Totensonntag - The First Battle of Sidi Rezegh

All Souls' Day

The Sunday of the Dead Awaits

Totensonntag: The First Battle of Sidi Rezegh from Lock ’n Load Publishing places you in command during one of the fiercest and most decisive clashes of the North African campaign during World War II. Set during Operation Crusader in November 1941, the game recreates the dramatic battle between the British Commonwealth’s XXX Corps and the German Afrika Korps, as both sides fought for control of the Libyan desert around Sidi Rezegh.

The battle began when British forces launched a bold offensive designed to relieve the besieged port of Tobruk and destroy Rommel’s Afrika Korps. In a daring maneuver, hundreds of British tanks slipped behind Axis lines in an attempt to catch the German forces off balance. What followed was a series of intense desert engagements that culminated in the brutal clash known as Totensonntag, or “Sunday of the Dead,” where armored formations and infantry units fought across the open desert in a desperate struggle for survival and victory. 

In Totensonntag, players command battalion and regimental-level formations across a vast desert battlefield. Tanks, mechanized infantry, and supporting units maneuver across open terrain where mobility, timing, and coordination are essential. The Axis player must rely on aggressive counterattacks and armored maneuvers to blunt the British offensive, while the Allied player attempts to exploit numerical strength and seize key positions before Axis reinforcements can stabilize the front.

Using the accessible, fast-playing Corps Command system, the game focuses on operational maneuver and battlefield decisions rather than on complex rules. Players must coordinate attacks, maintain supply and cohesion, and exploit weaknesses in enemy formations as the battle unfolds across the desert.

Totensonntag: The First Battle of Sidi Rezegh delivers a dramatic recreation of one of the most intense armored battles of Operation Crusader, where bold leadership and tactical skill determine whether the desert battlefield becomes a decisive victory or a costly defeat.