During the seemingly countless times we have played Afrika, we developed some strategies that we think would be helpful to gamers in the future. For the sake of play balance, some things will benefit the Axis and some the Allies.

At right: a staged propaganda photo: "No false moves, mate."

One thing that adds more realism to the game is the inclusion of Derna as a port; historically, Derna was the recipient of quite a bit of supply. In game terms, you can do this easily without changing the victory conditions. Simply add an extra die roll to the Axis Coastal Shipping phase. If you roll a four, five, or six Derna is "port-able." Award one supply point.

[Ed. note: Maybe this should be port capacity of one. You'll still have to own an SP to ship in there.]

Without a box, Derna would have the same defensive value as Alexandria or Benghazi. [Ed. note: In other words, upgrade Derna from a village to a minor city.] Capture by either side (of course, Derna begins the game in Axis hands) would affect shipping but not the victory conditions. You can even use one of the short-scenario boxes to indicate Derna's port status. Derna's logistical importance will be obvious as we deal with the next aspect of our strategy.

There is something that the Allied player can do to really make life difficult for the Axis player, and that is to set up defensively in the mountains between Derna and Benghazi, with Derna as a base of operations. He can do this fairly early in the game if there are average dice rolls when attacking Bardia and/or Tobruk and not too many Allied withdrawals. You can even bypass Bardia and Tobruk if you wish.

Of course, it is best for the Allied player to ensconce his troops on actual mountain hexes, but rough hexes work well enough to hold up the Axis advance. It is definitely not a good idea for the Axis player to try to bypass the "mountain troops." If they are in supply, Allied units in the area can wreak havoc upon Axis supply routes, to say nothing of an early attack on Benghazi.

Is there any hope, then, for the Axis? There is, once the mountain warfare is complete. When Rommel arrives on Turn Six (if he is not called home), you can put him to good use by stacking him with those feisty Italian divisions. This will enable them not only to have that infamous one-column slide to the fight, but to be able to break away from the attack to hit the Allies again with Rommel during the exploitation phase. It is true that the Italians use up supply like crazy, but their advantage is that they are so hard to kill! Those four steps (except for the Blackshirts) are a constant source of exasperation to the Allies.

To enhance the effect, try stacking one of the German 126-20 counters with the Italians. Although the first Axis step losses taken must come from the 12-6-20 unit, any taken in subsequent combat could come from the Italians, provided at least one of them is a 5-6-8 or 6-7-8 unit. Of course, such an arrangement means the German unit gives up quite a bit of movement, but it generally does not matter. Most exploitation battles (such as around Tobruk and Bardia) are not far from the site of the original battle.

There you have it. Of course, there is simply no fool-proof system for winning at Afrika. There are just too many variables involved: Allied withdrawals (usually at exactly the wrong time), Axis Coastal Shipping, bad dice rolls (hey, we're all good at that), trucking supply over long distances, and the Raid on Rommel. Have fun. We hope this article increases your enjoyment of a great wargame.

[Ed. note: Here's a quick look at some other games of about the same scale and complexity as Afrika. Simonitch's The Legend Begins, a game that cuts port capacity into smaller slices than Afrika, gives Derna a minimal port capability. Berg's Desert Fox (S& T#87) has no port capabilities for Derna, emphasizing only Alexandria, Tobruk, and (to an extent) Bardia as ports. Dunnigan's Panzer Armee Afrika (S&T #40) has ports in Tobruk, Bardia, and Alexandria. I don't have a copy of AH's Afrika Korps handy for comparison. The point seems to be that the port at Derna falls below the significance threshold established by all but one of these designers. That's not to say you can't go ahead, with Phillips and Creamer, and give it the significance you think it deserves.]