High School Crusaders: Crusaders and Jihadi

One of my senior electives this year is a seminar on the Crusades. We read a lot of primary sources, watch the Terry Jones documentary, and discuss the rise of religious intolerance in the Middle Ages.  And, since I'm the teacher, we also spend a week playing with my toys.  

My summer project this year was to make substantial armies representing Christians and Muslims at about the time of the First Crusade.  I had ten students enroll in the class, so I had to make small units and paint quickly!  I finished the last units about two weeks ago.  We're using a set of homebrew rules for which I'll credit Black Powder, Johnny Reb, and the house rules of the Ambler Gamers as inspiration.  Most of the figures are 28mm Old Glory, although there are some Gripping Beast and Perry models on the table.

The setup at start.  Most commands are mixed forces of cavalry, heavy infantry, and missile troops.  The Crusaders are on the left, and the Muslims are on the right.

In the left foreground: a command of sacrificial lambs devout pilgrims.

I called these Turkish horsemen the Dothraki.  The response: "Wow. I didn't know they were real."

Arab Horsemen and infantry protect the oasis.

Allah akbar!

Here are my Muslim commanders.

And the Crusaders. I told everyone to pose like a badass.  Whatever.

After the first turn. The four commanders on the wings all inched towards the center. I predict a huge scrum.

The Crusader center surged forward, frustrating the Arab plans to prepare a defense. Some bowmen exchanged shots, but so far the field remains largely unbloodied. 

The Turks start to pepper their enemies with arrows. The commander of the Crusader left will doubtlessly try to recall his prodigal cavalry to deal with the threat.