Sanusi: The Appliance of Science

 

Once again the lure of the desert-loving Englishman - note the picture of my old friend T.E. Lawrence in the centre foreground.

Some time ago I acquired a copy of the above title to supplement the Arab Revolt section of my WW1 library. If I am honest I made a start on reading the same but inevitably got sidetracked and so the title was returned to the bookcase, forlorn and unloved.

Until now  that is.

I have been spending rather more time than I intended at this stage thinking about how best to utilise the WW1 Middle Eastern collection. I have pondered various ideas - mostly around the concept of a campaign setting that could be used for a variety of linked games.

Then I remembered the above title - almost an Arab Revolt within the Arab Revolt if you like.

The Sanusi revolt has all the makings of a cracking little campaign for the wargamer. To begin with you can field North African tribesman coupled with regulars and supported by Turkish machine guns and artillery against British, ANZAC and Indian troops with armoured cars - even with naval gunfire support for the RN. The historical campaign would be fun enough on its own BUT - what if you beefed up the Turkish presence to include regulars and allowed the various German advisors/agents/agitators to do likewise?

What if indeed.

From a practical perspective I would need to add some troops to the collection to make the above viable. To begin with I will need some North African tribesman. To my knowledge you cannot get Sanusi irregulars in 20mm so I shall use standard Arab types. This has the advantage of meaning that I will also be able to tackle the actual Arab Revolt in due course. I will then need some Sanusi regulars which are available. The Imperial forces will need some Sikh infantry and both sides will need to have their respective artillery parks expanded to include mountain guns for the Sanusi and 18 pdrs for the Allies.

The terrain over which the action will be fought will be familiar to anyone that has gamed WW2 and will be replicated quite simply by using my soon to arrive desert Hexon terrain.

Best I crack on withthe rebasing then!