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Recently, my friend and I started playing the game,
Rommel in the Desert by
Columbia Games. This war game
simulates the World War II North African Desert Campaign by the Desert Fox,
Erwin Rommel, the Germans, and the Italians (the Axis) against the British,
New Zealand, Indian, and Australian troops (the Allies). The entire game takes place in North Africa in the countries of Libya and Egypt. The Italians are initially stationed in Libya, and the British in Egypt. Egypt is an important area for the Allies. It controls access to the ever important Suez Canal, and also, access to oil (useful link).
Historically, in 1940: [From this website]:
On 13th September, 1940, Marshall Rodolfo Graziani and five Italian divisions began a rapid advance into Egypt but halted in front of the main British defences at Mersa Matruh. Although outnumbered, General Archibald Wavell ordered a British counter-offensive on 9th December, 1940. The Italians suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back more than 800km (500 miles). British troops moved along the coast and on 22nd January, 1941, they captured the port of Tobruk in Libya from the Italians.This is where the scenario we played (Campaign of 1941) begins. Adolf Hitler was shocked by the defeat of the Italians. On January 1941, "he sent General Erwin Rommel and the recently formed Deutsches Afrika Korps to North Africa." In January 1941, the Allies control the key forward supply base at Tobruk and other parts of Libya. However, British General Wavell had to relinquish four divisions to be sent to Greece against the forthcoming German invasion. The Allied forces in Libya, in a very weakened state, had to deal with General Rommel's entry into the war. Starting at El Algeila in Libya (according to the game), Rommel led some strong tank divisions as well many Italian foot soldiers on a big offensive push against the Allies. This is where my friend and I begin our scenario, Campaign 1941, in Columbia Games' Rommel in the Desert. What follows is a fictionalized account of a real game my friend and I played. We are still currently playing the game (a little bit at a time), so the scenario has not been resolved. I don't remember all our exact moves, so the following account will be based on my estimations. The units on the map are just approximations of the troops we had. I played the Allies, and my friend played the Axis power. What follows is a fictional post war interview between a documentary interviewer and British General.
Click here to begin the scenario!Some Related Gaming and History Links:
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