North African Front: The Rise of the Afrika Korps

[Leonidas]

I'll start this thread to detail my work on an up-coming scenario:

North African Front: The Rise of the Afrika Korps



This scenario is a major update and revision of John Petroski's old "Afrika Korps" scenario.

The scenario takes place between September 1940 to July 1943. It will include all of the Mediterranean basin, Malta, Greece, southern Italy, and all of the Middle East.

You will step into the shoes of Mussolini, the "El Duce", and attempt to accomplish what he failed to do, namely: turn the Mediterranean into an Italian Lake.

You have numerous forces on land, in the air, and on the sea. But they are relatively inferior to the British forces. Therefore, you will need to rely on the cutting edge of the elite Afrika Korps.

I am doing work on this scenario for several reasons:

1) I have a great interest in World War II. I especially like desert warfare and the struggle that took place in North Africa. Currently, I am reading a three volume biography of Erwin Rommel by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.

2) There were/are no North African scenarios for Civ2. And I thought the graphics and gameplay were well suited for this type of conflict.

3) J. Petroski's scenario "The Afrika Korps" had some interesting elements. His scenario was adapted from work done by Harlan Thompson. But it still felt "unfinished".

4) Since this is my first scenario, I thought doing a revision of Petroski's scenario would be a good place to start: I have a great interest in the Afrika Korps, and examining the inner workings of the scenario would help me learn the ropes.

So this thread will detail my work on the scenario, including new graphics.

This is a solo project, as I will be doing all the changes, new graphics, testing, etc. So progress will not be at the speed of light

Cheers!

[Leonidas]

It was not my original intention, but I will be doing new unit graphics for this scenario.

In particular, there will be all new German desert camo units.

Over the course of the next few weeks I will be posting the new units as I do them.

Basically, I have stripped the old units file of its graphics, and will be adding many new and/or modified graphics for this scenario.

I have no fancy paint program such as Paint Shop Pro, so airbrushing, layer overlays, etc will not be used.

Instead, I will be using MS Paint from Win'98, so most work will be done by hand. All camo and modifications will be done the old fashioned way: a cursor, a palette, and patience

Here are some new Afrika Korps infantry.

Please note: these and all other Afrika Korps graphics I will be posting here are being developed for this scenario. So I would kindly request that none of these graphics be used in other scenarios until after my scenario has been released to the public.

Thanks

[Leonidas]

A Panzer Mark IV desert camo:

[Eivind IV]

Lovely, Leonidas! Tell me if you need any help!

*hopes this one will be released before the joint CDG project (North African Campaign) so we can steel ideas from this scen*

[GoPostal]

And from my point of view, so I can use the units. I came across this researching for Operation Battleaxe, the sign of the 8th Panzer, who were there.

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Kobra
Lovely, Leonidas! Tell me if you need any help!

*hopes this one will be released before the joint CDG project (North African Campaign) so we can steel ideas from this scen*

Thanks for the very kind offer Kobra

Hehe - You have some great talent working on the NAC, so I am sure you will have all bases covered.

Both our scenarios tackle the North African Campaign in a different way: Mine will cover all of the Mediterranean, while your joint effort will focus more exclusively on the North African battles. So, in a way, they compliment each other quite nicely.

Cheers!

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by GoPostal
And from my point of view, so I can use the units. I came across this researching for Operation Battleaxe, the sign of the 8th Panzer, who were there.

Thanks for the info, GoPostal.

[Leonidas]

A German armoured car:

The SdKfz 222:

[Harry Tuttle]

The camo schemes look pretty good.

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
The camo schemes look pretty good.

Thanks.

I was in a bit of a quandry for a while. Most current desert scheme units were too light for my taste. So I went through a bit of trial and error.

I opted for a bit of a mixed dark tan colour. Then I applied other lighter versions of this along with a camo scheme. Most of the shading and other "effects" were achieved through over-lapping the various pixel colours.

It's time consuming, but fun

[Justinianum]

Re: North African Front: The Rise of the Afrika Korps

Originally posted by Leonidas
I'll start this thread to detail my work on an up-coming scenario:

North African Front: The Rise of the Afrika Korps

This scenario is a major update and revision of John Petroski's old "Afrika Korps" scenario.

4) Since this is my first scenario, I thought doing a revision of Petroski's scenario would be a good place to start: I have a great interest in the Afrika Korps, and examining the inner workings of the scenario would help me learn the ropes.

Last year I was working on the same project, but on a larger scale (multi-part, lots of events, some new concepts......). When you'll finish Petroski's scenario revision we could work toghether at this project

[Leonidas]

Re: Re: North African Front: The Rise of the Afrika Korps

Originally posted by Justinianum


Last year I was working on the same project, but on a larger scale (multi-part, lots of events, some new concepts......). When you'll finish Petroski's scenario revision we could work toghether at this project

Sounds very interesting.

Tell me more.

[Leonidas]

Here is more information regarding gameplay for this scenario, as well as the type of strategy that may be needed in order to win it.


The Strategic Situation




There are three main theatres - the Mediterranean itself, the oil production regions of the Near East, and the Red Sea area.

Mediterranean

In the western half, Britain and France between them control Gibraltar at the narrow entrance from the Atlantic, southern France, Corsica, Algeria and Tunisia. Malta at the centre is a British colony.

In the eastern half, Britain maintains a hold on Egypt and the Suez Canal, Palestine and Cyprus. In the Levant, Lebanon and Syria are French

Italy stands astride the central basin, with Italy itself, Sardinia and Sicily to the north and Libya with its provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica to the south.

Albania on the Adriatic Sea and the Dodecanese Islands in the southern Aegean off Turkey are Italian.

The Neutral countries in the western Mediterranean are Spain, and in the eastern Med., Greece & Crete, Yugoslavia and Turkey.

Near East

Iraq, Persia (Iran) and the Persian Gulf area are within the British sphere of influence and surrounded by Allied or neutral countries.

Red Sea Area

To the east Saudi Arabia has close ties with Britain, and at the southern end of the Red Sea, Aden is a British colony. On the west shore are Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and further south French and British Somaliland.


Strategy and Gameplay

This scenario will only be playable as the Axis. This way, I will tweak the scenario to give the player a real run for his money. Rommel didn't have it easy, and neither will the player.

There will be a lot to do in this scenario. It will cover ALL of the Middle East, Southern Italy, Malta, and Greece.

There are a variety of things the Axis commander (you) can do. Here are just some of the strategies to consider:

1) Malta - it will be a thorn in your side. As long as Malta exists, Axis supplies will be curtailed and supplies from the UK will get through to Alexandria.

If the Axis takes Malta, then Allied supply efforts will be cut, and they will have to rely on convoy through the Suez, which will be at the mercy of U-boats.

But taking Malta will not be easy. Is the German Luftwaffe and Italian Navy up to the challenge? Do you risk some of your best initial military forces in a risky gamble to take Malta?

While Malta holds out, the Allies will receive 6 reinforcements (of armour and infantry) PER TURN. Compare this to the Axis reinforcements of just two armoured units per turn.

2) North Africa - Will the Italians be strong enough to take the offensive early in North Africa? Should they attack quickly, or wait for the Afrika Korps to show up in Tunisia? You are the overall theatre commander, so the decision is up to you.

3) The Afrika Korps - this is the elite German formation led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. They are all veterans and will consist of infantry, Panzer Grenadiers, as well as armoured formations. Utilize their offensive abilities well. They will arrive as reinforcements in Tunisia. They will serve as the major backbone in your offensive.

4) Greece - this area could open up an opportunity for Italian and German forces to score some territory and experience. Plus, it allows you more cities with which to build units. Without Malta, the ONLY way German and Italian air units can make it to North Africa, will be to secure some Greek territory, which will place Axis airfields in North Africa within flying distance. Plus, the German units left over from the Yugoslavia and Greece invasions may be of some assistance to you if you can get them to North Africa to help in the offensive.

The question is: How tough will it be to conquer Greece? Is the territory you gain worth the time, trouble and forces you will devote to this "sideshow"?

5) The Italians - they start with a substantial navy and ground forces. Plus ALL southern Italy can churn out units. However, these ground units are generally inferior to the British units, and to be of any use, they must be transported across the Mediterranean, subject to British Navy interference.

6) Axis Victory - An Axis victory means taking Alexandria. A decisive victory means taking Alexandria AND the Suez. But it will be a long road to travel. Every turn that passes, means the British will only get stronger

[yaroslav]

If I can add an idea, I'd like to point that the units should be slow, to reflect the hardness of suply lines in the desert

[Arthedain]

Looks very interesting Leonidas