This was already our sixth session of Kingdom of Heaven together with Janek, and it is honestly impressive how deeply this game continues to pull us in. Every single playthrough has been engaging, tense, and thoroughly enjoyable. The title embodies everything we value in board gaming: a rich historical setting, thoughtfully designed and appropriately detailed rules (with sieges being a particular highlight), attractive components once properly clipped, and excellent implementation of card-driven mechanics. On top of that, it offers not only a fantastic gameplay experience, but also meaningful historical insight and the opportunity to see how events might have unfolded differently.

Scenarios we played so far:
Kingdom of Heaven – Scenario A – The First Crusade
Kingdom of Heaven – Scenario B – The Second Crusade
Kingdom of Heaven – Scenario C – The Invasion of Egypt
Kingdom of Heaven – Scenario D – The Third Crusade
Kingdom of Heaven – Scenario E – The Fifth Crusade

Below, you will find a detailed session report featuring an overview of the game, its historical context, concluding impressions, and plenty of (hopefully enjoyable) photos. Enjoy!

About the Game

In 1097, thousands of lords and knights, soldiers and camp-followers, pilgrims and prophets marched east in response to a Papal appeal, charged with the task of restoring Jerusalem and the Holy Land to Christian control. Their surprising victory led to the creation of the first overseas European colonies and the reshaping of Muslim power in the Middle East. The repercussions of their journey continue to live with us today.

In Kingdom of Heaven – The Crusader States 1097-1291 (KOH) two players use cards to activate forces, trigger random events, conduct diplomacy or prosecute siege warfare on a vast arena stretching from Antioch to Cairo and from Cyprus to Mosul.

Nine scenarios cover all the major campaigns of the era, from the First, Second and Third Crusades to the Mongol invasion and the rise of the Mamluk Empire. In addition to the ‘basic deck,’ each scenario adds different cards representing historical events unique to that campaign. Turns are yearly, and most scenarios can be finished in 3-4 hours.

Historical Scenario Background

Before jumping into the session report, let us first look at the historical background of Scenario F – The Seventh Crusade. For me, this is first and foremost a lesson in history, and the game allows me to reshape it or even change it completely.

The Fifth Crusade showed that the backing of a strong secular power was necessary for a Crusade to succeed. The strongest power in Europe in the mid-13th century was Frederick II’s Holy Roman Empire. Frederick II had taken the Cross as early as 1215, but squabbles with the Pope over the dominion of Italy and illness delayed his leaving. Brooking no excuses, the successor of Honorius III, Pope Gregory IX, took the opportunity to excommunicate his rival.

To the astonishment of all, Frederick simply ignored the papal decree and set out anyway in 1228 on the Sixth Crusade. As further humiliation, Frederick won without any fighting what three Crusades had failed to win: Jerusalem, although it took some hard-nosed bargaining with Sultan al-Kamil. Jerusalem was exposed and defenseless, but it was Christian once again. Further expansion in the north resulted in the Kingdom of Jerusalem reaching its greatest extent since the disaster at Hattin 45 years earlier.

Frederick’s Crusade proved a mixed blessing. He claimed the throne as the husband of Isabella, last heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, crowning himself by his own hand, as Napoleon later imitated. He was not popular with the locals, however, and when he departed for Europe once more there was a power vacuum that was never completely filled. Amid local squabbles, Jerusalem was lost and recaptured several times until, in 1244, Khwarasmian mercenaries fleeing the wreckage of their kingdom wrought by the Mongols took Jerusalem in the name of the Sultan of Egypt, and defeated a Franco-Damascene army at Gaza. Thereafter, Jerusalem would forever remain out of Christian hands.

This final fall of Jerusalem gave new impetus to the Crusading movement. Louis IX of France had already promised to go on Crusade in gratitude for recovery from an illness, and this seemed to be a message of confirmation from Heaven itself. Mindful of the failure of previous Crusades, Louis spent several years in preparation, finally sailing in 1248.

Set-Up

With the background done, let us now look at the scenario set-up. For this, we will need to cover several aspects.

Scenario Length: 1249-1253 (five turns)

Scenario Cards Used: F1-F5 – those cards provide special historical events, specific to the scenario, which enhance the basic deck.

Scenario F Special Cards (Click to enlarge)

Powers and their initial alignment – some might be influenced during the game:

  • Pro-Christian: Crusaders, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Templars, Hospitallers
  • Pro-Muslim: Sultanate of the Ayyubids
  • Neutral: Armenia, Assassins, Principality of Antioch

Special Rules:

  • Key Scenario Card: Mamluk Revolution: When the Mamluk Revolution card is played, the Ayyubids split into two Powers: The Mamluks, owning Egypt, and the Ayyubids, owning all remaining Ayyubid possessions. Replace all Ayyubid castles in Egypt with Mamluk castles. Replace all Ayyubid units in Egypt with Mamluk units.
  • Next, determine which Power will ally with the Christians. If the Christians control Cairo, the Mamluks will be pro-Christian. If the Christians control Damascus, the Ayyubids will be pro-Christian. Otherwise, roll a die. On a 1-3 the Ayyubids will be pro-Christian, on a 4-6 the Mamluks.

Victory Conditions:

  • Christian Victory: Christian Player has 12 or more VP and Cairo or 13 VP without Cairo (starts with 7 VP)
  • Muslim Victory: Muslim Player has 17 or more VP (starts with 17 VP, needs to keep Status Quo). If the Mamluk Revolution has occurred and the Muslim player controls the Mamluks, he wins with 5 VP. If he controls the Ayyubids, he wins with 12 VP.

And of course, the initial Map and Forces:

Set-up of Scenario F, with me leading the Christian side while Janek took care of the Muslim (Ayyubid) forces.
Diplomacy status with states marked pro-Christian and pro-Muslim; general Game Record track and neutral forces.
Close-up on the most contested part of the map.

Session Report

As this was already our sixth session with the game, we were naturally very comfortable with the rules and fully familiar with the core mechanics. There was very little need to consult the rulebook, allowing us to focus almost entirely on strategy, operational planning, and tactical decisions. And was it enjoyable? Absolutely – without a doubt the most exciting scenario we have played so far!

The situation of Muslim forces was pretty difficult – so Janek did not hesitate and immediately played the diplomatic action. His good roll allowed him to swing Lesser Armenia to the Muslim camp.
I decided on a slow, methodical, step-by-step approach – landing in Acre, attacking and storming Jerusalem and then repeating this at Kerak. Worked like a charm!
There was still no Mamluk Revolution so with heavy heart Janek decided – “I cannot idly wait, I need to do something”. So he attacked neutral Antioch, besieged it and conquered. 5 VPs is a decent gain! Look also above on Armenians repositioned to Aleppo to guard that path.
I had to respond – but in my standard, meticulous approach. First I took Damascus and then Aleppo. The Armenian counter-attack was bloodily beaten back and the game ended…

Our Session Conclusion

After about 4 hours of play the game ended in Christian victory. What a great session it was!

I had not won in a long time, so seeing the Christian victory marker was deeply satisfying!
Close-up at the most contested area – I marked with color main areas taken over by each side – Antioch by Muslims (Janek) and Jerusalem, Kerak, Damascus and Aleppo by Christians (Michal).

Historical Conclusion

And how did it end historically? Well, not so well for the Crusaders:

Not terribly original, Louis rejected the advice of the Patriarch of Alexandria to land there and instead followed the footsteps of the Fifth Crusade to Damietta. He at least learned from their mistakes. After his army scattered the local forces, Damietta fell without a siege. Louis then waited for reinforcements and for the Nile flood to dissipate. In November 1249 he began his march on Cairo. The Egyptian army was camped at Mansurah once again, but this time Louis struck a telling blow and captured their camp. However the king’s dimwitted brother, Robert of Artois, overpursued.

Meanwhile, the commander of the royal Ayyubid bodyguard, a Turkish slave (Mamluk) named Baibars, reorganized the dispersed Egyptian army and struck back. The Crusaders were cut off and surrounded, and Louis and his army were made prisoner. Louis managed to ransom himself and part of his army for Damietta and the promise of 800,000 gold bezants. Many of the starving prisoners were killed by the Egyptians, however, who had no way to guard or provide for them.

For all practical purposes, that was the end of the Seventh Crusade, although Louis regrouped in Palestine and tried to put local affairs in order. That prevented any further Muslim encroachment, but in the end he could do little. Meanwhile, Baibars and his fellow Mamluks put to death the unpopular new Sultan Turanshah, overthrowing the Ayyubid sultanate and putting in its place a series of puppet-monarchs. Thus began the Mamluk Empire. The remaining Ayyubid, An-Nasr Yusuf of Aleppo, tried to quell the rebellion but lacked troops and skill. Both sides tried to woo Louis with promises of restoring Jerusalem. Louis eventually sided with Egypt, but the Caliph of Baghdad mediated between the two parties and restored peace, leaving the Franks to fight alone against Damascus, which they did without much result.

Before he left the Holy Land in 1254, Louis tried in vain to come to a diplomatic agreement with the mysterious people known as the Mongols, who (rumor had it) had a large army preparing to march on the Near East….

Summary

We have rarely seen a successful Crusade in our games – with the exception of the First, all others were pretty problematic. This time, due to the absence of the game-changing Mamluk Revolution event and a very steady, cautious but methodical approach by the Christian forces, the final result was their victory. We had a lot of fun, enjoyed learning the history, and were already looking forward to the next scenario – because the Mongols are coming!