I love a good North Africa wargame! To me, the reasons that I love it are several but the focus on supply and how difficult it was in this theater as well as the various elements of infrastructure used to perform that supply, such as shipping, ports, trucks, etc. are always good fun. I also love the scope and scale of the North African Theater. The front covered an area over 2,000 or so miles stretching from Morocco on the western coast of the Atlantic, through Algeria, Libya and onto Egypt. Names such as Tunis, Kasserine Pass, Tripoli, Benghazi, Tobruk, El Alamein, Malta (I realize not a part of Africa but an important cog in this theater) and Alexandria. There is something about this theater and the games we have played we have absolutely loved.

Well, when you pair this interesting theater with a great system in the ’40X Series and a great designer in Mark Simonitch, you have a recipe for a really tasty treat! And after playing North Africa ’41 last year, I was amazed with how much I loved it even though many of the systems and hallmarks of the ’40X Series, such as the infamous ZOC Bonds, were not really present but there were other interesting things to take their place.

If you are interested, we posted an interview with the designer Mark Simonitch and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2023/05/08/interview-with-mark-simonitch-designer-of-north-africa-41-the-western-desert-march-to-december-1941-from-gmt-games/

I also wrote a full First Impressions style review and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2024/01/24/first-impressions-north-africa-41-the-western-desert-march-to-december-1941-from-gmt-games/

-Grant