@general-5-stars They are starting in the Impassible Sahara, from there they can attack an axis area, and retreat back into Sahara ( provided they hit target or the enemy misses all in the same turn. They don’t exist until USA lands something in North Africa, and once destroyed they cant be rebuilt. They are basically a problem to poorly guarded axis areas. The Long Range Desert Patrol did exist and they did hit and run raids. the Rat Patrol idea is a good way to treat this and give game more fun and player options
Hi IL,
Thanks for your input.
If you have any questions or comments concerning the Desert Army for use with the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion, please post it on this Desert Army thread.
If you have further suggestions and comments concerning units & rules that are not part of the Desert Army for use with the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion, we suggest that you create your own thread - and we’ll definitely look into your thread, for inspiration and comments.
In order to avoid confusion with the Desert Army rules, we need to keep this thread separated from comments other than those related to the Desert Army.
The Desert Army was succesfully play tested yesterday.
United Kingdom created their 1st Desert Army in Late 1941 in Egypt.
A UK Tank General was produced in London in Late 1940, shipped to French West Africa in Early 1941 and transported by Strategic Rail Movement to Egypt in Late 1941 in a Rendez Vous with 1 Tank unit and 2 Mechanized Infantry units.
After heavy fighting in Tobruk, Libya & Tunisia the last Italian forces in Africa were eliminated in Early 1943.
In Late 1943 Germany took over Italy and launched a massive surprise attack with Paratrooper units from Rome - and captured Algeria, Tunisia, Libya & Tobruk.
The UK 1st Desert Army was eliminated during this massive German Paratrooper attack.
In Early 1944, 6 German Air Transport units moved from Western Germany to Libya - transporting 1 Panzer General, 3 Tank units and 2 Panzer Grenadier units.
The German 1st Desert Army was formed - supported by the surviving Paratrooper units from Tunisia and Libya.
Cool! It’s nice to see Axis win a victory!
@the-captain Nice ! I’ve often thought about sending a TG to Africa and then RR him to India. Last couple games i haven’t concentrated enough Naval units to withstand the Kriegsmarina and Luftwaffe to make it happen.
Having some more trouble with Pacific Islands. If I can’t figure a fix today, I’ll just do the other fixes and add the Engineer and Desert Army. That shouldn’t take too long. I’ve though that before though lol
@the-captain I take it that SS units can’t be part of a Desert Army ? They can only form with an Oberst ?
At least i hope so, otherwise there’s gonna b like 9 different combinations for Germany lol
It’s just seems hard, give that SS units can’t be transported overseas (which I think is stupid, since SS units were at the very least planned to be transported overseas historically).
@the-captain I know you had a UK Tank General make it to Africa in your test game, but this seems to favor the Germans to me. Unless Germany is going super hard on Russia, I don’t see how UK can get a trprt to Africa against German air and naval.
Seems any trprt would be destroyed in port. You can only build 1 TG for UK too, so it’d take a lot of resources to get them into play for just the one.
Germany can buy Air Trprt rd1, PG rd2 with another AT and a couple rd1 Para builds that move to S Italy rd2 and a Panzer to Africa.
They should be operational defensively by rd 3.
Still seems cool. Just seems a little pro German but … maybe I’m missing something : )
Edit
actually the Paras can’t make S Italy rd2 so unless you really went huge, which would be a bad idea most likely, it’d be turn 4 then
Hmm … PG gotta be produced in Berlin, so he can’t make it either. I guess turn 4, late 41, be the soonest for the Afrika Corps then
Hey barnee,
True - Waffen-SS units cannot be part of the 1st German Desert Army.
Concerning the UK Tank General in our example:
The German Luftwaffe was busy in the Med. and on the Eastern Front - so the remaining Luftwaffe units in Western Europe did not have enough strentgh to take up the fight against the UK units mentioned above.
The U-Boats of the Kriegsmarine were also not able to reach the UK Convoy.
We’ve played 2 more games since then - only during the second game did the UK player (Keld Rasmussen) send a UK Tank General to Africa - this time through Norway - and then by Strategic Rail Movement through the Soviet Union and the Middle East.
That’s a long way to go!
@the-captain sweet ! Through Norway what was the rd/date ? yea utilizing both ABs would definitely help as well as some cheap fodder Escorts.
I’ve been thinking some more on this and I’m uncertain if I should boost everybody’s PG production by 1. UK would be allowed 1 Tank Army and 1 Desert Army so they would need 2 PGs but does that give an unfair advantage ?
You could have 1 Tank Army in play with another PG en route. If you lose the Tank Army, then his potential replacement wouldn’t be starting from UK. Germany could do the same.
I think that’s the way to do it though. Give the Desert Powers an extra build.
How are you guys playing it ?
We mostly see the 1st US Desert Army and the 1st German Desert Army.
UK most often have their Tank Army fighting in the Western Europe sphere - supported by a US Tank Army (after D-Day).
We would not recommend an increase in Panzer General / Tank General units, since this could unbalance the game. We have already play tested this.
It took us 3 years to find the right combination of Armies - with Play Balance, Game Enthusiasts and Historical Aspects in mind.
The number of Panzer Armies & Tank Armies that are part of the game, challenges the players to prioritize their Armies - both as a Strategic Reserve and as Frontline Combat Formations.
@the-captain right on so basically you can have a Desert or Tank Army with UK but not both at the same time. I misunderstood that.
Updated to triplea
Adds the Desert Army Unit. Once the Desert Army is Formed, you will need to edit the correct DesertGeneral. Use “DesertGeneral3” with Tank Units. “DesertGeneral2” with Artillery. Use “DesertGeneralA2D3” for Panzer Grenadier and Armoured Infantry Units. Use “DesertGeneralA1D3” for Combat Engineers. Use"DesertGeneral" for all other Units.
Move Restrictions are Player Enforced. This may be fixed in the future.
Yes, that’s correct.
The United States mostly have their 1st Desert Army in North Africa - for as long as it is needed - then it is transformed into a Tank Army and shipped to Europe.
The final play testing game with the Desert Army formation was completed today.
Rules will be clarified and ready for use by the end of this week.
I can’t wait! It would be interesting to make the German Desert Army more powerful because of Rommel. Maybe Germany can designate ground units or armies as controlled by Rommel, giving them an advantage.
After the final play testing has succesfully ended, the Desert Army will be part of the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion under Optional Rules.
The Desert Army is also eligible for use with Global 1943.
V VictoryFirst referenced this topic on Sep 13, 2022, 5:56 AM
@The-Captain Good evening Captain. Desert Army question/request for clarification. I could not see in the Desert Army House Rule how much a Desert General costs? Is it 8 IPC’s like a Panzer or Tank General?? Or only 5 IPC’s such as a Commissar since its value is similar to that? I think I am clear that it’s one each for Germany, UK, USA and can only operate in Africa. And it teams with three land-based units for which one of those can hit double. (like the Commissars and SS Grumpies) So am only unclear on costs of the Desert General itself? Thanks
There are no Desert Generals, all Desert Armies use Panzer Generals.
