In Third Crusade, you play as an Army of either the Muslim or Crusader Alliance during the early 1190s. Your goal is to accumulate Glory through conquering and controlling Regions and defeating enemy Armies.
Sequence of play - Third Crusade is played over 3 years, divided into 4 rounds. Each round has 5 phases.
1. Strategy phase: Players strategically place Event Cards on the Bidding Board and choose cards for their opponents. Their choices will affect how many command points they get to spend on executing Orders.
2. Planning phase: Players alternate placing Orders until all players have passed.
3. Command phase: Players alternate activating an Event Card or an Order. Players Battle their opponents by trying to conquer each other's Regions, gaining Glory based on how well they succeed.
4. Diplomacy phase: Players bid for rewards on the Diplomacy Card and Board.
5. Upkeep phase: Players gain Glory and different resources.
If at any point during the game, an Alliance reaches 10 Glory points, the game is over.
(Please be aware that changes in shipping dates may occur due to this crazy world we live in. We promise to do all we can to make this wonderful game available as fast as we possibly can!)
Tactical Warfare and Betrayal in the Holy Land
Fight together, win as one army! But make sure you are the one remembered for it.
Looking for a strategic Crusades board game with bidding, diplomacy, and battlefield deception? In Third Crusade, you lead a faction in the 12th-century conflict for the Holy Land. Your banners rise, your knights await and your enemies scheme in silence. Secretly issue commands, negotiate alliances, and outmaneuver rivals across a shifting map of war and ambition.
Each round demands tough choices: spend resources to maintain morale and water, or save your strength for a surprise siege? Cities can fall through diplomacy or burn under your siege engines. Timing, loyalty, and betrayal are your tools in this brutal contest of faith and power.
Will your cause stand strong or be buried in the sands of war? Will you save the holy land, in your eyes.
Why should you play Third Crusade?
• Strategic bidding and hidden orders: Outthink opponents in a game of deception and surprise
• Warfare meets diplomacy: Win through alliances, betrayals, or brute force
• Dynamic resource management: Balance morale, water, and military strength
• Historically inspired Crusades setting: Rich theme with high-stakes conflict and drama
Game designer: Kieran Symington
Game developer: Matti Bergh, Björn Ekenberg
Artist: Madeleine Fjäll
Complexity: 3.5
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