Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 40-60 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5-10 min

Divine Influence is the first expansion for Crusaders Thy Will Be Done. It adds more buildings, more knight orders, and changes up how the Influence action works.

Crusaders Thy Will Be Done Divine Influence Expansion Description:

This post assumes you know the basics of how to play Crusaders Thy Will Be Done. If you are unfamiliar with its gameplay, you can read my overview and review here. The rest of this post will focus on the new additions introduced in the Divine Influence expansion.

The Divine Influence expansion adds an additional player board that extends the one from the base game. It holds all the new buildings and has a couple more troop banners. New buildings may be built in any space that does not already hold an expansion building. Like other buildings they unlock bonuses for your actions and scoring opportunities at the end of the game. They may be built for five to eight build action points and have a discount of two if built on a space with a corresponding base game building.

New buildings include the keep, chapel, mill, and vault. The first three keeps you build, get you an additional troop. The fourth one gets you one Influence per mustered troop at game end. Chapels get you an additional action token and the fourth one scores you two Influence for each action wedge with two or more action tokens and the end of the game. The mill lets you remove another building of that mill’s level or lower from your player board. The last mill allows you to remove any building from your player board except the level four bank. Vaults let you upgrade an action wedge and also score you one or two Influence at the end of the game. The fourth vault scores you one Influence for each of your upgraded wedges at game end.

The Influence action has been completely revamped. Now instead of just scoring, you use it to claim influence tokens. During setup each space on the board gets an influence token. They vary in level from one to four and may be gained in a region with one of your knights by using an Influence action worth three to seven (depending on the tokens level). These tokens score you Influence based on their level and grant you another bonus. Bonuses includes letting you redistribute your action tokens, upgrading an action wedge or gaining a one-time or permanent bonus to a specific action type. The level four tokens score you one Influence for each influence token you have gained.

Claiming an influence token allows you to place a Coat-of-Arms in that space. Any space containing one of your Coat-of-Arms costs one less to leave than normal.

Other new elements include four new Knight Orders. One grants you a large action token that replaces two normal ones during setup and counts as two action tokens. The second allows you to redistribute any wedge after building an expansion building. The third one allows you to build an expansion building in a n empty region for one less than normal. The fourth order lets you use the Influence action one region away from your knight figure.

The score track is replaced in the expansion and runs from three to twelve with no repeated numbers. Also included are end game scoring tiles for the player with the most influence tokens. They score five and two Influence similarly to the ones for defeating armies in the base game.

Quick Review of Crusaders Thy Will Be Done Divine Influence Expansion:

Divine Influence increases the complexity of Crusaders Thy Will Be Done. It adds more ways to score and changes the pace of the game. Experienced players should have no problem handling the additional elements in the expansion. But new players should probably hold off on playing with the expansion for a few games.

The components in this expansion are in line with those in the base game (not the deluxified edition). The rulebook is well-written and easy to follow and understand. Some players may not like that the expansion buildings are cardboard tiles, but I think it helps you see them easier and differentiates them from the base game buildings.

I like the way the new elements change the pace of the game. In the base game you need to travel a lot in order to not miss out on points on the far side of the board. WIth the expansion you can score points by building expansion buildings and claiming influence tiles. So you don’t need to travel as soon or as much.

The new buildings add some different combinations you can use to score even more. You can tailor your strategy to the buildings you want to get on the board. And some help make up for deficiencies you might have from your knight order.

Influence as an action is more thematic. I wasn’t against just scoring points, but now it feels more thematic as the knight exerts their influence to gain favor in the region. This means a bonus plus cheaper travel.

There are a couple other things to consider. One is the additional setup time. Not a deal breaker but the additional elements almost doubles the setup time. Also the additional complexity might make it harder to get to the table if not playing with experienced players. Some players think the additional elements are not necessary and bog this streamlined board game down. That might depend on your feeling about the Influence action. Many players thought it needed to be revamped but others did not mind its original implementation. I can see both views but feel if you have played a lot of Crusaders Thy Will Be Done and want to spice it up the expansion is worth it.

If you are looking to mix up your experience of Crusaders Thy Will Be Done or just like how these additional elements change the base game, you should buy the Divine Influence expansion. Even if you are on the fence I think the expansion is with a try.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 3 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6