‘You must suffer many things in the name of Christ, wretchedness, poverty, nakedness, persecution, need, sickness, hunger, thirst, and other things of this kind.’ -Pope Urban II, 1095

On Holy Ground - The Crusades is a campaign sourcebook for Day of Battle Second Edition. Information within this book covers European and Middle Eastern history starting with the First Crusade (1095AD) to the end of the Third Crusade (1192AD). Though written for Day of Battle the information presented within can easily by adapted to other rules. At the start of the First Crusade Western Europe was finally emerging from the period commonly referred to as the Dark Ages.

The Crusades allowed the West to define itself with a new cultural and religious self. The Church, through The Crusades was able to redirect a large portion of the war and destruction by its warrior class from the West to The East. The Crusades therefore represent an important period in Western and Eastern history when both cultures collided at a crossroad in time. The Crusaders almost fanatical drive to reach the Holy Land, retake it from the enemy of their religion and hold it was a goal rarely achieved. Regardless of these noble intentions, the Crusaders themselves often fell prey to the vices known to most men. Greed, power and betrayal led them often times to disaster and destruction. The egos of the great Warlords that the forces from the West were many time a bigger threat than any enemy army was.

Finally in 1291, the forces of Islam took the last Christian stronghold. Never again would the West hold a domain in there.

On Holy Ground - The Crusades is a campaign sourcebook allowing players to wage war and campaigns in the Holy Land. Crusades also took place in of all places, Southern France as well as Spain and Eastern Europe. This sourcebook deals only with those fought in the Holy Land during from 1092 through 1192. Due to the complicated nature of warfare during The Crusades, this campaign sourcebook is designed for use with all Advanced Game (AG) rules in DoBII.

This supplement is broken down into three parts. Part One concerns rules modifications and new rules. Wherever there is a conflict, the rules in this supplement take precedence over the DoBII rules. Part Two is broken into three chapters; each chapter gives a thumbnail history of a single Crusade and sample charachters. Part Three contains ideas for two campaigns as well as the domains to play them with.

More History of the Crusades

Introduction
First Crusade
Second Crusade
Third Crusade
Fourth and Fifth Crusades