"Why do you war-game the Desert? " Topic

Hey guys,
I was just curious, what sets gaming in the desert apart from other fields of battle in ww2? Why do you game it? What unique terrain considerations effect your tactical options of the battlefield? Is it as hard to make a good game out of it as I suspect, with all that open ground? Especially for infantry engagements?

I know that the North African campaign is sometimes seen through rose colored glasses, and that some of that is true, with the "gentlemanly warfare" and no ss troops and all that.

For me, It is starting to become attractive as it seems to carry on the tradition of fun silly little games of FFL in the desert and other such jingoistic activities. except this time both sides get to be jingoistic!! Correct me if I am wrong here, it just comes off as much more light hearted than the rest of ww2.
thanks,
Joe

From Finland it seems quite exotic.
Limited resources and equipment available is also nice.

And I've always held some strange fascination to the NA theatre.

LRDG, SAS raids,static defense,small unit attacks,Tank battles that are managable, many various troop types…..
A lot of fun and challenging

Minimal terrain. Interesting vehicles. The mystique of Montgomery, Rommel, and 8th Army and the DAK. Operation Torch and Kasserine pass are also interesting.

"All that open ground" is the point dear boy :)

Different tactical challenges from Europe. Infantry essentially makes its own terrain with entrenchments and minefields.

Tanks scurry about in ordered formations, kicking up dust clouds that can serve to break line of sight.

And there are Grants!

In Tunisia the terrain is very broken, there are odd French tanks, Tigers, and Lees…

bob

Because I do Italians?

Operation Crusader simply has it all!

I love those sexy cruiser tanks, lumbering Matildas, the Panzer IIIs, and even those tin cans the Italians called tanks. And in the air P-40s, Hurricanes, CR.42s, what´s not to like?

So do you do it all in 28mm or smaller?

Thinking about that new BA book.

Used to game it a lot in 6mm

Love the early war tanks, lots of open terrain, lots of tanks and the mystique of the Afrika Korps, Desert Rats, etc

I am getting nostalgic

Currently in 28mm. Limited to the end of 1941 so tanks are not super weapons. Scattered scrub features give infantry some cover to allow for natural undulations in the land. As Texas Jack says, what's not to like!

I do 10mm, you can get everything and it looks great on the table. Pendraken makes great stuff as well as Pithead.

If it were more centered on infantry I would probably go larger though.

For aircraft I do Heroics and Ros 1/300. Good stuff from them too.

Partly because an trying to learn more about Italians than the way they are usually snubbed.
Want to learn about East African WW II since mostly non white troops again a group snubbed in routine history.
Plus did UN tour in desert and liked checking out battle wreckage.

Yes, It does have that certain mystique doesn't it? I think that is what is drawing me to it right now?

Not to change the topic but, Is it just me, or does that particular mystique extend to most desert campaigns? or just ww2? because I seem to feel it in the FFL in the desert, WW1 in the desert, the Sudan, and so on. what do you guys think?

I wargame in the desert because that's where the war was. I game in NW Europe, Russia & Italy too. Even Finland. I don't game in the Pacific except Navy, there's just nothing there interesting for me.

I use the Tobruk aND Advanced Tobruk board games available from Critical Hit.

Both are suitable for miniatures play but I play with counters as my figure interests are in earlier periods.

Bob

For fighting Mahdists, or Wild West in desert regions.
I also agree with the above point about open spaces and odd vehicle types!

It's a major theatre of operations for WW2 and as that war is a favourite gaming era of mine, ignoring it would be missing out. Not doing North Africa is akin to not doing the Peninsular in Napoleonic wargaming.

This is where the Panzer IV, without side armour plating, Panzer III and Grant tanks are top of the pecking order. Terrain would seemingly be open, but I like to use some small slopes, dunes and escarpments to provide some basic cover or hull down opportunities. And then there's dust to add to the mix.

I would add that it was a see-saw war where battles, and even the campaign, went back and forth. The sides were pretty even for much of the campaign. Intensely frustrating for everyone involved no doubt, but very interesting to the reader of the histories

Plus, the very first non-fiction book I had ever read was a child's summary of the campaign. It had a squadron of Crusaders driving across the desert on on the cover of it and it was full of black and white photographs and occasional color paintings like the very lurid picture at the end of American troops assaulting a hill in Tunisia near Tunis. Plus it had really neat battlemaps. I was always checking it out or reading it during library.

So the desert campaign is a nostalgia ride for me.

Of the WW2 campaigns it is the most balanced – at least until 1943. The Germans are committed elsewhere meaning they can't throw everything at the British. Italians, despite the poor press, pull their weight. I prefer the early period up to mid '41. Even Italian tanks are reasonably competitive in this era.
Lots of interesting unit types has already been mentioned and on both sides right up to divisional level.

Fred C, trouble with Italian tanks was that all the low level tanks don't have radios. This is a big problem for then. Other issues are they don,t have a loader, because of small turrets.

Italians.

They just look snazzy. Italian officer uniforms look like they stepped out of a military Gentlemen's Quarterly. Love the Italian Navy, Love the Italian Air Force. The army is clearly overmatched, but that's not their fault.

Rommel was reportedly quite fond of the Italian Ariete armored division, which fought bravely (and very effectively) at Gazala. IIRC, it was Ariete which drove through the British minefield system to open a supply route for the German forces that had circled the British left flank and gotten into their rear..

B

Armies on a relatively limited supply basis and I love the early/mid war tanks.

You also have large troop movements, sweeping advances, entrenched stands and all the rest.

What's not to love?

I concur with the above comments.
You can use troops from many of the Commonwealth nations, the LRDG plus US forces, French, Arabs, DAK (later PanzerArmee Afrika)and Italians.

The variety of tanks (as mentioned) is wonderful and the momentum swings are vast and plentiful.

All the reasons above, and I can paint everything dusty tan 😀

The Order of Battle

No SS.

Because the Syrian campaign is the only theater for wich you can play French on both sides … and because in the desert , there are a lot of funny stuff … allies with italian stuff, italians with british stuff, Brandenburgers in british uniforms , and Camels, i love camels …

"It's clean."

My grandfather was there so gaming it is compulsory.

So much in the way of troops and equipment available in 20mm!

It just seems to have everything you could want in a campaign or theater. Cool stuff, junk, dominating personalities, intrigue, etc. I used to play with micro armor, moved to 15mm when Flames of War came along and love my Italians.

It's a "Gentlemen's War" and was rather sporting, good chap.

Rat Patrol! ;-)

Relatively balanced, even in historical scenarios. Interesting vehicles.

And a variety of troops.

I collect, run and game North Africa in both 15 mm and 28 mm. As someone else stated part of it is the mystique of Rommel, Monty and a area that is extremely unforgiving to both sides. Oh and it was that silly TV series The Rat Patrol and Boggie in Sahara with my favorite tank the M3 Lee which actually has a chance to win against the best of the German panzers.

While the terrain appears wide open it was anything but with waddies, rocky outcroppings, sand dunes, and much more. Oh and there are villages and towns of adobe and various European colonial influnces, lost Roman ruins and of course Egytian ruins. The only super tank is the Panzer IV F2 which does not come in until much later. There is the Matilda the Queen of the battle field at least until Pak 38s and the dreaded 88 come on the scene. Oh the plethora of troop types. Of course the DAK and the 8th Army but there is the indefatigable ANZACs, Vichy French, Italians and the only theater where they mattered, Gurkas, Maoris, Bengals, Sikhs, Sengalese Tiraileurs, the LRDG and SAS. You have it all. Small actions and giant battles and men running around in shorts carrying guns and you do not think they look silly. And you would be wise not to think so.

Because it's fun.

I game WW2 desert. You have lots of drama, secret missions, rugged elements, and adventure. Don't forget I use my Mexico/Texas mat to game North Africa as well. I use the single adobe buildings and rocks for both. It saves space and money.

Humphrey Bogart. What more do you need? ;-)

You have the thrill of experiencing the often heard ping of British 2 pdr. shells bouncing off of the German tanks. If you've ever played Avalon Hill's "Tobruk" game you will understand this.

UshCha as I said reasonably competitive. Not the only tanks in 1941 with a 2 man turret crew – qv T-34! Even the Brits went with a 2 man turret for the Crusader III. The Italian army had its problems, but it was far from the joke some people think.

fun and challenging.

Sir Laurence Olivier's naration at the begining of The World at War, The Desert: "This land was made for war. As glass resists the bite of vitriol, so this hard and calcined earth rejects the battle's hot, corrosive impact. Here is no nubile, girlish land; no green and virginal countryside for war to violate. This land is hard. Inviolable!" Put a chill up my spine as a youngster starting out in wargaming in the 70's.

The second edition Airfix 8th Army set. Simply beautiful. Nuff said!

Because its the equivalent of gaming war on at the sunny beach. I'm sick of winter