Yes, back in ye olden days, had it set up on the basement ping-pong table, with a rulebook "assigned" to each of my friends so they could learn their respective portion of the rules.

Not sure how far we got (more than 10 hours...maybe 30?), and we had barely scratched it...most of the time was spent foolishly trying to adhere to the rules, so everything crawled. The consensus was that everything anyone could think of was included in the game regardless of value to the play of the game (who knows what impact each rule would have had on the game itself...for all I know, there's a game-breaking fault in the game 80 hours into it when Italians run out of water to boil their pasta).

We never got to the kitchen sink rules we were looking forward to like attempted assasinations and oasis sabotage.

Not that you asked, but if you would like a more workable (and fun) game from the same company and the same designer on the same subject released about the same time, try SPI's Desert Fox (from their S&T magazine).

I'm looking forward to playing DAK(II), the game Dean Essig designed due in part to his disappointment with CNA.

Why would you want to play that stinker. From what I know the "playtesters" didn't even play it that long. If you want a good monster play Longest Day.

From Designer's Notes, page 38 of "The Campaign for North Africa Air & Logistics Games Rules of Play and Scenarios":



Although Rich Berg is one of my fave game designers, if that quote had been printed on the box it would have saved me some precious dough.

"Has anyone played 10 or more hours of this game? (not just laid out the maps, but actually played. Just curious."

I know several people who have played it to conclusion . . . you could find one or two of these rarae aves at Monstercon.

"From what I know the "playtesters" didn't even play it that long. "

Which shows that you don't know much of anything. CNA was playtested for a period of 18 months, steadily, every Friday night. It helps your position when you don't use ignorance as your base platform.

"... if that quote had been printed on the box it would have saved me some precious dough."

Right now, a copy of CNA is worth at least 10x its sales price . . . and it includes mechanics and systems that are now considered S.O.P. for many games, as well as being rather innovative (for their time). The movement and combat systems are mechanics i go back to, and re-use (in various forms) many many times.

The purpose of CNA was - and was one that I was told to follow - to be a simulation of why it is so difficult and energy/time consuming to "run" a campaign. That this wasn't what many gamers wanted was easily understood. (That and the advanced air game has major flaws, but who played the advanced air game???)

RHB

We should have a section on this site called "Mythbusters". It would be neat to have a forum where urban legends could be discussed and have the various principals in the actual events tell the real story.

For kicks and giggles the other day I pulled out some old S&T mags (circa issue 38-42) and was reading some of the old outgoing mail columns. As a teen I used to love those columns as I felt I was getting an insider's view to the mysterious, wonderful world of game design happening in the heart of NYC. Miss those days....!

I haven't played through to the end, but I have played several times both f-t-f and solitaire, using all of the rules. Why all of them? Well because that's what I normally do unless the optional ones are contradictory or truly fantastical.

Start by reading the rules, at least all of the ones that you intend to use. Then I'd set up the pieces for the Italian campaign scenario (the start of the full campaign game), work up the TOE sheets for a few of the units and then try to play through a turn moving units and taking notes to see what the logistical costs would be. The relatively few units involved allow you to see how units work in this game, what the logistical costs of combat would be, etc. You're going to make mistakes, but that is okay. You'll also see how things like friction affect a unit, and how quickly your tanks or trucks breakdown, and so on.

If you are going to play the full game, it is critical that you have a logistics commander on each side. The game is driven by supply using the full logistics rules, something that is normally abstracted or swept under the rug in other games. The careful set up of truck groups and supply dumps will matter as much to your combat efforts than the quality of your tanks and guns. In addition, remember that when you set up the individual units, all of their attached trucks are considered to be full of whatever supply points that you choose.

Oh, and one of the guys who I played this with when it came out has gone on to a career in logistics in the Army. We still keep in touch every few years and I will have to ask him what his perspective now on how CNA handles that area of warfighting.

Strangely I have this desire to play this game now. I'd love to see how it works. Thanks for the insight Tim.