475:"certainly the best simulation of the desert war yet", despite its length. He found a mismatch between the "simple but laborious" logistics system and the very complex combat system. He especially found the air game to be overly complex, pointing out that designer Richard Berg admitted this in the Designer's Notes. Campbell concluded that the game was "a success, if only a partial success. It does not contain the ultimate truth about North Africa, but there's enough there to get on with."
36:
449:, Nicholas Palmer noted that despite the game's obvious complexity, "the rules are clear and entertainingly written, there are copious notes, and the basic system does seem to have been properly playtested." Nevertheless he called the game "a mind-bogglingly slow job; no doubt the first ten years are the hardest." He concluded by giving
238:, on a scale of 1–10, as 10+. The complete campaign game takes 100 turns, each turn representing one week of game time. A number of shorter scenarios are included that are still long in comparison to other wargames. As reviewers noted, the game is less about combat, and more about managing logistics, supply lines and sanity.
462:, Thomas G. Pratuch called the game so big that "it defies immediate analysis of the tactical and strategic planning necessary to win the game." However, he called the game's scenarios the most complex designed to date. He also believed that players could use the game rules as a framework for designing new scenarios.
150:
has been called the longest board game ever produced, with estimates that a full game would take 1,500 hours to complete. Reviewer Luke Winkie pointed out that "If you and your group meets for three hours at a time, twice a month, you’d wrap up the campaign in about 20 years." It has also
488:
noted the complete game would take at least 1500 hours to complete, and responded, "Balance? Who cares? To survive is to win." He further commented that this "was not a game, and to consider it as such is a big mistake. It's a history lesson—a pure simulation. On that level, it is quite an
510:
s publication, Luke Winkie called the arcane complexity of the game "transparently absurd", pointing out the example that each turn, every unit loses 3% of its fuel due to evaporation, except for
British units, which lose 7% because historically they used 50-gallon drums instead of
241:
To give an idea of the game's complexity, reviewer
Nicholas Palmer outlined the actions for one side's single turn. As a first step, before playing, the player or team must make unit organization charts for every one of the hundreds of counters on their side. Then each turn:
409:
provided cartography and graphic design. The game was so massive that playtesting was not completed before the game was published by SPI in 1979, retailing for $ 44. This was the one and only game published under the "Heuristic
Intensive Manual Simulation Series" label.
396:
gathered feedback from players that indicated the desire for a massive game. Responding to this feedback, SPI envisioned several huge wargames that would be called the "Heuristic
Intensive Manual Simulation Series". In 1976, a team of developers started to create
659:
413:
Critic John Kula, writing twenty years after the game's publication, noted that development of a game this size was solely driven by player feedback. "So why produce a game which is unplayable? Well apparently the feedback responses that governed
418:
and SPI indicated that gamers wanted such monster games. And true to the old curse, gamers got what they asked for. This is likely the single biggest difficulty with reader feedback — everyone knows what they want, but few know what they need."
489:
achievement; for people looking for a good 'game,' it is totally worthless." He gave the game an
Overall Evaluation of "Very Good for historians, Very Poor for anyone else", concluding, "the game is overly complex and overlong—pure overkill."
158:
Although nominally a two-player game, the rules recommend ten players divided into two teams of five people, each team composed of a
Commander-In-Chief, Logistics Commander, Rear Area Commander, Air Commander, and Front-line Commander.
637:
683:
139:, with ten recommended players and an estimated total playtime of 1,500 hours. The game could not be fully playtested before release and no one is believed to have ever completed a full game.
405:
responsible for the gigantic map. After six months, all of the other developers had left the project, and Berg was asked to complete the game on his own, which he took two years to complete.
151:
been called the most complex wargame ever designed, with the commonly cited example (noted in SPI's advertising) that
Italian troops require additional water supplies to prepare
629:
603:
179:
maps scaled at 8 km (5 mi) per hex with thirty-one types of terrain; the maps when placed together form a single 34 inch Ă— 115 inch board.
705:
426:, and started the process of streamlining and simplifying the rules, with an advertised publication date of 2022 for the retitled "North African Campaign".
544:
845:
923:
933:
928:
205:"Air and Logistics Game Rules of Play and Scenarios": 23 pages of rules, 14 pages of scenarios, 7 pages of designer's notes
595:
898:
697:
758:
124:
480:
784:
467:
918:
571:
485:
445:
733:
Pratuch, Thomas G. (February–March 1980). "The
Endless Sand: The Campaign for North Africa Surveyed".
536:
837:
382:
This entire sequence would then be repeated by the other player or team, completing one game turn.
440:, Gary Charbonneau wrote, "You may have heard rumors that this game would be unplayable. It is."
58:
128:
20:
392:
8:
406:
76:
868:
436:
35:
675:
667:
660:"They created maybe the best board game ever. Now, Putin is making it relevant again"
735:
493:
458:
188:"Historical Background": 16 page analysis of the North African campaign written by
214:"Commonwealth Exclusive Charts and Tables" 32 pages including 58 charts and tables
912:
903:
671:
120:
43:
323:
Move units, tracking fuel expenditure and breakdown points vis a vis weather
211:"Axis Exclusive Charts and Tables": 36 pages, including 73 charts and tables
679:
415:
402:
197:
193:
136:
132:
48:
453:
a very poor "excitement" grade of only 15% but a "realism" grade of 100%.
189:
355:
Deploy destroyed tank markers and update unit records to reflect losses.
267:
Determine weather (Hotter weather results in more evaporation of water)
19:
This article is about the board game. For the historical campaign, see
892:
750:
512:
168:
866:
Charbonneau, Gary (April 1980). "Campaign for North Africa (SPI)".
422:
Following the demise of SPI, Decision Games acquired the rights to
261:
Calculate spillage/evaporation of water and adjust all supply dumps
176:
887:
630:"Opinioni d'autore: Il gioco in scatola piĂą complesso del mondo"
698:"The Campaign for North Africa: The Desert War 1940-43 (1979)"
346:
Secretly assign all units to anti-armor or close-assault roles
596:"The Notorious Board Game That Takes 1,500 Hours To Complete"
152:
202:"Land Game Rules of Play": 45 pages, plus 2 pages of addenda
822:
Kula, John (July 1998). "The
Campaign for North Africa".
312:
Carry out mission, return to base, airplane maintenance.
782:
Campbell, Bob (1980). "The
Campaign for North Africa".
337:
Designate each tank and gun as deployed forward or back
119:), subtitled "The Desert War, 1940–43", is a strategic
276:
Calculate attrition of units short of water and stores
899:
The Campaign for North Africa: The Desert War 1940-43
208:"Charts and Tables Common to Both Players": 16 pages
578:. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 172–173.
375:Repeat all movement and combat steps a second time
300:Plan tactical air mission if airplanes are fuelled
500:"the most complicated board game ever released."
378:Repeat all movement and combat steps a third time
155:. The map board alone is 9.5 ft (3 m) long.
910:
503:In a retrospective review almost 40 years after
519:will seduce new players for the rest of time."
515:. But he admitted that due to its complexity, "
171:contained in a large 4 inch deep box includes:
234:The Wargamer Academy rates the complexity of
537:"Top 5 Hardest Games In The World To Master"
865:
623:
621:
797:
795:
34:
777:
775:
728:
726:
724:
722:
651:
627:
781:
618:
589:
587:
585:
137:the most complex wargames ever published
127:(SPI) in 1978 that simulates the entire
817:
815:
813:
792:
732:
570:
390:In the mid-1970s, SPI's house magazine
911:
801:
772:
719:
657:
593:
385:
582:
566:
564:
562:
288:Transport cargo between African ports
821:
810:
658:Gaynor, Michael J. (July 17, 2018).
606:from the original on 4 February 2018
258:Distribute stores and consume stores
175:5 34 inch Ă— 23 inch paper
806:. London: Sphere Books. p. 79.
358:Carry out probes and close assaults
13:
859:
690:
559:
14:
945:
880:
628:Angiolino, Andrea (2012-06-18).
594:Winkie, Luke (5 February 2018).
547:from the original on 7 June 2022
492:In a 2012 review, game designer
848:from the original on 2021-06-06
830:
761:from the original on 2021-06-06
708:from the original on 2021-05-20
640:from the original on 2021-06-06
222:3 plastic counter storage trays
924:Simulations Publications games
743:
739:. No. 49. pp. 15–16.
529:
142:
125:Simulations Publications, Inc.
16:Military simulation board game
1:
576:The Complete Book of Wargames
522:
517:The Campaign for North Africa
481:The Complete Book of Wargames
162:
148:The Campaign for North Africa
110:The Campaign for North Africa
29:The Campaign for North Africa
666:. United States: Fred Ryan.
429:
7:
934:World War II board wargames
929:Wargames introduced in 1978
804:The Best of Board Wargaming
751:"Campaign for North Africa"
446:The Best of Board Wargaming
317:Place land units on reserve
279:Begin building construction
246:Plan strategic air missions
229:
10:
950:
369:Begin repair of breakdowns
135:. It is considered one of
18:
838:"Northe African Campaign"
826:. No. 2. p. 44.
802:Palmer, Nicholas (1980).
294:Deploy Commonwealth fleet
98:
90:
82:
72:
64:
54:
42:
33:
306:Fight air-to-air combat
59:Simulation Publications
471:, Bob Campbell called
393:Strategy & Tactics
343:Retreat before assault
340:Plot and fire barrages
129:North African Campaign
21:North African campaign
291:Bring convoys ashore
264:Determine initiative
219:12 logistical sheets
869:Fire & Movement
664:The Washington Post
437:Fire & Movement
407:Redmond A. Simonsen
386:Publication history
77:Military simulation
30:
919:Richard Berg games
755:wargameacademy.org
303:Begin air mission
285:Rearrange supplies
28:
842:decisiongames.com
702:boardgamegeek.com
543:. 29 April 2022.
478:In the 1980 book
443:In his 1980 book
352:Adjust ammunition
252:Plan Axis convoys
106:
105:
94:Up to 1,500 hours
941:
874:
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747:
741:
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694:
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687:
686:on 31 July 2019.
682:. Archived from
655:
649:
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616:
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613:
611:
591:
580:
579:
568:
557:
556:
554:
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533:
509:
494:Andrea Angiolino
484:, game designer
366:Move rear trucks
363:Release reserves
273:Reorganize units
270:Distribute water
38:
31:
27:
949:
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507:
465:In Issue 24 of
456:In Issue 49 of
434:In Issue 21 of
432:
388:
349:Anti-armor fire
329:Move more units
232:
225:1 six-sided die
165:
145:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
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907:
906:
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888:CNA Play Group
882:
881:External links
879:
876:
875:
872:. No. 21.
858:
829:
809:
791:
788:. No. 24.
771:
742:
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689:
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636:(in Italian).
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326:Enemy reaction
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282:Begin training
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182:1,600 counters
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123:published by
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121:board wargame
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897:
886:
867:
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850:. Retrieved
841:
832:
823:
803:
783:
763:. Retrieved
754:
745:
734:
710:. Retrieved
701:
692:
684:the original
663:
653:
642:. Retrieved
634:Gioconomicon
633:
608:. Retrieved
599:
575:
572:Freeman, Jon
549:. Retrieved
540:
531:
516:
504:
502:
497:
491:
479:
477:
472:
466:
464:
457:
455:
450:
444:
442:
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423:
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416:Jim Dunnigan
412:
403:Richard Berg
398:
391:
389:
381:
372:Make patrols
255:Raid convoys
240:
235:
233:
198:Jim Dunnigan
194:Richard Berg
185:6 booklets:
166:
157:
147:
146:
133:World War II
115:
114:
109:
108:
107:
91:Playing time
49:Richard Berg
25:
486:Jon Freeman
297:Ship repair
143:Description
65:Publication
913:Categories
852:2021-06-05
824:Simulacrum
765:2021-06-05
712:2021-05-06
644:2021-06-05
610:5 February
541:Casino.org
523:References
513:jerry cans
320:Movement:
249:Raid Malta
163:Components
55:Publishers
893:ProBoards
672:0190-8286
430:Reception
309:Fire flak
169:boxed set
44:Designers
846:Archived
759:Archived
706:Archived
638:Archived
604:Archived
574:(1980).
545:Archived
334:Combat:
230:Gameplay
177:hex grid
99:Synonyms
785:Phoenix
680:2269358
496:called
468:Phoenix
401:, with
190:Al Nofi
83:Players
678:
670:
600:Kotaku
551:7 June
196:, and
73:Genres
736:Moves
508:'
459:Moves
153:pasta
676:OCLC
668:ISSN
612:2018
553:2022
167:The
86:2–10
68:1978
902:at
891:at
505:CNA
498:CNA
473:CNA
451:CNA
424:CNA
399:CNA
236:CNA
131:of
116:CNA
102:CNA
915::
844:.
840:.
812:^
794:^
774:^
757:.
753:.
721:^
704:.
700:.
674:.
662:.
632:.
620:^
602:.
598:.
584:^
561:^
539:.
192:,
855:.
768:.
715:.
647:.
614:.
555:.
113:(
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
