Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
A multi-player† board game that recreates the growth of empires during the Middle Ages throughout the Mediterranean world. Christians and Moslems in conflict among themselves and with each other.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Action Queue
Place actions into an ordered queue that resolves now or on later turns.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Area-Impulse
Players alternate short actions within contested areas until everyone passes.
Read the full game description
A multi-player† board game that recreates the growth of empires during the Middle Ages throughout the Mediterranean world. Christians and Moslems in conflict among themselves and with each other. Originally a PBM game; it involves partially hidden movement (you move "armies" and "fleets" of hidden make-up) as well as simultaneous turn plotting. Spy rings are valuable intelligence-gathering units. Areas fought over repeatedly suffer from the warfare and have their economic value depressed --a neat touch which is unfortunately uncommon in wargames. † In theory, the game can accommodate 40 players, one for each leader and its province.