Rommel in 3mm

We played our first proper game of Rommel on Saturday, using a North Africa scenario straight out of the rules. The game is fantastic---there are lots of important decisions for players to make and it rewards careful planning.  We played with my new 3mm WWII stuff, by Oddzial Osmy. The little guys are cheap, a pleasure to paint, and really create that aerial photograph look I was hoping for. More pics after the bump.

The game mat was a $5 fleece blanket from Wal Mart, with a perfect modeled brown pattern. Markers, which indicate either damage or "tipped" (a game status), are by Litko, but I want to make more visually attractive markers. I made my own labels rather than using the ones provided in the game.

In our game, the Germans and Italians surged forward and managed to split the two British brigades apart.  However, the isolated force was too big for the Germans to actually destroy so we spent the rest of the game whittling them down. British losses were about twice those of the Germans and Italians, but the Axis was thoroughly shot up at the end and not in much state to seize the necessary objectives to win the game.

Rommel's command and control system, with "ops" being spent to do stuff, is elegant and simple. Playing on a grid takes away all the ambiguity of unit deployment and makes the players focus on important positions and avenues of approach.  Highly recommended!