There was a delay in delivery with the next simulation we received: Desert Fox. It is available from Cavalier Wargames, 1801 Lambeth Ln., Apt. #2, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22903. Priced at $5.00 with 50 cents postage. Desert Fox is a brigade/regiment level simulation of the North African campaign with a map covering the same area as Rommel and Afrika Korps. (Some of the differences between the simulations will be mentioned at the end of this section.) You receive a two-piece unmounted four color hex (no partial hexes) mapboard 15" by 44". Terrain features include wadis, ridges, impassable hexes, mountains, rough terrain, roads, trails, and towns. Printed on the map is a unique time chart, Axis issues and stores, armor replacement factors (i.e., destroyed armor factors are resumed to life in a certain ratio), and the terrain chart. You receive a Blitzkrieg (Avalon Hill) like CRT sheet, a multi-page rule manual with some short comments upon the campaign, a letter of thanks for buying the game, an initial set-up sheet, two order of appearance sheets, and one rule correction and explanation sheet. The die cut counters are mounted and are colored as Axis and Allied with different colors for mechanized and non-mechanized units. They arrive in a "snap top" plastic bag with one die. Included are counters for a unique point reduction system. No longer do you have to find the individualized point reduction counter. Instead you have a pool of numbers from 1-16 (16 is the maximum strength of one unit) in which you take the correct counter and place it underneath the unit to signify its strength. An added advantage is that the other player does not know until actual combat what strength unit you have. There are two problems with this system. One problem is that the unit stacks are higher, and two, one runs a danger of mixing a 16 with a 4 in the same stack. Desert Fox is also divided into several mini- games (three). Play runs from September 1940 to January 1943. This simulation was designed by Chuck Lane, with assistance by Vance von Borries, and produced by Cavalier Wargames, which I believe is totally owned by Messrs. Lane and von Borries. Both these gentlemen, however, do have some previous experience in producing simulations; Spirit of '76 being one. There is no question that there is some real talent here; a touch of originality. Captured Italian officers and their native soldiers enter a British prison camp. Despite numerical superiority, the Italian forces in Libya were no match for the British motorized army in Africa. Let the designers speak for themselves: Two years ago Chuck Lane and I created AK II (Afrika Korps II) which appeared in the pages of Panzerfaust magazine. Since it was so very popular we decided to rebuild it and make it even more playable. We honestly believed that AK II was nearly unplayable. We feel that Desert Fox is definitely playable and that it is a superior evolutionary design over AK 11. Now don't get me wrong, Desert Fox is not just a revision, it is really an entirely new game as so much has changed: step reduction is superior, fuel consumption is now mecha nice lly playable, the difference between motorized and non-motorized is properly differentiated, there are even a few terrain and order of battle corrections. In Desert Fox I have given each side all forces which were available for combat in the theater. This has led to a few units being present that are not obvious in the history books. It has also meant that we had to go through the messy business of withdrawals. The units had to be included to take account of the unexpected. No game is going to be just like the real war so all units had to be present so that no player is arbitrarily penalized. Despite some very small controversial bastardizations of history for the sake of phyability we do feel that we have created a reasonable feel for the desert campaign. This simulation is fast moving and has many turns. It borders on the unplayable. For example, the German player requires some bookkeeping skills because of supply (which is issues for movement and stores for combat). There are 6 move phases to a turn, three turns to a month. Some phases you may move and not fight, others you may do both if you have not fought in an earlier phase. Then, if you have not moved or attacked for two phases you can get a point strength increase if you do not exceed your maximum strength (it varies), and if one is available that turn. There are plenty of numbers to work with all the time. However, after a time one can gain the skill needed in handling all this data. A lot of work and research has gone into this simulation. It does possess some interesting features. It is rigidly historical as far as supply arrivals, counter reinforcements, and individual point reinforcements. But there are some problems that arise that reflect poor playtesting. For instance, one is supposed to withdraw the 4th brigade, 2nd New Zealand Division, which historically took place. Unfortunately it had not been introduced onto the playing board! In mini-game #1 (the Italian campaign) the Italians may sit on the western edge of the board on some Wadis where they cannot be attacked and therefore automatically win the campaign, since you must eliminate all Italian units to win. In spite of these problems the rules are fairly comprehensive. One interesting point is that the mapboard has a predominate color of yellow, and I think it improves the atmosphere; one feels a desert while playing on it. One final note on the actual board. It is unfortunate that it was produced in two pieces as it really detracts from its enjoyment. Any semi-professional company or group should not produce a two or multi-piece board unless designed that way. This simulation is for the designer or for the advanced wargamer. He should be interested in the campaign and be historically/realistically oriented. Both Rommel and Desert Fox, however, do have serious problems that will keep them from becoming tremendously successful products. A Bren gunner and crew patrol a desert encampment. Note the dispersed tents on the table-top terrain. One of the interesting points about Rommel and Desert Fox is the way in which they differ. In Desert Fox El Alamein is a geographical bottleneck, while this is not true in Rommel. Unit strengths differ, i.e., the 21st Panzer in Rommel arrived quite weak while in Desert Fox it is full strength. The initial disposition of the Italians in 1940 is at wide variance between the two simulations. Here I believe Rommel to be more accurate, though neither are perfect. Desert Fox has an allowance for seapower while Rommel does not. Both have air rules which are totally different. I preferred Rommel's system, as Desert Fox is simply an addition of combat factors while Rommel has a special CRT. In Desert Fox the Qattara depression is impassable, while in Rommel it is passable but you must roll a die to see in which direction you go. It is interesting to see how designers can differ in their opinions and facts, as pointed out in "Games are Fixed" editorial in issue five of Conflict. Introduction Review: Rommel Review: Desert Fox Review: Kasserine Pass Back to Conflict Number 6 Table of Contents Back to Conflict List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1973 by Dana Lombardy This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com