War in the Desert
Europa VI / IX / XI: North Africa, Northwest Africa, and the Near East, 1940-1943

• Year of Publication: 1995
  
• Publisher: Game Research/Design
  
• Design: John M. Astell

In September 1940 Italy dreamed of empire as the Italian 10th Army marched into Egypt. A few months later the dream became a nightmare as the British 7th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats, routed the Italian forces and drove halfway across Libya in a lightning campaign that rivaled the German panzer generals. To prevent the complete expulsion of the Axis from Africa, the German high command dispatched the Afrika Korps and their best tactician, Erwin Rommel, to face the British. Thus began the seesaw battle for Africa as Axis forces surged to the gates of the Nile River and the Suez Canal, only to meet defeat at El Alamein and final destruction in Tunisia.

War In The Desert recreates the struggle for North Africa and the Near East. Using standard Europa scales and rules, the games cover the campaigns in the Western Desert, from O’Connor’s offensive against the Italians in Dec. 40, to the siege of Tobruk and battle of Gazala, through to the defeat and pursuit of the Axis forces at El Alamein in Nov. 42; the battle for Northwest Africa from the Anglo-American invasion of Nov. 42 to the Axis counterattack at Kasserine Pass to Axis surrender in May 43; the struggle for control of the Near East, including the pro-Axis revolt in Iraq, the British conquest of Vichy France’s possessions, Syria and Lebanon, and the Allied invasion of Iran.

War In The Desert contains all forces that operated in North Africa and the Near East, from British cavalry to Tiger tanks, from Italian CR.42 biplanes to giant B-24 Liberators. The maps cover the theater of operations from Casablanca to Kuwait. Rules create a simulation of the significant factors that governed the war on Europe’s desert rim: far-ranging armor and logistics bottlenecks, desert fortresses and defense in depth. Individual scenarios cover the action in each theater. A grand campaign ties the theaters together, from the first British offensive to Axis surrender.

Also includes Europa forces and OBs for Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Transjordan, and Egypt, 1939-1945.

• Six full maps (18A, 19A, 20A, 21A, 24A, 25A) and three partial maps (22A, 32, 3C)
  
  
• 1960 counters: Six counter sheets (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90) plus one sheet of markers

Current Errata & Extras

Europa Games

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Drang Nach Osten!
Unentschieden
Narvik (1st ed)
Their Finest Hour (1st ed)
Case White
Marita-Merkur
Narvik (2nd ed)
The Fall of France
Their Finest Hour (2nd ed)
Western Desert
The Near East
Spain and Portugal
Fire in the East
Torch
Scorched Earth
The Urals
Balkan Front
First to Fight (1st ed)
A Winter War
Second Front
For Whom the Bell Tolls
War in the Desert
First to Fight (2nd ed)
Storm over Scandinavia
Wavell’s War
Barbarossa Unleashed

Errata & Extras
Index of Maps