Two friends are taking on one of the biggest challenges in board gaming history, and they reckon it could take them the next two decades to finish! James Purcell, 29, and Andy Taeger, 30, from Newcastle have committed themselves to completing The Campaign for North Africa, a notoriously complicated World War Two wargame that has an estimated playtime of around 1,500 hours. The pair discovered the game in October 2024 and, rather than sensibly deciding to play something a little quicker, they spent the next two years learning its rules and preparing for the full campaign. Now, on 30 October 2026, they will finally begin.
A 1,500-hour challenge!
Published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1978, The Campaign for North Africa attempts to recreate the entire North African campaign of World War Two. It is not exactly your typical game night experience. The full campaign consists of 111 turns, with each turn representing roughly one week of the historical conflict. The game is designed for up to 10 players, with teams divided into different roles covering areas such as logistics, air operations, and frontline command. James and Andy, however, have decided that two people will do just fine! The game is famous for its extraordinary level of detail. Players have to manage supplies including food, ammunition, fuel and water, while weather conditions can affect resources such as water and fuel through evaporation. There are even rules relating to Italian troops needing additional water for cooking pasta, although the famous pasta rule has become something of a legend surrounding the game.
Basically, this is less "roll some dice and conquer your mate" and more "please update the spreadsheet before the tanks move."
Practice makes... something!
The pair have already spent around 18 months completing a six-turn practice game. That might sound like a decent warm-up. It is considerably less impressive when you realise those six turns represent only a tiny fraction of the full 111-turn campaign. Their practice run ended in a draw and gave them plenty of experience with the game's enormous rulebook, paperwork and logistics. The pair have also been working on spreadsheets and other systems to help keep track of everything they need to manage. The game's complexity is so legendary that players have created their own digital tracking tools and house rules to make it easier to handle. For James and Andy, though, all that preparation has been part of the challenge.
"We're filling out spreadsheets more so than playing a game," James explained, admitting that it can sometimes feel more like a job than a hobby.
And this is where things get slightly ridiculous. A single turn can involve supply calculations, weather, movement, air operations, combat and a whole host of other procedures before the players can finally move on to the next week of the war.
Then they have to do it all again.
And again.
And again.
Friends at war!
The pair have known each other for around a decade, first becoming friends after meeting at a house party and bonding over a duet of a James Blunt song. They have since played Dungeons & Dragons together every week, so they are hardly strangers to lengthy campaigns. Still, The Campaign for North Africa could put that friendship under a little more pressure.
"There have been moments of frustration and tension," Andy admitted.
James has also confessed to having a few "hissy fits" when complicated rules have caused problems, particularly when mistakes are discovered after they have already spent months working through a turn. Fortunately, they have come up with a clever way to keep things friendly. Their podcast, War With A Mate, includes a recurring segment called Common Ground, where the two have to find something they can agree on. It might not prevent every argument over a fictional desert campaign, but it is probably better than settling disputes with the rulebook.
A podcast for the journey!
The pair launched War With A Mate to document their attempt, and the podcast has now grown into a substantial part of the project. The show has followed their journey from learning the rules through to completing their six-turn practice campaign, with regular episodes featuring game updates, listener questions, historical discussions and plenty of tangents. As of late September 2026, the podcast is approaching its 100th episode, which will also mark the beginning of the full campaign. The date is particularly fitting. James and Andy first discovered The Campaign for North Africa on 30 October 2024, meaning they will begin their enormous campaign exactly two years after first stumbling across the game.
See you in 2046?
The biggest question is whether they can actually stick with it. An estimated 1,500 hours is a huge commitment, especially when squeezed around careers, relationships, holidays, and all the other things that tend to happen over a 20-year period. At a pace of only a few hours every couple of weeks, the game could genuinely stretch across two decades. James and Andy know that their lives could look completely different by the time the final turn is completed. But that's part of what makes the challenge so interesting. Rather than simply playing a board game, they're creating a bizarre little time capsule that could follow them from their twenties into their forties. So, while most of us might struggle to finish a board game before someone checks their phone for the seventh time, these two are preparing for a campaign that could still be going when the rest of us have forgotten where we put half our board game boxes.
Good luck, lads. You'll probably need it!
