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88: A Tactical Game of Armored Combat on the North African Front, 1940-1942

#4289BGG ↗

1980 · 2-10 players · 60min · weight 3.42 · 145 ratings

v2 v3 v4 wide v4 deep

BGG raw

ID
4289
Name
88: A Tactical Game of Armored Combat on the North African Front, 1940-1942
Year
1980
Rank
9850
Min players
2
Max players
10
Playing time
60
Min playtime
60
Max playtime
60
Avg weight
3.4167
Num weights
12
Bayes avg
5.59105
Average
7.29724
Users rated
145
Num owned
344
Wanting
26
Wishing
52
Num comments
66
Fetched at
Wed Apr 29 2026 05:34:56 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Mechanisms (8)
Dice RollingEventsGrid MovementHexagon GridLine of SightScenario / Mission / Campaign GameSimulationSimultaneous Action Selection
Categories (2)
WargameWorld War II
Description (1328 chars)

(from the game box:) 88 is an intense tactical-level game of ground combat in Africa's Western Desert in World War II, the famous struggle between the British "Desert Rats" and the German and Italian Afrika Korps. 88 duplicates the strengths and weaknesses of the German, British and Italian units involved with 50 data cards that display all the information needed to move and fight. The game system, shared with our earlier popular Panzer game (which covers battles on the Eastern Front), easily incorporates myriad details such as armor thicknesses at various points, shots from various angles, heights, and altitudes, and the effects of terrain. The rules cover the important aspects of small unit tactics - armor piercing shots, small arms fire, high explosives, artillery barrages, air support, communications, turret rotation, gun depression, mines, roadblocks, barbed wire, smoke, and much more. The flexible scenarios cover a variety of combat situations that are resolved on the six-piece geomorphic mapboard, which also features movable terrain pieces. The types of units include infantry, anti-tanks guns (including the deadly 88mm), Matildas, Crusaders, Bren Carriers, Long Range Desert Group Trucks, Honeys, Grants, Shermans, M13/40s SEM 41s, a large variety of Pz IIIs and IVs, halftracks, and much, much more.

LLM v2 (wide)

Not yet enriched at v2 (wide pass).

LLM v3 (deep)

Not yet enriched at v3 (deep pass).

LLM v4 wide (controlled-vocab primitives)

Not yet enriched at v4 (wide pass).

LLM v4 deep (archetype fit)

Not in the v4 deep-pass top-20% slice.