Slitherine

Following the recapture of Acre in the summer of 1191 after two years of intermittent fighting, the first Christian victory since the disaster of Hattin that had virtually wiped out the kingdom of Jerusalem and brought about the Third Crusade, the Frankish army moved south along the Levantine coast toward Jaffa, led by the king of England, Richard 'Coeur de Lion'. The Ayyubyid sultan Saladin, playing to the strength of his numerous horse archers, marched on parallel lines and used his superior mobility to harass his enemy. But on 7 September, on a plain between the Mediterranean and the forest of Arsuf, he was caught off guard by the sudden charge of the Hospitaller knights of grand master Garnier de Nablus, followed by the entire Frankish heavy cavalry.

Designer's notes:

last of the christmas holidays project and of the mamluks & mongols series!

this one is big and endeavours to capture the irresistible charge of the crusader knights and the desperate counter-attacks by the Ayyubid heavy cavalry.
the design forces the ayyubid reserves to advance in separate waves, allowing the crusaders to deal with them in detail.

the crusader player will need to keep his units in line and not get carried away because as with historical reality, over-pursuit is what the enemy is looking for. the danger may come from his left where he can be outflanked if not careful.

the ayyubid player will need to sacrifice units to inflict as much damage as possible early on so that his mamluks and syrian heavies have better odds when they enter the fray to counter attack.

sources: miscelleaneous.
131 mobile bgs, 14 turns

Thank you very much.