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Mersa Matruh splash

the time is: 26 June 1942

Axis forces led by General Erwin Rommel have just defeated Allied forces defending a line from Gazala in the north to Bir Hacheim in the south, capturing Tobruk on 21 June 1942. The Allied forces have been pushed back into Egypt, with the stage now set as Rommel's Afrika Korps prepares to continue the push eastward.

It was the intention of Lieutenant General Ritchie, the Commander of the British 8th Army, to halt the Axis advance and newly-promoted Field Marshall Rommel and make a last stand at Mersa Matruh. His forces were thus deployed around Mersa Matruh as General Auchinleck, the Commander in Chief, Middle East, stepped in to relieve him on 25 June 1942 to take over command of 8th Army.

Auchinleck would immediately direct the 8th Army to pull back some 160 kilometers east to defensive positions at El Alamein, a far more defensible position, with a narrower front and its flanks secured to the north by the sea and to the south by the Qattara Depression. But first, those Allied forces deployed in and around Mersa Matruh would now have to safely extract themselves from the area, in the face of the renewed eastward advance by the Afrika Korps.

Mersa Matruh is an operational level simulation of the four-day battle between Axis and Allied forces around Mersa Matruh in Egypt, conducted during the period of 26-29 June 1942. Suitable for two players, this fast-playing game features unit differentiation for HQ, Recon, Artillery, and Corps units and rules covering troop quality, prepared assault, extra effort and desperation attacks, air and artillery support, unit supply status and much more. Mersa Matruh, originally desktop published in 2005, will be newly produced and feature additional (and larger) double-sided counters, enlarged map, refined game mechanics and professional, quality components throughout in this all new ConsimPress edition.