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- BGG #14,377
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- 7.0
War Stories: Liberty Road
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- 30 min
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Rules assistance for War Stories: Desert Rats
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 30 min
- 8+
Rules assistant for War Stories: Desert Rats
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
War Stories: Desert Rats is an expansion for War Stories: Red Storm released in 2014 for 2–4 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Michael W. Tan and its main mechanics are Area Movement, Secret Unit Deployment, and Modular Board.
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About the game
Desert Rats is the fourth entry in the War Stories series. Featuring 20 scenarios chronicling the North African Campaign of World War II. Desert Rats includes additional maps and terrain and introduces new rules such as desert warfare, dust, and heat exhaustion. American, British, German, and Italian units and assets specific to the theater bring the exploits of Rommel and Montgomery to life! Desert Rats not only expands the War Stories system to new theaters of combat but expands the assets and unit available to the Red Storm base game.
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Conquistador Games, Inc.
Questions and answers
War Stories: Desert Rats supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for War Stories: Desert Rats is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists War Stories: Desert Rats for ages 8 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.
War Stories: Desert Rats belongs to these categories: Wargame, Miniatures, and World War II. Its main mechanics are Area Movement, Secret Unit Deployment, and Modular Board. 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 War Stories: Desert Rats are: Michael W. Tan. 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 War Stories: Desert Rats as an expansion for War Stories: Red Storm. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need War Stories: Red Storm to use it. Check that your edition of War Stories: Red Storm is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.