O’Connor’s Offensive

About this board game

O’Connor’s Offensive is a two-player operational-scale wargame of combat between the Allies and Italians in the North African Desert during World War II, with approximately 180 minutes of play time.

The game uses half-day turns, 2-mile hexes, and battalion-scale units to represent desert operations at a detailed operational level. Its playing area is a 34 × 22-inch map, providing the setting for the conflict between the opposing forces.

Published in The Wargamer Magazine number 41, O’Connor’s Offensive belongs to a shared family of North African Desert games. These titles use a common rules framework known as Battles for North Africa.

The series includes seven games in total:

• O’Connor’s Offensive
• Decision At Kasserine: Rommel’s Last Chance, the original
• Hellfire Pass
• Rommel at Bay
• Patton Goes to War
• Objective: Tunis
• Race For Tunis

With its battalion-scale units, compact half-day turns, and 2-mile hex grid, the game presents a focused examination of Allied and Italian combat in the North African theater. Its 1985 release places it within the period of magazine-published historical wargames, while its connection to the Battles for North Africa system links it to a broader sequence of related designs.