Desert Duel: A Most Bitter Blow / Fighting Hard

Desert Duel - 2 games set in WWII North Africa.

A Most Bitter Blow - Operation Battleaxe, June 1941 -The famous Tiger Convoy of May 1941 brought over two hundred tanks and fifty Hurricane fighters to Wavell’s command in North Africa – and an increased expectation from Churchill of an imminent offensive. General Wavell had reservations about the operation but reluctantly gave the green light. After early successes, three days of heavy fighting saw the Allies retreat to their starting points, having lost about 100 tanks. Upon hearing the outcome of the battle, Churchill concluded it was “a most bitter blow”.

Fighting Hard - Battle of Matruh, June 1942 -Following defeat at Gazala, Eighth Army retreated into Egypt in June 1942 with little idea how and where it might stop Rommel. Border defences were quickly rejected as being too weak and so General Ritchie, the Eighth Army commander, sent orders to man the incomplete defences at Matruh. From the outset, the plans to hold it were confused and then Auchinleck dismissed Ritchie taking command himself. Three days of chaotic fighting occurred in which the Allies grabbed defeat from a possible victory.

-Rules and mechanics Rules are developed from the Stargard Solstice game, released in 2021, making it the 10th game in the WWII Battle Series, all with chit-pull mechanics. Game length for A Most Bitter Blow is 6 turns, each turn represents 12 hours. Game length for Fighting Hard is 9 turns, each turn representing 8 hours. Counters represent companies, columns, battalions or regiments.

—description from the publisher

The map scale for A Most Bitter Blow is approximately 1.4 miles per hex, or 2.3 kilometres. The map scale for Fighting Hard is approximately 2 miles per hex, or 3.2 kilometres. [Source: Paul Shackleton, 29 May 2025]