Monday 17 March 2014

No Prisoners (Aqaba Arab Revolt Game)


For those of you who cannot remember the film. The history is of course different from the film and the actual battle lasted 4 days.

But as a wargamer I am more drawn to the spectacle of the film. So here is Our game interpretation that we played out yesterday. Some amendments to make to the playing boards and to the rules before Broadside, but no reason not to give a game walk through of one of the games we played.

 Starting positions for the Arabs.

4 foot long Arab camel line and 2 Turks in a trench Not expecting guests

 Mostly a deserted Desert town
Turkish Patrols wandering the town
Over-running the trench line the Camel charge moves on
Laurence of Arabia and entourage.
They reach the out skirts of the town
Moving through crop fields
 And skirting buildings. In the distance you cane see a Turkish Patrol taking cover behind a low wall field boundary.
Another Turkish Patrol taking cover. As the Charge gains momentum.
Turkish shooting starts to take it's toll and Camel riders start to tumble.
Laurence Moves forward in the centre of the board
 Skirting the building a first wave of Camel riders suffers devastating incoming fire.
 Else where melee is joined and while some Arabs slip past others engage in the Melee.
 Having survived, for the most part, the incoming fire the arabs start to get stuck in.
 The Melee is not all one sided and it delays the Arab attack long enough
 Long enough for the Turks to get reinforcements.
 Laurence gets dragged down in Hand to hand combat by three Turks and unfortunately DIES! Graham is a ROTTER!
 The Flag bearer pushes forward but the Turkish reinforcements are to many and their fire power concentrated and eventually he runs to cover.
Arab reinforcements finally arrive, but too late to turn the tide.
 
 
Yes so the Turks managed to defend Aqaba in this game but it was a close run thing. If two more Turks had died it would have been an Arab victory. I(n the first game, the Arabs did win and that was also a close run thing. So I must conclude that the rules and forces are quite balanced. There will be a few changes made but just minor tweaks. The Boards also need a slight revamp, but nothing major. As a teast game it worked very well.
 
 
Thanks for reading and more again as soon as I can. All the best Clint


37 comments:

  1. Excellent game on an uncommon subject! But what we really want to know is this: did Lawrence shoot his own camel :-) ?

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    1. In Real life yes he did. He shot his own camel in the head whilst riding it in this battle luckily he was thrown clear and not trapped beneath it.

      In this game, nope Graham mobbed him with three Turks. Graham can be quite a rotter at times, Hardly cricket.

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  2. I imagined the following headlines for The Times.
    Times editor : "Scrub the headline 'Lawrence takes Aqaba' and use "Heroic cameleers, slaughtered by the dastardly Turks !"
    "Lietenant 'Snake Eyes' Clint believed responsible"

    Great looking game that seemed to have moved along at a rapid rate. Having used a set of rules that gave two close results must have been very satisfying too.

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    1. They took Aqaba in the first game so no need to re-write the headline! I do like the phrase "Heroic Cameleers" sounds very dashing and Victorian.

      Very satisfying it did give me a warm fuzzy feeling! Thank you Jo

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  3. Not my cup of tea, I must admit, but there is no denying that it looked truly spectacular with so many camel cavalry charging into battle. Jolly good show, old chap!

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    1. We can't like everything. And I do cherish diversity (no not the dancers). Thank you Bryan..... I do have a game idea or two for next year that may be your cup of Char.

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  4. Fantastic! And with camels! The only way this could be made better would be a charge of nazis riding velociraptors...but I suppose that's a bit too far from the reality for your game, he he.
    Really nice read, it didn't fail to bring up the warm feeling of seeing the film way too many times.

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    1. Unfortunately all my Nazis are mounted on flying monkeys ready to take on zeppelins and airships. (That sounds like a fun game.... no cheese before bedtime for me from now on!)
      Thank you Mathyoo.

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  5. I have tried to keep it simple (for a change). Thak you Loki

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  6. Great batrep. The photo style for this is just right. Well done most enjoyable. Pity about Lol though. I'm sure he could use some star power.

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    1. Cheers mate. I think you may have something there.

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  7. Great to see all those camels on the board! Such a wonderful sight.

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  8. Good to see it all worked.. Looks the biz.

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    1. Thank you Dave, just some tarting up to do!

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  9. A great looking game Clint!! Fancy getting poor Lawrie killed!

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    1. I think that might be a rule amendment. -1 to shoot at or attack Larry!
      Thank you Ray

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  10. For those of you who can't remember the movie.....

    Are you daft man? Who could forget that movie, it's cinematic genius. And then there's O'Toole's eyes. Jesus Christ, I would crawl across a nation of broken glass just to gaze for a second into eyes such as those.

    It is nice to see those camels in action on the table Clint. This made for a nice looking game and I'm glad the rules worked out well for you guys.



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    1. Younger people or those from different cultures might not have seen the film and besides are you objecting to showing a film clip on my blog? It's another chance to see the great man in action so It can't be bad. Thank you Anne.

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  11. Graham is an absolute rotter, good looking and sounding game and just so you know I still haven't got the stuff off Ray!

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    1. I spoke to Postie last night. Postie hasn't got the film I lent Ray yet either. Still it's all ammunition for the "New St Searles" Girls next year In Curt Painting Challenge.
      Thank you Fran

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  12. Wow - that's a lot of camels! Nicely painted too, of course.

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    1. Thank you Dean, not too shabby for a play test.

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  13. Hi Clint,

    Looks really good and I am looking forward to taking part at Broadside. Once the palm trees have arrived from the far east the town will look fantastic!

    All the best,

    DC

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    1. Really looking forward to you joining in. As for the Laurence quotes it will be good to have someone there who knows what they are talking about. Nice one Dave

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  14. Excellent stuff. Great to see LT on the go again after all these years!

    What manufacturer are the Arabs?

    Darrell.

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    1. Well it dawned on me last year that I have never seen an Arab revolt game at a show before so I thought why not.

      All the figures used are IT Miniatures. (One of my club members runs the company) Thank you Darrell

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  15. That looks brilliant Clint. The camels all lined up ready to attack is a great image. Shame Lawrence was dragged down but never mind! Next time it may have a different outcome!

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    1. Thank you Simon. I am tinkering with the rules to deter people attacking Laurence in preference to other models.

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  16. Thank you. Just for the camels, it's already worth reading.

    Cheers

    Seb

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    1. Thank you Seb, you do not see too many games with that many camels.

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  17. Great batrep, love the camels too!

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  18. Late to the party here Clint but, wow, what a wonderful batrep. The table and figures just look superb - bravo!

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    1. Well you have been very busy and it's a privilege to have you visit. Thanks Curt

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