Baptism By Fire: The Battle of Kasserine

February 1943, somewhere in the Tunisian desert. For the first time, American soldiers come face to face with what is left of Rommel's famous Afrika Korps. What followed went down in history as a painful defeat for the Allies, but the story is more nuanced than you might think. In Baptism By Fire: The Battle of Kasserine you step into the shoes of the commanders and discover how confusion, doubt and poor choices on both sides shaped the fighting. This is the second game in the Battalion Combat Series from Multi-Man Publishing, and it has been deliberately made a little more approachable than the earlier giants. The open desert, the limited number of formations and the shorter scenarios mean you are into the game quickly. One of the nicest ideas: halfway through the game, the German player still does not know exactly what his objective will be. That is only decided at that point, which keeps both players on their toes. You cannot simply commit everything, because you do not yet know which way to go. With six scenarios and a campaign of just ten turns, you can play this game again and again. Prefer to play alone? That works too. The battle plays out differently every time, and every attempt teaches you something new about this little understood clash. For anyone who loves history and depth, this is an adventure that keeps on fascinating.