Game of the Week, July 7 to 13
Hi everyone,
It’s Monday again, and it’s time for Game of the Week!
This week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Campaigns: Tobruk ‘41. The arrival of the Afrika Korps in Africa saw the rapid collapse of the British after their pursuit of the Italians following Operation Compass. Retreating to shorten their supply lines, Commonwealth and British forces took a stand at Tobruk to slow the German pursuit. Little did the besieged forces know that they would become the focus of the North Africa campaign for both sides in 1941, and on into 1942.
Panzer Campaigns: Tobruk ‘41 covers the various operations to support the troops in Tobruk in 1941, including Operations Brevity, Battleaxe and Crusader as well as the siege overall and the German attacks on the fortress.
Panzer Campaigns: Tobruk ‘41 is the new 4.05.3 version, and our product description encapsulates this campaign well:
Following the British defeat of the Italians in 1940, Rommel would arrive with the lead elements of the infamous Afrika Korps. Tobruk '41 is an operational level simulation that traces the North African desert campaigns with scenarios covering action from Mersa Brega in March '41, and finishing at the end of Crusader in December. In 1940, the British had little trouble pushing the Italian army in Libya away from the Egyptian border. However early the next year, General Rommel arrived in North Africa and quickly took the offensive. While the British garrison at Tobruk held on, desperate battles were fought across the desert sands. Will the British be able to relieve Tobruk, or will Rommel earn another victory resulting in his standing as the Desert Fox?
The game features 101 scenarios which include all the forces that were historically allocated to the campaign.
The longest campaign scenario is 158 turns, with most scenarios a very playable sub-30 turns.
The master map (55,360 hexes) covers the entire from Gazala in the west to Sidi Barrani in the east.
In addition to the aforementioned scenarios and campaigns, Panzer Campaigns: Tobruk ‘41 includes a Getting Started scenario designed to introduce new players to the game system. The included scenarios are a good mix of small (Division), medium (Corps) and large (Army/Army Group) engagements.
The Order of Battle has 2,400 units from the German, Luftwaffe, Italian, Australian, British, Czech, Free French, Indian, New Zealand, Polish, and South African forces that participated in the campaign.
We have included a lot of historical documentation and notes with this title. You can review each by clicking on the links below.
There has been a range of books covering The France battles in 1940. Following are some representative books for anyone that would like some more background on the campaign. You can click on the book images below to be taken to the Publisher or Amazon, if applicable.
Informational
“Tobruk 75th Anniversary Edition” by Peter FitzSimon.
As an Australian, I highly recommend this book by Peter Fitzsimmons. As one reader wrote: “A German propaganda insult became a rallying cry. The author describes first the character of his countrymen, the Australians were different from the Europeans. They loved a good fight and could live in the country side with no problem. They were a bunch of neighbours, friends and men with the memories of their fathers' gallantry in Gallipoli. But the book shows also the great art of war of General Morshead, the shortcomings of Rommel and the interferences in war of politicians.”
“The Longest Siege: Tobruk - The Battle That Saved North Africa” by Robert. Lyman.
Amazon review: If only all military history could be as readable as this as perhaps, I could get through the piles of books awaiting attention on my shelves in half the time! I'm always slightly weary of saying that I `enjoyed' any work about warfare as the subject matter isn't meant to entertain; however, some works are made all the grimmer by colorless prose and dull lists of unit numbers, dates & times and other military jargon. Robert Lyman manages to strike a near perfect balance of enough detail and facts to keep the military buffs happy whilst peppering his narrative with many well-chosen personal accounts that enhance the human element to the story. In addition, at least for the first half of the book, he doesn't lose sight of the wider strategic picture and the reader can appreciate the reasons for the sacrifices needed.
“Operation Crusader: Tank Warfare in the Desert, Tobruk 1941” by Hermann Buschleb
Amazon review: This valuable study is a competent German perspective that covers the armor operations during Operation Crusader launched by the British on 18 November 1941, which broke the Axis siege of Tobruk and relieved the beleaguered city.
As with many other books from the Casemate, also this one was originally published in 1966. The volume is still a respectable and recommended book that deserves wider attention, written by a highly successful staff officer in post-war Bundeswehr.
“A detailed fighting account of Operations BREVITY, SKORPION and BATTLEAXE” by by Julian Shales
I can’t say enough good things about this title. A key input for our Panzer Battles: North Africa 1941 title.
Publisher blurb: A detailed fighting account of Operations BREVITY, SKORPION and BATTLEAXE using and including contemporary information often never before included in any other media. Every reported fire fight and skirmish are included with as much detail as could be found so that the history could be told as nearly completely as possible. There are over 400 pages covering BATTLEAXE in detail and 150 pages covering BREVITY with 95 pages covering SKORPION.
Heavily based on Unit War Diaries and Veterans' accounts describing the fighting as experienced by those who were there. This is a great source of contemporary information on Weapons, Ammunition, Armored Fighting Vehicles, Soft-skinned Vehicles and the Methods of Fighting and Combat actually experienced.
Julian’s first volume preceding the above is a very worthwhile purchase as well:
Now for video content:
The Mack has six episodes covering Panzer Campaigns: Tobruk ’41. The introduction episode is below:
The full playlist is here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZF8xPbQMJqf4ZYxNd5nXqXkIsKp2hNNb
Following are some historical background videos, worth your time:
Channel TIKhistory has a video over 9 hours long (!) on Operation Crusader:
From History Blitz:
Following are some in-game screen shots of what to expect. Each image can be clicked for a full-sized view.
As mentioned, the build we are making available today is the new 4.05.3 version. A range of new features have been included — you can read the Changelog here. All new purchases will be this latest version.
If you don’t already own this title, what are you waiting for? You can buy it directly from the dedicated product page.
We hope you enjoy this week’s Game of the Week. Like all WDS titles, there is a lot of game play included at a very attractive price.
I couldn’t agree with Jens more. These are my most played Panzer Campaign games. The ebb and flow of the battles, the stoutness of Tobruk are wonderfully recreated. I find, especially with these games, that I’m conducting operations similar to those that actually occurred, without even realizing it. For me that’s the hallmark of a good game and system – which these are.
I will not keep you long. But if you want to understand the Desert War, buy all three games, Tobruk, El Alamein and Kasser… eh, excuse me, Tunisia, and then read for example Alan Mooreheads trilogy “The Desert War”. Now you know what you need about it.
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