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Overview
The
A Crown of Thorns campaign covers a fictional civil war between Amalric (brother of Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem) and the young Bohemond, Prince of Antioch. It begins upon the death of Baldwin III with Amalric aspiring to succeed his brother and climb the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Bohemond refusing to pledge his allegiance, making Amalric’s first task to suppress Bohemond by force.
The name of the campaign refers to the woven crown of thorns that was placed on the head of Jesus at the time of his crucifixion in Jerusalem, and as such venerated as one of the most holy relics and, a thousand years later, a Christian symbol of the Kingship of the Holy Land.
The campaign unfolds over a series of
five year-long campaign turns, from 1163 to 1167, as part of the conflict between two Frankish factions:
Amalric of Jerusalem and
Bohemond of Antioch.
Victory conditions and starting point
The campaign ends in an immediate victory for the faction that, at the end of any campaign year,
controls both Antioch and Jerusalem with an unbroken connection of controlled Strongholds between them. If that has not occurred after the five campaign years have been completed, the victor is the faction controlling the largest sum of Shields originally controlled by the enemy faction.
Upon the start of the campaign,
Amalric controls 16 Strongholds (24 Shields in total):
Gaza (1), Ascalon (2), Hebron(1), Jerusalem (3), Jaffa (1), Kerak (1), Amman (1), Nablus (1), Caesarea (1),Baisan (1), Tiberias (2), Acre (3), Tyre (2), Beaufort (1), Sidon (1), Beirut(2).
Bohemond controls 7 Strongholds (10 Shields in total):
Antioch (3), Latakia (1), Saône (1),Margat (1), Tartus (1), Krak de Chevalier (1), Tripoli (2).
Game map
The game map portrays the Holy Land at the middle and end of the twelfth century AD.
The
Strongholds used in this campaign (
23 in total) are highlighted with a
dark blue ring and factions’
original control with their respective symbols in black-and-white in the circle within that dark blue ring. (Other Strongholds (e.g.,
Banyas,
Aleppo, etc.) have no meaning for this campaign.)
Current control is shown through a red round shield for
Bohemond and the yellow Kingdom of Jerusalem cross on a white round shield for
Amalric.
All Strongholds have one or more
Shields next to them (
34 in total, typical examples being
Antioch and
Jerusalem with three Shields each). The actual heraldries of the Shields have no meaning for this campaign, but the
number of Shields are potentially important in the mechanics of changing Stronghold control after battles and for determining order of attack declarations at the beginning of each campaign year.
Some Strongholds have
additional outer rings in
light red,
green, and/or
yellow, being used to determine factions' allies in the battles.
Two Strongholds are
adjacent if there is a
Road (marked as a
dark blue line) connecting them.
Campaign year and attack sequence
The first
attack at the beginning of a campaign year is made by the faction with the highest sum of Shields of controlled Strongholds.
An attack can be made
from a controlled Stronghold, along a
Road, upon an
adjacent Stronghold controlled by the enemy faction.
The
battle of that attack is resolved with
Strongholds potentially being gained or lost (a Stronghold always being controlled by one of the two factions), followed by
the other faction making its attack, resolving its battle, etc.
- Attack is declared by a faction.
- Battle is fought and resolved.
- Strongholds are potentially gained or lost, depending on battle outcome.
- Attack is declared by the other faction.
- …
Thereafter, the two factions
alternate making attacks, with each faction continuing to do so for as long as its attacks are victorious. Even if the attack of one of the factions does not result in victory and thus that faction can make no further attacks that campaign year, the other faction will still continue to make attacks until it too is not victorious.
The campaign year
ends as soon as both factions have made attacks that did not result in victory.
Resolving battles in Field of Glory II: Medieval
Battles will be fought out as games in
Field of Glory II: Medieval and the
Crown of Thorns module, to be set up by the defender in the
Multiplayer Lobby as follows:
- MODULE: Crown of Thorns v2.
- MAP SIZE: Wide (40 x 32).
- FORCE SIZE: Large (1600 FP for each army).
- MAP TYPE:
- Derived from the Map Type Tables below through rolling 1d10 and then another 1d10 (if not 8-10).
Map Type Table I (1d10)
1-3: Agricultural (30% probability)
4-7: Plain (40%)
8-10: Desert (30%)
Map Type Table II (1d10) (if not Desert)
1-3: Mediterranean (30%)
4-10: Middle Eastern (70%)
- ARMY LISTS:
- Main army: The factions' respective army lists, i.e., Amalric and Bohemond, respectively.
- Allies: Allies are determined for each of the factions by its control of certain Strongholds, with the highest number constituting the ally. However, if there for a faction is no ally with a higher number than the other two (i.e., two or more allies having the highest number for a faction), then that faction uses no ally in the battle.
- Byzantine: Antioch (marked by light red circle), counting as 5.
- Fatimid: Gaza, Hebron (yellow circles), each counting as 2.
- Zengid: Amman, Tiberias, Beaufort, Beirut, Tripoli, Krak, Saône, Antioch (green circles).
Outcomes and effects of battles
The faction
routing the enemy in a battle (i.e., being first to inflict 60+% casualties or inflict 40+% with a 25+% casualty difference) is considered
the victor of that battle, and the routed faction considered the loser of that battle. If neither faction routs the enemy, the battle is a draw and neither faction is considered victor or loser of that battle.
The
Prize of Battle from victory amounts to the casualty difference (in percent) times the loser's sum of Shields of controlled Strongholds prior to the battle, always rounded
downwards to nearest integer (e.g., 36% of sum of 10 Shields of controlled Strongholds = 3.6 = 3 Shields) but never lower than the number of Shields of the loser's Stronghold that was involved in the attack (in order to guarantee that such Stronghold is gained at least).
The victor then gains control over such a number of the loser's Strongholds that the sum of Shields of the gained Strongholds does not exceed the Prize of Battle, choosing which Strongholds to be gained, provided that the first choice must always be the loser's Stronghold that was involved in the attack. Thereafter, any additional Strongholds sequentially chosen must be adjacent either to the victor's Stronghold involved in the attack or to another Stronghold that was sequentially gained through victory in this particular battle.
Draws result in no change of Stronghold control between attacker and defender.
