My dream has come true! Insta-Buy!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudworth.northafricancampaign
(https://lh3.ggpht.com/uYhONPBmEKJH4IvCcePwK50xF05EPS-iw3t1hZ3qAaC9GJQr_b5CZR1uaBy6YskXqg)
(https://lh5.ggpht.com/G9dlOPSLqreb3xCbhvQZzteN7q1TD-Exn0n90u5YrSZs9Ph88Ohq4ykCGHWBLPvmqr6U)
I've had a chance to play this now, and I must say I really enjoy what Joni has done with the supply mechanism.
You play as the Afrika Korps, and as such you have two cities that can generate/replenish supply El Agheila and Tobruk (although this is currently in British hands). Then you have moveable supply dumps, holding about 70 units of fuel, that you can push forward to supply your front line. But then, you have to push the fuel forward to the troops using desert Opel trucks. Each truck can hold 10 units of fuel supply. Since your panzer unit uses a unit of fuel every movement/action, you can see things have to be supplied with this logistic network to maintain any fighting force at the front. These trucks are quite vulnerable near any enemy action, and can become hit, with loss of fuel and movement points, strands them for several turns!
You get infantry divisions (German and Italian) that you can apply the 'Motorisation' resource (special) to and they quickly become mobile across the desert, BUT, it then means they start consuming fuel!! So you can get quite a speedy offensive force together, however, you're going to have to manage the fuel consumption tightly. I've been in many situations where I've reacted normally to encirclements and breakthroughs, but I've found my armour gets stranded without fuel (and subsequently the capacity to fight!), suddenly my fuel depots are empty, and I need to fast track them back to El Agheila to top them back up, fuel trucks out in the field running low. It really does make the logistical support layer play heavy in the strategy of this game.
I also like the way that the air support is handled. There are numerous makeshift air fields dotted around the map, that you can use a fully able Luftwaffe division to transfer it to. So you can effectively hop air units onto these "stepping stones", and provide an area of coverage around your frontline. Affording you bombing runs or even unit supply (including fuel drops!). But unlike other Nuutinen games, you can't move aircraft forward hex by hex to find tune your coverage, you have to work with the airfield setup. And you can only transfer them to airfields in your zones of control.
There is also a mechanism to use strategic points to move across certain hex boundaries, I haven't quite got the hang of this, mainly because these hex boundaries show up as green lines, and seem to shift about. So they're very circumstantial in their use, and you don't get a lot of these strategic points. But it does seem to be another slight mechanism to aid you in troop movement without the use of fuel.
Really enjoying it. Desperate for fuel, all the time. :)
Joni has just released a 20 turn demo of Rommel & Afrika Korps game for the Android. Well worth a try out, its one of his better customisations of his engine.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudworth.northafricancampaigndemo&hl=en_GB