Crusaders: The Will Be Done | Rahdo's Prototype Thoughts

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A video outlining gameplay for the boardgame Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done.
For more game info, boardgamegeek....
Kickstarter Link:
www.kickstarte...
Part I: Gameplay Runthrough
• Crusaders: Thy Will Be...
(static cam) • (static cam) Crusaders...
Part II: Final Thoughts
• Crusaders: The Will Be...

[@Atlas-FM8]

I'd definitely be down for some historical flavor text on the cards or in the manual. I know it flies in the face of the title (Crusaders) but it would have been cool if we had the opportunity to play as Turks, Saracens, etc. and start on the opposite side of the board from the crusaders. Maybe you could drop your faction's enemy disks as you go like Crusaders drop buildings. Perhaps in an expansion :).

[@thewanderer9371]

There are a lot of myths regarding the crusades. It's often just used as supposed proof of "bad things done in the name of Christianity". I totally agree that they missed an opportunity to educate people.

[@Mr13chapters]

History of the Crusades podcast is definitely worth checking out. Their are currently 209 episodes ranging from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Crusades as well as Peasants, Baltic Crusades etc.

[@Templarzealot89]

SONSOFEMPIRE best source for crusades information in an easy to listen format

[@michellecompton1755]

SONSOFEMPIRE subscribed. Thank you!

[@bibleboardgames]

thank you for the video! We just played this. The non-deluxe game we had was still very good production quality with custom-shaped colored wood pieces. We liked the colors of the players' boards and pieces with the red and white board. We tried another Crusader game that focused purely on historical tactical battle so we liked how this one was different and delved into more of the preparation and infrastructure. Movies, plays, books, and games often try to cover older periods in some kind of unique and interesting way. We liked how this decided to combine all the knight orders into one game for re-playability and abstracted battles into one action. Wargamers might choose other Crusade games with long battles. We loved the mankala mechanic. Thank you!

[@shanelaporte]

"Here here" on the board. I love the look of it as well. The added colour will be provided by the miniatures and knights of the other players as they spread out across the map (the prototypes don't really convey that in the videos that are out there).

[@tdubkickflic]

Hi Rahdo! Love your videos! My favourite reviewer by far :) I was just curious on your thoughts regarding the Rulebook for the deluxified version of Crusaders. Seems they took your advice and gave a brief history of all the knight factions and a short paragraph or two regarding the theme of the game. Thanks!

[@gregoryhartlein8702]

I agree with you Rahdo. Come on TMG, give us some history; give us some more flava!

[@AlexandreOliveiraMCZ]

Great video, as always. I wholeheartedly agree that they should take the opportunity to implement some historical context into the game, it would be to everyone's gain.

[@nanorider426]

That's why I like Avalon Hill rules or most wargame companies for that matter. They almost always have a section where the historical notes are present or perhaps a historian tells about the era where the game takes place.

[@nohandle54]

Thanks for these thoughts on the subject matter, Rahdo. Its interesting that it usually takes a GMT-style game with a million chits to match a million rules to get real history, while it could be more educational in a light, fun game.

[@KaptajnCongoboy]

Precicely. And do we REALLY want to take the "peasants massacre jews in the rhineland" action for 3 public support and 2 loot for 2 vps? Or have the mechanic "If city falls to assault, reduce its population by 4 and gain 12 money tokens"?

[@rahdo]

why the strawman?

[@njshaw2]

I *love* the theme here, and I love the gameplay mechanisms. Not sure about the blood-red sea, but I get the historical context about it. :) Alas the kickstarter cost is above my buying ability, but I'll look out for this when it gets to retail.

[@NickGotch]

Twilight Struggle is another example of a game that does a great job pulling in the history behind the theme without hurting (and, in fact, *improving*) the game. I'd love to see the history at least available to me when I play.

[@rahdo]

indeed, i should have mentioned that as another example!

[@patcon314]

"Kingdom of Heaven" is a source of knowledge about the Crusades for a lot of people. And a pretty good movie.

[@d.hunterphillips74]

Your reviews are wonderful, please don't get sick of it! Anything I can do to help, I will!

[@vmi02raven]

So, Rahdo....hearing about how you wanted more history in this game....maybe you would have loved a "Twilight Struggle" like version of this game?

[@rahdo]

we're generally not looking for games where we engage in direct head to head conflict...

[@vmi02raven]

rahdo understood. Just the way you were describing how you thought the game could have brought more "history lesson" features to teach the players about the Crusades...my mind instantly went to "Twilight Struggle", which is basically a history lesson disguised as a great game. I would find it hard to do an egaging history game about the Crusades without it being a head-to-head game of one player as the Crusaders and the other as the Muslims so as to make sure both sides got equal attention.

[@jonasakerblom2675]

How was it as a two player game? Will you keep it?

[@rahdo]

great 2p. i generally don't keep prototypes around

[@meenki347]

I love Mombasa. I'm a heavy hex & counter wargamer but I'm sold on this game. Great review

[@BrunoVanVaerenbergh]

"The knights Templar set the stage for banking", so evil after all ;-)

[@Thesussysuscat]

100% agree on no flavor text and information

[@davidbbeattie]

I hope TMG take on board Rahdo's comments and bring history alive. Very cool idea!

[@freejunk2]

i'm pretty sure the reason they didn't put the details in was b/c they don't know the details and they didn't bother to do the research. they just found basic information about the crusades and used the theme.

[@chriswinston1223]

TMG has dropped the ball with this one. The shipping fees are insane. They are asking for $90.00 for shipping to my county. I hope they fix this. I have contacted them repeatedly. No help so far.

[@AlexandreOliveiraMCZ]

Fumi Downing they don't seem interested at all in selling to foreigners, I'm lucky to have a friend in the US that brings games to me, so I can pledge on, otherwise impossible, KS projects, but the fact that they ostensibly (via high shipping prices) disregard foreigners sometimes makes me wonder if I should back, well I'm choosing to think it's just poor planning, and sometimes some Brazilian distributor makes a partnership with them and brings some games.

[@opsallen]

I don't know where you are located but check out independent shippers you could use that import to your country. For example where I live in Uruguay we have services that provide us with a US Address we ship to, and then import the product to us for a nominal fee (much less than $90). Maybe there's a similar business being ran in your country.

[@sethjaffee7104]

Fumi - which country are you in?

[@KaptajnCongoboy]

They just fixed it, at least for me. I shipped it for 8 bucks more than I would have to my neighbouring EU country, but not 68 more, as the original shipping plan was.

[@TheJoaninhaMendes]

Man, I didn't know that the average American didn't have a clue about the crusades. I just though that this part of history is commonly taught in western schools (not only in Europe)

[@michaelcall4962]

As one of the Americans that grew up on the public education system, history tends to be heavily taught with the history of America, i.e. Why Christopher Columbus discovered America, why those that colonized America fought against England, etc. I'm not saying we completely ignored the history on the other side of the world, but public education basically just skimmed the surface on what happened there, (Black Plague, Crusades, I can't even think of anything else since it's been 20+ years) and focused more on our motherland. Shame really... because after I graduated I opened some historical books and it's made the whole world come alive to me.

[@BlueSapphyre]

TheJoaninhaMendes US history courses skim over everything prior to the Age of Sail/Age of Exploration and the Revolutionary War.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

Actually I took a World History class in high school as a Freshman before I took a US History course in high school as a Junior. But because the scope of “World History” is so broad - and because we are Americans - so it is our own country, I feel that most of us forget all about non-US history (unless you become a history major in college and have to take specific courses such as European History, Asian History, African History, Latin American History, etc.) and tend to remember our own US history more.

[@erikalexander3085]

Had high hopes for this, but it looks to light...

[@richardscales9560]

Context would be good I agree.

[@nznickme]

Was this a sponsored video?

[@rahdo]

nope

[@nznickme]

Thanks for the reply. After watching another of your videos, it looks as if you're a straight shooter. I wasn't sure if your enthusiasm for this game was influenced by any external factors.

[@anthonymeffe3723]

Not asking this in an accusatory way, but how can Jen play Trajan with the military actions in the Roman Empire, but not battle some Saracens invading Europe? I get that our tolerances etc... aren't always perfectly consistent, but surely every simulation has a human cost. Ie. Romans salting the earth. Ie. Mombasa, European colonialism was harmful in some ways, and helpful in others. Ie. the British in India stopped the practice of burning women on their husband's funeral pyre, but also institutionalized the caste system. The British overthrew the Mughals who had conquered Northern India from the Middle East and stopped their practice of boiling Indians in oil, but also used their wealth etc... there's nuance there though, as with all history Similarly there was a reality in the threat of invasions from the Islamic world, North Africa had been totally conquered and Spain was conquered by "Saracens" for hundreds of years since the 8th century. Or in Trajan, the Romans conquered Brittania, but also protected them from Saxon invasions until the fall of the empire. Romans brutally attacked Germania, and yet Trajan was from Iberia. There's not just one take from any historical period. I guess my point is that history is nuanced, and if you simulate it, surely you could simulate yourself as someone with a good reason to do what you did and acting justly? Maybe?

[@rahdo]

jen's not keen about the conquering element in trajan either.

[@anthonymeffe3723]

rahdo that's fair

[@bluestripetiger]

This game needs a Byzantium/Middle East expansion

[@ricke1732]

I'm genuinely confused. The theme (as abstracted as it is) was almost too much for Jen and took away from her enjoyment of the game.... But you think them making it MORE thematic would somehow help that? Wouldn't Jen reading about these atrocities between turns actually make her less inclined to play this game??

[@rahdo]

i doubt she would read them becuase you're right, she genuinely doesn't want to be confronted by the reality of the simulation.

[@dddmmm21]

I am divided here... Clearly the game seems to be perpetuating some negative myths about the Crusades and it is missing the opportunity to educate people... But it does seem like a good game... I just really hope PC does not come to board games but I can already see that slowly happening...

[@davidbbeattie]

Great game maybe so, but why does it look so god damn ugly?

[@polimer87]

They did it up to Denmark today... :P

[@Darthvegeta8000]

I'll pass on it due to the esthetics and a distinct lack of historical flavor.

[@VanDeutscheHammer]

Snowflake SJWs will not approve! Now I must back this!