by Bob Barnetson

In April 2008, Osprey Publishing released World War II Desert Tactics. Written by Paddy Griffith and illustrated by Adam Hook, this addition to Osprey’s Elite series outlines the tactical doctrine of British, German and Italian forces fighting in North Africa. This book is priced at $18.95 USD or $22.00 CDN.

Osprey’s recent titles have included a fair number dealing with tactics (including Griffith’s own 2007 book French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics, 1792-1815). These titles ought to be of interest of gamers seeking insight into historical approaches to tabletop problems and game designers seeking to replicate combat.

Initial Impressions
Desert Tactics runs 64 pages, is perfect bound and contains 8 full-colour pages in the middle of the book. By the design standards of more recent Osprey Series (e.g., the Duel series or even their 96-page Campaign books), Desert Tactics looks a bit dated and is short on colour and three-dimensional maps. The printing is crisp and correctly registered throughout.

This book offers gamers an overview of Allied and Axis tactical doctrine, including its evolution over the course of campaigning in this theatre. It also provides some examples of specific battles. I was very hopeful that it would provide more insight than Osprey’s recent works on WW2 infantry tactics, such as World War II Reconnaissance Tactics, which have been decidedly thin on discussion of actual tactics.

Overview
The book is divided into six main sections:

• A Harsh and Vast Arena: Griffith opens his book by detailing the development of British tactics as they related to tank warfare in the desert. This includes detailing operational and logistical difficulties the desert provided.
• Chronology: In three pages, Griffith provides an overview of the key developments in the desert between 1938 and 1943.
• The British: This section explains the initial British tactical concepts and their affect on the development of “infantry” and “cruiser” tanks and their deployment during the opening stages of the conflict. The author lays out a nice summary of how preconceptions and early experiences drove the British to erroneous conclusions about the role of the tank in battle.
• The Italians: Griffith then turns to the Italian troops and their variable combat effectiveness. Particularly interesting are discussions of how improving tactics were undermined by German raiding of fuel and transport supplies and by Mussolini’s decision to send significant troops to Russia.
• The Germans: Much of what is normally written about the Afrika Korps centres on the dashing personality of Erwin Rommel. Griffith nicely explores the eight principles that underlie Germans success as well as paying attention to the importance of anti-tank guns (ATGs) in both offensive and defensive operations.
• The Balance of Hardware: This section contrasts the armour and ATG assets of each side, noting how technical differences (e.g., lack of British high explosive shells for tanks) both reflected and reinforced different beliefs about tank warfare. Again, different conceptions of how to utilize ATGs are also highlighted.
• From Brevity and Battleaxe to Crusader: By late 1941, the British began to experience setbacks in their desert campaign as both their offensive and defensive tactics became less effective in the presence of the Afrika Korps.
• From Gazala to Alamein – and Back Again: Although losses remained high, newer tank models (the US M3 Grant/Lee) provided some assistance for the British. Yet they remained unable to stop German attacks and lost Tobruk, despite moving towards German-style, all-arms battlegroups.
• Tunisia: The last major section of the book details the end-game in Africa, following US landings in western Africa in Operation Torch. This part of the campaign saw several innovations, including the introduction of the Tiger tank and US tank-destroyer units.

There is also commentary on the colour plates and a list of further reading.

Tactical Doctrine
Griffith’s discussion of tactical doctrine and its origins is, frankly, quite interesting. Beginning with the notion that tanks could operate independently (which Griffith asserts was based upon concerns about tank development getting squeezed out during interwar budget reductions), Griffith examines how German success in France and early British successes against Italians were mis-read as supporting this approach. This faulty premise led to the under utilization of other arms and the development of divergent “infantry” and “cruiser” streams of tanks. This would be a costly mistake against German panzer divisions in 1941).

By contrast, German doctrine emphasized all-arms combat groups that stayed close together and moved at the rate of the slowest vehicle. Sophisticated radio networks coordinated these groups and artillery bombardment (followed by careful recce to determine if the bombardment was successful) preceded attacks. The Germans also used ATGs offensively and tended to have commanders at the front to increase the speed of decision-making.

These basic differences ought to be of interest to gamers and game designers. The tendency of British units to operate independently (versus the German interdependence) and the poor coordination between units should be apparent on the tabletop, particularly during early desert battles. Yet this is often not the case, as players use their helicopter-God perspective to coordinate efforts. Rules such as Arty Conliffe’s Spearhead (whatever its other weaknesses), with its written attack plans and rolls for change, create proper restrictions on commanders given the doctrine of the day.

Examples of Tactical Doctrine
That said, the examples of tactical doctrine in the text that are suitable for game scenario development were few. While Griffith traces the development of British (and to a lesser extent German) tactics throughout the remainder of the campaign, his examples tend to be at a high level.

It was not until I got to the end of the book, where the colour-plate commentaries are located, that I happened across some very useful material. When combined with the colour plates, there is enough information here to develop five scenarios:

• Fort Nibeiwa (9 December 1940): A British assault on an Italian fort through a gap in the minefields by infantry and Matilda IIs.
• Sidi Rezegh (21 November 1941): The British defensive plans in the face of an Italian attack are discussed in enough detail to allow for a set-piece attack.
• Sidi Rezegh (23 November 1941): A British retreat (comprising mostly soft-skinned vehicles) as the Germans outflanked them is presented. This would be an interesting “get off the board” scenario but would require some amendments addressing morale in the face of fleeing friendlies and the effect of dust.
• Second El Alamein (November 1942): A very clear diagram of German infantry defensive works would allow for interesting company-level or skirmish games as Commonwealth infantry battles machine guns, mortars, wire and mines to evict the Germans.
• El Guettar (23 March 1943): US tank destroyer forces hold off a counter-attack by German forces in Tunisia. This game includes both German armour and infantry and three types of US tank destroyers in both defensive and offensive roles.

There are also very useful diagrammatic examples of a Panzer Division attacking that ought to inform German players that charging with tanks is not the way to win a battle!

Graphic Appeal
Visually, World War II Desert Tactics is a typical entry to the Osprey Elite series. It is mostly black and white, with colour restricted to the centre 8 pages. Commentary on these colour plates is contained at the back of the book, which is less desirable than having it beside the colour plates, but likely reflects a trade off related to printing costs.

In addition to the unfortunate separation of the commentary from the colour plates, the colour plates also include quasi-related insets (e.g., pictures of specific tanks). These are numbered (as are key points in the battle) but the two number schemes are un-related. This is very confusing until one turns to the back of the book and figures out which numbers correspond to which textual descriptions.

The overall presentation of these graphics might have been improved by including the three-dimensional maps that have become a standard feature of books in the Osprey Campaign series. While these maps have the annoying tendency to put key information in the middle of the two-page spread, which is then buried in binding of the book, they are more engaging than the one-page illustrations typical of the elite series and better convey the deployment, development and topography of a battlefield all at once.

Comment
This is one of the stronger offerings Osprey has put out addressing tactics in the Second World War. There is both a discussion of tactical doctrine (and why it came to be) and examples of the doctrine being utilized in historical battles. This remedies deficiencies found in other titles.

Particularly useful to gamers are the colour plates, which serves both to illustrate the doctrine and as good starting places to develop scenarios. It would have been useful to have the plate commentary accompany among the colour plates (and indeed the plates dispersed throughout the book, based on when they occurred).

Having read the book, I’m struck by how many wargamers (even when playing the Germans) often don’t use appropriate tactics. This may reflect scenario design and/or historical ignorance. I think it may also reflect game mechanics and the limits game designers face when trying to address differences in tactical doctrine (largely via command mechanics).

This approach reflects that fiddling command mechanics is a simple way to abstractly address the different doctrines (e.g., German leaders at the front? Then give the Germans a better command roll.). But this approach then requires players to then act like their historical counterparts. Instead, I often see (usually) German players using their command advantage to make head-on attacks with their tanks, hopeful that additional activations (or whatever the command advantage in the particular rules allow) will mean they can destroy their opponents before their opponent can effectively react.

Conclusion
Overall, this was a rewarding book to read, despite the drawbacks that the format of the Elite series entails. Griffith provides a useful explanation of British and German tactics, why they developed and how they changed as a result of experience.

There is also enough meat in the examples provided that players could sketch out five interesting scenarios. Perhaps most importantly, the book forced me to consider how rule authors seek to address doctrinal differences via game mechanics and the challenges this entails.

Pros

• Solid explanation of tactical doctrine in the desert.
• Contains material useful in creating up five scenarios.

Cons

• Format of the Elite series retards the usefulness of the diagrams and examples.