Matrix Games Forums

Hi Bill,

In the game, the "Sponsoring the Arab Revolt" DE fires for the UK on November 1, 1915. However, according to the wikipedia entry on the Arab Revolt, it began in June 1916. What were your reasons (historical or otherwise) for having the Revolt start in November 1915?

Cheers,

Michael

That's a good question that I don't have "the answer" to hand for, because it stems back to when I made our first WWI game more than a decade ago.

I do recall that there's a lot more to it than the wikipedia article suggests, lots of negotiations and the Arabs were worried about rising, but there was nothing about it that meant it could not start earlier.

As players tend to just place units to prevent the Arabs from taking key locations, this means they need them there in 1915 to prevent a revolt, and it is probable that in real life Ottoman weakness in the area could have triggered an earlier revolt.

Michael, there could be a few reasons for this date.
In 1915, Sharif Hussein bin Ali the Emir of Mecca openly declared against the Ottomans in November of 1915, but the siege of Medina and the first major battle between the Arabs and Ottomans occurred in June of 1916.

Maybe that's why the date was chosen ..and also for game balance reasons. At least in the vanilla game, I think the CP player would be hard pressed to defend anything in 1915...

Of course your query was directed at Bill, but this is my thinking on the matter

Thanks to both of you for the enlightenment. So, it sounds like the revolt could have started anytime after the Emir of Mecca declared war on the Ottomans in November, 1915. What probability to give an earlier start than June 1916 is a matter of game design. That is good enough for me!

Cheers,

Michael

BillRunacre wrote: Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:59 pm That's a good question that I don't have "the answer" to hand for, because it stems back to when I made our first WWI game more than a decade ago.

Your "first" WW1 game? Interesting to hear that. Which game was that?

Robotron wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:13 am

BillRunacre wrote: Mon Sep 26, 2022 8:59 pm That's a good question that I don't have "the answer" to hand for, because it stems back to when I made our first WWI game more than a decade ago.

Your "first" WW1 game? Interesting to hear that. Which game was that?

Strategic Command WWI 1914-1918 and its WWI Breakthrough! DLC, both published by Battlefront.

They were repackaged a few years ago by Matrix Games:

https://www.matrixgames.com/game/strate ... lassic-wwi

It does contain significantly more campaigns than our latest WWI release, though it is of course using an older version of the engine and graphics.