Devil's Horsemen (2004)

"The Mongol War Machine in the 13th Century."
Volume X in the Great Battles of History Series (GBoH).

Extracted from the GMT Games website:
"An examination of the military tactics of steppe tribe warfare, as immortalized by the mighty army of Genghis Khan and the Mongols."

"THE DEVIL'S HORSEMEN will feature basic rules for both regular and Simple GBoH ... with a detailed, augmented set of archery and cavalry mechanics that include various types of Shower Fire (as opposed to plain Volley Fire), Impetuosity and Aggression, Feigned Retreat, Harass and Disperse tactics, and Rally to Standards, with the various armies and units being rated for their ability to use these."

"And of armies we have plenty, and a truly colorful bunch they are: 10 full tumen (divisions) of Mongols, plus Polovtsians, Galicians, Chernigovians, Kievans, Persian Khwarazmians, Poles, Silesians, Bohemians, the great Teutonic Knights, and the first army to ever significantly defeat the Mongols, The Mamluks."

"And they show up in four great battles, with these battles providing gamers with GBoH fun from one-half map to 2 full maps. The battles are,

• The Indus (Genghis Khan vs The Khwarazmian Persians; 1221). One map. The battle that gave The Mongols control over all of Central Asia
• The Kalka (Prince Subudei vs The Armies of Rus 1223). Two maps, and two massive (and very nattily dressed) armies, with the Rus suffering under fractured command, and the Mongols giving us a foretaste of the famous Zulu "horns of the buffalo" tactics.
• Liegnitz (Princes Baidan and Kaidan vs Henry the Pious and an army of Eastern Europeans; 1241). A half-map battle which introduced Europe to the Mongols, and from which we get the famous Christian prayer of the era, "From the Fury of the Tartars, oh Lord, Deliver Us". But you do get to use the best European heavy cavalry of the day, the Teutonic knights, under their fearsome commander, Poppo.
• Ayn Jalut (Prince Ketbugha vs. The Mamluks; 1260). A half-map battle that saw the first real defeat of a Mongol Army, this time by the new Middle East Muslim power, the Mamluks. Granted, this was a second-rate, rear-guard group of Mongols, but the Mamluks showed they were a new force to reckon with.

"THE DEVIL'S HORSEMEN will contain 2 maps, backprinted for all four battlefields, almost a thousand counters, as many charts and play aids as we can dream up, plus the spectacular and eye-catching art of Rodger MacGowan and Mark Simonitch.

"Oh yes, it's designed by Richard Berg and Mark Herman, and helped along immeasurely by that Khan of Development, Alan Ray."

Expanded by:

• Mamluk