Sierra Games

Afrika Korps

Last updated: October 19, 2026

Overview

Afrika Korps is a turn-based wargame that simulates the fighting in North Africa between 1941 and 1943, when the German Afrika Korps and its Italian allies fought the British Eighth Army across Libya and Egypt.123 It was published by Impressions for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1991.145 Impressions was the British company founded by David Lester, which Sierra On-Line acquired in 1995.67 Ken Wright is credited for programming and graphics.18

Amiga Power described the game as “the sequel to the inexplicably popular Blitzkrieg May 1940 - coded by the same author”.29 Like that game, it plays out on a scrolling map with counter-style units, and players can switch between strategic and tactical views.12 Reviewers praised its computer opponent and its order system but found its presentation dated. Scores ranged from 8% in Power Play to 68% in Amiga Action.1210

The title is shared with several unrelated games, including Avalon Hill’s 1964 board wargame and two 1979 games for the Sol-20 and North Star computers.111213

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The game uses a scrolling map of Libya and Egypt.1 According to MobyGames, the mouse scrolls the map and the keyboard carries out other functions. Each army has a code letter and colour so that players can select it to give orders or check its statistics.1 Strategy Plus praised the dual control scheme: the game is “basically menu-driven and selections may be made by pointing and clicking or hitting the appropriate key”.10 Amiga Format instead described a game that “relies totally on mouse control”.215 Units are marked with colour codes, small graphics of their main force, and national flags for the German, Italian and British sides.2

Structure and Progression

Players command either the Axis or the Allied forces against the computer, with three difficulty levels.110 Strategy Plus reported that each side came on a separate disk.10 A game ends when one army is defeated or a unit reaches the far side of the map. Rommel, for example, wins if an Axis unit reaches Alexandria.10

  • Divisions: Each army is divided into divisions of up to six units. If a division has no units left on the map, it ceases to exist.10
  • Reinforcements: Units arrive at the edge of the board. A strategic reserve builds from turn eight to turn 24 and can be allocated to divisions.10
  • Supply: A road along the coast carries supply. An enemy unit on it cuts off every unit between it and its own side of the map, and those units lose supply, then morale, then men.10
  • Map scales: An overall strategic view and a smaller “battle map”, where movement and tactics are worked out.12

Puzzles and Mechanics

Orders go to each division’s commander rather than to individual units. The player sets an offensive or defensive line and chooses whether the commander should attack, defend or use his discretion.10 Amiga Format called this system “unique”: “If your orders are seen as unacceptable by the units involved, they’ll vent their outrage in a text box and do whatever they think is best instead.”2 Strategy Plus reported that both sides use the same routine to fine-tune positions, setting up multiple attacks on single units while avoiding the same in return. Each turn also opens with an advisory note from GHQ.10 According to Amiga Power, the instruction booklet claimed that the game had “taken years of development and testing” to achieve “such a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence system”.29

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Reviews were mixed to poor, with most criticism aimed at the presentation.12

PublicationPlatformScore
Amiga Action (September 1991)Amiga68%1
Games-X #3 (10–16 May 1991)Amiga, Atari STGameplay 14/20, Lastability 12/20, Presentation 11/208
ASM (10/1991)Amiga6.8/12116
Amiga Format #24 (July 1991), James LeachAmiga64%115
Amiga Power #4 (August 1991), Rich PelleyAmiga40%29
Power Play (August 1991)Amiga8%1
Strategy Plus #9 (July 1991), Mike WoodhouseAtari STNo score110

Amiga Format’s James Leach found it “a playable, fast and easy-to-get-into war-game which will nevertheless test your skill”. He objected that “everything is pre-set on a huge, unchanging board”, which left the game “really too simple, inflexible and unvarying for the truly avid war-gamer”.215 The verdict printed on the magazine page is 64%, matching MobyGames; the 54% in the Amiga Reviews transcript does not match the printed page.1215

Rich Pelley of Amiga Power was harsher. He wrote that “there’s actually nothing to initially distinguish this from, oh, I don’t know, a Spectrum game” and that “little has been done to exploit the potential of the Amiga”. His bottom line was “It’s a war game, and it’s on the Amiga. A slightly dubious combination, really. Dull. Another one meg only game.”29

The most favourable review came from Strategy Plus. Mike Woodhouse wrote: “Afrika Korps isn’t wildly exciting — no flashing lights or sampled sound. It is, in fact, somewhat dry. It creeps up on you though, as the ability of the computer starts to come home to you (and it is a good opponent, even at the lowest of the three available levels).”10 He also criticised the manual, which he thought needed “a little more effort (and a few more pages)”.10

Modern Assessment

MobyGames gives a critic average of 49% across six scored reviews and a player average of 2.2 out of 5.1 No later retrospective reviews were found for this page, and a title search of the Lemon Amiga database returned no entry. The game is catalogued by MobyGames, LaunchBox and Atari UpToDate.145

Development

Origins

Afrika Korps followed Ken Wright’s Blitzkrieg May 1940, released by Impressions on the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990.917 An advertisement quoted on MobyGames promoted that earlier game by describing Wright as “a programmer with a unique style of his own” who “has developed quite a following among wargamers who find his artificial intelligence hard to match”.17 MobyGames groups Blitzkrieg May 1940 in “Impressions’ Plato line”.17

Production

MobyGames credits Ken Wright with both programming and graphics on the Atari ST version, and the Games-X fact file gives him the same two credits.18 The Amiga Power review lists the authors as “Ken Wright/Andrew Prime”.2 Games-X listed both formats at £24.99 and as available “Now” in its 10–16 May 1991 issue.8 Amiga Format quoted £24.99,15 while Amiga Power gave the price as £29.99.2 Amiga Power also noted that the Amiga version required one megabyte of memory.9

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
Original1991Amiga1 MB required29
Original1991Atari STReviewed by Strategy Plus in July 1991510

Legacy

Afrika Korps was one of several historical wargames Impressions released before turning to its larger strategy titles. Wikipedia’s catalogue of Impressions games lists it among the company’s 1991 releases, alongside Fort Apache and Charge of the Light Brigade.6 David Lester later said that Impressions “rapidly saw that our interest and strength lay in strategy games” and chose to “specialise in them”. He named Caesar and Lords of the Realm as the company’s biggest games.7

No reissue or current digital release was found during research for this page; MobyGames and LaunchBox record only the 1991 Amiga and Atari ST releases.14

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • Not currently available; no GOG listing was found when this page was written.

Download / Preservation

  • No preservation copy was verified for this page.

Manuals & Extras

See Also

References

Footnotes

  1. MobyGames – Afrika Korps (1991) – 1991 Amiga and Atari ST releases, Impressions publisher, description (North Africa 1941–43, Libya/Egypt map, strategic and tactical views, mouse and keyboard, code letters, three difficulty levels), Ken Wright credits, critic list (Amiga Action 68%, Amiga Format 64%, ASM 6.8/12, Power Play 8%, Strategy Plus), averages ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25

  2. Amiga Reviews – Afrika Korps – transcripts of the Amiga Format #24 review by James Leach (order system, mouse control, map scales, £24.99; its 54% score does not match the printed page, see ref-17) and the Amiga Power #4 review by Rich Pelley (40%, Blitzkrieg May 1940 sequel, AI claims, authors Ken Wright/Andrew Prime, £29.99, “one meg only”) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17

  3. Wikipedia – Afrika Korps – historical German expeditionary force in North Africa, March 1941 to May 1943, commanded by Erwin Rommel ↩

  4. LaunchBox Games Database – Afrika Korps – 1991 release, Atari ST, description ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Atari UpToDate – Impressions author listing – Afrika Korps (1991, Strategy - War) and Blitzkrieg May 1940 (1990) under Impressions ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Wikipedia – Impressions Games – founded by David Lester, sold to Sierra On-Line in 1995, catalogue listing Afrika Korps (1991) ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Companies Made Simple – Real Business Case Study: David Lester – Lester on the move to strategy games, Caesar and Lords of the Realm, 1995 sale to Sierra On-Line ↩ ↩2

  8. RetroCDN – Games-X #3 (10–16 May 1991), p.15 – Afrika Korps review by Brian; Fact File credits (Programmer: Ken Wright, Graphics: Ken Wright), sub-scores Gameplay 14/20, Lastability 12/20, Presentation 11/20, Amiga and Atari ST at £24.99 “Now” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  9. Everygamegoing – Amiga Power #4 review – Rich Pelley review, 1 August 1991, 40%, Blitzkrieg May 1940 sequel, “one meg only” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  10. Internet Archive – Strategy Plus #9 (July 1991) – “Just Deserts” review by Mike Woodhouse: separate disk per side, victory conditions, divisions and reserves, coast-road supply, orders to commanders, GHQ notes, mouse/keyboard menus, three levels, verdict ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15

  11. Wikipedia – Afrika Korps (game) – unrelated 1964 Avalon Hill board wargame of the same name ↩

  12. MobyGames – Afrika Korps (1979, Sol-20) – unrelated 1979 game of the same name ↩

  13. MobyGames – Afrika Korps (1979, North Star) – unrelated 1979 two-player wargame of the same name ↩

  14. MobyGames – Ken Wright – credit list including Afrika Korps (1991, programmer); the “Blitzkrieg” listed there is a 1987 ZX Spectrum game, not Blitzkrieg May 1940 ↩

  15. Internet Archive – Amiga Format #24 (July 1991), p.105 – page scan of James Leach’s Afrika Korps review: “IMPRESSIONS ■ £24.99 Mouse”, “relies totally on mouse control”, verdict box printed as 64% ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  16. Kultboy – ASM 10/91 Afrika Korps test – scan of ASM review of the Amiga version ↩

  17. MobyGames – Blitzkrieg May 1940 – 1990 Amiga and Atari ST, Impressions publisher, ad blurb on Ken Wright’s AI, Impressions’ Plato line group ↩ ↩2 ↩3

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