by RockyMountainNavy, 15 February 2024 ~ #UnboxingDay
Rommel’s War by Derek Croxton from Worthington Publishing, Inc. (2024) is the latest entry in the field of lite World War II block wargames. Let’s take a look and see the future of block war games!
Worthington Publishing ran a short Kickstarter campaign in January 2024 for Rommel’s War. I was lucky enough to be one of the early pledge supporters so my copy came in early February.
I call Rommel’s War a “lite” block wargame because it is both a wargame that uses blocks but is also light to ship and lite on rules.
Opening the box of Rommel’s War one might be tempted to say it was mispacked. The first items seen are two copies of the Player Aid card and two copies of the rule book. Two copies? Yes, that is correct according to the contents on the back of the box.
When I say Rommel’s War is a light wargame, one meaning is in the sense of the shipping weight and contents. Yes, there are blocks in here but not too many, a few cards, a mounted mapboard, and the previously mentioned Player Aid cards and rule book. Oh yeah, there is a single die also included.
My second “lite” meaning is when I call Rommel’s War a lite wargame meaning it is a relatively uncomplicated game. The rule book, all 8 pages of it, is laid out in color and uses a font that is not too hard on this grognard’s eyes.
For all those historical conflict simulation aficionados out there you can rest easy because Rommel’s War is not a staid hex & counter wargame. This one has cards!
The player aid cards for Rommels’ War are digest-sized and easy to move around the table.
Perhaps the most welcome part of Rommel’s War are the blocks. Blocks that come pre-printed. Blocks that don’t need to be stickered. Blocks that are ready play out-of-the box.
So lite is Rommel’s War that I actually had my first play underway within 20 minutes of opening the box. Fair warning, however, that you will need a wide table to play given the somewhat unconventional 11″ x 34″ map.
Here are Casa de RockyMountainNavy, though February is supposed to be winter the arrival of Rommel’s War continues a North Africa front theme for the month. Guess this is the new definition of “The Hotness” for wargamers…
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