Afrika Korps (1964)

Easy and fun historical game of Rommel’s battles with the English in North Africa during WW2. One of the early Avalon Hill beginner war games.

From the back of the box:
Ever since men began making weapons they have used them to create legends: in early 1941, when his conquest of Europe was embarrassed by the rout of his Italian allies in Africa, Hitler dispatched General Erwin Rommel to forestall a seemingly inevitable Axis defeat. Reorganizing the forces under his command as the Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK), Rommel immediately launched the first of his legendary desert offensives.

Now, the legend of "The Desert Fox" is recreated. From April 1941 through the climatic battle at El Alamein in later 1942. Afrika Korps simulates the mobile conflict between Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika and the British Eighth Army defending Egypt and the Suez Canal. During each monthly game-turn, the initiative may switch from the Germany to the Allied player as both come to understand why Rommel called North Africa "A tactician's paradise; a logistical officer's nightmare."

A 2 on Avalon Hill's complexity scale of 1(low) to 10(high). Playing time 2 to 4 hours

Includes 44" x 14" mounted mapboard of North Africa, set of die-cut Axis and Allied military unit counters, combat results table, time record card, die, and rules.

Avalon Hill Complexity rating - 2

Microbadge:

from The Avalon Hill Company History, 1980

Afrika Korps (1964) Revised 1965, Revised 1978
Designed by Charles Roberts & Lindsley Schutz
Development by Tom Shaw

Few wargames have withstood the rigors of time as well as this one which remains one of the classic games of maneuver despite questionable realism and “rules” which are based as much on tradition from time honored official questions & answers as on any actual printed rules. The game was revised soon after its initial release to introduce the Supply Table and move the starting location of the British 4-4-7 from Msus to Mechili for play balance purposes. It has remained the same ever since with the exception of the inclusion of some questions and answers appended to the Battle Manual in the ’78 edition. A member of the 100,000+ sales club.

Magazine References:

The GENERAL Index Article List:

• The GENERAL Vol.1,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Can the British Really Win in Afrika Korps?” (Discussion)
  • Afrika Korps - "CONTEST No. 1" (Strategy)
  • Afrika Korps – “Afrika Korps - Sea Movement” (Discussion)
  • The Question Corner - Afrika Korps, Gettysburg
• The GENERAL Vol.1,No.2
  • Afrika Korps – “Congratulations-Wesley H. Sayre Jr.-Contest Champ” (Strategy)
  • Afrika Korps – “You're Not Reading the Rules” (Discussion)
  • Afrika Korps – “Afrika Korps -Rules Supplement” (Discussion)
  • Afrika Korps – “Play Balance for Afrika Korps” (Discussion) Victor Madeja
  • The Question Corner - Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.1,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Sink Some African Sands” (Variant Discussion) Victor Madeja
  • Afrika Korps – “Absurdity of Afrika Korps” (Discussion) Jon Perica
• The GENERAL Vol.1,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “Afrika Korps-Tactics of Isolation” (Strategy) Carl Knabe
  • The Question Corner - Afrika Korps, Tactics II, U-Boat, Stalingrad, D-Day
• The GENERAL Vol.1,No.5
  • Afrika Korps – “Africa Korps - Re-played” (Discussion)
• The GENERAL Vol.1,No.6
  • Afrika Korps – “A Critique - "Afrika Korps Re-Played"” (Strategy)
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, Midway, Stalingrad
  • Afrika Korps – “Play-by-Mail Table for Afrika Korps” (Discussion)
  • Afrika Korps – “9 December 1940” (Variant Discussion) Albert A. Nofi
• The GENERAL Vol.2,No.1
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, Midway, The Battle of the Bulge, D-Day, Gettysburg
  • Afrika Korps – “Tactics & Strategy” (Strategy) David B. Whiskeyman
• The GENERAL Vol.2,No.2
  • Afrika Korps – “Tactics & Strategy-Part 2” (Strategy) David B. Whiskeyman
  • Afrika Korps – “Tactics on Afrika Korps” (Strategy) John Finch
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, The Battle of the Bulge
• The GENERAL Vol.2,No.3
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.2,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “A New German Approach to Afrika Korps” (Strategy) Jared Johnson
• The GENERAL Vol.2,No.5
  • The Question Box - The Battle of the Bulge, Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.2,No.6
  • Afrika Korps – “Basic German Strategy in Afrika Korps” (Strategy) James Tribolet
• The GENERAL Vol.3,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Basic Allied Strategy in Afrika Korps” (Strategy) Frank Russell
  • Afrika Korps – “Raiding Rommel” (Strategy) James F. Epperson
• The GENERAL Vol.3,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Rommel Rides Again” (Strategy) Allan Wood
• The GENERAL Vol.3,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “Operations Oasis” (Strategy) Christopher Meagher
  • Afrika Korps – “Across the Sands” (Strategy) Bill Stone
• The GENERAL Vol.3,No.6
  • Afrika Korps – “Major Battles & Campaigns: Libya & Egypt, 1940-42” (Historical) James Tribolet
• The GENERAL Vol.4,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Rommel's Thrust - 1941” (Historical) Doug Cragoe
• The GENERAL Vol.4,No.2
  • Afrika Korps – “German Strategy in Afrika Korps” (Strategy) Mark Rosenberg
• The GENERAL Vol.4,No.5
  • Afrika Korps – “Afrika Korps & the Attrition Table” (Variant Discussion) Brooke Duvall
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, Bismarck, Gettysburg, Waterloo, Blitzkrieg, The Battle of the Bulge, Guadalcanal
• The GENERAL Vol.4,No.6
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, The Battle of the Bulge, Blitzkrieg, Football Strategy, Le Mans
• The GENERAL Vol.5,No.1
  • The Question Box - The Battle of the Bulge, Midway, D-Day, Afrika Korps, Blitzkrieg, Stalingrad
• The GENERAL Vol.5,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “Best Allied Defense - an Aggressive German” (Strategy) Lee Matthews
• The GENERAL Vol.5,No.5
  • Afrika Korps – “The Real Africa Korps” (Variant Discussion) Robert W. Olson
• The GENERAL Vol.5,No.6
  • Afrika Korps – “The Road to Alexandria” (Strategy) Daniel Lee
  • Afrika Korps – “Brains vs Brawn or EXCEDRIN HEADACHE NO. 1-1-6” (Strategy) TM1 William B. Searight
  • Afrika Korps – “All or Nothing? - Hardly” (Variant Discussion) Bill Quinn
• The GENERAL Vol.6,No.6
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, 1914, Stalingrad
• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Playmates at Tobruch” (Commentary) Dan Carman
• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.3
  • The Question Box - The Battle of the Bulge, Blitzkrieg, Football Strategy, Le Mans, 1914, Jutland, Anzio, Afrika Korps, D-Day
• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “D.A.K.” (Strategy) William Searight
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, Kriegspiel, D-Day, Midway, Anzio, The Stock Market Game
• The GENERAL Vol.7,No.6
  • Afrika Korps – “Simulating the Art of War - Part II” (Variant Discussion) J.E. Pournelle, Ph.D.
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.2
  • Afrika Korps – “CONTEST NO. 44” (Strategy)
• The GENERAL Vol.8,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Afrika Korps Thesis” (Strategy) Tom Hazlett
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Tobruch - Where Before June?” (Strategy) William B. Searight
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.4
  • “COVER STORY: The Classics - Afrika Korps, The Battle of the Bulge, Waterloo, Stalingrad, D-Day” (Commentary)
  • Afrika Korps – “A Southern Strategy” (Strategy) Larry Baggett
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.5
  • Afrika Korps – “CONTEST NO. 53” (Strategy)
• The GENERAL Vol.9,No.6
  • The Question Box - Afrika Korps, Waterloo, France, 1940, Origins of World War II, PanzerBlitz
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.2
  • The Question Box - OOPS!, Midway, D-Day, Afrika Korps, Kriegspiel, Luftwaffe
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.3
  • The Question Box - France, 1940, Gettysburg, Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “OPERATION CRUSADER: The Winter Battle” (Historical) Robert Garbisch
  • The Question Box - Luftwaffe, The Battle of the Bulge, Blitzkrieg, Richthofen's War, France, 1940, D-Day, Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.5
  • Series Replay - Afrika Korps Robert Garbisch, Bill Hoyer, Rob Beyma
  • Afrika Korps – “CONTEST NO. 59” (Strategy)
  • The Question Box - Anzio, Afrika Korps, PanzerBlitz
  • Afrika Korps – “CONTEST NO. 59 Submission” (Insert)
• The GENERAL Vol.10,No.6
  • Afrika Korps – “Reader Buyer's Guide Submission Form” (Insert)
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.1
  • Reader Buyer's Guide - Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Tournament Play” (Strategy) Tom Hazlett
  • Afrika Korps – “CONTEST NO. 62” (Insert)
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.5
  • Afrika Korps – “A Decade with Das Afrika Korps” (Strategy) Omar DeWitt
• The GENERAL Vol.11,No.6
  • The Question Box - Alexander the Great, Afrika Korps, France, 1940, Midway, D-Day
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.1
  • The Question Box - Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, PanzerBlitz, Afrika Korps
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.4
  • Series Replay - Afrika Korps Tom Hazlett, Brian Libby, Don Burdick
• The GENERAL Vol.12,No.5
  • Afrika Korps – “The Paleveda Gambit” (Strategy) Jon Lockwood
• The GENERAL Vol.13,No.5
  • Series Replay - Afrika Korps Rob Beyma, D.S. Burdick, Thomas Hazlett
• The GENERAL Vol.14,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Competitional Afrika Korps” (Variant) Dave Roberts
• The GENERAL Vol.15,No.5
  • “Another Afrika Korps Gambit” (Strategy) Stephen S. Packwood
• The GENERAL Vol.16,No.2
  • Afrika Korps – “K.O. in Round 5... or Give Up the Home Base? Never, Never, Never!” (Strategy) Frank Preissle
• The GENERAL Vol.17,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Afrika Korps Theory” Jonathan Lockwood
• The GENERAL Vol.18,No.1
  • Afrika Korps – “Face- Lift for a Classic Beauty - The New Look Afrika Korps; 1980 Edition” (Strategy) Frank Preissle
• The GENERAL Vol.18,No.2
  • Afrika Korps – “Desert Deception - Adding the True Role of Reconnaissance to Afrika Korps” (Variant) R.J. Gutenkunst
• The GENERAL Vol.18,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Operation Torchlighter - The End Game in Afrika Korps” (Strategy) Frank Preissle
• The GENERAL Vol.18,No.4
  • Afrika Korps – “Back to Basics - Basic German Alternatives in Afrika Korps” (Strategy) Rob Beyma
• The GENERAL Vol.22,No.2
  • The Question Box - Up Front, Afrika Korps, Victory in the Pacific
• The GENERAL Vol.25,No.3
  • Afrika Korps – “Up gunning an old warrior -Afrika Korps for everybody” (Variant Discussion) Richard Gutenkunst