Welcome to part 2 of our guest posts from Stephen Field. In this post, Stephen continues his examination of the North Africa Theater 2016 and on. So, without further ado, enjoy this guest post!
Exploring North Africa from the 2016 Point of View
Critical Hit Published ATS 2016 – The Battle of Gazala to relaunch the game system modules of North Africa. The Main Game comes with 1106 die-cut counters in ½, 5/8, ¾ sizes with new colored art and desert camo.
Counters contain, German, Italian, British nations in the first module. The Game comes with Nine Linking desert boards and overlays similar to the first set published for North Africa. Unlike later ATS modules that came with 3-ring hole battlefield walk arounds are printed on the inside folio covers and are not easily combined with the 2014 rule book.
Scenarios from the Original Game include 10 of the original 24 modules re-done in color with some modifications.
Compared to the 1st edition. The map hex sizes are approximately 50% bigger than the original maps. 4 giant sheets of overlays are included. 9 mapsheets are included as well.
Scenarios Included from the Original Set Included: Original Scenarios 1-9 and 21. 14 of the original scenarios are NOT included with the re-print of the main game.
Expansions
ATS Electric Whiskers – Expansion 1:
Like the main set, the Battlefield walkaround is built into the folio. 12 AFV Cards are provided along with one sheet of expansion overlays and a small AFV counter expansion containing British and Italian Armor. 8 Scenarios are included:
Scenarios 10, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30 are re-produced.
Scenario 10 (Across the Wire) has been renamed Swanning About.
Scenario 29 (The Surrendar of Camp Nibeiwa) has its name changed to The Fall of Camp Nibeiwa.
ATS Tobruk Perimeter – Expansion 2:
Like the main set, the Battlefield walkaround is built into the folio. 12 AFV Cards are provided along with one sheet of expansion overlays and s small AFV counter sheet with German and British AFVs. 8 Scenarios are included:
Scenarios 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46 and 48 are included.
ATS Kasserine Pass – Expansion 3:
Like the main set, the Battlefield walkaround is built into the folio. 12 AFV Cards are provided along with ATS American Infantry and L Weapons and ATS US AFVs and H Weapons 2016. Two sheets of overlays are provided. 8 Scenarios are included:
Scenarios 73, 75, 77, 78, 79, 82, 83, 84
ATS Armor for Tunis – Expansion 4:
Like the main set, the Battlefield walkaround is built into the folio. 12 AFV Cards are provided along with ATS French Infantry and L Weapons 2015 and ATS French AFVs and H Weapons 2015. Two sheets of overlays are provided. 8 Scenarios are included:
Scenarios 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 94, 96
ATS El Alamein – Expansion 5:
No battlefield walkaround was printed on the inside folio nor one provided. 5 AFV Cards are provided along with a small British and German AFV Sheet. 8 Scenarios are included:
Scenarios 49, 51, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60
Scenario 49 (The Charge of the 9th Armoured Brigade) has been renamed Charge to Aqqaqir Ridge
Scenario 55 (Sniping at Panzers) has been renamed Position “Snipe”
Scenario 58 (Kidney Punch) has been renamed Kidney Ridge
Scenario 59 (Action Along the Rahman Track) has been renamed Along the Rahman Track
ATS El Tunisia II – Expansion 6:
No battlefield walkaround was printed on the inside folio nor one provided. 6 AFV Cards are provided along with a small British and German AFV Sheet. 8 Scenarios are included:
Scenarios 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 69,71, 72
Scenario 62 (Tea Time Interruption) has been renamed Tigers.
Scenario 72 (Bitter End) has been renamed Gotterdammerung in Afrika
ATS Desert Fox Rommel’s 1941 Offensive – Another Re-Boot – MAP SIZES NOT THE SAME
This was a large expansion. It comes with 9 Sheets of Overlays, 2 Combat Resolution Play Aids in desert camo, 4 sheets of AFV cards (24 AFV’s), A three ring punched Battlefield Walkaround. 6 Desert Geo Boards and 6 terrain board. The MAPS provided for this expansion ARE NOT compatible with the 2016 re-launch. 4 full sized counter sheets are provided with German, British, and Italian Troops. A small Dester dust cloud counter set is also included. The fighting scenarios in this expansion only deal with three months in 1941.
Scenario 43 (None Came Back) – the encounter is re-done as The Disintegration of 3rd Armoured Brigade and a completely different order of battle is presented. There appears to be no correlation with the scenarios in this re-launch and the original scenarios.
ATS The Fox Strikes Back – Ruweisat Ridge Extended Map Edition
It comes with 10 AFV CARDS, A Small counter sheet of British and German Tanks, A battlefield walkaround in three hole punches, classic ATS small style markers. Like Desert Fox. The Maps are NOT compatible with the 2016 reboot.
ATS Beda Fomm
It comes with 12 AFV Cards, a small counter sheet of Italian and British AFV’s. It contains 2 11×16 geo boards and 9 folding boards that make up Beda Fomm. The Hex Sizes are Larger than ATS The Fox Strikes Back for the Beda Fomm module but not as large as the 2016 Main Set. The Geo Board are of the standard geo board size. The Battlefield walkaround is printed on the inside of the folio.
Scenario 14 (A test of Nerves) and Scenario 33 (Ciao Time!) from the original scenarios are re-done as BF1 and BF2. The scenario makeup is significantly different.
In summary the North African Campaigns were re-done with ATS 2016 the Battle of Gazala and 6 expansions which took limited selections of scenarios from the original printing of North Africa. The Desert Fox Romell’s 1941 is another re-launch of North Africa with new scenarios and comes with full sized counter sheets. ATS the Fox Strikes Back and Beda Fomm do not contain base counters to play and require ownership of ATS 2016 Battle of Gazala or Desert Fox Rommel’s Offensive.
As I have yet to Acquire the UBER expansions I cannot compare the hex sizes with the large sized hexes printing in the ATS 2016 Battle of Gazala Re-Boot nor can I validate if the scenarios provided differ.
— Stephen Field
The table below lists the original 109 scenarios published in the original North Africa Game and Expansions. The Redone column lists what 2016 expansion those scenarios are republished in.
| Scenario Number | Scenario Name | Scenario Date | |
| Redone | |||
| 1 | Clash of Armor | 5/27/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 2 | The Group Crüwell Feint | 5/26/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 3 | Action at Point 171 | 5/27/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 4 | The Panzer Thrust is Slowed | 5/27/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 5 | The Destruction of the 150th Brigade | 6/1/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 6 | Aberdeen | 6/5/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 7 | Crisis at Knightsbridge | 6/12/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 8 | The Fall of Point 186 | 6/9/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 9 | Tobruk Falls | 6/20/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 10 | Across the Wire | 6/16/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 11 | Along the Via Balbia | 6/30/1942 | |
| 12 | Honey Fry | 11/19/1941 | |
| 13 | Pride Before Fall | 12/10/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 14 | A Test of Nerves | 1/3/1941 | |
| 15 | Metal at Mechili | 1/24/1941 | |
| 16 | Mersa El Brega | 3/31/1941 | |
| 17 | My God, Did You See Who They Were… | 2/16/1941 | |
| 18 | On Deadly Ground | 4/6/1943 | |
| 19 | Before the Ghibli Comes | 6/2/1942 | |
| 20 | Indian Sacrifice | 7/1/1942 | |
| 21 | Desert Citadel | 5/27/1942 | Main 2016 |
| 22 | Bedja Blockade | 11/21/1943 | |
| 23 | The Bardia Waterworks | 1/4/1941 | |
| 24 | Thompson’s Post | 10/29/1942 | |
| 25 | Frontier Surprise | 6/12/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 26 | Let Us Prey | 6/12/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 27 | Combe Force | 6/16/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 28 | Electric Whiskers | 9/13/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 29 | The Surrender of Camp Nibeiwa | 12/9/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 30 | March to Fire | 12/9/1940 | Expansion 1 |
| 31 | Sidi Barrani | 12/10/1940 | |
| 32 | Next Stop Sidi Omar | 12/17/1940 | |
| 33 | Ciao Time! | 1/3/1941 | |
| 34 | Tobruk Perimeter | 1/21/1941 | |
| 35 | Sabratha Stand | 1/26/1941 | |
| 36 | Fox Killed in the Open | 2/6/1941 | |
| 37 | Action at Kilometer Post 3 | 3/31/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 38 | Stopped Cold | 3/31/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 39 | Codeword: Laxative | 4/1/1941 | |
| 40 | Agedabia Sunset | 4/2/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 41 | Benghazi Bottleneck | 4/4/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 42 | Kircheim’s Command | 4/6/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 43 | None Came Back | 4/7/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 44 | The Fall of Mechili | 4/8/1941 | |
| 45 | Barring the Door | 4/10/1941 | |
| 46 | Goschen’s House | 4/14/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 47 | Fighting Withdrawal | 4/14/1941 | |
| 48 | Last Act at Post R33 | 4/14/1941 | Expansion 2 |
| 49 | The Charge of the 9th Armoured Brigade | 11/2/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 50 | Todt | 8/30/1942 | |
| 51 | Head On at Alam Halfa | 8/31/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 52 | Intentional Sacrifice | 11/2/1942 | |
| 53 | `The Saucer’ | 10/31/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 54 | January Breached | 10/24/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 55 | Sniping at Panzers | 10/27/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 56 | Fraser’s Black Line Dash | 10/23/1942 | |
| 57 | Gunlayer Halm | 7/23/1942 | |
| 58 | Kidney Punch | 10/25/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 59 | Action Along the Rahman Track | 11/2/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 60 | The Mark of the Lion | 6/27/1942 | `Expansion 5 |
| 61 | ULTRA Realization | 11/28/1942 | |
| 62 | Tea Time Interruption | 1/31/1943 | Expansion 6 |
| 63 | Gore Force | 2/20/1943 | Expansion 6 |
| 64 | Operation Vulcan | 4/22/1943 | Expansion 6 |
| 65 | Good Friday on Christmas | 4/23/1943 | Expansion 6 |
| 66 | Reconnaissance Failure | 12/23/1942 | Expansion 6 |
| 67 | Second Time Around | 12/24/1942 | |
| 68 | Another Balaclava | 4/9/1943 | |
| 69 | Blunted Blade | 11/25/1942 | Expansion 6 |
| 70 | Panzers in Vain | 5/7/1943 | |
| 71 | Jebel Achkel | 5/8/1943 | Expansion 6 |
| 72 | Bitter End | 5/11/1943 | Expansion 6 |
| 73 | Heavy Metal | 1/21/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 74 | Disaster at Sidi Bou Zid | 2/15/1943 | |
| 75 | Deaf Forever to the Battle’s Din | 12/6/1942 | Expansion 3 |
| 76 | Maknassy Raid | 12/16/1942 | |
| 77 | Saving French Bacon | 1/22/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 78 | Fruehlingswind | 2/16/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 79 | Regulars, By God! | 1/24/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 80 | Tin Can Alley | 3/22/1943 | |
| 81 | El Guettar Stakes | 3/23/1943 | |
| 82 | Benson Force | 3/30/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 83 | Jefna Outflanked | 5/2/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 84 | Bitter Enders | 5/11/1943 | Expansion 3 |
| 85 | First to Fight | 11/8/1942 | |
| 86 | Surprise at Cap de Fedala | 11/8/1942 | Expansion 4 |
| 87 | Immediate Thrust | 11/10/1942 | Expansion 4 |
| 88 | Rolling Thunder | 11/9/1942 | Expansion 4 |
| 89 | Squeeze Play | 1/23/1943 | |
| 90 | Short of the Goal Line | 11/8/1942 | Expansion 4 |
| 91 | Faid Fadeaway | 1/30/1943 | Expansion 4 |
| 92 | Mountain Men | 1/31/1943 | Expansion 4 |
| 93 | An Artilleryman’s Dream | 2/21/1943 | |
| 94 | A Good Shoot | 2/19/1943 | Expansion 4 |
| 95 | “Armor for Tunis!” | 11/25/1942 | |
| 96 | Toasted in Tunis | 12/25/1942 | Expansion 4 |
| 97 | Setback at El Adem | 5/27/1942 | |
| 98 | The Pastor’s Punch | 6/16/1941 | |
| 99 | Jock Column | 11/22/1941 | |
| 100 | The “Benghazi Handicap” | 4/5/1941 | |
| 101 | Teufelgarten | 10/24/1942 | |
| 102 | Day of High Danger | 10/31/1942 | |
| 103 | Hunters of Africa | 7/14/1942 | |
| 104 | Ed Duda Nights | 11/26/1941 | |
| 105 | The Gauntlet | 7/11/1943 | |
| 106 | First Clash | 11/17/1942 | |
| 107 | On to Pilastrino | 1/21/1941 | |
| 108 | Operation Beresford | 9/3/1942 | |
| 109 | An Auspicious Start | 11/19/1941 | |
| A1 | Lightfooted | 10/24/1942 | |
| CHMB-1 | Bad Kitty! | 11/28/1942 | |
| F & M 1 (#145) | Day of High Danger | 10/31/1942 | |
| F & M 2 (#145) | Longstop Redux | 12/24/1942 |
ATSFE 