A Desert-Loving Englishman

 

The late, great Alec Guiness as Prince Faisal in David Lean's epic film: Lawrence of Arabia

“I think you are another of these desert-loving English – Doughty, Stanhope, Gordon of Khartoum.”  Faisal goes on, “No Arab loves the desert. We love water and green trees. There is nothing in the desert. And no man needs nothing.”

I have mentioned previously about by plans to acquire the desert Hexon terrain - initially for use with the WW1 Middle East collection. I should add though, that it goes a whole lot deeper than merely the Arab Revolt and my old historical friend T.E. Lawrence. I can honestly see me fighting anything from the time of the Pharoahs up to the Gulf War - simply because I really enjoy reading about military campaigns set in the desert.

At the time of writing the plans for the Middle East will take much of my time but I see no reason why these other periods cannot be tackled - the desert after all has a rich history of conflict to explore. I would certainly like to tackle WW2 for example - certainly in a Command and Colours kind of set up. The various Colonial campaigns in the 19th century would also be a fertile ground for some games - as would the ancient period.

Much to ponder then going forward and at the risk of being cliched I would certainly be happy to be described as a 'desert-loving Englishman'.