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.
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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wargamesillustrated
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