"Where Do You Start Your Historic Projects?" Topic

I consider myself something of a antiquarian, with a streak of historian of course, with a particular affection for the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, however I've never done much historic gaming aside from dabbling in skirmish or small unit games. When it comes to gaming, sci-fi and fantasy have always felt more comfortable. However, I've always had it brewing in the back of my head to do a bigger First Crusade project, probably in 10mm, though 28's are an option.

That being said, I concerned about having reasonable historic fidelity within my tabletop battles. A Crusader force should work kinda like a bunch of Franks and Normans and Seljuks should act like Seljuks, Byzantines like Byzantines if we're feeling ambitious. If that's not the case I should just go back to broader histories of the Crusades and game the Bretonnian Crusade in Araby instead. You've got your knights and your not-Muslims, right? But Giles le Breton is no Godfrey of Bouillon.

The point being, I'm a bit daunted by the prospect of preparing a Crusades game that *feels* like the Crusades, especially since there's a lot of siege warfare involved. Where would you all recommend beginning a more battle oriented study of the Crusades that will suit the purposes of a wargamer? Good books are particularly appreciated in this respect. What's the scope of conflict (in wargaming terms) that you've found works best, big skirmish, element based battles, grand campaigns? I'm thinking of writing my own rules based on Warmaster once I've pegged down what I want to capture, but am open to suggestions on that front as well.

For me, it focused on one battle: Hastings. I put together enough figures to fight that out. The armies suggested themselves because of that dedicated focus. After that, the First Crusade beckoned, and I needed to add Muslims. Then the HYW was up next, then the WotR. Beyond that I did not go with personally painted figures, but I did pick up some late medievals and Swiss that take me into the 16th century.

In all of my historical gaming, the tactical differences of the armies are a core consideration. I do not like generic armies….

Thanks for the response. Time to crack open Victory in the East.

I'm still bewildered how I went from Ancients to the Spanish Civil War via The Indian Mutiny,the Franco- Prussian War, the Great Northern War and the French Indian War.
Now to be honest, Dark Ages/Late Roman was and remains my #1 love, and I will buy anything decent in the right scale even though I have several (large) armies. But then that new series of well sculpted figures comes out and I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

As for the other periods, well, they all have something 'special' that appealed to me.