The player moves their marker 4 spaces to the right, jumping over the space occupied by Antioch's marker. Having completed the move, Jerusalem receives 1 level-I rescript card, and may spend the received 2 bishop actions in one of the following ways:

• 2 trainings: place 2 bishop tokens in any cities with your bishops;
• 1 training + 1 movement: place 1 bishop token in any city with your bishops, then move 1 of your bishops (including the one just placed) to a neighboring city — strictly in this order;
• 2 movements: move 2 of your different bishops to neighboring cities.

If a player's holiness marker is on the last space of the track and must move further, it continues moving from the start of the track, as if the first space of the track followed directly after the last one.

Reaching the end of the track symbolizes the formation of a new diocese — a church territory. The Pope favors the pious leader and orders him to form another diocese.

By activating boosted Prayer, you receive the effect of base Prayer; in addition, movement along the track grants 1 bonus bishop action and the top card from the level-II rescript deck — these especially powerful rescripts can only be obtained through boosted Prayer.

Muster Troops

Muster Troops helps you build up your army, both to defend your state and to seize new lands. Troops consist of two parts:

1. Units — wooden pieces bearing the player's coat of arms, placed on the map, each of which gives +1 to strength in battle and during raids. The pieces represent soldiers carrying their state's banner;

2. Tactics — combat cards, with which players fight during marches in the Activation Phase.

Activating base Muster Troops, perform one or both actions, in any order:

1. Recruit units. Place 2 units from your reserve into any of your cities (i.e., cities under your control) in any combination. You may additionally spend up to 4 steel to get 1 more unit for each good spent. If you don't have one or more steel, or don't want to spend them, you may pay 1 coin instead of each steel. This counts as spending the required good. (If you have no units left in reserve, you do not place new ones.)

2. Study tactics. Choose no more than 2 cards from the tactics market, of level I and/or II, pay their cost in goods, and take them for yourself. The tactic's level indicates the number of goods in its cost. If you don't have one or more of the required goods, or don't want to spend them, you may pay 1 coin instead of each such good. This counts as spending the required good.

Important! A player must always have exactly 5 tactic cards. If any effect lets you gain new tactic cards, add the new cards to your hand, then discard the excess to the shared discard pile so your hand returns to 5 cards.

If a player gains a new tactic card and decides to discard a starting level-0 tactic (bearing their state's coat of arms), they discard it not to the shared discard pile but to their personal discard, placing it face down under their player board.

Example. The player playing Edessa activates base Muster Troops, performing 2 actions:

1. Recruits 4 units, placing them from reserve into any of their cities (2 units from the base effect, another 1 for spending 1 steel, and another 1 for 1 coin);

2. Chooses and studies 2 tactics from the market: Cunning Bribery and Scorched Earth. The player has only 1 horse left in storage, so they spend it and pay another 2 coins to buy these tactics. Then they discard 2 starting tactics of their choice to their personal discard — Baptism by Fire and Reinforcement.

By activating boosted Muster Troops, you receive the effect of base Muster Troops with a discount of 2 goods (the discount may be split across different actions in any combination). You may also additionally study 1 tactic of any level. This works the same as studying a level I-II tactic, but level III-IV tactics also become available for purchase — these especially powerful tactics can only be obtained through boosted Muster Troops. (The 2-good discount does not apply to studying this additional tactic.) Thus, boosted Muster Troops lets you study 3 tactics at once: 2 through the base action and 1 more through the boosted action.

March

With March, players can move their units between their neighboring cities and enter battle against the Saracens and other players.

Activating base March, choose a march target — a city neighboring any of your cities. Move into this city no more than 4 of your units from any cities neighboring the march's target — each such movement counts as 1 march. You may additionally spend up to 4 horses to perform 1 more march for each good spent. If you don't have one or more horses, or don't want to spend them, you may pay 1 coin instead of each horse. This counts as spending the required good.

Important! When activating a March order, a player is obligated to perform at least 1 march, if able. In addition, when moving units out of one of your cities, you must leave at least 1 unit there: player cities cannot be left without units.

Activating boosted March, you receive the effect of base March with 2 additional marches performed for free, following the same rules. If this march starts a battle, in that battle you get +2 to strength. Thus, boosted March lets you perform 6 marches for free, plus up to 4 more by spending horses and/or coins.

In addition, when performing boosted March, the player may discard 1 governor from any of their cities and take a new one from the market to replace it. This effect can be used before or after performing the march (including after receiving a new governor upon capturing a new city).

Battle

If you have moved units into a city controlled by the Saracens or by another player, a battle begins. Players participating in the battle take all their tactic cards into hand. If the battle is against the Saracens, the other player whose cities are closest to the site of the battle takes the top 5 Saracen cards from the deck into hand. If several players' cities are equally close to the site of the battle, the player who started the march chooses their opponent from among the candidates.

Important! If it becomes necessary to draw Saracen cards from the deck and none remain, shuffle all the Saracen cards from the shared discard pile, form a new deck, and continue drawing cards.

Battle is divided into four stages:

1. Difference in strength. Take the battle board. Calculate the starting strength of each side (it equals the number of units in the city where the battle takes place), add the wall bonus to the defender's strength, and also add the Saracen-track bonuses if the Saracens are fighting, and mark the difference between the two sides' strength values with the battle token on the battle track. The token must be moved toward the side with the higher strength value. If, during the battle, the difference in strength exceeds 5, flip the battle token to the side showing that value and continue tracking the difference by adding 5 to the value on the track.

2. Playing cards. In turn, starting with the defending side, players perform maneuvers. Each maneuver consists of the following parts:

2a. The active player chooses 1 tactic card from their hand and lays it face up on the battle board space with the lowest number among the open spaces.

2b. Their opponent chooses which of the two abilities on the played card they want to cancel — the top or the bottom one — and names it ("I cover the top" or "I cover the bottom").

2c. The active player blindly draws 1 tactic card from their opponent's hand and places it face down, covering the chosen (canceled) half of the card.

2d. The uncovered effect of the tactic is immediately resolved (except for a bonus effect):

• X strength — immediately move the battle token X spaces toward the active player;
• Rout X — the active player's opponent discards X of their units participating in the battle, returning them to their reserve (don't forget to move the battle token X spaces toward the active player);
• Force to flee X — the opponent must move X of their units participating in the battle into one neighboring city, removing them from the battle (if there is nowhere to retreat, the units are destroyed — they return to the player's reserve); if Saracens must retreat, they retreat to a neighboring Saracen city of the controlling player's choice (the player controlling the Saracens in this battle), and if they cannot, they return to the Saracen reserve (don't forget to move the battle token X spaces toward the active player);
• Reinforcement X: the active player may move up to X of their non-last units from any neighboring cities and add them to those participating in the battle (don't forget to move the battle token the same number of spaces toward the active player as the number of units moved).

After the active player completes their maneuver, their opponent becomes the active player. This continues until either each player has performed 2 maneuvers (then proceed to point 3), or one side has no units left in the battle. In the latter case, the battle ends immediately with a victory for the side remaining in the battle — proceed to stage 4, "End of Battle."

Important! Some rescripts can be played during battle. They must be played by the player immediately before or right after playing their maneuver.

3. Determining the winner. The side with the greater strength is considered the winner; if the difference is 0, the attacking side wins.

4. End of battle.

4a. End-of-battle effects. Resolve all revealed end-of-battle bonus effects, in the order the cards were played. You may decline to resolve your own effect.

One of the most frequent bonus effects requires the opponent to suffer losses of tactics:

• if this effect was played against a player, they must discard X random tactics from among those that were played face up in this battle (i.e., lying on the battle board face up); in exchange, by the general rules, the player receives the same number of starting tactic cards from their personal discard, of their choice (if the target of the tactics-loss effect would have to be a starting tactic, cancel that loss instead);

• if this effect was played against the Saracens, remove X random Saracen tactics from the box, from among those that were played face up in this battle.

If, as a result of the battle, a player must perform 3 or more losses, they only perform 2.

If a tactic card discarded due to this effect had a bonus effect, that effect still triggers.

If a bonus effect is played outside of battle (for example, by an event effect), simply discard the indicated tactics and draw the same number of starting tactic cards from your personal discard as replacements.

Some tactics may gain protection in battle — such a card cannot be chosen as the target of a tactics-loss effect. If 1 loss must be inflicted on you and one of your revealed tactics has protection, the other revealed card automatically becomes the target of the loss (without shuffling the cards). If all your revealed tactics have protection, they cannot become the target of a loss in this battle.

Bonus effects on Saracen cards usually force the opponent to discard one resource or another. If such an effect requires a choice (for example, which building card exactly to discard), that choice is made by the player who fought for the Saracens in this battle. That player cannot refuse to resolve this effect.

4b. Retreat. If the losing side has units remaining in the city where the battle took place, they discard 1 unit from that city, and must retreat with the remaining units to a neighboring city under their control (if there is nowhere to retreat, all units are discarded). The owners of tactic cards take back their cards in turn. If the battle was against the Saracens, discard the Saracen tactic cards drawn for the battle.

4c. Devastation. Lower the level of the city where the battle took place by 1 (even if the defending side won): rotate the top part of the city token and flip the wall token on the board to the side matching the new level, or remove the wall token from the board if the city's level is lowered to 1.

4d. Spoils. If the attacking player won, they place the captured city's token on their board and take all the goods tokens of that city into their storage (if it was another player's city, that player hands over the captured goods tokens in the state — spent or not — that they were in at the end of the battle; if a player has several identical goods tokens in different states, they choose which to give). If there was no governor in the city, the winner chooses a card from the governor market and places it in that city's token. If the captured city already had a governor, the winner may keep it or discard it, replacing it with a new one from the market.

Battle example. The player playing Antioch activates base March and chooses Apamea, a Saracen city, as the march's target. The player wants to perform 6 marches (4 from the base effect, plus 1 for spending 1 horse, and 1 more for spending 1 coin): 4 units are sent from Antioch and 2 from Turbessel. A battle begins between Antioch and the Saracens. The closest player's city to the battle site belongs to the player playing Tripoli — Tortosa — so that player takes the top 5 cards of the Saracen tactics deck and prepares for the fight.

1. Difference in strength. Antioch has 6 units, while in Apamea 2 Saracen troops defend with a +1 bonus from the Saracen track (since this is currently the second round). The final difference is 1 strength in favor of the attacker.

2. Playing cards.

The Saracens play their first tactic — Apamean Archers. Antioch decides to cover the bottom of the card, so as not to lose tactics at the end of the battle. The Saracens draw a random tactic from Antioch's hand and cover the top of the Apamean Archers card. The bottom effect is immediately resolved: +2 strength in favor of the Saracens, and 2 of Antioch's units must immediately retreat from the battle into any neighboring city under Antioch's control. The battle token moves 4 spaces to the left, and now the track shows 3 strength in favor of the defense.

Antioch's turn, and they play the tactic Volley of Fire. If the Saracens cover the top, this tactic will destroy 2 Saracen troops and the battle will immediately end in Antioch's victory. But the Saracens don't intend to surrender and choose to cover the bottom (with a random card from Antioch's hand). Volley of Fire gives +2 strength and the option to lower Aleppo's level down to 1. All together, this moves the battle token 3 spaces to the right, marking an advantage of 0 strength. The battle continues...

Income Phase

In this phase, the crusaders reap the economic and internal-political fruits of their decisions: they collect taxes from their cities, restore goods, the workings of markets, buildings, and spies, and also strengthen their influence through governors and clergy.

1. Taxes. Each player calculates the total income of their cities and receives the corresponding number of coins from the general supply (income depends on the city's level and equals the number of coins shown on the city token's open sector). The capital also yields 1 additional coin (a visual reminder under the capital token on the board reminds you of this). Coins should be taken by denomination, not by quantity: for example, if a player is due 3 coins, they can take one coin token of denomination "3," or three of denomination "1."

2. Goods and markets. Restore all spent goods — flip goods tokens lying in storage with their gray side up back to their colored side. Fill all the game's markets by laying out new cards from the top of the matching decks into the empty spaces. Remove all prohibition tokens from building and spy cards on all players' boards. (For more detail, see Additional Rules — Buildings, page 27; Spies, page 30.)

3. Governors and holy lands. Each player receives 1 influence point for each of their governor cards whose condition they fulfilled, as well as 1 influence point for each of their holy lands. Influence points, like coins, should be taken by denomination, not by quantity. Influence points received are kept in the player's area face down, hidden from other players.

Important! When checking the number of holy lands, only show the levels of bishops that are in the same city as another player's bishop. Having determined ownership of that holy land, put the revealed bishops back face down.

Thus, if a city has bishops belonging to only one player, their level does not need to be shown.

4. End of round. Check the end-of-game conditions (see the End of Game section, page 26). If none of them are met, begin a new round.

Example. By the end of the round, the player playing Jerusalem controls 3 cities: Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre. During taxes, they yield the player 5 coins: 3 coins from Jerusalem (level 2 + capital bonus), 1 coin from Damascus, and another 1 coin from Acre.

This round the player receives 6 influence points:

1. Baldwin of Jerusalem, governor of Jerusalem, yields 1 influence point (the player has only 1 candle);

2. Galeran, governor of Acre, yields 2 influence points (the player's total for this condition is 5);

3. Fulk of Anjou, governor of Damascus, yields 1 influence point (the player has 8 units in total);

4. Another 1 influence point each comes from 2 holy lands — in Jerusalem and in Damascus. In Acre, Jerusalem does not have a holy land: there, Tripoli's bishop is at the same level as Jerusalem's bishop.

End of Game

The game ends if, at the end of a round, at least 1 of the following conditions is met:

1. Hegemony: any player has 4 cities;

2. Righteousness: any player has 5 holy lands;

3. Defeat of the Crusaders: any player loses their last city (that player's units are no longer present on the map);

4. End of the Age: the event deck has run out (at the end of round 6).

If any of these conditions is met, proceed to scoring.

Important! If the conditions for hegemony and/or righteousness were met during a round, but by the end of the round the player has lost control of their fourth city and/or fifth holy land, the condition is not considered fulfilled — the check happens only at the end of the round.

Scoring Influence Points

Each player totals the influence points earned during the game and adds bonuses to this sum:

1. for completed papal bulls (the number of influence points is shown on the cards);

2. +8 influence points if the player fulfills the condition of hegemony or righteousness (if several players fulfill one of these conditions at the same time, each of them receives +8 influence points; a single player may fulfill both conditions at once and receive a total of +16 influence points);

3. +1 influence point for every 4 coins in the player's reserve (counted by denomination, not by number of tokens).

The player with the most influence points is declared the winner. In case of a tie, priority goes to the player who fulfilled the most of the hegemony and righteousness conditions. If the tie remains on this criterion too, the winner is declared to be the contender whose marker is further right on the holiness track.

Additional Rules

Bulls

A bull is a secret assignment from the Pope, for completing which a player may earn additional influence points at the end of the game. During setup, each player receives 2 random bulls, chooses 1 of them, and removes the other from the game (or receives 1 random bull, if this is your first game). Players keep their bulls secret from one another until the end of the game, not revealing them even if the condition is fulfilled during play.

At the end of the game, each player reveals their bull and receives influence points for one of its objectives, depending on how fully its condition was fulfilled by the end of the game.

Tip: at the start of the game, aim to fulfill both conditions and, depending on your success, focus closer to the middle of the game on one of the objectives.

Important! If you are playing a standalone game, ignore the symbols on the left of the bull card: they are used only in the campaign.

Governors

Governors yield influence points for fulfilling their conditions. During setup, each player receives 2 random governors from the top of the deck and chooses 1 of them, inserting its card into their capital's token, while the other card is placed at the bottom of the deck (if this is your first game, each player instead receives their starting governor bearing their state's coat of arms). Afterward, a player may appoint and change governors in their cities.

Governors' conditions relate to the owner having certain components, or to leadership in a specified statistic. Note the following:

1. If a condition relates to leadership, the player receives the influence points if they are in first place for the number of the specified components, or tie for first place with someone else. In this case, they must have at least 1 of the specified components in play. If the governor's owner does not fulfill the leadership condition, they do not receive the influence points.

2. The governors Arnulf de Rohes and Melisende of Jerusalem count, in their conditions, the bishops on the map, not those in reserve. Likewise, the governors Fulk of Anjou and Richard of Salerno count the player's units on the map.

3. The governors Pons of Saint-Gilles, Romain de Puy, Jocelyn of Courtenay, and Roger of Principate check, for their conditions, the color of tactics among the 5 tactic cards in a player's hand. Level-IV tactic cards have 2 colors and may count toward fulfilling 2 such governors' conditions at once.

Player Turn Order

The first player is the player whose marker on the holiness track is currently furthest to the right of the other players' markers. The second player (to the right) and the last (furthest left) player are determined the same way.

If a game effect must be applied to several players at once (for example, a Saracen raid or an event), it is applied to them one after another, starting from the furthest-right position on the holiness track and proceeding leftward.

If the player order changes during the resolution of an event, the event is not resolved again for a player it has already been resolved for.

In a 2–3 player game, the automa's markers on the holiness track do not affect player order outside the Planning Phase and are not considered "players" for the purposes of event and rescript effects.

Buildings

Having received a building card, the player places it in an open, unoccupied building space on their board. If all available building spaces are occupied (there are 4 on each board), the player may discard 1 of the building cards already on their board before placing the new one (or discard the card they just acquired; see Additional Rules — Card Discard, page 28).

Building effects let you gain extra resources or even extra actions when the specified conditions are fulfilled. The symbol "➤" on a building's effect means that, after the condition preceding the "➤" is fully resolved (usually the activation of an order), the player may activate the building for free to receive its bonus, shown after the "➤." A building's effect can only be activated on your own turn. To do this, place a prohibition token on the building card — that card cannot be used again while the prohibition token lies on it. During the Income Phase (sub-phase 2, Goods and Markets), remove the tokens from all your buildings.

Example. Jousting Grounds lets you gain 2 units each time a player has fully resolved all the effects of a March order. This bonus cannot be obtained before moving your units — only after all movements (and the battle, if one was started) have finished.

As a general rule, yellow buildings that activate after the completion of a Construction order can be activated on the turn they were built (since they are already under the player's control at the moment the order finishes).

Example. Storehouses lets you restore 2 spent goods each time a player has fully resolved all effects of a Construction order. The player may apply this building's effect the same round it was built, and restore up to 2 goods (including 1 wood spent to build Storehouses).

Activation of any level-IV building from the base game lets you perform an additional base order (the order's type is stated in the effect). Performing this order does not require a token on the cross. In addition, these buildings count as two-colored.

Example. Training Grounds lets you perform a base March each time a player has fully resolved all effects of a Muster Troops order during which at least 4 units were recruited. If the player recruited fewer than 4 units, or recruited 4 units outside the Muster Troops effect, the bonus cannot be obtained. Activating the bonus March from Training Grounds does not require an order token and is resolved immediately after the full activation of the Muster Troops order that triggered this effect. Thus, level-IV buildings can break the order of the orders lying on the cross.

Rescripts

Rescript cards can be used in one of two ways:

1. Discard it at the moment indicated on the rescript, to receive the effect described in the rescript's text (see Card Discard, below);

2. Discard it on your turn as payment of 1 or 2 of the goods indicated at the top of the rescript.

Example. This rescript can be discarded:

1. Either during your battle, so that at the end of the battle the city's level is not lowered as usual;

2. Or on your turn, to spend 1 wood (for paying for construction, building a yellow building, studying a yellow tactic, or paying for the Bazaar's effect, which requires 1 good).

Markets

The following rules apply to the markets for buildings, tactics, and governors.

When a player must receive a card from a market, instead they may take the top card of the matching deck. The player reveals this card, showing it to all players, after which its cost must be paid (if the player is able to pay for the revealed card, they cannot decline the purchase). If the player cannot pay the cost, the card is returned to the top of the deck, and the player may not choose a different card from the market instead (the action is considered spent).

Card Discard

If a game effect instructs you to discard a building, rescript, tactic (including a Saracen tactic), or governor card, move that card to the shared discard pile, keeping cards of the same type together. The only exception is starting tactics: they go to the player's personal discard. Played event cards and raid tokens are discarded to the box.

If the deck for any of these card types runs out on the board, shuffle the matching discard pile and form a new deck from it. If both the deck and the discard pile are empty, cards of that type cannot be obtained.

Capital

Each player's starting city shares its name with their state and is the capital of that state. This city yields an additional 1 coin during the Income Phase (a visual reminder on the board under the capital's space reminds you of this) and can become the target of certain game effects. The city token that is the capital always sits in the leftmost space on a player's board.

A player may have any number of city tokens. If there is no more room on the board, the player may lay a new city token on the table in a row with the others (this represents an incomplete last space at the edge of the board). If a player loses their capital due to a raid or a defeat in battle and has other cities under their control, they must move their capital to one of their own cities, moving that city's token into the leftmost space on their board. If a player loses their last city, the Defeat of the Crusaders condition is triggered: the current round of the game becomes the last one. The eliminated player performs no actions in the remaining phases (including that they cannot play rescripts or activate their spies' effects). However, such a player still receives influence points from their holy lands during the Income Phase and may still lay claim to fulfilling righteousness.

Tactics

The effects of each level-IV tactic from the base game, which depend on the number of tactics of a certain color, work based on the number of all tactics played in this battle at the moment this level-IV tactic is played as a maneuver: both your own cards (including the level-IV tactic itself, as played) and your opponent's cards are counted (see the example to the right). In addition, these tactics are considered two-colored for various game effects.

Example. A battle is underway between two players: the first has already played the white tactic Flame of Faith, and their opponent — the blue tactic Color of Chivalry. It becomes the defending side's turn, and the player plays the level-IV card Baldwin's Defense: its top effect grants +7 strength (+3 from the base effect and another +2 for each white tactic in the battle, including itself); the lower effect of this card destroys 5 of the opponent's units (1 from the base effect and another 2 for each blue tactic in the battle, including itself).

Homs

Thanks to its strategic position on the Orontes River, Homs earned fame as the Levant's most important trading hub and political center. Whoever rules Homs dictates his will to the entire region.

While a player controls Homs, each round they may place 1 of their orders directly into the inner cell of the cross, immediately with its boosted side up (without receiving a spy card for it). Upon capturing Homs, the player places the Homs card in front of themselves — it will serve as a reminder of this ability.

Homs produces the spice good, which can be spent as any other good, and may also count as 1 of any good for fulfilling the condition of any single governor that requires a specific good.

While Homs is under Saracen control, during the Events Phase, no Saracen troops are placed there from reserve during reinforcements. Nevertheless, if Homs is under crusader control, it is considered the target of a Saracen raid during every Events Phase.

Spies

Placing orders in outer cells, players receive spy cards, letting them send agents into their opponents' camp.

Upon receiving a spy card, a player may immediately place it in one of the spaces to the left of their state board — this card becomes an active spy. The card is placed opposite the coat of arms of the state the player wishes to play it against. If a player decides not to play a spy card right away, they may do so later, on any of their own turns during the Activation Phase. Any number of spy cards may be played during a round.

The limit of active spies is 3.

In a 4-player game, you may have no more than 1 spy per opponent.

In a 3-player game, you may have no more than 2 spies per opponent. (In total, still 3.)

In a 2-player game, you may have no more than 3 spies against your opponent.

If all of a player's available spy spaces against one opponent are full, the player playing a spy may discard 1 of their active spies before playing the new card.

The effects of spy cards let you gain extra resources as soon as the opponent, against whom the spy was sent, performs the specified action. The symbol "➤" on a spy's effects means that, after the opponent fully resolves the condition stated before the "➤," the spy's owner may activate this card to receive, for free, the bonus stated after the "➤." This can happen only once per round.

Having resolved the effect, flip the coat-of-arms token on the card to the side with the prohibition symbol — this card cannot be used again while the prohibition token lies on it. During the Income Phase (sub-phase Goods and Markets), flip the prohibition tokens back on all your spies, to the coat-of-arms side.

For the convenience of everyone at the table, announce out loud the effect of any spy card you play.

Glossary

Player's/crusader's city (city under a player's, a crusader's, control) — a city in which there is at least 1 of that player's units (and correspondingly, no units belonging to other players or Saracens). During raids and battle, the city belongs to the defending side (at the end of the raid or battle, the city's owner may change).

Saracen city (city under Saracen control) — a city in which there is at least 1 Saracen troop and which is not under a player's control.

Restore X goods — flip X goods tokens in your storage back to their colored side. Restored goods may be spent again before the end of the round.

Lock X goods — place prohibition tokens on X goods tokens in a player's storage (if these tokens were not already spent, flip them to their spent side first). These tokens cannot be restored until the next Income Phase. During the next Income Phase, instead of restoring, remove the prohibition tokens from all such goods: the goods remain spent.

Fill the market (of buildings, tactics, and/or governors). Lay out components from the matching deck onto the market until their number on the market exceeds the number of players by exactly 1 (3 cards for 2 players, 4 cards for 3 players, and 5 cards for 4 players). Exception — level III–IV buildings and level III–IV tactics: the number of cards in the market of each of these types can never exceed 3.

Leader [for a resource of the stated type]. The leader condition is fulfilled if the player is in first place for the number of the specified components, or ties for first place with someone else. In this case, they must have at least 1 of the specified components.

Non-last. If an effect must target a non-last component, the last component cannot be chosen as its target. With this rule in mind, the effect is resolved as fully as possible. In particular, if an effect must remove 3 non-last units from a city, and there are only 2 units total in that city, only 1 of them is removed.

Bombardment X. Destroy X non-last Saracen troops from any Saracen cities neighboring your cities. (Thus, activating Bombardment 2, a player may destroy 2 non-last Saracen troops in one neighboring city, or 1 troop each in 2 neighboring cities.)

Force to flee X. The stated X units move to one neighboring city under their owner's control (the choice of the controlling player). If there is no such city, the units are destroyed. The retreat effect works the same way.

Losses X. The target of this effect discards X of its random tactics from among those that participated face up in the battle and did not receive protection during the battle (X cannot exceed 2). If the target is the Saracen tactics, instead of discarding, remove them from the game (put them back in the box). (For more detail, see Activation Phase — Battle, page 22.)

Spend [good] — pay the cost of an effect by flipping a goods token in your storage to its gray side. A good flipped this way cannot be spent again until the next Income Phase, during which the goods token will flip back to its colored side.

Rout X. The stated X units return to their owner's reserve. The destroy effect works the same way.

Your turn. Effects with this label may only be played during the Activation Phase, immediately before, after, or during the activation of an order token.

Good. A token of one of the 5 types of resources (wood, candles, steel, horses, and spice). Goods tokens available to a player are kept in their storage and are tied to control of the cities that produce them. Each city on the outer ring produces 1 good of its color (the starting cities, as well as the cities between them, may produce an additional second good if developed to level III). Thus, a player's storage will normally hold as many goods tokens as are shown on all the open sectors of their city tokens (certain campaign effects may affect this).

Level. Level is a property of cities (the number on the shield on the city token and on the wall token), bishops (the number on the front), and of building, tactic, and rescript cards (the number of goods depicted on the card).

Color. Color is a property of goods, of cities (by the color of that city's token or its matching wall token), of buildings (by the color of the ribbons or goods in the card's cost), and of tactics (by the color of the ribbons or goods in the card's cost). Some buildings and tactics can have several colors at once (indicated by double or triple coloring of the ribbons and goods in the cost). Level-0 buildings and tactics are considered colorless (marked with gray ribbons and no goods). Saracen tactics also have no color. The spice good may count as a good of any one color (for spending, or for fulfilling the conditions of bulls and governors).

List of Symbols

Orders

• Construction
• Prayer
• Muster Troops
• March
• Order boost

Cities and Buildings

• Player's city / Saracen city
• City level X
• Upgrade city by 1 / by 2 (raise the city's level by 1/2)
• Devastate city by 1 / by 2 (lower the city's level by 1/2)
• Capital / capital level X (the city token in the leftmost space on the player's board)
• Building card / level-X building card

Units and Tactics

• Player's unit (a wooden piece bearing the player's coat of arms)
• Saracen troop
• Tactic card / level-X tactic card
• Yellow tactic
• White tactic
• Red tactic
• Blue tactic
• Losses (discard a tactic card that participated in the battle)
• This tactic card cannot be discarded by a losses effect (protection)

Goods and Other Resources

• Influence points, victory points
• Coin
• Pay X coins (if no number is given, the default is 1 coin)
• Any good / any spent good
• Wood, the yellow good
• Candles, the white good
• Steel, the blue good
• Horses, the red good
• Spice, the universal good
• Spend any good (flip the goods token to its gray side) / restore any good (flip it back to its colored side)
• Lock X goods (X goods become spent and will not be restored during the next Income Phase; mark this with prohibition tokens on top of the goods)

March and Battle

• Move X of the player's units / Saracen troops from one city to a neighboring one
• Battle, start a battle
• 1 unit of strength in battle
• Rout (discard X of the opponent's units)
• Force to flee (the opponent moves X of their units to a neighboring city)
• Bombardment (destroy X non-last Saracen troops from any Saracen cities neighboring your cities)
• Here (in the current battle/for this battle)
• At the end of battle (after determining the winner)

Bishops and Holiness

• Holy land (a city where one player's total bishop level is higher than any other player's)
• Holiness (points of movement along the holiness track — move the holiness marker the number of points earned)
• Bishop / level-X bishop
• Train a bishop (place a new bishop token on the map in a city with that player's bishop)
• Move a bishop to a neighboring city
• Rescript card / level-X rescript card

Other Symbols

• Governor card
• Replace a governor (discard the governor from a city's token and take a new one from the market)
• Spy card
• From the top of the deck (take a card from the top of the matching deck)
• Discard
• Leader by X (for example, leader by any goods — i.e., the player or players in first place for the number of goods in storage)
• Wall bonus (shown on the wall token on the board and equal to the city's level)
• Prohibition token

Operators

• ↓ / ➤ (conditional effect): upon fulfilling the condition to the left of or above "➤," the player may — but is not obliged to — receive the effect to the right of or below "➤."
• : (moment of application): only when the stated phase arrives, and the condition to the left of ":" is met, does the effect to the right of ":" trigger.
• — (discard/spend): for example, an effect reading "— 1 bishop" instructs you to discard 1 bishop token from the board.
• X for each
• toward X: move a component on the board toward object X (1 region along the shortest path).
• otherwise: the effect is carried out only if the preceding condition cannot be fully satisfied.
• non-last: if an effect must target a non-last component, the last component cannot be chosen as its target; the effect is resolved as fully as possible in light of this rule (thus, if an effect must remove 3 non-last units from a city and there are only 2 units total there, only 1 is removed).

Campaign Scenarios

• Scenario "Beginning of the Chronicle"
• Scenario "Levantine Merchants"
• Scenario "Vassal of My Vassal"
• Scenario "Rise of the Crescent"
• Commander
• Top of the Saracen deck

Campaign Terrain Types

• Harbor
• Rivers
• Forests
• Mountains
• Desert

Campaign Traits

• Prudence
• Piety
• Leadership
• Bellicosity
• Moderation