Avalon Hill is scheduled to release the latest booster pack North Africa 1940-1943 for the Axis & Allies Miniatures game on March 28. All this week, leading up to the release day, Armchair General is giving grognards interested in this collectible miniatures combat game an inside preview! We sent our own Paul Glasser under the wire to scope out the new reinforcements to the game, and his reports detail valuable information regarding the new units and maps that are incoming. Read on for his full debriefing, and be sure to report back tomorrow for further details!

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Axis & Allies Miniatures: North Africa 1940-1943 – Day 1

The Axis and Allies Miniatures North Africa 1940-1943 set will offer a variety of new units when it hits the shelves at your local game store on March 28.

The set will include 60 new miniatures, and vehicles will be molded to fit the new three-inch scale map hexes. Each week, a new pair of miniatures will be previewed, along with the corresponding stat card.

Commanders who enjoy playing scenarios or restricted armies will be pleased to see the Regina Aeronautica will now be able to deploy the Macchi C.202 fighter. The Folgore was a fast and maneuverable plane, with a maximum speed of 372mph., a rate of climb at 3,500 ft/min and was capable of producing 1,075 hp. However, armed only with 2×7.7 and 2×12.7 machine guns, it lacked offensive firepower and was sometimes outgunned.

This unit is reasonably priced at only 14 points, and is comparable to most other fighters in the game. The only disappointing fact is that the stats are pretty plain; the Folgore doesn’t have any special abilities that make it unique.

Italian infantry will also receive additional reinforcements in the form of a Breda Modelo 37 machine-gun team. Like all machine guns, the Breda can make two attacks against infantry each turn. It has good firepower at short, medium and long range, and is reasonably priced.

The Wespe is a new addition to the Wehrmacht’s self-propelled artillery battalions. Based on the Pz II F chassis, the Wespe can pummel Allied infantry from long-range with its hard-hitting 105mm gun. The main drawbacks are the low armor values and mediocre speed.

However, when paired up with a friendly spotter, the Wespe can use the "indirect fire" skill and "extended range 16" ability to pound infantry as they advance towards the objective. "Bombardment" is also important because it inflicts damage without allowing targets to make a cover save.

The Wespe is expensive and will require protection from roving Allied ground-attack fighters, but in larger games it can help whittle down the opponent before he even reaches the objective.

The much maligned-M3 Grant medium tank will make another appearance. The Grant was first introduced in the Axis and Allies Miniatures debut set of 2005 and has hardly seen the light of day since then.

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