Assassins and Templars-What is it? What is it all about? Where can you get it?

 

Assassins and Templars -what’s it all about?

Assassins and Templars is a Ruckus game depicting the furious and deadly conflict between these two rival fanatical orders in Palestine in the twelfth century. I have always enjoyed reading about the Crusades, the history is fascinating, the disparity in the forces involved both in terms of numbers and fighting systems, the intricate and everchanging politics as different European and Islamic forces appear in the region each with their own motives and histories, the Religious fervour that profoundly pervades all in involved. These factors combined with finite resources, and few safe havens allows for a myriad of scenario possibilities.

And then there are the two fanatical military orders of warrior monks, the Shia Nizaris, otherwise known as the Assassins and the Templars, divided by their Religion however remarkably similar in their devotion to training, improving their skill at arms, their horsemanship and their devotion to God.

My interest in the Crusades probably stems from reading the Graham Shelby novels “the Knights of Dark Renown” and “The Kings of Vain Intent” as a teenager. These are excellent books that stick pretty closely to the history and provide a good understanding of the politics. I have always thought a good game could be created dealing with the political situation alone. European powers in a foreign land with long histories of rivalry dealing with a common enemy and always constrained by lack of resources, being outnumbered and a Popes edict that prevents them from raising a hand against each other. Shelby neatly conveys these aspects of the conflict.

Despite enjoying the history of the Crusades I had no plans to take Ruckus there, I have never gamed it and had no figures or terrain. My intent has always been to progress and develop Ruckus through European history to the early Pike and Shot period terminating with Pirates, surely the ultimate setting for Ruckus! With this in mind I have written the rules for eighteen Retinues and thirty scenarios and have been working towards the BIG Book of Ruckus.

And then Wargames Illustrated threw me a curve ball…Assassins and Templars.

 Wi introduced me to Steve Tibble, professor of history and expert on both the Assassins and Templars. Steve has written several books on both Orders and his “the Crusader Armies” is a must buy for any gamer with an interest in the period.

 Steve and I got on famously and established an immediate rapport he is a very likeable and friendly man and of course an excellent resource for someone writing a game about his favourite subject. The opportunity to write a game about it proved irresistible.

I wrote the initial A and T rules in one day. It took two weeks to refine them and three months of playtesting to ensure they work and construct scenarios.

Although both games share the same rules A and T differs from Ruckus in many ways

A and T is a standalone game, complete with Mounted Combat rules designed to be a separate entity from Ruckus, you do not need a copy of Ruckus to play A and T.

It’s a much earlier period, it is set in the period between the first and second Crusade, the Kingdom of Jerusalem period and because it is an earlier period armour is lighter, weapons tend to be one handed, shields are more common

It focuses on one theatre of war...the Levant which has a distinctly different landscape and weather, it is hot and dry, very few rivers, no streams and hardly any forested areas. These conditions are covered by the “This Accursed Hell Hole” rules which are published in the same magazine in an article entitled Fighting in Outremer

The game focuses on one aspect of that one theatre of war, the Templars and the Assassins so there are two distinctly different Retinues with very different attributes.

Both Retinues contain Fanatics who never test their will to fight, they will never surrender, they will never run away. They know that to be captured means death, these guys hated each other, and this was war to the knife. 

Gripping Beast plastics make a great Nizari Retinue

The Assassins are lightly armoured, highly skilled and very dangerous.

They have a special skill Hujum, that allows them to get a free attack on their opponent ...if they don’t Mishap!

They have an ability to avoid strikes in melee

They have poisoned blades which doubles their chance of inflicting a wound from a successful hit

They pay no penalty for changing from missile to melee weapons

They are skilled horse men

this Templar Retinue consists of a mix of Footsore and WGA

The Templars are also decked out with a plentiful array of skills, but they are more similar to Ruckus Retinues, and I used existing Ruckus Rules to create them

They were very good fighters. Their lives were dedicated to two things, the worship of God and increasing their skill at arms

This is reflected in their skills, they are hard to hurt- they shrug off injuries, ignoring the effect of wounds, although they are not immortal- they still die of course!

These fanatical warrior Monks are born in the saddle riders with Powerful Charge and Equestrian skills which reflect the real Templars renowned ability- the Charge. One thing that is probably not so well known about them is unlike their European equivalents their charges were well controlled. They did not get carried away in pursuit of defeated foes. They were very disciplined fighters.  

The rules have had a few changes and adjustments from the original set and feature a new rule which is the Prowess Test. Now instead of rolling beneath a Characters Prowess to use a Perk or above an Opponent’s Prowess to Forfeit their Activation, Characters take a Prowess test. Roll a d6 add the Character’s Prowess and score 7 or more to pass. This method has several advantages, it’s easy to remember, it means that rolling high is always good and it can be adjusted with other factors for occasions when the test might be easier or harder to pass 

Wi editor Dan Faulconbridge did an excellent job of somehow fitting the Mounted Character rules into the game and generally resolving a few issues as well as taking some brilliant pictures.

Unlike Ruckus A and T has no Skills development, instead Characters come ready formed and fully developed. Players are welcome to try and mix and match the two games but beware, these Retinues are already very strong, any additional Skills will skew the game considerably, make it more complex and will slow game play

Buy Wi 455 and you get Assassins and Templars for free! If you don’t want to own the magazine you can buy the rules separately for the bargain price of £5.99 but you will miss out on a magazine which is packed with A and T goodies including a scenario and the “Oh this Damned Hell Hole” rules

  A and T cards are available too at £8

Matthew Bickley has sculpted some figures specifically for the game they are available from Wi, North Star and Gripping Beast and they are

GiM 83 - Walter de Mesnil (one eye) on the right

GiM 84 - Roger de Lacy (drawing sword) on the left

GiM 85 - Abu’l-Fath (running) second from right

GiM 86 - Alwan ibn Harar (cloak) second from left

GB are selling two ‘Ready Made Retinues’

 

The Templars set from Gripping Beast consists of all metal figures including six mounted figures and retails at £55

the  Gripping Beast Assassin set features metal and plastic figures, goes for £35 and contains five mounted figures.

Both sets include the (relevant) GiM figures.

Wargames Illustrated 455 is an Assassin and Templars Special and contains

- Steve’s introduction to the history of Assassins and Templars .

- A short interview with Steve about his book

- My guide to how I painted my A&T figures

- An article on A&T 'Battlefield Essentials' by Dan i.e. what figures are available, and where to buy scenery.

- The Ambassador Scenario (which includes the ‘Accursed Hell Hole’ rules)

 

There will also be a digital, pdf, version of the game available on the Wi site to Prime members. There will be extra scenarios available from the site and regular A and T updates/additional material.

Right...now it’s back to the keyboard and on with the BIG book!

wargamesillustrated

https://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/Assassins_Templars--category--1223.html

https://www.northstarfigures.com/list.php?man=125&page=1

https://footsoreminiatures.co.uk/? 

BIG Ruckus IV

 

Bristol Independent Wargaming an excellent venue for a tourney!

A splendid day was had by all at the latest BIG Ruckus, which was notable for its cosmopolitan air.  We had players from all over the place, Telford, Tewkesbury, Poole, Swindon, Bath even that there London (I didn’t ask which bit), I think it’s fantastic that folk are prepared to travel to play my game. I felt flattered and a teeny bit humbled.

The Retinues were also well travelled. As well as the usual WotR standard Ruckus bands we had two Spanish Retinues, Irish, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Fighting Monks, the Big Bad Barons Men and even Blackadder and company.

Unfortunately, two players couldn’t make it, I hope you are both feeling better now, which meant that I had to take a place myself, which meant that I had a great day of fun, but was unable to circulate answering questions and taking pics. Fortunately, Ruckus players are quite able to look after themselves and there were very few questions for me to answer, in fact, if I had just been in the TO role I would have soon become bored! I did forget to take pics of the various Retinues though…d’oh! and the obligatory group photo...

The BIG Bad Baron and Henchmen

I fielded the Big Bad Barons Retinue and had a great day of Ruckus!  My first fight was against the Irish of Thomas Johnston, an excellent game, a real nail biter, which I lost quite decisively in the end. Thomas is a Ruckus newbie, but he has a firm grasp of the game play and took an early lead in the tourney…the Irish are my favourite Retinue and he used them very well.

The Baron became an early target for pesky Kerns who took it in turns to run up, hurl a  javelin or charge into melee. The Baron took an early Wound from this behaviour but took out three Kerns who charged him...

...he then dealt a killer blow to the Chief of Kerns

However in the centre field Tom's Captain, Stanley was taking out my squires...

...one at a time...

...before winning the final duel 

The Irish are an excellent attacking Retinue and Tom played to their strengths, a well deserved victor

The first game of the day is always Ruckus staple "Get Orf Moi Laaand!" but the two games after lunch, a very fine BIG lunch, can be one of several different scenarios

 Urban Brawl, an encounter game where the Retinues meet with all kinds of adventures in the buildings

  A more rural version of the same

The nearer board was the setting for "Fog of War" a devilish game of being lost and seperated...everyone expressed their displeasure at this scenario which makes me think its a keeper

"Take the Bridge" a deadly meeting engagement with one goal

 "A River runs through it" a game of ambushes and Outlaws

pic Flasheart is ambushed by a drunk Man at Arms in the Smithy in Urban Brawl

Next, I played the very affable Pete O’Loughlin who brought Blackadder to the table. Pete had sent me his idea for this Retinue a month or two ago and we agreed a set of rules for them, they are very flavourful and have positive and negative traits to reflect the roles of the various characters on screen. I particularly like the idea of Baldrick carrying an arrow with his name on it in the belief that if he owns the arrow with his name on it, he can’t be shot by it! This was a very close game that we had to call a draw in the end as we were the only two still playing and I had to admin the other games results.

My final game of the day was against the ever cheerful Chris Foster and his band of Merry Men which I won somehow! This was fun game of ambushes by Peasants and featured the glorious sight of Robin Hood running away from an enraged mob of the Poor that he is supposed to help!

Another Ambush!

I scored very highly in my first game, thanks to the Baron, and so after three games found myself in the lead and the potentially embarrassing position of winning my own Tourney. Luckily, I was pipped at the post, and the eventual winners beat me by a clear three points. Note to self…if this circumstance should arise again, play as a place holder and do not score your own results…

Marcus Lane and Richard Fox tied for first place, Richard gallantly decide that Marcus should take the main prize as Marcus had beaten Richard in their game, both players of course, recieved prizes.

In what was a close fought contest, Lloyd Lewis won the prize for the best painted Retinue for his gorgeous Spanish Retinue, I wish I had a pic to post

Peter O’Loughlin quite rightly won a prize for the most unusual Retinue

Lloyd Lewis bore away the “Most Supportive Player” award.

Best of all I made some new friends and had fun with old mates, all had a great day, and I personally cannot wait for the next one!

BIG Ruckus V will be held at Bristol Independent Gaming on Sunday 23rd November 2025

Saladins Cave or a Day at the Office

 

As Assassins and Templars is approaching its publication date it is time to add the final touches, take a few last pics and create some publicity videos. With this in mind I arrived at WI Tower to meet with editor Dan Faulconbridge and historian Professor Steve Tibble.

 It’s always a pleasure to visit the home of the Premier Wargaming Magazine, the team are very welcoming and always make me feel at home…they even keep a box of my favourite tea bags for my visits!

Steve , Dan and myself in a still from the promotional video

Wi is a treasure trove of wargaming essentials! Every wall has shelves groaning under the weight of porticoes and palaces, hovels and haciendas, castles and cottages…

  There are boxes and boxes of figures from every possible theatre and racks of modular terrain

 Every time I go there I find something new…

There are dozens of boxes of scatter terrain …

...you could represent the world’s biggest market…

...and transport it!

Dan Faulconbridge is the man responsible for all this madness although he tends to shrug the blame off onto his predecessor Duncan McFarlane. Dan and I have been working on Assassins and Templars for several months now and have developed an excellent working relationship. We both like to play with toys and it is a pleasure to watch Dan set a table for a photo shoot as he readily transforms into a ten year old version of himself as he gleefuly places his favourite bits and pieces

Dan is the production engine but the inspiration for this game comes from this man…the Prof… Dr Steve Tibble.

    Steve is another friend that I have made through this hobby, he has a growing reputation as the Crusades Historian and, particularly, for his knowledge of these maniacal Orders of fanatical Warrior Monks.

  It was his initial idea that the conflict between these two ideologically opposed but surprisingly similar groups would make an excellent subject for a wargame, he spoke to Dan and Dan recruited me… and the rest... well…

 

 I first became aware of Steves’ work when I listened to Templars "the knights who made Britain" as an audiobook and subsequently bought Crusader Armies,  an excellent book, in which Steve writes with an easy style and a descriptive flair that feels more like story than history and provides a vivid insight into the real reasons for these constant and seemingly interminable wars.

 Steve is a wargamer as well as an historian and this shows in the details of his writing, he brings battles to life and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the strategic and tactical aspects of war. The book is well illustrated with some excellent maps and is a must have for all those gamers who have an interest in the Crusades.

The book that started it all! This book too is superb! Steve very kindly forwarded me a pdf of this book before it was printed so that I was able to gen up on these strange sects and gain an understanding of how they operated.

  Steve’s almost lyrical style is engrossing, and this particular book is a real page turner, you just have to know what happens next. Steve adds extraordinary detail to a little known history and brings these warriors to life.

Thrilling stories abound and provide a whole catalogue of potential scenarios, it is another excellent read and it's top quality production values mean that this is a book you will pick up often, riffle throught its creamy white pages and sniff!

We had a full schedule and a busy day that Dan had sketched out for us with several interviews and the filming of some game sequences, but there was also time for friendly banter, informal chats and all round fun. I feel that we all got to know each other a little better and now we are ready for the sequel!

Assassins and Templars! Some of the toys on the table. Post production adjustments from the clever Wi-zards will make this scene really pop!

Assassins on the attack…

…and the Templars respond

Assassins and Templars, the book, published by Yale University Press and available from all good booksellers

Assassins and Templars, the game, published by Wargames Illustrated on November 1^st, and available from your local stockist or https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/

Mounting the Nizaris

 

The Nizaris a horseback

What’s worse than a deadly fanatical Assassin? A deadly fanatical Assassin on horseback! 

The Nizaris were accomplished horsemen, indeed, they excelled at all things equestrian and so I have to have a mounted version of my Retinue and as I used the fabulous Gripping Beast Arab infantry for my foot it was only natural to choose the Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry to mount my Characters.The two Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry sets are as excellent as the infantry sets, if not better as they have more bits and offer a wide range of possibilities for kit bashes and conversions.

These sets pulled me back into the hobby after a hiatus of many years, I saw them in the window of a model shop in Salisbury, and I just had to! I still have remnants of the LC box as is demonstrated by the rather beaten up box.

I mostly used bits from the LC set for these figures with the occasional head or weapon from the HC set, however I forgot to take a picture of the light cavalry frame before I got chopping …d’oh!

These are GBP 05 Gripping Beast Arab Heavy cavalry and

GBP 06 Gripping Beast Arab Light cavalry

You get a fair old bit for your pennies. Each frame creates 3 figures, yet you get eight very characterful heads, six bodies each with a different style of armour, mostly lamellar, three sets of legs, four bow quivers each in a different style.

There are three sheathed swords, one of which is curved in traditional although possibly inaccurate eastern stylee, four right arms bearing spears, two with swords, and one with a straight horn. There is also a hand holding a mace, so plenty of scope for arming them all in different ways.

There are three right arms flexed with open hands that have just released a bow string and five left arms holding bows in a variety of positions.

 Finally, there are six left arms mostly flexed in suitable positions to bear one of the three splendid large shields 

I like the horses, they are a good size and you can force the sides that aren’t supposed to go together - together to create a few more different poses. You may need a dab of green stuff to fill a gap or two oh and cut off the little lugs or you won't get them to align at all

Both sets share the same steeds. These are nicely styled with a horse hair tassle hanging down below the neck and what appear to be leather tassets hanging at the back of the harness.

 The reins are modelled separately which is a nice touch

The nags!

The Heads! These are excellent in my opinion, they come with a variety of head wear and each oozes character, each has a tale to tell.

However, I only used a couple of them for these figures, I am looking forward to using them all when I create my Ayyubids/Seljuks/Turkic Retinue 

I wanted to match the mounted Nizari to their counterpart on foot.  Here are the Heroes.

The background is from Peters Paperboys

  It was fairly easy to create these guys, I just used the same heads and arms that I used for the foot version and glued them onto a LC body and legs. 

I did the three archers in a similar fashion although I used the top half of the foot archer on the right instead of the cavalry figures torso, using a razor saw to separate it from its legs

the boss! The Fidais Shaykh. I rarely paint black horses, I can’t remember the last time that I did! For this one I used Army Painter Fanatic matt Black highlighted with Citadel Dark Reaper and a final very light highlight of Citadel Thunderhawk Blue to create a blue black effect. I then glazed with black ink to make the highlights more subtle. The reins and bridle are Citadel Mephiston Red and its highlights. This horse has four white socks and so has bone coloured hooves.

 For the saddlecloth I used Citadel Thousand Suns and its derivatives, the pin stripes are Stone Golem 

An Assassin, this was another case of copying the figure I had previously painted. The horse is painted using the Foundry Buff triad. The Reins and harness are Citadel the Fang etc with a glaze of Tyran Blue 

The other Assassin. They look a bit strange with a weapon in each hand, but I guess this speaks to their superlative skill as riders and their martial arts training.

For this horse I used a Mark Taylor Vallejo recipe Cavalry Brown, highlighted with Orange Brown and Light Brown. I always glaze horse flesh, in this case with Citadel Sepia ink

This guy rides a very brown horse Citadel Mournfang , Skrag and Death claw glazed with Agrax, the horse harness is done with Citadel Balor Brown etc

The saddle cloth is Citadel Caliban Green and its brothers

This horse is a bay, it has black tail and mane and black legs therefore it has black, or they could be slate grey hooves

The reins and harness ar Citadel Khorne Red. I painted each of the riders the same as their counterpart on foot.

This horse was done using Foundry Dark African Flesh, its another bay. The leather harness is painted using the same leather recipe as I usually use, see previous posts, the saddle cloth is Citadel Khorne red, the spots are stone Golem with a light blues, I forget which, picked out in the centre of each white dot

The Captain horse and foot

This has been a fun project…

…it’s great to have a “dismount” for each of my riders…

…or is it a rider for each of my warriors on foot?

Either way it increases the flexibility of this Retinue. I mounted the archers because I like the idea of Horse Archers and now I really want to produce an Ayyubid/Seljuk Retinue of Turkic Horse Archers and Ghulams/Faris 

I was careful to reproduce the name of God arm band on each rider in the same style as the Characters on foot

That’s, my Nizaris nearly complete, there just remains a couple of figures to go, what these figures are I cannot yet reveal, but it is part of a very exciting project that I have been working on with Wargames Illustrated …

  More to follow…