Battle of Harran 1104

It's nice occasionally to research an historical scenario and try to represent it on the table. So some of the Brothers made the trek out to my place one day with Seljuks and Crusaders in tow. 
The battle chosen was the Battle of Harran fought in 1104 shortly after the establishment of the crusader kingdoms.
In 1104 Baldwin II of Edessa had attacked and besieged the city of Harran. For his further support Baldwin sought help from Bohemond I of Antioch and Tancred, Prince of Galilee. Bohemond and Tancred marched north from Antioch to Edessa to join with Baldwin and Joscelin of Courtenay, accompanied by Bernard of Valence the Patriarch of AntiochDaimbert of Pisa the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Benedict the Archbishop of Edessa.
The Seljuks, under Jikirmish ( sounds like something Borat would say), governor of Mosul, and Sokman, the Artuqid lord of Mardin, gathered in the area of the Khabur, and in May 1104 they attacked Edessa, perhaps to distract the crusaders from Harran, perhaps to take the city while the crusaders were elsewhere engaged.


The Crusader left and center

World War I action- 1918.


Something we haven't done in a while,  but some of the Brothers expressed the sentiment that given it was the 100 year anniversary of the Great War, we should put some metal on the table and roll some dice- so out came my figures (the Commonwealth troops) and Phil's (the Germans), the table was prepared for a scenario- a late war one- and the game was on.

The Mission: German Stormtroopers have broken through along a wide front in late March 1918. A small village, held by a mixture of Australian and British troops must stop them continuing their advance and from taking the major railway bridgehead- just off table.


The Allied position looking from the German advance. A small dugout to the right of the village. To the left a more comprehensive slit trench.