Third Crusade - Break the Siege of Acre, 11th July 1191

The city of Acre on the east coast of the Mediterranean had been under siege by the Crusaders since August 1189. The Crusaders had blockaded the city by sea and encircled it on land. In turn they were encircled inland by Egyptians who were trying to relieve the Siege of Acre. The situation came to a head with the arrival of King Richard in June 1191, whose plan was to take Acre and then secure the coast as they moved south towards Jerusalem. In the city, the garrison were on the verge of surrender and Saladin's encircling army made a last attempt too break the Siege of Acre.

An excuse for a big bash to start things off in this series of games.
I used Sword & Spear (2nd Edition) rules by Mark Lewis, published by Great Escape Games.

I have used one unit is represented by 2 square bases, so 4 cavalry figs or 8 infantry figs to a unit.
The red and black dice indicate activations, The numbered discs represent hits. The yellow and blue dice (where shown) represent combat results.

The initial layout,
Crusaders on the left. The City of Acre lies off-table behind the Crusaders.
The deployment was done using the Attack on a Prepared Position scenario but I varied the allowed Stratagems to better suit the situation.
Both sides are heavy on cavalry.
I made the assumption that the Saracens preceded their attack with harassing arrow fire and that the Crusader cavalry had already moved through the infantry to try to push away the attackers leaving the infantry as a back stop.

Third Crusade Linked Scenarios

The action will take place from Saladin's last attempt to break of the Siege Of Acre, to the Battle Of Arsuf.

Games will be played using various rules depending on the scenario and, perhaps, what I fancy:

• Sword & Spear (2nd Edition) by Mark Lewis, published by Great Escape Games
• Soldiers Of God by Warwick Kinrade, produced by Artorus Games Ltd
• Lion Rampant by Daniel Mersey, published by Osprey

In some cases the result of battles fought will influence what happens next, especially if the outcome is not historical. In these cases it may result in another battle being fought where one side takes advantage of an opportunity.

Scenarios

Break The Siege Of Acre
11th July, 1191
Saladin's last attempt to break the Siege Of Acre.
An excuse for a big bash to start things off.

Break Up The Column
25th-26th August, 1191
The Crusader army is advancing down the coast in three separate divisions. Saladin's son, al-Afdal, attempts to slow the Crusader's rearguard to separate them from the rest. If successful, Saladin's main force could exploit the gap between the Crusader rearguard and the rest of the army.

Skirmish Attacks on the Column
30th August, 1191
Saladin intended this to be a major assault, but it didn't develop that way.

Determined Attacks on the Column
2nd September, 1191
Another attempt to break the deadlock resulting in fierce fighting.

Battle Of Arsuf
7th September, 1191.
The climax of this set of scenarios with Saladin launching a major attack as the Crusaders approach Arsuf.

Rather than create a complete campaign I have decided to run this as a series of linked scenarios based on historical encounters. This is partly because the historical movements, of the Crusaders at least, were fairly linear along the coast. This means there is much scope for variation except timing and position of encampments and encounters. Also, as it is a solo effort, I would be making decisions for both sides while knowing the intention of the enemy.

Reference used: The Third Crusade 1191 by Osprey.

Introduction to my Blog

This Blog is to show the wargaming stuff I do at home, and things not directly linked to the club I attend which is Tring Wargames Club.

There'll be battle reports, campaigns, linked scenarios, painting projects, current interests and the like.

It looks like my first project will be a series of battles based on the Third Crusade, 1191.