Michael Rinella - 09:47am Jun 12, 2000 PST (#190 of 191) 

I like the idea of a card-driven North Africa game 8^) 

Rob, here is a quick breakdown. I owe a huge debt to Paths of Glory (and
a lesser one to the AH card games). 

Title: AFRIKA. 

Map: main map depicts North Africa from El Agheila to Port Said/Suez.
There are side maps with: Tunisia, East Africa and the Near East. Small
boxes also represent South Africa, the Torch Landings, Sicily/Malta, and
the Balkans. Map overall same size as Paths of Glory. As you might
suspect, most map spaces will be "clear" but there are some notable
exceptions. 

Counters: a two countersheet game. Units are Divisions, which are 5/8"
counters, and 1/2" "battle groups" which represent British brigades,
Italian regiments, US regiments, and German battalions. Italian units
are the most numerous in the game, but the weakest and the most
"brittle" (eliminated Divisions will rarely get rebuilt). Allied
Divisions are a mixed lot, but numerous and well supplied. German units
are powerful but few in number. There are also some minor units that
function as "German" and may appear with certain events, for example in
Iraq. Oh, and plenty of control markers! 

Cards: I've been tweaking these continuously. There are now 54 for both
the Allied and Axis sides. Some are marked (M) meaning they can be
played during the Battle of Malta Phase (see below), and some are marked
(T) which means they may only be played as events when and if the Torch
landings occur. Every card has be constructed as a .bmp file, with a
historical photo scanned in (the photos are b/w, the cards have color).
I'm not sure if they could be used if the game were published
(permissions issues, etc.) but they look quite good, even when printed
from a color inkjet printer. Typically the size of the images is bigger
than the ones found in Paths of Glory, and I chose "action" pics over
"posed" ones wherever possible. I envision the players as "theater"
commanders so they have little or no control over key decisions taken in
Berlin, London, etc. 

Turns: Seasonal, from Summer 1940 to Spring 1943. The game ends there
for many reasons, one of them being that if the Axis still held a
sizeable bridgehead until the end of June, it would have seriously
thrown off the Allied timetable for attacking Italy. 

Movement/Combat: the game emphasizes maneuver, though a bit abstractly
given the scale. Movement allowances are generous, Strategic
Redepolyment not terribly expensive, and combat full of tension. Both
sides have Combat Cards and Events that can throw the others attack or
defense plans to the winds. I've also been working on some form of
"overrun" combat. 

Victory Conditions: Victory Points are kept for the Axis only. They
begin at 10 VPs and need 15 for an Automatic Victory. The Allies need to
reduce the Axis to 0 to win the Auto Victory. The Allied player will be
faced with the "juggling act" the British were faced with - having to
prioritize between the Western Desert, East Africa, and the Near East.
They will want to put as much hurt on the Italians as they can before
the Germans intervene in the Balkans and Libya, but that may cost them
on other fronts. They can get stretched veryyyyy thin in 1941. The Axis
player has to decide a number of things. First, does he act offensively
with the Italians before the Germans begin to arrive, and if so where -
East Africa or the Western Desert? He'll have to concentrate his effort
on one or the other. The Allies are very vulnerable in terms of quantity
of units when the game begins. Second, once the Germans arrive, does he
view his mission as primarily defensive/long term or does he go for the
Automatic Victory? Pushing into Egypt will be costly and risky (and
crazy if there are Brits in Tobruk!). If the game goes the distance, The
Axis need only hold on to a respectable chunk of North Africa to win, so
the Allied player has to push very aggressively in the late-middle and
end game. 

Malta: I feel that Malta is so important that it has it's own phase -
The Battle of Malta Phase. Yes, Malta can be invaded - if things go well
for the Axis. Among other things the Allied player will agonize over
whether to send a convoy to Malta or use the card for replacements. The
Axis player will agonize in a similar manner with his own cards that
effect Malta. If the Allies triumph in the fight for Malta, the Axis
will be in a world of trouble in the end game (just think of their
historical situation in the Spring of 1943!). 

The game has been playtested all spring and has undergone several
revisions/improvements. I'm just polishing now, and expect to send it to
GMT (who knows of its existence) in the very near future. 

Michael Rinella - 09:22am Jun 15, 2000 PST (#192 of 196)

Some further information on my design for AFRIKA
Components:

22" x 34" map, 264 5/8" counters, 130 1/2" counters, two player
reference cards, rulebook, 108 strategy cards

Note that the rulebook will, in addition to rules and card notes, also
include a card manifest.

With 12 turns the full campaign game should take less time to play than
some of the other point/card games recently released. I would think
that, between experienced players, time could be kept in the 4-5 hour
range. Shorter scenarios - Compass, Crusader, Gazala, Tunisia or
something similar would be even quicker to play (2 to 4 turns each).

Michael Rinella - 09:48am Jun 17, 2000 PST (#193 of 196)

I have worked hard to produce the uncertainty and confusion of desert
fighting, and the "tacticians paradise/quarter masters hell" dimension
but keeping the game design quick, easy and fun.

The game is not a Paths of Glory clone. It differs from Paths of Glory
in a number of respects:

(1) Armor units may move and attack in the same action. They do not have
to follow the defender's retreat path.

(2) There is overrun combat.

(3) Out of supply units may activate, but at increased costs. There is
also an event card called "Breakout" which allows all out of supply
units to take a step loss and relocate to a friendly supply center.
There is also a reusable "Withdraw" CC card which allows the defender to
retreat one space and negate an overrun.

(4) It is possible for Italian units to surrender if they are overrun.
Also, movement can be much more sweeping; in a case where an enemy space
is overrun or the defender eliminated, the attacking units may move up
to their movement allowance again (note that this could be potentially
dangerous as it might allow the enemy to cut you off an put you out of
supply).

(5) I have drastically simplified fort rules. Forts are permanent, and
give their bonus to whomever is in them. No besieging, tracing supply
through besieged forts, destroyed fort markers, etc.

(6) Malta figures importantly in the game, but is handled in a very
simple "no fuss" manner. There is a Malta space and it may be invaded
(won't be all that common).

(7) The game has seasonal turns, and only 12. It should be playable in
an evening between experienced players, or in a single session at a game
convention.

(8) I envision it will be very easy to design shorter scenarios to
depict: Operation Compass, Crusader, Gazala, Tunisia, etc. Set up is
easy b/c the number of units is much less than Paths of Glory to start
with.(8) SR values have been reduced. This allows players to do some
longer movements without having to add in extra rules for the Via Balbia
highway, British rail lines, and the like.

(9) I don't know every game on North Africa, but unlike the one's I've
seen this one has all the major actions: You have North Africa from El
Agheila to Suez/Port Said on the "main" map, plus linked side maps to
the Near East, East Africa and Tunisia (there are also boxes for
Tripoli, Sicily/Malta and the Balkans). The Allied player is really
faced with the "juggling" act of 1940-1941; withdrawing units from the
"main" front is something he has to decide for himself, no "imposed"
withdrawals at times known to both players. Early on the Axis player can
threaten the Allies from either East Africa or Libya, and later on a
well played "Iraqi Revolt" may throw Allied plans out of whack.

(10) Card hands increase in size by year: 7 in 1940, 8 in 1941, 9 in
1942. Players may discard any and all cards in their hands at the end of
each turn. The "Rommel" and "Montgomery" events act as wildcards - the
turn they are played the deck gets reshuffled.

The prototype will be sent to GMT in a number of days.