Wednesday 4 March 2020

TransJordan Frontier Force

TransJordan Frontier Force

The Trans-Jordan Frontier Force was formed on 1 April 1926, to replace the disbanded British Gendarmerie. It was a creation of the British High Commissioner for Palestine whose intention was that the Force should defend Trans-Jordan's northern and southern borders. The TJFF was also an Imperial Service regiment whose Imperial Service soldiers agreed to serve wherever required and not just within the borders of their own colony, protectorate or, in the case of the Transjordan, mandate. This was in contrast to the Arab Legion, which was seen more as an internal security militia, deriving from the troops of the Arab Revolt and closely associated with the Hashemite cause. The Amir Abdullah was an Honorary Colonel of the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force from its inception. However, the local commanders thought it unnecessary to form an additional force, illustrated that the expansion of The Arab Legion would be a better action.

https://homepages.force9.net/rothwell/trans-jo1.htm




Painted up for yet another Syria `41 game

Mostly Tumbling Dice WW1 Arab regulars







Two Combat Miniatures LRDG crew as British NCOs
Same two figs with an SHQ British officer as company commander

So I painted up 3 x 9 fig platoons (each has a Lewis LMG team) plus a 5-fig HQ
HQ

1st platoon

2nd platoon

3rd platoon

Patrol truck (a Ford G8 by PST), the driver is another Combat Miniatures LRDG guy, the Lewis gunner Tumbling Dice 



All together


17 comments:

  1. Wonderful work Richard- love the truck.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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  2. Cheers Pete, I happened to have the truck, so built it as part of the group, they can use my generic British/Free French trucks for the rest :)

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  3. Awesome blog and miniatures, Richard!
    I'm Bruno from Barcelona. I'm very interested in Free French history.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bruno and welcome :)

      Thank you, I try in my basic way to create stuff and write about what I`m interested in.

      Among other interests I have studied and written about (and gamed) the Spanish war in Morocco, I have many friends in Spain (and Barcelona too) we will be living near Alicante by the end of 2020.

      If you have questions please ask?

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  4. I made my last model 25 years ago and I have never been much interested in wwii.

    Then last year i discovered evelyn mesquida book, and some friends told me about FoW, and here i am, seraching old colonial africa photos, from 1936 to 1944 and painting 1:100 models. Its insane :D

    Tell me please how to contact. Thanks.

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  5. I highly recommend you join these forums:
    https://forum.sotcw.co.uk/index.php
    http://www.thewargamersforum.com/index.php

    My direct email is richardbspain@gmail.com

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  6. For what rules are these based/organized?

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    1. We use a time-served version of Charles Grant`s "Battle" rules - the first real set of rules I discovered way back in the 1970s. They are the grandfather of Rapid Fire!

      Basically
      10 figs = a platoon
      3x platoons + a HQ = a company
      3x companies + a larger HQ + AT, mortars, HMGs, Comms, recce and engineers = a battalion

      It has been my rules of choice now for well over 30yrs, and even though I have tried other more modern sets, I don`t find they have the feel of game I enjoy. I brought my two lads up playing them - easy to learn :)

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    2. Merci boo coo! I certainly saw the similarity to Rapid Fire which is my go to WWII rules. I've found Charles Grant's "Battle" rules online free here: https://wargaming.info/2011/charles-grant-battle-practical-wargaming/#.Xr_n68BlDct

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    3. And I see those are 'dead' links but I found a copy on Scribd here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/47379846/Battle-by-Charles-Grant

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    4. This layout/set-up works for RF too, but we like to play one level lower - platoons/companies rather than RFs companies/battalions - I think I`m more comfortable playing at this lower level :) Of course this also allows us the scale down to one to one skirmish games too :) A very flexible ruleset :)

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    5. I actually use RF for one to one skirmish games and routinely as squad / platoon games using the actual orders of battle rather than what RF lists...

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    6. Yes we have modified RF to include more accurate unit make-ups

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  7. Richard these are great! I know two squadrons were involved in the Battle of Kissoué but I can find little else about their role I Syria. They are not even mentioned in the Wikipedia article on it. Do you have any details of their involvement in Operation Exporter?

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    1. The Arab Legion mechanised Regiment was part of Hab Force which entered Syria from Iraq and pushed up the east side of the country. They were involved with the surrounding and capture of Palmyra and other desert patrol operation out there on that eastern flank.

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  8. Great looking troops as always Richard. Do you know what the TJFF did in Operation Exporter? I know 2 squadrons were at the Battle of Kissoué ( https://codenames.info/operation/battle-of-kissoue/ ) (which is a cool battle to run as it pits Free French versus Vichy French) but what else did they do? By the way I use 1/72 plastic figures for my Arab Legion and TJFF - Strelets M122 WW1 Turks in tropical kit.

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    1. Operation Exporter does get very confused, the Arab Legion Mechanised regiment was attached to Hab Force which entered Syria from Iraq and fought its way up the east side of the country. They were involved in the surrounding of Palmyra and patroling the desert against Vichy flying columns. I wish I had thought of plastics when I started building my small force, but Tumbling Dice will do.

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