Taki Al Din arrives on the battle field with his Askar and his Turcoman mercenaries. Things, he sees, are not going well. His father’s old friend and ally Keukburi seems to have withdrawn from the contest. His brother Al Afdal is huddled together with a band of Syrian cavalry and some dispirited looking Turcoman. He cannot see his brother Zahir but presumes he will appear shortly. Taki feels he should have arrived earlier (but couldn’t, for this is a card driven game and Taki’s card was only added in the last turn.)
From his hilly vantage Conrad sees more Ayyubids arriving. The Franks on the plain are dispersed and in danger. He had been about to finish off Zahir Ghazi who temptingly stands below him trying to reorganise his Ghulam. Conrad takes stock. He cannot instruct his fellow leaders, the best he can do is to provide a secure rallying point where the Frankish Army can regroup. He orders his infantry join him on the high ground.
Zahir Ghazi has rallied his troops, Conrad nearly had him, and might still, but now Zahir is ready for a fight.
The Master needs to rally his disordered infantry. He, and the brother knights turn and ride back to them.
King Guy takes advantage in the lull in enemy activity. He turns his troops around and marches them back to the new Frankish line.
They arrived disordered by the experience. He puts them back in good order.
The battlefield now looks like this.
There we must end the game. Let’s recap before we leave the combatants.
On the Frankish side King Guy has lost all his knights. His infantry remains capable of a fight. The Master and his brother knights still have one more charge in them. The Templar spearmen probably won’t survive more combat but the crossbows are in good condition. Conrad and his knights could also manage another charge and his infantry are in good order.
For the Ayyubids Keukburi’s withdrawal from the battle as a major blow. He fell victim to an Assassin attempt on his life. Al Afdal’s command is pretty used up only the Syrian cavalry are still fresh. Zahir Ghazi can still enter the fray but most of his command are Bedouin lancers. Conditions have to be right to use them to best effect. Taki al Din arrived too late to influence the outcome of the battle.
In the next day or so the Franks will resume their march to Acre and the Turcoman will have replenished their arrows. If the Sultan wills it they will both meet again.
I’m really pleased with how this experiment in tabletop Crusading warfare went. I’d say the game was a winning draw for the Franks.
The attempt on Keukburi’s life was the result of a special event card where the Franks rolled highest. It is the sort of thing that occasionally happened in Outremer. The Assassins eventually got Conrad of Montferrat. In the time that this game was set they were at odds with Saladin.
I hope you found the game as entertaining as I did.
