With Italy's entry into the war, the arrival in Egypt of the UK 8th Army HQ [joining the Mid-East Command HQ], means operations can begin toward Libya. In addition to all the other changes for 653N, the units that each side gets in N. Africa are a little different.
Historically, Mussolini initially refused Hitlers offer of assistance in this theater, as the Italians felt that this was their area of influence and they didn't want Germany swooping in and reaping benefits. However, once the Commonwealth forces had beaten the Italians in eastern Libya, Mussolini asked for help [for which he received Rommel and DAK]. So in 653N, no German units will arrive unless the UK advances into or beyond Tobruk. Likewise, the UK will receive no units in Egypt unless German units are detected in Libya. This pertains to the Scripted Units only, as either side may always transport their units to Africa from Europe. [There is a full list of units that arrive by script included in the zip file].
As with any Unit Script, this does open the possibility of having more units than intended, as the player can craftily build all units and then trigger the scripted units [which will arrive in excess of the oob]. While this is not the design intention, I think it is ok because generally, players that like an historical OOB would not do such a thing, so I can only see beginners doing it if they feel they need some help. Multi-Player games would be a bit different, but I only cater to MP games when it is convenient and doesn't interfere with solitaire play.
So, back to the game, I generally hold the UK force in Egypt near El Alamein until I can get a second HQ there, then will move up to Tobruk and attempt to capture it. If this works, then the arrival of DAK is triggered, which in turn will trigger the arrival of UK reinforcements.
