When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? Operation Compass & Operation Sonnenblume is the feature insert wargame in Banzai Magazine Nr. 20. Published in Japan by Bonsai Games, When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? is the second game by designer Nanka Waguri. Unlike many Banzai Magazine wargames that are translated reprints of previously published games, When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? is an original design…and a very interesting one at that!
From Japan to North Africa
When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? covers the North Africa campaign in World War II. The game covers the period from November 1940 (Operation Compass) to May 1941 (Operation Sonnenblume). Units are division-battalion with each turn covering two weeks. Ground scale is 10 km per hex.
At first glance, When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? looks like a fairly standard hex & counter wargame. The components are like one expects in a magazine wargame; a single paper-mounted map, a 12-page rule book, two player aids, and less than 100 counters.
Supplying Japanese style
The rules for supply in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? are actually very innovative. The core supply rules appear in 8.2 Supply Segment. Each player has a limited cache of Supply markers (10 for the Allies, 10 for the Axis through Turn 6 and 13 markers for Turns 7-12). Supply markers have two major uses in the game; forming a supply line to forward troops and for bonuses found on the Tactical Management Sheet for each player.
Supply to advance
In the Strategic Phase of odd-numbered game turns, Supply markers can be placed on the map for When Did Rommel Got His Goggles? at five-hex intervals to form a supply line to support forward troops. It takes the Allies four (4) supply markers to support troops just beyond Tobruk; for the Axis player to do the same it takes seven (7) markers (which technically reaches to Bardia assuming Tobruk is friendly). If any units belonging to a player are beyond the last supply marker those units are Out of Supply (see 8.2.2). Units that are Out of Supply cannot move or attack (but they can defend and retreat normally) nor do they benefit from any supply bonuses (see below).
Of note, players in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? can place supply markers ahead of their forces. The markers don’t physically represent supplies but rather the plans and support for bringing supply forward. Planning an offensive? Place the supply marker ahead of your forces! The problem, of course, it that the further you go the more of your limited supply markers are needed to sustain troops forward. To get all the way across the map is going to take nine (9) of your 10-13 supply markers leaving little room for seeking other benefits from supply.
Supply benefits
Rule 8.3 Management Segment in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? lays out the rules for other uses of supply markers beyond supplying your troops. Players can place unused supply markers on bonus boxes found on the Tactical Management Sheet. One supply marker is used to activate each particular bonus in that turn.
There are two types of supply bonuses in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles?; Passive (12.1) and Active (12.2). Passive bonuses remain in effect until the next Strategic Phase (start of odd-numbered turns):
- 12.1.1 Engineer – All units exert a Zone of Control into the six hexes surrounding each unit.
- 12.2.2 Anti-Tank Gun – For use when attacking unarmored units or defending against armored units.
- 12.2.3 Trucks – Reduced movement costs on the coastal road.
- 12.2.4 Adaption/Veteran – These two bonuses can each be selected for a bonus to the failure check roll.
- 12.2.5 Tank Advance – Allows armored advance after combat.
Active bonuses are one-use bonuses that cannot be “replenished” until the next Strategic Phase (every other turn):
- 12.2.1 Armored Operation – Bonus combat opportunity for armored units after movement or a combat.
- 12.2.2 Full Speed Ahead – Extra movement opportunity for armored units.
- 12.2.3 Concentrated Fire – Roll 2d6 in combat and choose best result.
- 12.2.4 Surprise Attack – Bonus to combat roll.
In addition to the above Active bonuses, each side has a selection of Special bonuses that can be used once per game:
- 12.3.1 Carabinieri (Axis) – Automatically successful morale checks for Italian troops.
- 12.3.2 Rommel (Axis) – Changes Momentum (13.0) to the German side.
- 12.3.3 Operation Sonnemblume (Axis) – Allows a combined Armored Operation and Full Speed Ahead action.
- 12.3.4 Unexpected Offense (Axis) – Automatic die roll of 6 in a single combat.
- 12.3.5 Operation Compass (Allies) – Automatic die roll of 6 in a single combat.
- 12.3.6 O’Conner (Allies) – Choose from Armored Operation, Full Speed Ahead, Concentrated Fire, or Surprise Attack.
The player with the Momentum (13.0) also gets a bonus supply marker for use.
The list of supply bonuses in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? is extensive and offers plenty of “decision space” for players. Then again, depending on how far advanced your forces are, you might not have many extra supply markers to use. Decisions, decisions…
Supplying decisions
In the book Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton1, author Martin L. Van Creveld relates comments by Rommel in late 1941 regarding supply in the North Africa campaign:
The first essential condition for an army to be able to stand the strain of battle is an adequate stock of weapons, petrol and ammunition. In fact, the battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters before the shooting begins. The bravest men can do nothing without guns, the guns nothing without plenty of ammunition; and neither guns nor ammunition are of much use in mobile warfare unless there are vehicles with sufficient petrol to haul them around.
Supplying War, 200
Van Creveld goes on to state:
Given that the Wehrmacht was only partially motorized and unsupported by a really strong motor industry; that the political situation necessitated the carrying of much useless Italian ballast; that the capacity of the Libyan ports was so small, the distances to be mastered so vast; it seems clear that, for all of Rommel’s tactical brilliance, the problem of supplying an Axis force for an advance into the Middle East was insoluble. Under these circumstances, Hitler’s original decision to send a force to defend a limited area in North Africa was correct. Rommel’s repeated defiance of his orders and attempts to advance beyond a reasonable distance from his bases, however, was mistaken and should never have been tolerated.
Supplying War, 201
When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? figuratively hands those goggles over to the players for them to make the crucial supply decisions. How can O’Conner use Allied supply to hold back the Italian-German attack led by the Desert Fox, Rommel? Does the Axis player, playing Rommel, hew to Hitler’s orders and advance only a reasonable distance or do you defy the orders and stretch your supply lines far enough to support your advancing troops while also (hopefully) using it for advantages in combat when best?
In When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? the challenge is to be a great quartermaster before you can even try to be a good general. Consider this – the main battle in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? is very likely to be centered on the 3 victory point city of Tobruk. Assuming Tobruk is friendly, the Allied player will expend four (4) of 10 supply markers (40%) simply to supply forces fighting in or around Tobruk. The Axis player, on the other hand, will need seven (7) of their 10 supply markers (13 starting on Turn 7 when the Afrika Korps shows up) to supply their forces fighting near Tobruk. Is that enough? What bonuses do you choose? When do you use those Special bonuses? How important is it to keep the Momentum for another supply marker?
Goggles on…now
The innovative supply rules in When Did Rommel Get His Goggles? makes the game very interesting. The ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia highlights today the crucial issue of supplying troops on the battlefield. Many of the lessons of today’s battle can be found in history by studying campaigns like that in North Africa from the early 1940s. What better way to study that history than to engage in a wargame on the subject?
- Van Creveld, Martin L. (1980). Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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