Blocks in Afrika (2014)

BLOCKS IN AFRIKA is a new concept game covering the whole North African campaign from 1940 to 1943.

Developed on wooden blocks and cubes system, over an astonishing 87x64cm full laminated multicolor map-board, there's not any paper component, but the Manual.
All the over 400 wooden/plastic components have been created by the best Italian artisinal industry and painted "A buratto", a technique usually adopted for painting car parts and accessories.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
On June 10 1940, the Italian Fascist Leader Benito Mussolini was convinced that it was the right time to join the war on the German side before it was over and Germany got all the glory.

Fascist Italy was unprepared for a World War, but Mussolini thought the war would have only lasted for some weeks and that a few thousand Italian casualties would have given him some credibility at the future Peace Conference.

However, as soon as Italian troops crossed the French border, they encountered fierce resistance from the determined French Transalpine Army.

Even worse was to come when the Italian Army crossed the Egyptian border to face a well trained and motivated British Desert Force; furthermore, the idea of invading Greece through the Balkans, was not as easy as it looked.

It was only thanks to a major German commitment in the Mediterranean that operations swung in favor of the Axis and the name of Rommel became a legend.

It was also said that, by having to provide aid to the Italians in the Balkans, Germany diverted manpower that was needed in Russia and hence sowed the seeds of the Axis defeat in the East.

However, as soon as America was thrown into the war by the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the fate of the Axis was written in stone and defeat was only a matter of time.

BLOCKS IN AFRIKA recalls, in game form, the most decisive battles fought in the African Theater Front from the Italian drive to Marsa Matruh in Summer 1940, until the collapse of the Italian Regime in Semptember 1943.

BLOCKS IN AFRIKA is a game for two players, one controls the Western Allies and the other one controls the Axis Powers.
Although based on history, players in command of the two factions can modify the evolution of World War 2 in the Mediterranean Theater.

RULES INTRODUCTION
The rules are divided into three major sections which can be learned one at a time.
The first section is the BASIC GAME RULES which introduces the basic concepts and enables players to start playing the game without too many rules to remember.
Then the ADVANCED GAME RULES provide more specific and detailed rules for an enhanced realism, such as the use of Fuel and the Advanced Production System.
Finally, for those players who want to get the best out of the game, OPTIONAL RULES can be added as desired.
The Optional Rules include Technology Research, Strategic warfare over German factories and U-Boot Campaign in the Atlantic Ocean, Amphibious Invasions, Parachute Assaults…

SCALE
A hexagon is approximately 53 miles (70 Km) across.
A turn is 1 month long.
A full strength counter represents 300 planes, 300 Tanks, or 30,000 men, depending on the type unit, equipment and nationality.

FOG OF WAR
The game must be played with the Fog of War on (wooden blocks are placed on the map in such a way the opponent player can not see them).

Language: English, German, French, Spanish and Italian
Genre: Operational, Strategic
Turns: Turn-Based
Complexity: Basic to Advanced, depending on which rules are used and on Scenario Lenght
Period: World War II

SCENARIOS
With over 240 units counters and 200 different resource points of various color, players can enjoy hours of fun by playing one of the ten BIA scenarios, one of the four 7-turn BIE scenarios (in cobination with BITE and BITW) or the gargantuan 1939 CAMPAIGN.

1940 Operation Compass, November 1940 - March 1941
1941 Operation Exporter, June - July 1941
1941 Middle- East Uprising, May - September 1941
1941 Operation Marita-Merkur, April - June 1941
1941 The Desert Fox, March - July 1941
1942 Tobruk, June - October 1942
1942 El Alamein, October 1942 - February 1943

NAVAL BATTLES
Punta Stilo, 9 July 1940
Capo Teulada, 27 November 1940
Capo Matapan, 28-29 March 1941
Harpoon, 21 June 1942

Every scenario has different Victory conditions and length, with a playing time from 1 to 2 turns.

BLOCKS IN AFRIKA can be played standalone or combined with Blocks in the West and Blocks in the East in one of the four 7 turn long BLOCKS IN EUROPE SCENARIOS:

1941 - LEBENSRAUM

1942 - AXIS HYPE

1943 - TIEBREAK

1944 - DOWNFALL

and the gargantuan 1939 CAMPAIGN: from Danzig to Hell

Microbadge: