Rommel in the Desert
From: Columbia Games
Reviewed by:Ron McClung
Rommel in the Desert is a new World War II Campaign Board Game from Columbia Games.
Rommel in the Desertis a fast-moving, challenging, tense, and playable game based on the North Africa desert campaign of World War II, and according to the web site, has been enjoyed by thousands of gamers for over 20 years. This new edition of the classic WWII North Africa Campaign game uses the block game system popularized by Wizard Kings and games of that nature.This game simulates “the experience of command” and the fog of war by hiding the true strength of your units from your enemy. Real war has nothing to do with combat factors and getting a perfect ratio of attack while the enemy waits passively to be overwhelmed. This game tried to simulate Rommel’s skill in gaining many of his victories by employing speed, daring, and surprise.
I have always been intrigued by some of Columbia Games block game systems and after reviewing some of the strategy games GR has sent to me, I now understand the value of the block system. This is my first real exposure to the block system games, so I am not sure of the true similarities of this game to Wizard Kings, other than the blocks.
From the website:
“In this game, as in the desert campaign, the events of the battlefield are often subordinate to the battle of wits and nerves between opposing commanders. A good grasp of strategy will help, but foresight, nerve, and instinct are the crucial elements of success.”
Rulebook and Content: After reviewing a few of these types of games, as well as playing many others that I have not reviewed, I have learned that there are a fixed number of ways they write rulebooks. One way is to explain things in the order of the turn sequence but that sometimes does not always work. This rulebook does not do that. The way it is written seems counter-intuitive and sometimes confusing. It reads like a lot of the old Avalon Hill game rule books. It definitely forces the player to read each page word for word, and you almost have to because there is a lot of subtle detail and nuance in the game. It covers the important parts first – movement and combat – after a rough overview of the turn sequence, and after that you are jumping all over the book to find the meanings of each term. After the rules, they supply several scenarios for each of the different battles in the North Africa campaign.
The Map is a cardboard foldout of North Africa that is 34″ by 11″. Then, of course, there are the blocks… many many red and black blocks. When you buy it, you have to put the unit identifying stickers on each of the blocks. There are also 4 six sided dice.
System: The system is simple yet innovative; very elegant and smooth. It involves the supply cards, dice and the blocks of course. Movement is in terms of hexes, and the rules provide many different ways to move – special terrain rules, forced march rules, disruption of units, disengagement, retreating and withdrawing.
One innovative rule gives the Allied player the ability to steal initiative. Every turn, the Axis Powers goes first unless the Allied powers can seize the initiative. Through the use of cards, the Allied Player can force the Axis Power to either expend supplies or lose the initiative.
The cards themselves are interesting. There are 39 cards where two-thirds of the cards are “real” supply cards (half-moon symbol) and the other third are “dummy” supply cards. The dummy supply cards are used to bluff and spread disinformation to the enemy. Players expend supplies to perform actions turn by turn and each type of action have a certain number of real supplies it requires (from 1 to 4). In order to keep the enemy guessing, the player can expend any number of dummy cards while at the same time spending enough to perform his actual chosen action. This is one of the game’s aspects that simulates fog of war and the “experience of command.”
Battles can occur when enemy blocks occupy the same hex (note: there is no limit to the number of blocks occupying one hex). From the start, the defender can refuse the battle by withdrawing, if the conditions allow it. One a battle is accepted, the battle is taken off-board and lined up as a Battle Line where the blocks are revealed. Until then, the opponents do not know what they are going up against. This is another facet that simulates the fog of war,Stratego-style. Targets are declared, dice rolls are made, hits are determined and battle continues until someone is destroyed or someone retreats.
Combat is fairly fast paced and straight forward. Damage is taken after every hit and the unit is reduced in strength. Targets are declared in terms of class (armor, artillery, infantry, and antitank), and the targeted player chooses which units takes the damage. Also, only certain classes can target certain classes, making unit grouping an important part of strategy.
From page # 32:
“Factors like surprise and deception, bluff and nerve are not merely good gaming features, but ultimately necessary to explain what happened in the Western Desert.”
Game Play: I finally got a chance to play the game sometime after I received it and have to apologize to the manufacturers for taking so long. I really wanted to play the game before I completed this review. I am a fan of large scale epic battle war games, so this smaller scale campaign game was not something I usually played. However, this game turned out to be more than I expected. I truly enjoyed the game, its simplicity and challenging strategy. It has great replay-ability value because of the multitude of scenarios as well as options within the game play. All I got to play was the beginning 1940 scenario where a mostly Indian/British force went up against an Italian force from late 1940 to early 1941. It was quite fun.
In conclusion,the heart of the game is its ease of play and simplicity. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it and will probably play another scenario soon. My biggest complaint is price. I just spent $60 on an epic level game that was huge – Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition. And these guys want me to dish out $60 for a single campaign game? That is a little more money than I would be willing to spend.
For more details on Columbia Games and their new World War II Campaign Board Game “Rommel in the Desert” check them out at their website http://www.columbiagames.com/ and at all of your local game stores.
Rommel in the Desert
From:Columbia Games
Type of Game:World War II Campaign Board Game
Game Design: Craig Besinque
Co-Developers: Ron Hodwitz,
Assistance: Gary Chappell, Dave Blizzard, Brion Emde
Graphics: Grant Dalgliesh, Tom Dalgliesh, Chris Moeller
Number of Pages:36
Game Components Included:Mapboard, playing pieces, dice, cards, rulebook
Retail Price:$59.99 (US)
Number of Players:2
Player Ages:14+
Play Time:3-8 hours
Item Number:3421
Website:www.columbiagames.com/
Reviewed by: Ron McClung