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Dark Sands, The - War in North Africa 1940-42
The Dark Sands takes the game system from Ted S. Raicer’s sold-out and critically acclaimed The Dark Valley: The East Front Campaign to the legendary battles of North Africa in... (read more)
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Check out the purchase option hereReviews
mostly positive, 73% of all reviews are favorable
Playtime
120 minutes
Published
2018
Age
14+
Publisher
GMT Games
Players
1 to 2 players
Designer
Ted Raicer
Playstyle
Involved
Game's Categories
War Game, Dice Rolling, GMT Games, Simulation, Hexagon Grid, Rodger B. MacGowan, and World War II
Description
The Dark Sands takes the game system from Ted S. Raicer’s sold-out and critically acclaimed The Dark Valley: The East Front Campaign to the legendary battles of North Africa in WWII. From the most successful British armored operation of the war, Operation Compass, to the climactic battle two years later at El Alamein, The Dark Sands breaks new ground in portraying the campaigns of the British 8th Army and Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
The Dark Sands comes with two large-hex maps, which are subdivided into three map sections: West (El Aghelia to Derna), Center (Tmimi to Sidi Barrani) and East (Matruh to Alamein). The West and East maps are scaled at 9 miles to the hex (which is pretty standard for games on this subject) but the Center Map is scaled at 4.5 miles to the hex. This allows the area where most of the campaigning took place to be treated in much greater detail: the Gazala line, only 4 or 5 hexes in most games, is twice that in The Dark Sands. But the different maps and scales are handled simply, through different terrain costs and limits on units in combat, without the need for complicated rules. The time scale is one to two months per turn. The campaign game is 17 turns long, but there are four short scenarios (Compass, Rommel Arrives, Crusader, and Gazala) that can also be used as starting points for a shorter campaign.
COMPONENTS
Two paper maps
Two counter sheets
Rulebook
Playbook
Three Player Aid Cards
Two 6-sided dice
The Dark Sands comes with two large-hex maps, which are subdivided into three map sections: West (El Aghelia to Derna), Center (Tmimi to Sidi Barrani) and East (Matruh to Alamein). The West and East maps are scaled at 9 miles to the hex (which is pretty standard for games on this subject) but the Center Map is scaled at 4.5 miles to the hex. This allows the area where most of the campaigning took place to be treated in much greater detail: the Gazala line, only 4 or 5 hexes in most games, is twice that in The Dark Sands. But the different maps and scales are handled simply, through different terrain costs and limits on units in combat, without the need for complicated rules. The time scale is one to two months per turn. The campaign game is 17 turns long, but there are four short scenarios (Compass, Rommel Arrives, Crusader, and Gazala) that can also be used as starting points for a shorter campaign.
COMPONENTS
Noble Knight Games
