Legio Wargames

Dorylaeum, 1 July, AD 1097

Historical Background

The Crusaders were on their way through Asia Minor to Antioch when their vanguard of Italo-Normans and Byzantines was hit by the Turkish army of Sultan Arslan as it was setting up camp,The Turks were unaware that two more columns of Crusaders were nearby and launched their full attack against the Vanguard commanded by Count Bohemond. Bohemond dismounted his knights and held his ground, sending a message for help to the main column which was commanded by his rival Raymond de Saint Gilles. The Turks were hard pressed to deal with the reinforcements and when a third column under Bishop Adhemar du Puy arrived in their rear they broke contact and left the way open to Antioch.

persians 130

25mm Italo-Norman Knights on their way to the Holy City

The Game

This makes a good two player game but can be even more fun if there are at least are several players with individual victory conditions. This allows the rivalries between various historical characters, such as Bohemond and Raymond, to be brought into play. Bohemond could, for example, be encouraged to try to defeat the Turks unaided (a difficult proposition) while Raymond will try to steal the credit for victory himself. An additional player could control the small Byzantine Contingent, commanded by Taticius, with victory conditions aimed at making him avoid combat (whilst not actually allowing the Turks to win) and thereby helping as many troublesome Crusaders as possible realise their dream of becoming martyrs.

It is also known that the Crusaders favoured the more reasonable Raymond, in preference to the hot-headed Bohemond so Taticius might also be encouraged to support Raymond's victory conditions (for example if Bohemond does not call for help, Taticius might do it for him.

There is no General on the Crusader side, just three independent Contingent Commanders none of whom have line of command over the others.

On the Turkish side, the Danishmends had been in open rebellion against the Seljuks and had only just patched over their quarrel to meet the common threat. They might, therefore, be quite happy to see the Seljuks and others do most of the fighting.

Turks can enter on any point here

Terrain and Deployment

The Battlefield should be open rolling terrain with possibly a few copses of woods or orchards. The Turkish player lays out terrain choosing from the following:

  1-3 gentle hills
  0-1difficult terrain
  0-2 light cover

The Crusader player (Bohemond) may add one additional terrain piece from the above list.

All troops begin the game off table. The Byzantines enter automatically in March Column at the Crusader entry point on the first turn. The Vanguard follows also in March Column once the rear of the Byzantine column has cleared the table edge. The Crusader Main Body may arrive one turn after a messenger sent for help leaves the table or 4 turns after first contact with the Turks if no messenger is sent. The Main Body must roll a 4-6 on a D6 to arrive (+1 for each succeeding turn)

If the Vanguard reaches the Camp area before contact is made, they will halt and begin to make camp. Whilst doing this, all the Crusader foot troops will become unformed (busy setting up), with all the Byzantines on guard. The knights will remain formed but dismounted in the centre of the camp area.

The Turks may enter in any formation on any turn, anywhere in the south east quadrant (as marked on the map). They must dice for arrival by command, arriving on a 3-6 (+1 for each subsequent roll). They may choose to enter all at once or delay arrivals for some commands to increase uncertainty in the minds of the Crusader players.

Crusader entry point

tent

Camp area

Turks can enter on any point here

Next