with army lists
and full scenario generator,
and full compatibility with the
Princes of the East
Campaign Game
 
  Ironbow II

The revision of one of our earliest games is upon us! We’ve been promising this one since  we first released the original Ironbow back in 2000; now, after 5 years of feedback, and nearly a year of steady work, the revision is ready! The game
is now expanded to cover all the states and expeditions in the entire eastern Mediterranean, and the regions around the Holy Land, from the battle of Manzikert in 1071, through to the fall of Crusader Acre in 1291, and even up to the advent of the Grand Catalan Company in Greece. Just about any army which trudged about looking for mayhem, from Italy and Sicily all the way to Georgia and the borders of Persia can now be generated for Ironbow. Furthermore, all
the rules have been modernized, and all sorts of new elements have been added. There are three times the unit cards that appeared in the original set, and at least 35 individual army lists, with historical commentary included.

Ironbow looks at a battle not merely based who has the best weapons and armor, or even on who has the best troops; army morale, and the exploitation of its ebb and flow will determine the victor. A Commander’s psychological and cultural characteristics, the doctrine and composition of the army, even the social status of subordinates require a new kind of skill, of knowing your army, its strengths and weaknesses, and using them correctly and historically. An additive and subtractive system for determining an army’s morale status, if used cleverly
 by an opportunistic Commander, can shatter the resolve of an opponent; now the many instances of small yet dedicated forces defeating mighty hosts, so characteristic of the Crusades era, can now be simulated in a convincing and comprehensive manner.

The entire system, including orders and order interpretation, a unit’s fighting characteristics and reaction to different battle events or circumstances are all included on easy-to-use and graphically beautiful cards and play aids.

 

And now, a large

WARNING!

 Ironbow II has many full colour components that can be printed up; however, you don’t need most of these to play a game, so only print what you need!!

We have tried to minimize wastage by arranging elements so the least amount of items may be printed to create a game in any given part of the Crusades era or theater of conflict. A few cards which are often used by two opposing armies have doubles in the set in carefully chosen locations, so hopefully you won’t have to reprint a whole sheet to get one card. And army lists don’t even have to be printed at all, if your computer is in the same place as your gaming area is. Be prudent! The Captain does not wish to see his esteemed colleagues impoverished by ruinous printing costs!

The feedback on this game has been immense. Ironbow users are among our most loyal supporters. One gaming group in Italy has translated them into their native language! (Unfortunately, they’ll have to do it again.)

On the whole this has been one of our most successful projects, and we feel we captured the feel of the period, which was our most important goal. And now, the whole panoply of armies are now within your grasp….all the glory, tragedy, and folly of the Crusades lies at your very fingertips, waiting for you to merely set up your leaden dopplegangers, and once again refight the great battles of nearly a millennia past… 

 

Some Unsolicited Historical Testimonials:

"I fought in France, Italy, Sicily, Tunisia and Egypt, beheaded
Conradin and lost the Sicilian Vespers, and all I got was this
lousy T-Shirt and a copy of Ironbow II.... and it was worth it!"

Charles of Anjou

"So there I was, facing 100,000 Greek heavy cavalry, in the rain, with only an 80 year old Almughavar (who had heartburn) and a copy of Ironbow II. We defeated the Greeks so that only 4 of them escaped to tell the tale. We suffered no losses except the old Almughavar lost his hat."

Ramon Muntaner


Remember these?
They have been updated!
NOTE: Please consider these as generic counters!  There are too many
troop types in the current Ironbow game for us to be able to make
specific counters for each type- make of them what you will. With that
in mind, please note that The Perfect Captain will NOT answer any
questions as to which image represents which troop type....'cause we'll
be typing 'til Doomsday! Sorry...