Saladin: The Fall of the Crusader States 2008

Saladin: The fall of the Crusader States is a strategic game on the first crisis of the Crusader States and of Saladin’s rise to glory.

Choose your path and history will deal its judgement to you. Take command of the famous Templar and Hospitaller Knights, the loyal Ghulams and fierce Turcoman Horsemen, the agile Nubian Archers or the notorious Varangian Guardsmen of Byzantium. Fight on the high seas for the Oriental trade with Venetian Galletas, Byzantine Dromons or Egyptian Dhaus. Supply your castles, lay or break sieges or find traitors in the walls. Subjugate the infamous Assassins, convince the Pope or Khalif to support your cause, or bribe greedy tribes to raid your enemies.

Saladin is a game for 2 to 5 players - but best played with 5 - roughly recreating the course of events in the Holy Land and its neighboring areas between the death of the great Zangid ruler Nur-al-Din in 1174 heralding Saladin’s further rise to power and the battle of Hattin in 1187, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. Even though prompting the popular 3rd Crusade (1190) - with such prominent figures as the English King Richard I «The Lionheart», the French King Phillip II «Auguste» and the German Emperor Friedrich I «Barbarossa» taking the stage - the preceding events culminating in the Crusader’s loss of Jerusalem were arguably the effective begin of the final decline of the Crusader States.

The graphic design is by Jordi Roca and almost all the artwork by Esteve Polls.