OK, so it was really more like a day and a half. I'll get to that later.

Mike and I have known each other for years, all the way back to grammar school. We started playing wargames in our early teens and have about forty years of experience between us. Neither of us play as often as we would like. It seems the real world is constantly interfering.

Though Mike and I live less than fifty miles apart, we rarely have time to play face to face. We have played numerous games by mail, and currently are playing Devil's Den. The last time we got together at my house and played The Gamers' Perryville. I had never played it before, but Mike assured me it was straightforward, so I agreed. We had a fun two days and used The Gamers' offer to answer questions by making a call. No one answered (it was about 3:00 a.m. in Homer) so we left a message. The next morning my phone rang. It was Mike Haggett. He answered the questions on the spot and away we went. It was that simple.

On to Afrika ...

Early in September Mike calls. He has some free time the last week in September; am I busy that weekend? Shoot! I have to go to Hawaii for work. [Ed. Note: It's a tough job, but somebody...]

Early in October, Mike calls again. Another game weekend opportunity opens up at Halloween. Do I have plans? No. Do I want to take Monday off and play a game? Yes. Do I want to play Stalingrad Pocket ? Hmmm. Mike has been playing that with his brother and his wife's cousin. No. How about Afrika ? OK. The arrangements are made. Sunday (Halloween) will be a tune-up game using one of the short, three-turn scenarios, and Monday will be the big one.

Halloween arrives. I arrive at Mike's house and watch him put in some sprinkler pipes and then we watch the 49ers win. After the game, we go upstairs to the game room and prepare for the real game.

"Hey Joe, did you read the rules?"

"Yeah, I had a good look at them (glanced at them while watching COPS on TV) last night. What about you?"

"I'm pretty familiar with them from playing Stalingrad Pocket so I just read (glanced at) the specific Afrika rules (this morning)."

Mike and I subscribe to Ty Bomba's ideas about rules. The rules are not the game; they are an aid to playing the game. We do not try to memorize them. We use them for reference. That means we glance at them beforehand and use the rules to resolve arguments or spring things on our opponent at the worst possible moment. It adds a lot of spice to the game and allows the rules lawyer in all of us to get a good work out.

After some studying of the short scenarios, we decide to play the first El Alamein scenario. We roll to see who plays what side. High roll plays Rommel first and then we'll reverse positions. I roll high and start as Rommel.

The first tune-up game starts fairly well with Rommel rolling through the Allied lines and taking Cairo on the first turn. Several pitched battles take place and Axis troops take and lose both Alexandria and Cairo. At the beginning of the Allied portion of the last turn, the Axis holds Alam Haifa and has a tenuous hold on Cairo with the 9 Brs of Trieste (1 -3-16 side up). The Allies promptly crush Trieste and take Cairo back. They assault Alam Haifa at 1: 1 three times (Overrun, Combat, Overrun) but don't take it. A Draw.

Several times during the game the doorbell rings and one of us rushes to answer the door. The result is always the same: kids Trick or Treating. So many kids come by that no snacks are left for us. The reason the doorbell doesn't ring when the pizza arrives is that we go pick it up instead.

Mike takes over as The Desert Fox and, using my brilliantly conceived plan from the first game, blows past the Allies like the wind and takes Alexandria on the first turn. I valiantly attack and though the Axis suffers heavy losses, they hold. When the Allied second turn arrives, the Axis still holds Alexandria.

Hmmm, what happens to the Allied reinforcements? The rule dealing with the Axis occupation of Alexandria (3.2 Allied Reinforcement Entry) is specifically excluded from the short scenarios. After much whining and gnashing of teeth (by me), I agree that my reinforcements are probably lost. We add that to the list of things to ask The Gamers later.

Even without the reinforcements, the Allies, through great daring and skill (luck), toss the Germans out in their half of turn two and hold both Alexandria and Cairo. The Axis does not have the strength to attack Alexandria but can reach Cairo if they break through the Allied lines. They decide to go for the win by firmly holding Alam Haifa and assaulting Cairo during exploitation with all the units that can reach there. The Allied units occupy hex 27. 10 of Cairo and the Axis must overrun at 1:4. Luckily for the Allies, the Axis units cannot reach any hex of Cairo except the one the Allies presently occupy. We had agreed earlier that all the Axis had to do was occupy one hex to win, even if the Allies occupied the others.

While Mike is finishing up his Axis portion of turn 3, I am determining how to assault Alam Haifa. This is going to be a tough nut to crack. Oh well, the 1:4 against Cairo isn't going to do anything. I am confident. Mike rolls... 6... 6... Hmmm, boxcars. I wonder what happened. I glance at the Combat Results Table. Twelve at 1:4 is D3r2. D3r2!!!! Let's see. I have 1, 2, 3,4 steps and-Shoot!!! I kill my three steps and retreat the 2 hexes. I look for any units that can reach for a counterattack. I add up the points and calculate the odds. I have enough for a 1:6. I can't believe it. I lose to a 1:4.

Note: It turned out later that the attack was more like 1:6 but Mike thought that attacks worse that 1:4 were treated as 1:4. This was a reasonable, though false, assumption because some games do have that rule. I exacted some measure of revenge for this later when we played the big game.

The agony over, we set up the game for tomorrow so we can get a good start and be playing by 10:00 a.m. We don't really expect to get the campaign game done in one day, but we figure to get 10- 15 turns done. After setting up the game, we decide to call The Gainers about some questions we have. Since it is 1:00 a.m. PST, we decide to fax them instead. Mike leaves his computer on so they can just fax us some answers at their leisure. We figure that they will be up long before us due to the time difference.

Here are the questions we asked:

1) Regarding moving across rivers, does the term "ALL" on the movement cost chart mean that you must start adjacent to the river at the beginning of your movement phase, and then you can expend all your movement points to move across it this turn? Is there any additional effect if the hex being entered on the other side of the river is in an enemy ZOC?

2) Also regarding rivers, can you retreat across a river where there is no bridge?

3) Can you confirm that it is OK to attack across a river at a bridge?

4) Regarding the Rommel rule (2.3), it seems possible that he could provide special abilities to more than one stack of units per phase. For example, he starts the phase on a stack that overruns an adjacent unit (thus using the Rommel overrun special ability), and then he moves onto another unit during his movement. If the units with whom he is stacked attempt an overrun, would they also receive the Rommel overrun special ability? Do we understand this correctly? Is it the intention of rule 2.3 that Rommel can benefit more than one stack of units in a phase? What has caused our confusion is this sentence: "Units he stacks with at the moment of an overrun get the Rommel Combat Bonus." This seems to contradict the earlier statement that says: "The units he stacks with at the beginning of a phase have the following abilities."

5) If the Germans have completely surrounded Alexandria, what happens when reinforcements arriving there would cause overstacking?

6) Does the portion of rule 3.2 that regards "Axis occupation of Alexandria" also apply to short scenarios?

The questions asked, it is now bedtime. As I get ready for bed, I tear one of my contact lenses in half--a bad omen. Oh well, I already lost to a 1:4, what do I expect to happen? I go to bed and dream of panzers rushing across the desert.

I wake up at my normal time, 5:00 a.m., and promptly roll over and go back to sleep. I finally drag myself out of bed around 7:30 a.m. and take a shower. Mike is out in the backyard planting a tree. Such amazing dedication. I consider going back to bed but eat breakfast and go outside to talk. No fax yet. The backyard work completed, we adjourn to the game room and settle down for the big game.

Before we get started with the game, the phone rings. It's The Gamers! Mike Haggett is on the line with answers to our questions. After a few greetings, he opens up with, "I was talking to Dean and..." It's nice to know that the designer cares enough to discuss user questions and problems. After Mike gives us the low down on the questions we asked, we thank him and go on to the game.

Here are the answers Mike gave to our questions:

1) ALL on the Movement Cost Chart does indeed mean that the unit must start adjacent to the river to cross it and then must Stop. Enemy ZOCs have no additional effect on movement because of Series Rule 3.1e "A player may always move a unit with a non-zero movement allowance one hex..." So the possibility of the hex costing "ALL+2" movement points is meaningless.

2) Units can retreat across rivers where there is no bridge if there is no other open retreat route. The unit still retreats the full number of hexes required.

3) It is OK to attack across rivers at bridges, but the attacker is multiplied by 1/3. (Yes, there is a notation concerning attacking across bridges on the Terrain Effects Chart, but we missed it because the note is on the Escarpment line instead of the River line.)

4) Rommel can only help the stack he begins the phase with regardless of what that or any other stack does. For example: Rommel could begin the turn with "Stack A" and then move to "Stack B." If "Stack B" subsequently moves and overruns some enemy units, Rommel may move with "Stack B" but "Stack B" does not get the Rommel Combat Bonus. If Rommel stays with "Stack A" and moves with them, that is his move for that phase. He applies his bonus to that stack's attacks (if any).

5) The Allied player can pick which unit(s) to kill to satisfy the stacking limits, even if the result kills all the units currently in Alexandria and leaves only reinforcement units.

6) Yes, rule 3.2 still applies.

Armed with the knowledge that all was right in the world (at least from a question standpoint) we begin. As before, we roll high dice to be Rommel. Mike rolls first and rolls 4 & 4 for 8. I wind up my arm and roll 5 & 5 for 10.

I AM ROMMEL!

Dreaming about panzers must have worked.

Below is a quick synopsis of the game on a pseudo turn- by turn basis. I listed only the most interesting portions of the turns since I doubt anyone would want a blow-by-blow description of each little thing that happened. Besides, I didn't write all that stuff down anyway.

Turn 1: Axis

After careful consideration, I opt against using the Trento Truck Option to have an extra mobile division at my disposal. The long trek across the desert begins. Thinking everything is secure behind the lines, I garrison all the important port towns and begin to move my Italians forward. The rest of my turn complete, it is now the supply phase. Hmmm, did I forget to leave an SP in Benghazi? I sure did. Owing to my own stupidity, two Italian divisions (Savona and Sabratha) along with the 20th Artillery Regiment starve to death on the coast road. My relatives (I'm one-fouth Italian) will be cross with me. I promise to do better.

Turn 2: Allies

Mike rushes everything up to the front to challenge the Italians. Mike is a moderately aggressive player who knows how to defend and does not like to give up too much ground. Unfortunately, he didn't read the Player's Notes very carefully and abandons both Alexandria and Cairo!

Turn 3: Axis

While Mike tends to be moderate, I'm more aggressive. Not a wild man like his brother (who, when we play against him, either wins big or crashes and burns), but aggressive. I decide that I would like to win big and go after both Alexandria and Cairo. After some adroit attacking and exploitation, I Lib/Babini (2-1-14) arrives in Cairo while the Maletti Grp (1-3-16) holes up in Alexandria. One SP is captured in Alexandria and five in Cairo. I can see that this will be a very good day. Smiling smugly (or is it Smugly smiling? Well, I was smiling and I was smug) I turn the dice over to Mike after some quick odds figuring shows that he will be lucky to get 1:2 on Alexandria. Heh heh heh, I know what happens to the Allies when the Axis holds Alexandria.

Turn 3: Allies

Mike moves the 4th Indian Infantry Division adjacent to Alexandria and attacks across the river. The odds are (4+4+2)/3 = 3.333 versus 3*2 = 6 or 3.333:6 which is 1:2. I smile knowing more than 50% of the results do not harm my brave Italians. He calmly says, "And Divisional Integrity raises that to even odds." Shoot, I forgot about that. Still, there is a chance. Mike rolls a 10 and crushes Maletti with a D2r2. My guy gets wasted with no losses to him. Babini in Cairo now looks weak. The 7th Armored Division rolls into Cairo and snuffs Babini's lights out with a 4:1 overrun during the exploitation phase. I am no longer smug and definitely not smiling. Maybe this won't be such a great day.

Turns 4,5

The game degenerates into a slugfest west of Mersa Matruh with the Italians taking heavy losses but holding off the Allies. In another "brilliant" maneuver, I leave four Italian artillery regiments unprotected and the British armor overruns them all. This is going to be a very long day indeed. Well, Rommel comes in on turn 6, so maybe something good will happen.

Turn 6: Axis

The Desert Fox arrives on the scene. After carefully surveying the supply situation, I decide that it would be best to use Rommel with the Ariete Division. After a pep talk, Rommel spurs Ariete and most of the surviving Italians on toward Mersa Matruh and attacks. We calculate the odds (1:1) and roll the dice. I roll boxcars (D3r3) and kick the Allies out of Mersa Matruh....and the crowd goes wild. Well, at least I did. It was some (but not total) vindication for that 1:4 last night. Mike shakes his head and asks, "How did you do that?" After carefully considering several answers, I steal one from Kramer on Seinfeld and simply say, "I'm Rommel!"

Turn 6: Allies

Mike retreats his army toward the Nile and forms a solid protective line in hex row 5 from the ocean to the Qatara escarpment. In doing so, he abandons Cairo again! To top it off, he started the turn by rolling a three on the Reinforcement Chart and had to remove two brigades. Things are looking up for the Axis again.

Turn 7: Axis

Rommel continues his tour of Egypt and blasts though the defensive line, taking El Alamein as well as capturing two SPs. The German reinforcements arrive at the front and bolster weak points. It is at this time that the family cat comes into the game room, meows a couple of times, and barfs on the carpet below the game table.

[Ed. Note: Thanks a lot for that one, Joe.]

This reaffirms my conviction to never own a cat or at least never let one that I do own come in the house. We call an immediate 20 minute recess.

Turn 7: Allies

Mike, unhappy at the turn of events (both the cat barf and the game), decides to punish Rommel and moves most of his army to El Alamein and surrounds it. The resulting battle factors out at 1:2 + 1. Mike rolls a 6 that turns into a 7 and all he gets is an A2 for his trouble. The Allies reoccupy Cairo, but leave several units exposed.

Turn 8: Axis

The turn starts out well for a change. I roll for Coastal Shipping and receive four points instead of the normal one or two, and Mersa Matruh is available as a port. Since things are looking up, I have the Axis overrun those units Mike was nice enough to leave in the open and kill them all. Rommel surrounds the 7th Armored Division and I move up all available artillery to erase it from the face of the earth. At the crucial time I forget to roll for bombardment and even though I kill three steps of the 7th, it still isn't totally dead. Frustrated, I have Rommel overrun the remaining 2nd Armor elements at 3:1 and only manage an A1D1. Argh!

Turn 8: Allies

Mike promptly receives five replacement steps, thus erasing the great gains I made. That missing bombardment really hurts now.

Turn 9: Axis

Never say die! I have Rommel continue to beat up on the 2nd Armored and reduce it to only one step by a 7:1 D4r5. I send Trento into the Allied backfield to keep Mike on his toes.

Turn 9: Allies

Mike has a mixed turn. He rolls a three on the replacement table and removes two more brigades. In retaliation he drops the hammer on Trento with a D5r5 on an 8:1. Poof, they disappear.

Turn 10: Axis

Interesting things happen this turn. I leave a part of 5 Le in Tripoli to insure that the on-map units have divisional integrity and hence the 1 column shift during attacks. A discussion (OK, an argument) breaks out about the meaning of "on-map" regarding the Tripoli Box. I assert that "on-map" meant physically on the map and that since the Tripoli Box was "off-map" then units in it didn't count.

Upon taking a closer look at the Tripoli Box, we discover that there are two boxes over there. Hmmm, maybe we should read up on the Tripoli Box(es). After reading the rule (1.13 Off Map Boxes), it turns out that it does cost to move units to the map and between the different boxes. On top of that, you have to use SPs to keep units in them supplied and you have to use Truck Points to move the SPs between boxes. I wonder if this might have had some small effect on the way the game was going? It also made that Malta Suppression rule make a little more sense. I had been using my air points to suppress Malta for the first few turns but by Turn Four I had so many SPs that the real problem was getting them to the front.

With that new knowledge and after a lengthy discussion, we determine that "on-map" means physically on the map so units residing in Tripoli don't count. I don't know if Mike gave in because he believed it or because the game was rather hosed up already. Regardless, we play on. If The Gamers care to elaborate on that point we would be interested in their decision.

[Designer's Note: OK, I'll try ... actually Mike was right--units in the Tripoli Box (or that other, ignored box) do count. Perhaps "on-map" was a poor choice of words, although "in-play" doesn't really seem satisfactory either. The rule was designed with the intention that units in Tripoli do count, however one wants to phrase that status. Sorry for the confusion.]

Rommel continues his march across the desert by annihilating 5SA/1SA with a D4r5, which allows him to advance adjacent to Alexandria. After a close look at the stacking rules, I search for every battalion I can find and squeeze them into Rommel's hex. It's amazing how many units you can fit into a hex if you really try. Rommel's horde assaults Alexandria at 5:1 and cruises into the city. The 5 Le skirts the Allied line and takes Cairo with a 3:1 overrun. When I say skirts, I mean skirts. The units drove all the way back to Qara, into the Qatara Depression and on to Cairo. Gotta love those massive movement rates.

Turn 10: Allies

Mike scrapes and scrounges and manages a 1:4 against Cairo. When he announces the odds, I cringe. Shades of the last 1:4 come back to haunt me. Once again, anything but 12 will mean good news for me. Mike rolls a 7 and history is made. I am vindicated! The Axis has won!

End Game

As usual, Mike and I rehash the game afterward. We like to discuss what happened in various instances, why we did things, and generally relive the events. The winner usually gloats some (I must have said, "I'm Rommel!" about twenty times) and shows some (but not much) sympathy for the loser.

For my part, the misuse of the supply rules probably made all the difference in the game. Mike agreed to some extent but also felt that his abandoning Cairo and Alexandria put him behind schedule enough that supply problems never really made a big difference. He's probably right.

Mike and I have played enough games together that the important thing to us is just being able to play. Neither of us is so good that he can consistently beat the other. In our last four games, including Afrika , we have each won two.

Even though there have been reviews of Afrika , I thought that Mike and I would each give our little insights into the game and what we thought of it and of The Gamers.

Joe

Since I'm basically a panzer pusher, I really appreciated the ability of Afrika to depict mobile warfare. The high movement factors coupled with two movement phases are really my cup of tea. I wish the so-called "pursuit attack" mentioned by Dean in the Designer's Notes of the Series Rules had been made a part of the game. Having to stop moving even when you force an enemy to retreat seems like a penalty to me. Rommel can offset that some, but not enough for my tastes.

The most important aspect of the game (not the game that we played, but the real game you get when you use all the rules) is supply. Personally, I hate dealing with logistics but realize their necessity. Oh, one other gem I found in the rules--it seems that the Italian divisions count as 3 units for supply purposes. I guess that bold print in the rulebook prevented me (and Mike) from seeing that. Mike took it well when I told him later and actually laughed about it. Even with all the mistakes, and other little things, Afrika was a lot of fun and I look forward to showing it to a couple of friends that have started playing wargames with me.

As for The Gamers, I think they are a great bunch of guys and I wish I had the opportunity to playtest games with them or at least for them. Their decision to fully support their games to the level of personal phone calls has make it much nicer to be a wargamer. Rather than argue pointlessly about a rule, just call or fax them and you can be secure in the knowledge that they will respond. I don't know how long they can keep it up, but I have to applaud their efforts.

Mike

I have been playing Stalingrad Pocket since the week it was first available in our local game store. I used to think that it was my favorite "playable" game, butnowthere is another contender for that title. Afrika is just as much fun, and the added bonus of short but competitive scenarios makes it slightly more versatile.

The differences between Stalingrad Pocket and Afrika can catch you by surprise if you are not careful. Particularly tough to get used to are those awesome movement allowances that some units in Afrika possess. Also, the supply rules, while easy to eventually master, do require rethinking certain old strategies.

Finally, I would just like to add that The Gamers do deliver on their promise of support, as Joe has mentioned. The two times we have had situations come up where we were deadlocked over the interpretation of some key rule(s), it has been early in the morning, usually on a weekend. We placed calls to The Gamers not really expecting any answers in a timely enough manner to affect our continued play. However, in both cases they responded to us the very next morning, even on a weekend. And on their own nickels!

Player Biographies:

Joe Wilson has a BS in Computer Science from CSU, Sacramento and is an avid wargamer. After stint in the Navy as a nuclear reactor operator, Joe came to his senses, got his degree, and now works at the Conflict Simulation Laboratory of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Joe splits his time between being the System Manager and writing high-resolution combat simulations (computer wargames). Some of the simulations he has worked on include Janus, JCM, UCCATS and SEES. He is also the designer and developer of the Analyst WorkStation, a graphical post processor used to analyze the results of combat simulation and field exercise data. His favorite game is The Battle of the Bulge (any version) and he eagerly awaited the arrival of Ardennes .

Mike Wimple has a BS and MS in Computer Science from CSU, Sacramento and works there as the senior School of Engineering and Computer Science Networks and Operating Systems Manager. Mike's main wargame interest is the Civil War and he dutifully buys most every game in that arena, including the ones by FGA. Mike recently trekked to Gettysburg and stomped around in the snow for a day just to look at the battlefield.