PanzerArmee Afrika: Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 – November 1942

About this board game

PanzerArmee Afrika: Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 – November 1942 is a two-player operational wargame about the North African Campaign, with a listed playing time of 180 minutes. Players command the British-led Commonwealth forces or the Axis forces of Germany and Italy across the entire 20-month campaign.

The Axis seeks to capture Alexandria, the key to the Suez Canal, while the British player must prevent this objective. Battalion-, regiment-, and brigade-sized units represent the historical forces involved, with each turn covering one month and each hex representing 12 miles (19 kilometers).

Success depends on managing military forces and precious supplies more effectively than the opponent. The game emphasizes sweeping maneuver, lunging attacks, desperate retrogrades, threat and counter-threat, and the possibility of sudden surprises. A Variable Orders-of-Battle Chart offers alternative force combinations, allowing players to explore how different deployments might have changed the course of history.

• Setting: North Africa, April 1941 to November 1942
• Scale: one month per turn, 12 miles (19 km) per hex
• Units: battalion to brigade
• Players: 2
• Complexity: Low-Medium

Originally published by SPI in Strategy & Tactics magazine issue 40 in 1973, PanzerArmee Afrika introduced novel twists to the traditional hex-and-counter wargame. It became a classic in its own right alongside Afrika Korps, offering a tense contest of operational choices and battlefield momentum.

Depending on the edition, the game includes a color mapsheet or mounted mapboard, a countersheet, rules, and other edition-specific components. Solitaire suitability is rated Medium, and the game is suitable for one or more players according to the published description.