Rommel in North Africa: The War in the Desert 1941-42

The Desert Sere, serene, eternal, the Western Desert stretches across North Africa.
Here, Rommel - perhaps the greatest of Germany's generals - marshalled Italian troops and powerful German panzer forces to sweep the desert in brilliant blitzkrieg. Here, Wavell, Auchinleck and Montgomery fought bitterly to destroy the enemy and defend Alexandria. Here, history's great generals developed the mobile tactics of modern warfare.

"Rommel in North Africa: The War in the Desert 1941-42" is a two-player wargame, designed by Jon Southard and published by West End Games in 1986, depicting the campaigns in North Africa during World War II using a Point-to-Point Movement map and an unusual sequence of play.

The game's Point-to-Point movement system and unique battle reinforcement rules create a sense of sweeping manuever, while channeling conflict along routes of movement and supply. The long buildup periods, that drag on and on in most Desert War wargames, require only moments to play in Rommel in North Africa, while manuever and combat absorb most of the playing time. Players experience the realities and excitement of the Desert War without the boredom.

A turn may last a few minutes or much longer, depending on how hard players are willing to push their forces. Like the war itself, periods of relative quiet explode into furious, quick-playing manuever and combat.

Three scenarios and the Campaign game:

• Rommel's First Offensive: depicts the first dramatic sweep against Eighth Army.
• Operation Crusader: picks up with the first successful British counter offensive.
• Gazala: a revitalized Afrika Korps is faced by an entrenched Eighth Army.
• The War in the Desert: the entire 20-month War, from April '41 to November '42.