Afrika Korps vs. Desert Rats (Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps in English-speaking countries) is a 2004 Real-Time Strategy video game developed by Digital Reality and published by Monte Cristo.
It centers around the Desert War, the North African part of World War II, with a first campaign following the Deutsches Afrikakorps of Erwin Rommel and the Italian army in their victories against the Allies (mostly the British and Commonwealth forces, the 7th Armored Division of which was nicknamed "The Desert Rats") in 1941-1942 up until the siege of Tobruk. The second campaign follows the Allies' gradual retaking of North Africa starting with El Alamein in late 1942.
The game was followed by D-Day the same year, which is about the Normandy landings and uses the same engine. Two other games, this time not made by Digital Reality (Monte Cristo handled development this time) but using the exact same engine, followed in 2005: 1944: Batle of the Bulge (about the Battle of the Bulge and the Alsace campaign of late 1944-early 1945) and Москва (Moscow) to Berlin: Red Siege (about the Eastern front from 1941 to 1945).
This game provides examples of the following tropes:
- Anachronism Stew: In the game, Germans have access to a Tiger tank as early as their victorious siege of Tobruk, which ended in June 1942. In Real Life, the first Tiger I to see action in North Africa did so during the Tunisian campaign on December 1, 1942.
- Anti-Air: Come in two variants — artillery that has to be towed like the German 88 mm gun (which is also famously Anti-Armor both in-game and in Real Life) and British Bofors, and smaller caliber multi-barreled guns mounted on half-tracks.
- Baseless Mission: The entire game. There's no base to produce either soldiers, artillery or vehicles. Reinforcements can sometimes be gained within the missions, and new vehicles and men are available in the briefing phases. Hence the importance of capturing the enemy's vehicles.
- Cannon Fodder: Cruiser and Crusader tanks can be best described as this, having weak armor and weak firepower.
- Death from Above: Planes can be called upon to bombard enemy vehicles or positions. At least one Anti-Air vehicle or gun is required in case the enemy does the same.
- Enemy Mine: The game's very first mission (which is also a Forced Tutorial) has the German and British hero units briefly team up to have a chance of staying alive against some Desert Bandits who are out to kill them.
- Garrisonable Structures: Any building can be filled with soldiers for defensive purposes.
- No Campaign for the Wicked: Averted big time. The game's first campaign has the Axis (Germans and Italians) as protagonists, the second one is about the Allies. Both campaigns are equally fleshed out (although the Allies tend to have more men and vehicles). Perhaps the only (slight) trace of this trope is the fact that the British and American editions of the game have Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps as title instead, and put Bernard Law Montgomery at the forefront on the cover and Erwin Rommel in the background instead
◊, being former Allied nations and all. - No Swastikas: Any instance where a Nazi swastika should be (such as the flags that are deployed on captured British tanks), it's been replaced by a Balkenkreuz.
- Real-Time with Pause: The pause function is essential in this game, to give orders right in time at the first sight of the enemy especially.
- Sniping the Cockpit: A variant. There's a chance of capturing an enemy tank by killing its crew, by targeting the turret with either artillery or tank fire.
- Tank Goodness:
- The latest model of Panzer IV that's available in the game is pretty neat, especially with an experienced crew.
- Germans can end up with two Tigers towards the end of the first campaign. One is gained via normal progression, the other is a very nice reward for fulfilling some bonus objectives.
- Shermans and M10 Wolverines are no slouch either, even if they're far from having Tiger-level armor.
- Vehicular Turnabout: It's especially important to capture Allied vehicles and artillery when one plays the Germans.
- Versus Title: Afrika Korps vs. Desert Rats (and the reverse).
