"Arab Uprising" Topic

"The Great Arab Revolt was begun in June 1916 when Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, felt the Ottoman rule Arabia had had for centuries was no longer tolerable, and the time had come for a united Arab state. Since the Entente Powers were at war with the Ottoman Empire at the time, he hoped for and received assistance from them, while Britain and France helped the Arabs in order to remove Ottoman forces from facing theirs in Palestine and Syria. From the Allied point of view the revolt worked perfectly, draining men and resources the Ottomans could have used elsewhere, but for the Arabs their efforts failed to achieve the desired independence, just a new order in the Middle East.

Although the Arab forces included many regulars of the Sharifian Army, the majority was made up of irregular tribesmen such as we find in this set. Strelets have already made a set of such men fighting on foot (reviewed here), and there are a few more in this set, but the majority here are riding a camel. Camels were of course an essential means of travelling any distance in the desert, and large numbers were used by Arab forces, particularly the Northern Army that pushed up into Syria, so any recreation of the Arab Revolt will need many of them. This set contains nine such men plus their animals, and our first reaction to them was that they were rather too excited. Of course it is perfectly natural at some moments to be excited while on your camel and to wave your rifle or sword in the air, but several of the poses look suspiciously like the designer thought such men actually fought while on their animal. Camels are terrible platforms to fight from, so when some action was imminent the Arabs dismounted and fought on foot like everyone else. When mounted they would be moving forward or on patrol, but not in sight of the enemy, so appropriate poses are relatively sedentary, with weapon holstered and rider patiently wrapped up against the wind and the heat. The middle figure in the second row and the whole of the third row come closest to this image, although even then not really close enough, and the last figure looks like he is issuing some command as if in battle. Firing from a camel was unlikely to be useful, and the rider was an enormous target for rifle-armed opposition, so really there is very little use to which you can put these figures, dramatic though they are…."

Full review here

link

Amicalement
Armand

Wow, plastic miniatures have really evolved of late!

Very nice !

Glad you like them my friends!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand