Acre: Richard Lionheart's Siege is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1978 that simulates the Siege of Acre in 1191. The game was originally part of the four-game collection The Art of Siege, and was also released as a stand-alone "folio" game. Background In 1187, the Christian army of King Guy of Jerusalem was defeated by the forces of Saladin at the Battle of Hattin, giving control of Jerusalem to Saladin. Pope Gregory VIII issued a papal bull named Audita tremendi that proposed the Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem. In 1189, with a new army, Guy of Jerusalem besieged the port of Acre, which was believed to be the key to conquering nearby Jerusalem. Saladin brought an army to surround and attack the besiegers, but was unable to break the siege. This double encirclement, with Christians besieging Acre but defending themselves against Saladin's forces, continued for two years, until the arrival of reinforcements and better siege engines brought by Richard I of England of England and Philippe II of France of France. Although Saladin tried to intervene again, he failed to break the siege, and a month after Richard and Phillipe arrived, the city of Acre surrendered. Description Acre is a two-player wargame where one player controls the Crusaders, and the other player controls the Egyptians. With a small map and only 200 counters, the game has been characterized as "simple". Gameplay The game system, adapted from SPI's 1972 game Napoleon at War, uses an alternating "I Go, You Go" series of turns, where one player moves and attacks, followed by the other player. Each game turn represents two days and is broken down into a number of phases, including Planning; Bombardment and Repair; and Assault, Regrouping, and Repair. There are rules for catapults, tunnelling, repairing walls, ladder assaults, and leaders. If at the end of any Assault phase, ten Crusader units plus one leader occupy hexes within Acre, or if Saladin is killed, then the Crusaders win. If at the end of any Assault phase, Muslim units occupy 12 Crusader camps, or if both Richard I and Philippe II have been killed, or if the Crusaders fail to win by Game Turn 16, then the Muslims win. (If both sides claim victory at the end of an Assault phase, then the game ends in a draw.) Publication history In 1975, SPI published Blue & Gray,