Arab Revolt in 10mm

I am not exaggerating when I say that this project is almost 30 years in the making. I have wanted to wargame the Arab Revolt since reading an article in issue #112 of Miniature Wargames magazine in 1992, but like the actual conflict itself, it was a "sideshow of a sideshow", and I never really got down to brass tacks until the pandemic hit last year.

I bought a few pdf rule sets, and sent off an order of Pendraken's 10mm figures, and had them delivered to a painting service to be painted. Of course afterwards I decided that I needed some German Asian Corps figures, and had to order more figures...

I also bought the little train model off ebay, which while not the same model as those that ran on the Hejaz railway, looked enough like the one in the movie to my untrained, non-train-watcher eyes.

With David unable to join us for a Blood Bowl game, I asked Adrian and FG to join me in our first Arab Revolt Game.

I used the Contemptible Little Armies rules (more on the topic of rules later) and let Adrian and FG command the "Arab" side: Adrian chose the Arab Irregular army, while FG commanded the Sharifian Arab Regulars and a British Rolls-Royce armoured car.

The scenario was of course a train ambush, with the Arabs having to loot the train and run off before the Turkish reinforcements arrive.

Sharifian infantry and the Rolls-Royce armoured car

I played the Ottoman army, and despite having slightly more points than the Arabs I rolled so poorly that the game went pretty one-sided. The Irregular Cavalry managed to close in on the defenders with minimal casualties, while the Arab machinegun managed to silence their Ottoman counterpart, before proceeding to decimate a unit of Ottoman infantry sent to secure the train.

Meanwhile, the Sharifian infantry and another unit of Ottoman infantry engaged in a costly firefight in front of the railway station.

The photo above shows a cardboard building I made based on photos of a Hejaz railway station. The original was of red brick construction, but I settled for a whitewashed appearance as it was easier and fit better with the white adobe buildings I had in my collection. In the background is a dice tray I made from a Turkish Delight box which I bought in Istanbul many years ago.

Now a word on rules.

One of the first sets of rules I looked at was of course Too Fat Lardies' "If the Lord Spares Us", which was written for the specific period, theatre, and indeed scale. However, I find the rules too complicated for me; had this been a main period for me and my group, it might have justified the investment in time and effort to master the rules, but for what will likely be an occasional game, I needed something simpler.

I looked at Trench Hammer, which I like, but the rules fit a more tactical type of game - in any case, I am reserving the rules for my 28mm sci-fi figures.

I also got a copy of Blood and Valor, which looks like a fun set of rules with some interesting mechanics. I also had lists for armies in this theatre, but like Trench Hammer, it is meant for a more tactical kind of game.

There are many other sets of rules out there, but many are pitched at a higher scale/level than what I was looking at, and most are focused on the European theatres.

Then, a few days before our game, I came across some recommendations for Contemptible Little Armies. The reviews suggested that it was an odd beast that played like a skirmish game but felt like it was at a higher level as it involved vehicles, aircraft, and artillery. While that might have turned some wargamers off, it sounded exactly like what I wanted. I got a copy, and sure enough all the elements I was looking for were inside, and the rules were quick to learn and remember.

The rules were written for individually based 28mm figures, but we used my 10mm figures with no change in measurements - I think it looked better too. We managed to try out the rules for armoured car this game, and in the future I hope to bring on aircraft and artillery too.

Big things have small beginnings, sir

Last month I decided to finally get started on an Arab Revolt project, and made a few purchases online. A few of the purchases I made have arrived, and today I took one of them out for a little test drive.

Now while I also own the Strategy & Tactics Arab Revolt game, it is an inelegant game for a more civilised age. I wanted something lighter as a basis for my (eventual) tabletop battles, and I found it in this game from Decision Games.

The game is one in a series of 32 games, with a core rules system (designed by Joseph Miranda, who also wrote the S&T Arab Revolt game), and a set of module-specific rules for the featured conflict. There are modules for conflicts ranging from ancients to sci-fi, and I must say that the Lawrence of Arabia module is based more on the movie of that name than on history. However, this little solo game seems to be just what I am looking for as a basis for my tabletop games.

The game comes with the rules, 40 cardboard counters, an 11" x 17" map, and 18 tiny cards. The game featured hidden opposition strengths - a Turkish garrison counter may contain zero to six units, and the combat strength of each unit is also randomised. Add to this random event cards which are drawn for every stack of your troops every turn, it means luck plays a great part in the game, as we shall soon learn...

The complete campaign comprises four scenarios, the first two of which I tried to play today. Here is the board after the first turn of the first scenario: Lawrence has captured Wehj, and must now take Aqaba.

After traveling to Prince Faisal's camp, Lawrence recruits more Arabs, and travels to Aqaba... which is lightly defended, and taken without a fight!

Lawrence leaves the Arabs in Aqaba, and travels to Cairo to report to British High Command... and find that Allenby has taken command. He requests for aid in the form of intelligence, some demolition charges, and prepares to return to Aqaba to start a new mission: sabotage the Hejaz railway.

Meanwhile, the Turks mount an attack of Aqaba, which the Arabs manage to repel, taking some losses.

Lawrence returns to Aqaba, and find a larger Turkish column on their way to retake Aqaba: this time the Turks come with a full strength battalion, and the German Asien Korp! The Arabs are defeated, and Lawrence is killed.

A failure on my first outing, but the event cards give enough flavour to the whole process and allows some sort of narrative to be formed. As you can see, the battles involve small number of units, which hopefully means they can easily be translated to tabletop battles.

Over the next few weeks I hope to share other components of the project as they arrive. Stay tuned.