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The North African games

A favorite of many gamers is the campaign for North Africa. My first like so many others was AH's Afrika Korps. I loved the long mapboard and the sweeping action. The 70's saw a need to try and be better than Afrika Korps with Rommel(Loren Sperry), Desert Fox(Cavalier),The African Campaign(Jedko) and PanzerArmee Afrika , Desert Fox/Trail of the Fox and of course the monster : Campaign for North Africa from SPI.

And the many games on just a battle or section of the Front-Kasserine Pass & The Fall of Tobruk(Conflict),Battles for Tobruk(Balboa),Tunsia & Sidi Rezech (Excalibre),Rommel:The War for North Africa(Rand),El Alamein,North Africa Quad SPI ,Crusader(GDW)

Then the more tactical games- Tobruk(AH), Desert War(SPI).

But more games came out in the 80's and 90's that added to the joy. even today new games keep popping up to add to our fondness of that vast area that had tanks like ships fighting on the sea's sweeping back & forth.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Walters on May 10, 2008 at 8:20am

Also remembering Quarterdeck Games's ROMMEL'S WAR, Terran Games's THE LEGEND BEGINS (in its various incarnations), and--of course--Columbia's ROMMEL IN THE DESERT. Now we've got MMPs/The Gamers published new versions of DAK II and AFRIKA II. If I remember right GMT also has a game called BATTLE FOR NORTH AFRICA which was a strategic Africa game.

Also have a bunch of 3W/The Wargamer Magazine games on specific battles in North Africa--O'CONNOR'S OFFENSIVE, HELLFIRE PASS, etc. Haven't looked at those in a very long time. SimCan had ASSAULT ON TOBRUK and Peoples' Wargames had GAZALA. Moments in History did a game on Gazala as well, which was pretty good--I liked it better than the PWG version, which felt a little clunky to me.

Oh, and do we mention GDW's old monstergame, OPERATION CRUSADER? Now we've got Avalanche Press's ALAMEIN.

Permalink Reply by Kim Meints on May 10, 2008 at 11:39am

Eric, Thanks for listing the 80's to todays games. the list would have been just as long for N Afirca as the Eastern Front.

Permalink Reply by Dan Stueber on May 11, 2008 at 6:26pm

I have AFRIKA I from The Gamers along with CRUSADER, GAZALA, and TUNISIA. I like AFRIKA I because it is easy to play and has a lot of sweeping tank/mech battles across the sands. CRUSADER was a lot of fun too. Dueling with the Afrika Korps between Tobruck and Hellfire Pass. I never could get into GAZALA though. I had a tough time with the supply rules believe it or not. TUNISIA is a great game if you enjoy OCS stuff.

I also have AH's Afrika Korps but have never played it. I got it from a friend for nothing and have yet to open it.

Permalink Reply by Eric Walters on May 12, 2008 at 9:17am

What's the best wargame on the Gazala battles? Why? I personally liked Moment in History's TRIUMPHANT FOX (it did so well, the same system was used for the Aachen battle in PIERCING THE REICH). Very interactive. But there are other games out there. Peoples' Wargames published their flat box game, GAZALA, which was the first game I knew of on the subject. Now we also have Avalanche Press's little game, GAZALA: 1942 and MMP/The Gamers' GAZALA game using the Standard Combat System (SCS). TRIUMPHANT FOX is a bit more complex and requires a good bit of time to play, whereas the Avalanche Press game is quick and fun...with the SCS title not far behind.

What's the best game on OPERATION CRUSADER? GDW's monster on the subject is very involved and perhaps too much for most people. FGA did a game of the same name, but I don't want to talk about it. Graphically stunning but the system needed a lot of work to be playable. GDW had a double-blind game called EIGHTH ARMY that, if I remember correctly, was on the CRUSADER situation and was a blast. SPI has a folio game on this battle, but I never played it and can't speak to it. And we've got yet another MMP/The Gamers' SCS title called CRUSADER--has what I perceive to be a middling/lukewarm reception among the SCS crowd, but it seems to play well enough, given the situation....

Permalink Reply by Jim Werbaneth on May 12, 2008 at 10:35am

I should mention my own Rommel at Gazala, which is small, systemically conservative, and functions in part as a study on how gamers can transition to designers.

I'm definitely a big fan of Triumphant Fox too. The one aspect with which I always had some trouble though is the way in which it deals with time. I totally agree with the concept of having game turns that telescope according to the level of activity, but in an operational game I think it's rather disconcerting not to be able to look at the turn track and see what day it is. I think it works better in pre-twentieth century tactical games, such as Men of Iron or The Great Battles of History series, but in a mechanized operational context, a game clock/calendar is important.

Permalink Reply by Don Lazov on May 12, 2008 at 10:17am

Yes, North Africa is another favorites of mine along with east front.

I have DAK (the first version) but need to clean out my garage and fine a space to play it. I played Afrika with Dan earlier this year and I wish to purchase MMP version since it was such great fun. I think that GDW Western Desert and Torch are awesome games for the Europa series (I don't have the new release of the same game).

I also like Panzer Armee Afrika pretty simple but fun game.

Permalink Reply by Jim Werbaneth on May 12, 2008 at 10:38am

For many years Desert Fox was my favorite, and I also played a lot of Rommel's War. Maybe alone of my generation, I didn't play a lot of Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps.

All around, now I'd say that my favorite game covering the entire theater of war is the deluxe edition of The Legend Begins. I also have DAK, but haven't played it yet, not until I close the deal and get a mortgage on that airplane hangar.

Permalink Reply by Kim Meints on May 12, 2008 at 10:57am

I just bought Jim's Rommel at Gazala. Neat little game,much akin to SPI's-easy and fun. I always had fun playing SPI's Crusader. many didn't like the game but I did. Their Cauldron(Gazala) was a great one. I had that game down to where by turn two Bir Hacheim was captured and the British units just east of there encircled and destroyed. I haven't played for so long that I don't know if I remeber my moves.

Rands Rommel:Battles in North Africa had the Crusdar battles and others. I found it fun to play.

One game I forgot to mention was UK Wargamers Desert Rats on the full NA campaign. had some novel ideas.
I have all versions of Kasserine Pass-find the 2nd ed nicer. I didn't like it when GDW expanded it and made it into two seperate games.

Conflicts Fall of Tobruk was a great game to play. had a blast with those swirling tank battles. and how neat it was to refit your tank units:)

Permalink Reply by blue on May 17, 2008 at 5:25am

I play Shifting Sands(MMP) and Rommel at Bay(3W).However, the very interesting one is Shifting Sands.Because Rommel can also use it, it is possible to play happily.

Permalink Reply by D. Owsen on June 22, 2008 at 5:25pm

My only issue with Shifting Sands is what I call the "ant war" in SE Africa. This should have just been abstracted into an off map war, which is usually done in these card driven games. As it is, it just has the potential to waste too much time and is a distraction to the rest of the campaign. It's still fun though.

The GDW Operation Crusader is fun to play especially in a double blind game. We did Battle Axe that way a while ago and it was fun. Our scouts even captured Rommel!

DO

Permalink Reply by Skip Franklin on June 29, 2008 at 12:03pm

My favorite Desert games.

Campaign: African Campaign (Jedko)
Battle: Decision at Kasserine (3W)
Tactical: none

Permalink Reply by Chris Fawcett on August 20, 2008 at 5:13pm

For me:

Campaign: The Legend Begins (Rhino/Terran)/War in the Desert (GRD)
Battle: Just about any of the Battles for North Africa series
Tactical: Desert War - without the simove (SPI)