During the last NHMGS quarterly meeting of 1985, I regaled the members with tales of the Society of Ancients meetings in the seventies. Charlie Tarbox was the guiding spirit behind most of these proceedings. As one event, he always managed to put on a large multi-sided, multi-player game which never failed to stimulate and entertain the participants. It was these games which I was describing to my fellow members when they challenged me to devise something along the same lines for our 1986 spring meeting.

I accepted the challenge and settled on a scenario of the Crusades in 15mm. I hasten to add that this decision was based strictly upon troop availability and a certain gut feeling that a bunch of proud, independent, and belligerent knightly Counts and Dukes should provide plenty of grist for my mill. I did NOT choose the era because of any special expertise concerning the Crusades.

Before I started my research, I would have had to rank in the lower 20 percentile of Society of Ancients members when it came to knowledge of the era of the Crusades. With apologies to the experts in this field and to Charlie Tarbox and others who have masterminded multi-sided games before me, I propose to tell you about the game I set up, and that I will present again at Enfilade! 2000 in May.

The Historical Reality

My research into the Crusades quickly shook my naive conceptions. Instead of finding stalwart religious Christians and Moslems burning with holy desire to kill and destroy for their God, I found daring and ambitious men who were normally pragmatic enough to resort to bribery and other dealings with their religious enemies as alternatives to battle. Actual pacts of mutual assistance and regular trade were not uncommon between the Outremer kingdoms and their Moslem enemies. I also found what I felt was the perfect historical incident for my wargame.

Shortly after the end of the ineffectual Second Crusade (1147-1149) the Crusaders residing in Palestine managed, under the leadership of Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, to gain control of the entire Palestine coast. They were able to do this because the Moslems were battling amongst themselves. They were divided between the Syrian Sunnite Moslems under the Caliph of Baghdad and the Fatimid Egyptian Shiite Moslems under the Caliph of Cairo.

Between 1163 - 1168, Baldwin's successor, King Amalric I, and Nur a Din, the Syrian ruler of Damascus, struggled for control of Egypt. Both saw Egypt as weak and ripe for conquest. They also both saw Egypt as the key to their side's mastery of the entire Middle East. This period, therefore, saw Egypt invaded continually by Syrian and Christian armies, while the Egyptians struggled to play one off against the other in order to survive.

The particular event which I chose was Amalric's invasion of 1164. This was the culmination of some typically diabolical events. By one account, the Egyptian Vizier Shawar was thrown out of office by the Caliph of Cairo. He sent word to Nur a Din. If the Syrians would send an army to restore Shawar, he would help them oust the Shiite Caliph and recognize the Sunni Caliph of Baghdad as ruler of Egypt, thus uniting these Moslems.

Nur a Din eagerly accepted and sent Asad a Din Shirkuh at the head of an army which included Shirkuh's nephew, Sal a Din (yes, that one). Shirkuh invaded Egypt, capturing Bilbeis. The Caliph of Cairo was frightened into restoring Shawar. Shawar then reneged on his promise to Nur a Din and sent to Amalric for aid.

The King, alarmed by the thought of the Syrians gaining Egypt, and having received 27,000 dinars from Shamar's envoys (who sent a bribe to the Knights Hospitallers as well) gathered his forces and marched into Egypt. The ensuing struggle saw the Egyptians and Christians fight the Syrians to a stand off. Both Shirkuh and Amalric agreed to withdraw if the other did. Thus, the "winner" was clearly Shawar who had regained his position and kept his country independent.

It is this particular campaign (with the addition of three historical characters who figured in others of Amalric's invasions during this period) which I set out to re-create.

Historical Postscript

In 1169, Shawar reversed his position and asked Shirkuh to bring an army to Egypt to help him drive out another of Amalrids invasions. The Syrians came and Amalric left upon their approach. This time, however, Shirkuh did not go away. He invited Shawar to journey on a holy pilgrimage with Sal a Din. When Shawar left Cairo, Sal a Din (that noble gentleman, whom history tells us never broke his word) dragged him off his horse, took him back to camp and had him executed.

The frightened Caliph of Cairo appointed Shirkuh Vizier in Shawar's place. Shirkuh abandoned his Sunnite master Nur a Din to serve the Shiite Caliph. However, he enjoyed his new status too much and soon ate himself to death. Sal a Din took his place and, when the Caliph died made himself ruler of Egypt. Thus began the process that would see Sal a Din unite the Moslems under his rule and drive the Christians out of Palestine.

The next time you are involved in a campaign game and feel that something "unrealistic" has happened, remember the above bizarre chain of historical events. Or, come join me at Enfilade! and see how you fare.