Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done: Divine Influence Expansion Review

boardgamequest.com:

Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done is one of the few Kickstarters that I still own. I am notorious for playing a crowd-funded game once or twice and then selling or trading it. Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done is still in my collection because it plays well at two players (my most common player count), plays in less than an hour, and has a great Rondel mechanism.

I was on the fence when I heard that Crusaders: Divine Influence, an expansion, would be published. I owned the Deluxified version (a moment of silence for TMG… thank you) and the new expansion would not be Deluxified. I also was not sure what could really be added to the game outside of more Knight Orders, different building bonuses or, most importantly, more Influence Tokens (for those of you not aware, the original game barely had enough tokens which led to players constantly swapping ones for fives and fives for tens).

“To buy or not to buy. That is the question.” Well, not really. I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Crusaders: Divine Influence from Renegade Games. Did I like it? Love it? Or was my initial hesitation warranted? Here are my thoughts on this expansion.

Crusaders – Divine Influence adds the following: 64 new Building tiles (four types, with four of each color, so you get 16 Chapels, 16 Keeps, 16 Mills, and 16 Vaults); 12 Action tokens (used with Chapels); 64 Coat-of-Arms tiles; 43 Influence tiles (adding a new mechanism); 2 Influence award tiles (a new end game bonus); 8 Troop tiles; 4 Player board extensions; 2 new Enemy Strength Track boards; 4 new Knight Order tiles; 1 giant Action token (used with one of the Knight Orders); and 4 25-point Influence tokens (YES!)

When I first received the expansion, I was disappointed. It does not come in a