
- BGG rank
- BGG #11,158
- BGG rating
- 8.1
Retro: Tactical WWII Wargame Variant Rules
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2001

Rules assistance for Desert Rats
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Desert Rats is an expansion for PanzerBlitz released in 1973 for 2 players and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Norman Beveridge, Jr. and its main mechanics are Hexagon Grid.
Desert Rats was a PanzerBlitz variant published in The Spartan magazine number 6. The game added units, rules, and scenarios for battles in North Africa. Over 30 scenarios were included, along with British units and Italian units in the form of unmounted counters.
Desert Rats supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The catalogue lists Desert Rats for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Desert Rats belongs to these categories: Wargame, World War II, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Hexagon Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Desert Rats are: Norman Beveridge, Jr.. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Desert Rats as an expansion for PanzerBlitz. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need PanzerBlitz to use it. Check that your edition of PanzerBlitz is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.