The Crescent and The Cross: Concluded

[kronenblatt]

The Crescent and The Cross

The Crescent and The Cross tournament takes place in the Iberian peninsula during three centuries of the reconquista (1070 - 1350 AD) and involves five players. Each player represents a Christian kingdom - León or Aragon - or a Muslim emirate - Badajoz, Granada, or Murcia - fighting between and among the themselves - Christian against Muslim, Christian against Christian, and Muslim against Muslim - for dominance over what was to become Spain. The tournament is played over seven rounds, each round representing a time period of 40 years. Once concluded, the winner of the tournament will be crowned from among the players of the faith who control the highest total number of provinces of the other faith, and of the players of that faith, he who controls the most provinces of his own faith.

The army lists of the tournament are derived from the base game - Navarrese 1050-1154 AD, Andalusian 1050-1154 AD, Aragonese 1200-1274 AD, Berber (Almohad) 1121-1269 AD, Castilian/Leonese 1200-1319 AD, Granadine 1232-1319 AD - but combined among each other to create variation over time and as the political situation changes. For example, in the first rounds, army lists will consist of proportions of the earlier base game army lists (Navarrese 1050-1154 AD, Andalusian 1050-1154 AD), the proportions as always depending on which provinces (Christian or Muslim) the player controls, and as time goes, army lists will shift gradually into the later base game army lists, through the use of changing combinations of main armies and allies in the battles.

Winner: Rosedelio

Early in round 7 (1310-1350 AD) Rosedelio won the battle that made his lead unassailable, with 9 controlled Muslim provinces (plus 3 Christian) against Lennard, Emir of Badajoz, and his 2 Muslim and 3 Christian provinces. The only remaining Christian king, kronenblatt, barely survives, with 2 each of Christian and Muslim provinces.

Many thanks to all participants! Hope you enjoyed this campaign!

[kronenblatt]

[kronenblatt]

Overview

• The Crescent and The Cross involves five players and takes place in the Iberian peninsula during three centuries of the reconquista (1070 - 1350 AD), with each player representing a Christian kingdom or a Muslim emirate, fighting between and among the themselves - Christian against Muslim, Christian against Christian, and Muslim against Muslim - for dominance over what was to become Spain.
  • Christian
    • Kingdom of León.
    • Kingdom of Aragon.
  • Muslim
    • Emirate of Badajoz.
    • Emirate of Granada.
    • Emirate of Murcia.

• The tournament is played over seven rounds, each round representing a time period of 40 years.
  
  1. 1070 - 1110 AD.
  2. 1110 - 1150 AD.
  3. 1150 - 1190 AD.
  4. 1190 - 1230 AD.
  5. 1230 - 1270 AD.
  6. 1270 - 1310 AD.
  7. 1310 - 1350 AD.

• The winner of the tournament will, at the end of the seventh round, be crowned from among the players of the faith who control the highest total number of provinces of the other faith (i.e., total Muslim provinces for the Christian players, and total Christian provinces for the Muslim players), and of the players of that faith, he who controls the most provinces of his own faith.

Map

• The map consists of 21 provinces, 8 with the Christian faith and 13 with the Muslim faith:
  • Christian: Coimbra, Compostela, Salamanca, Oviedo, Burgos, Pamplona, Jaca, Barcelona.
  • Muslim: Lisbon, Badajoz, Silves, Sevilla, Malaga, Cordoba, Granada, Elena, Murcia, Valencia, Saragossa, Lerida.

• The provinces will keep their faiths during the campaign, independently of which player actually controls them.

• The Christian provinces are at start controlled by the Christian kingdoms as follows:
  • Kingdom of León: Coimbra, Compostela, Salamanca, Oviedo.
  • Kingdom of Aragon: Burgos, Pamplona, Jaca, Barcelona.

• The Muslim provinces are at start controlled by the Muslim emirates as follows:
  • Emirate of Badajoz: Lisbon, Badajoz, Silves, Sevilla.
  • Emirate of Granada: Malaga, Cordoba, Granada, Elena.
  • Emirate of Murcia: Murcia, Valencia, Saragossa, Lerida.

• The exception is the Muslim province of Toledo, which at start is not controlled by any kingdom or emirate and will thus be fought over during the first round (see below).

Download of The Crescent and The Cross module

• The Crescent and Cross v1 (version 1) module is needed to set up and play battles with the appropriate main armies and allies.

• Download the module through the following usual steps:
  1. Click on the Download community scenarios button at the top of the main screen of the game.
  2. Select The Crescent and The Cross MP v1.
  3. Click on Download the Selected Campaign.

• The mod will then be automatically saved into the the My Games\FieldOfGloryMedieval\MULTIPLAYER\ folder, within the MP_CRESCENT_CROSS_V1 subfolder.

• (The single-player (SP) version is available for download in the same way, allowing the use of The Crescent and The Cross armies in battles against the AI.)

Rounds

• Each round consists of the following three phases:
  1. Attack declarations: All players announce, one by one in falling order of highest inflicted casualties in the previous round, announce which attack that they will make.
  • In round 1, order is determined by when the players signed up for the tournament.
  2. Battle resolutions: All battles will be simultaneously played and completed in FoG2: Medieval during a period of maximum four weeks.
  3. Province control changes: The victors (if any) of the battles take control over the loser's provinces-at-stake.

Special rules in the first round (1070 - 1110 AD)

• Since at start, no player controls the Muslim province of Toledo, it will have to be fought over.

• No other attack declarations are made in the first round.

• The first round will involve the following battles, all taking place in Toledo:
  1. Emirate of Badajoz against Kingdom of León.
  2. Kingdom of León against Kingdom of Aragon.
  3. Kingdom of Aragon against Emirate of Murcia.
  4. Emirate of Murcia against Emirate of Granada.
  5. Emirate of Granada against Emirate of Badajoz.
  • Thus, all players will fight two battles each, over the control of Toledo.

• The player who has inflicted the most casualties in total in these five battles will gain control over Toledo (and if a tie, among these players, he who has incurred the fewest casualties in total, with a roll of dice as last resort).

• No other provinces will be gained or lost from these five battles over Toledo.

Attacks

• Each round, from the second and onwards, requires a player (the "attacker") to announce an attack on another neighbouring player (whether same faith or not) (the "defender").

• The attack announcement will be made in a post in the tournament's thread on the forum.

• The attacker will specify from which of his provinces that the attack takes place (the "attacker province") and which neighbouring province controlled by the defender that is attacked (the "defender province").

• The attacker province and defender province are considered "provinces-at-stake" in this attack.

• None of these provinces-at-stake must be already included as provinces-at-stake in another player's attack this round.

• Example: kronenblatt attacks SnuggleBunnies' Toledo from Salamanca.

Battles

• The defender creates the challenge in the FoG2:Medieval Multiplayer Lobby.

• The attack will take the form of a Custom Battle, using the The Crescent and The Cross v1 module (opened through the 'Select another module' button):
  • Open Battle scenario.
  • Large (1600 FP) force size.
  • Wide (40x32) map size.
  • Pot Luck map type.
  • No map re-rolls will be made.
  • Defender as Side B (in order for the other player to immediately be able to deploy and make first round when accepting the challenge).

• Battle outcome, once resolved, is posted by the defender in a post of the tournament thread.

• The victor of the battle takes control over the loser's provinces-at-stake.
  • The player routing the enemy is considered the victor.
  • If neither player routs the enemy, it is considered a draw and both players retain their provinces-at-stake.

Armies and allies in battles

• The army lists of The Crescent and The Cross are based on the base game, as follows:
  • Early
    • Christian (100%): Navarrese 1050-1154 AD.
    • Muslim (100%): Andalusian 1050-1154 AD.
  • Middle
    • Christian (100%): Aragonese 1200-1274 AD.
    • Muslim (100%): Berber (Almohad) 1121-1269 AD.
  • Late
    • Christian (100%): Castilian/Leonese 1200-1319 AD.
    • Muslim (100%): Granadine 1232-1319 AD.

• 25%, 50%, and 75% army lists use applicable proportions of the armies above.

• Example: The Middle Christian (75%) army list is to 75% based on Aragonese 1200-1274 AD and to 25% of Berber (Almohad) 1121-1269 AD.

• In order to create some variety and variation, the army lists to be used by a player in his battles, for his main army as well as his allies, will depend on:
  1. the round in question, and
  2. his proportion of controlled Christian provinces (with provinces of his own faith counting as double) at the beginning of the round.

1. Army lists to be used in different rounds
   • Round 1 (1070 - 1110 AD): Early main army with Early allies.
   • Round 2 (1110 - 1150 AD): Early main army with Middle allies.
   • Round 3 (1150 - 1190 AD): Middle main army with Early allies.
   • Round 4 (1190 - 1230 AD): Middle main army without allies.
   • Round 5 (1230 - 1270 AD): Middle main army with Late allies.
   • Round 6 (1270 - 1310 AD): Late main army with Middle allies.
   • Round 7 (1310 - 1350 AD): Late main army with Late allies.
2. Army lists to be used for different proportions of controlled Christian provinces
   
   
   
   • Main army
     • Christian players
       • below 60%: Christian (50%).
       • 60% - below 80%: Christian (75%).
       • 80% or higher: Christian (100%).
     • Muslim players
       • below 20%: Muslim (100%).
       • 20% - below 40%: Muslim (75%).
       • 40% or higher: Muslim (50%).
     • Example: a Christian player controlling 2 Christian provinces (Coimbra and Salamanca) and 3 Muslim provinces (Toledo, Badajoz, and Lisbon) would apply a proportion of 57% (4 controlled Christian provinces out of a total of 7 controlled provinces). If the player had instead been Muslim, the applied proportion would have been 25% (6 controlled Muslim provinces out of 8 controlled provinces in total).
   • Allies
     • Christian players
       • below 20%: Muslim (100%).
       • 20% - below 40%: Muslim (75%).
       • 40% - below 60%: Christian (50%).
       • 60% - below 80%: Christian (75%).
       • 80% or higher: Christian (100%).
     • Muslim players
       • below 20%: Muslim (100%).
       • 20% - below 40%: Muslim (75%).
       • 40% - below 60%: Muslim (50%).
       • 60% - below 80%: Christian (75%).
       • 80% or higher: Christian (100%).
     • Furthermore, ally army lists will be adjusted one notch in the direction of the faith of the province in which the battle takes place, i.e., of the defender province.
       • This does never apply on the main army.
     • Example: a Christian player that ought to have a 25% Christian part in his army (due to low percentage of Christian provinces controlled) would have allies using an army list of 0% Christian if defender province is Muslim and 50% if Christian. The Christian main army would be 50% Christian, due to the floor (as set out above) and due to not being affected by the faith of defender province.

[kronenblatt]

The final (v1) module for multi-player (MP) containing the army lists to be used in The Crescent and The Cross battles is now available for download in-game. See instructions in the beginning of the rules.

[kronenblatt]

So we're ready to start the fighting! The first round differs from the later six in that it will not include any attack declarations. Instead the battles to be fought are pre-determined and will decide who will gain control over the Muslim province of Toledo (see "Special rules in the first round (1070 - 1110 AD)" in the rules). Two battles per player.

Please note

• The Crescent and The Cross module version 1 (v1) for multi-player (MP) is needed to play the battles, as it contains the army lists to be used, and is now available for download in-game, along with instructions in the beginning of the rules above.

• Please download it ASAP!

The battles

1. Emirate of Badajoz against Kingdom of León: Lennard (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies) versus edb1815 (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies).
2. Kingdom of León against Kingdom of Aragon: edb1815 (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies) versus kronenblatt (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies).
3. Kingdom of Aragon against Emirate of Murcia: kronenblatt (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies) versus Changdao (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies).
4. Emirate of Murcia against Emirate of Granada: Changdao (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies) versus Rosedelio (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies).
5. Emirate of Granada against Emirate of Badajoz: Rosedelio (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies) versus Lennard (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies).

• The underlined player in each battle creates the challenge in the FoG2:Medieval Multiplayer Lobby by December 26 at the latest and thereafter PMs his opponent and makes a post in this thread.

• The battles will take the form of a Custom Battle, using the The Crescent and The Cross v1 module (opened through the 'Select another module' button):
  • Open Battle scenario.
  • Large (1600 FP) force size.
  • Wide (40x32) map size.
  • Pot Luck map type.
  • No map re-rolls will be made.
  • The player creating the challenge as Side B (in order for the other player to immediately be able to deploy and make first round when accepting the challenge).

• Players undertake to pick up the challenge by December 28 at the latest.

• Battles to be played and concluded within a four-week period, i.e., by January 23 at the latest.

[kronenblatt]

Battle 2: Kingdom of León against Kingdom of Aragon

set up for edb1815 (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies) versus kronenblatt (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies).

password: TOLEDO

PM sent.
Enjoy!

[Changdao]

Battle 3: Kingdom of Aragon vs Emirate of Murcia

set up for kronenblatt (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies) vs Changdao (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies)

password: MADRID

PM sent

[Rosedelio]

Battle 4: Emirate of Murcia against Emirate of Granada

Set up for Changdao

password: toledo

PM sent

[Lennard]

Battle 5: Emirate of Granada against Emirate of Badajoz

Set up for Rosedelio
password: 1234

PM sent!

[kronenblatt]

Is battle:

1. Emirate of Badajoz against Kingdom of León: Lennard (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies) versus edb1815 (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies).

set up by edb1815 yet and accepted by Lennard?

[Rosedelio]

Battle 4: Rosedelio (Granada) defeats Changdao (Murcia) 61-45

Despite the collapse of the Granadan center, the flanks managed to hold on and win the day.

[edb1815]

Battle 1 Set up

Emirate of Badajoz against Kingdom of León: Lennard (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies) versus edb1815 (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies).

Psw: ELCid

PM sent.

[Changdao]

Battle 3: Changdao (Murcia) defeats kronenblatt (Aragon) 64-45

Both left flanks collapsed, but the Aragonese collapsed just enough faster for the Murcians to secure a victory

[Rosedelio]

Battle 5: Rosedelio (Granada) defeats Lennard (Badajoz) 45-11

The Granada left managed to delay the massive Badajoz advance long enough for the rest of the army to rout the Badajoz left and center.

[kronenblatt]

Battle 2: kronenblatt (Aragon) defeats edb1815 (Léon) 53-25.

[Lennard]

Battle 1 Set up

Emirate of Badajoz against Kingdom of León: Lennard (Early Muslim (100%) with Early Muslim (100%) allies) versus edb1815 (Early Christian (100%) with Early Christian (75%) allies).

Psw: ELCid

PM sent.

This battle has ended now. The Badajoz Army - outnumbering their adversaries by 3000 men - managed to secure a victory in turn 21 against the Léonese Army.

Lennard (Badajoz) defeats edb1815 (Léon) 45 - 19.

[kronenblatt]

Battles
1. Lennard (Badajoz) defeats edb1815 (Léon) 45-19
2. kronenblatt (Aragon) defeats edb1815 (Léon) 53-25
3. Changdao (Murcia) defeats kronenblatt (Aragon) 64-45
4. Rosedelio (Granada) defeats Changdao (Murcia) 61-45
5. Rosedelio (Granada) defeats Lennard (Badajoz) 45-11

=>Total inflicted casualties

• Changdao (Murcia) = 109 (64+45)

• Rosedelio (Granada) = 106 (61+45)

• kronenblatt (Aragon) = 98 (53+45)

• Lennard (Badajoz) = 56 (11+45)

• edb1815 (Léon) = 44 (25+19)

=> Changdao gains the province of Toledo.

[kronenblatt]

Attack declarations (based on highest inflicted casualties previous round)
1. Changdao (64): Jan. 15
2. Rosedelio (61): Jan. 16
3. kronenblatt (53): Jan. 17
4. Lennard (45): Jan. 18
5. edb1815 (25): Jan. 19

Please note that

• Attack declarations are posted in this thread.

• Please express attack declarations in the following way: kronenblatt attacks SnuggleBunnies' Toledo from Salamanca.

• Date (midnight CET-1 (Madrid) time) above indicates deadline, after which opportunity for you to declare attack is forfeited and the player next in line may declare his attack.

• Once you have declared an attack, please PM the player next in line, who will then be free to declare his attack, up to his deadline, so we all don't need to wait for each player's deadline.

• In case any of you have any questions (which I'm sure you have, no problems ), please post them in this thread in order for everyone else to see the question as well as the answer.

[Changdao]

Changdao attacks kronenblatt's Barcelona from Lerida

[Rosedelio]

Rosedelio attacks Lennard's Sevilla from Malaga