INTRODUCTION 
Age of Crusades is a campaign for eight players using DBAOL. 
  The players represent the guiding spirit of their nation over a period of roughly 1050-1450 and play between 6 and 10 battles for between two and four rounds. 
 The battles represent a brief snapshot of crucial battles of the time, but since Age of Crusades takes place over four centuries, players' armies will change through the rounds. 
 Only regular players of DBAOL who are running the pre-release version smoothly should consider joining Age of Crusades. 
 Players who want to join Age of Crusades should carefully read these rules a couple times before joining. If a player misses an important point, they will not only hurt their own chances, but the players in their Alliance as well! 

 THE OBJECTIVE
There will be two Champions, one in each Region.  The objective in Age of Crusades is to be the highest scoring player in the highest-scoring Alliance in their Region. The highest scoring player will not win unless his Alliance does well! 

 THE REGIONS 
There are two regions, East and West. The East Region represents the Middle East. The West Region represents Spain, extreme north-west Africa, and some western Mediterranean islands. 
 Essentially, Age of Crusades is two campaigns in one, since players will not battle players in another region. 

 THE ALLIANCES 
 The Alliances are based on the dominant religious faith of the nations, 
 Christian or Islamic. There are two Christian states and two Islamic States in each region. 

THE PLAYERS 
In total, there are eight players, four in each region: 
 Eastern Region Byzantine (Christian)  Crusaders (Christian)  Egyptian (Islamic)  Turk (Islamic) 
 Western Region  Aragon (Christian)  Castille (Christian)  Andalusia-Granada (Islamic)  Africans (Islamic) 
 Historically, the Islamic Alliance and Turks won the eastern region, and the Christian Alliance and Castille won the western region. Since they did not fight a land battle (rather a naval battle), there will not be a "Championship" in this campaign, instead two Champions. 

THE ROUNDS 
 Age of Crusades is played in four rounds. Each round represents a period of history: 
 Round One 1050-1150  Round Two 1150-1250  Round Three 1250-1350  Round Four 1350-1450 
 In general, the rounds are played in chronological order, but an exception is made for the first two rounds to speed up the play of Age of Crusades. 
 Before any battles in a round can begin, all players in that region must post their army list they will use for that round. 
 At the start, players may only begin battles scheduled for rounds one and two. No third or fourth round battles may be started until all players in the region have completed their battles for the previous rounds. 
 At the end of the second round, the player with the lowest total score in each region is made inactive, so that in the third round, only three players in each region actually fight battles. 
 At the end of the third round, the active player with the lowest total score in each region is made inactive, so that in the fourth round, only two players in each region actually fight battles. 
 Inactive players do not fight battles, but their total points still are considered when determining the highest-scoring Alliance in their region. 
 Battles in rounds one and two may be fought simultaneously, although this will lose some sense of passage of time, it will greatly speed play. 
 Starting in the third round, all players in a region must have completed their battles for that round before any other players in that region can start a battle in the fourth round. 

THE SCHEDULE 
Each Active Player fights one battle against each other active player in their region in each round. Each battle will involve the appropriate army for the player and round.  The campaign administrator will let all players know by e-mail and in the forum when all players have made their army list choices for the following round and will officially start new rounds. Players should not start battles for rounds until all the army lists to be used by players in their region are posted. 

 ARMIES IN TIME 
Players nations will use a particular army in each round.  Each player's army list choices for a given period should be submitted by e-mail to administrator and will be published before any battles begin for that round. 
 The player gets a new chance to "reorganize" and make new choices for army lists, appropriate to those allowed below, before the next round starts. 
 BYZANTINE  Round 1  "Early Komnenian" use #133  Round 2:  "Late Komnenian" use #133, limit 1 Bd.  Rounds 3 & 4: "Trapezuntine" use #153 
 CRUSADER  Round 1: "Early Crusader" use #138, may use up to 3 Kn, may use up to 2 Aux.  Rounds 2-3: "Later Crusader" use #141.  Round 4: "Knights of Saint John"  use162b. 
 EGYPT  Round 1:  "Fatimid"  use #118  Round 2: "Ayyubid" use #143  Rounds 3-4: "Mameluke" use #158 
 TURK  Rounds 1-2: "Seljuk Sultanate of Roum" use #124, maximum of 3 Cv.  Round 3: "Early Ottoman" use #160a, limit 1 Aux.  Round 4:  "Later Ottoman" use #160b 
 ARAGON  Rounds 1-3: "Early Spanish Christian States" use #104, no Cb.  Round 4: "Later Spanish Christian States" use#171, use 2 Sp. 
 CASTILLE  Rounds 1-3: "Early Spanish Christian States" use #104, no Cb.  Round 4: "Later Spanish Christian States" use#171, use 2 Sp. 
 ANDALUSIA-GRENADA  Round 1: "Middle Andalusian" use #103, no Cb.  Rounds 2-3: "Early Granadine"  use #155, may use up to 1 Kn.  Round 4: "Later Granadine"  use #155, may not use Kn 
 AFRICANS  Round 1: "Almoravian" use #125 cannot use the 1Kn+2Cb option.  Rounds 2: "Almohades" use #125 cannot use the 1Kn+2Cb option.  Rounds 3 & 4:  "Later Berbers" use #125 with 1 Ps+2Cm option. 

 SCORING SYSTEM FOR AGE OF CRUSADES 
 Age of Crusades represents a very long, low-intensity conflict of attrition and raids over sites of unearthly importance, for intangible goals: 
 Victory/Loss of battle: +10/-10 points 
 Player was first in battle to capture/ lose camp: +5/-5 points 
 For each friendly element and general lost in battle:  -1 point. 
 NOTE: No points are awarded for eliminating foes' generals or elements! 

 TRUCES, CHIVALRY, AND PRE-ARRANGED BATTLES (CHEATING) 
 No truces are allowed. Age of Crusades takes place over a long period of time, and the battles that take place are meant to represent crucial battles that take place in the times between truces and peaceful times. 
 In the same way, battles between players in the same Alliance should not be pre-arranged. Agreeing not to kill another's general or sack their camp is a gentlemanly gesture, but reciprocity by foes cannot and will not be enforced by the campaign administrator! You have been warned! 
 Players are advised to aim for the ten point victories and sacking camps rather than shaving their elements-lost sandbags in the hope this might somehow affect the scores in the campaign. 

 STALLING 
 If a player is consistently playing slower than other players in the campaign, and it gets to the point where it is holding up the tournament and really slowing things down, the campaign administrator will handle the problem in the appropriate manner which can range from a simple warning to expulsion from the tournament. 
  Players are asked to show patience with other players, who may be nervous or having a tough time grasping the rules. Fast players should remember they are fast players, and the other player may not be purposely stalling. 
 Players are asked to show respect for their fellow gamers at all times and behave in a manner of respect to other players and if asked by the campaign administrator to "hurry up" they should do so, knowing that the enjoyment of the campaign by all players is the goal.