In the last edition of the Mortem et Gloriam Players Podcast there were quite a few mentions of the 7th Crusade of Louis IX but no list. So here is a quick piece to go with the podcast to remedy, at least in part, this deplorable situation ...
This is actually an army I have built; partly because I persuaded Richard Jeffrey-Cook that a separate list was needed in the Crusades book and so felt obliged, and partly because I didn't have a Christian crusades period army.
The list is based on the Southern Medieval French list in the Reconquista book, but with more of the better knights and some Military Order troops available as better reflecting Louis IX's army in the campaign. There are also more mercenary crossbowmen as these were a major part of the army and are noted by Jean de Joinville, who wrote an account of the crusade, as being especially effective against the Muslims.
This is the list that I had in mind when I built the army, however, as many of us do I did buy some additional options for flexibility.
An internal ally is compulsory if you want 4 generals and does nicely reflect the somewhat disunited command that featured in the campaign from time to time - it would be particularly appropriate for Robert d'Artois at the Battle of Mansurah were he died after ignoring his bother Louis IX's orders.
I have gone for the single unit of Military Order brother knights which means you don't have to take the Professional sub-general, and made them Fanatic as something like 280 of the 300 present died at Mansurah, including the Master of the Temple, which seems to justify the classification. The Mediocre sub-general is there to stick with the unit to ensure the Fanatic applies, and he would probably be given the "filler" archers as a second unit to ensure his cards remain available for discards if nothing else even if the brother knights are destroyed.
There are plenty of crossbowmen to inconvenience Muslim horsemen and a couple of spearmen units to add a touch of extra resilience if needed - although they lack the Shield Cover of spearmen from the Crusader lists not yet having worked out fighting against the Muslim horse archers properly.
The army I built is mostly Legio Heroica figures from their Feudal range that was mentioned in the podcast. The crossbowmen are from Lancashire Games' Medieval range which are compatible in size.
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