Podbit · Fin vs History
Italy invaded Egypt with nearly a quarter of a million men and no coherent strategy beyond Mussolini's dream of riding a horse topless through Cairo. They built fortified but completely disconnected camps, waited for engineers to build a victory parade road, and were ultimately picked off one by one by a British force a fraction of their size.
Where this was said
At 4:57 · chapter starts 3:33
Fin sets the scene: September 1940, Italy invades Egypt from Libya with nearly 250,000 men but absolutely no coherent strategic plan beyond Mussolini's fantasy of riding topless through Cairo. The Italians build a series of heavily fortified but completely isolated camps — no road, no infrastructure between them — then wait for engineers to construct a victory parade route. A Patreon listener then sends Fin a Wikipedia article about The Campaign for North Africa, a 1978 wargame by Richard H. Berg that simulates the entire desert campaign. [1] — Fin Taylor "The Campaign for North Africa (1978) is possibly the most complex game ever designed: 10 recommended players, 1,500 hours estimated playtim…" 06:55 The gameplay description, read aloud by Fin, is extraordinary: 10 recommended players, an estimated 1,500 hours total playtime, never tested before release, and believed to have never been completed. A single turn involves calculating water evaporation, pasta-cooking water for Italian troops, strategic air missions, convoy raids, ammunition adjustments, and multiple rounds of movement and combat. Fin and Horatio agree: this is not a game but a historic simulation, and it captures exactly why North Africa is the most logistics-obsessed theater of the war — and why Monty ultimately wins it.
The Campaign for North Africa (1978) is possibly the most complex game ever designed: 10 recommended players, 1,500 hours estimated playtime, never tested before release, and almost certainly never finished. One reviewer calculated that playing twice a month would take 20 years — and Italian troops specifically require extra water to cook pasta.
The Campaign for North Africa boardgame, made in 1978, has an estimated playtime of 1,500 hours, was not tested before release, and is believed to have never been completed.
Italy invaded Egypt from Libya with nearly a quarter of a million men, yet this force was effectively neutralised by around 36,000 British troops due to poor planning and disconnected camps.
Factories that replaced coal engines with electric ones in the early 1900s got only 6% efficiency gains. Those that redesigned their entire factory around electricity got a 3x productivity improvement. Swapping AI tools into your existing structure will give you 6%. Rebuilding around AI will give you 10x.
Lebanese terrorists backed by Iran were holding American hostages throughout the Reagan presidency. Reagan had loudly campaigned against negotiating with terrorists — putting him in an impossible position that his team quietly decided to ignore.
During the Iran-Iraq War, the US openly supplied Iraq with weapons, training, and intelligence. At the same time, Oliver North was secretly funneling missiles to Iran. The US was playing both sides of a shooting war.
Oliver North traveled to Iran under the alias 'William P. Goode' with a fake passport. CIA Director William Casey allegedly gave him cyanide pills so he could kill himself rather than be tortured if captured. He returned safely and the deal moved forward.
The Pentagon sold missiles to the CIA for $3,700 each. The CIA sold them to Richard Secord at cost. Secord sold them to Iranian middleman Ghorbanifar for $10,000 each. Ghorbanifar charged Iran even more. The profit — including $3 million in interest in one Swiss account — was diverted directly to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.
America secretly transferred 2,000 missiles and missile parts to Iran in 8 shipments over more than a year. Only 3 of 7 hostages were released. Three more were taken. The net result was zero freed hostages and a full-blown constitutional scandal.
On October 5, 1986, a CIA Contra supply plane flew a weapons drop at 2,500 feet in broad daylight. A Sandinista soldier shot it down. The only survivor, Eugene Hasenfuss, had borrowed a parachute from his skydiving brother. He was captured, paraded in front of cameras, and told the Sandinistas everything he knew.
The CIA supply operation used a front company called Southern Air Transport, widely known to be a CIA cover. Crew members of the downed plane carried their Southern Air Transport employee IDs in their wallets. One also had a business card directly linking him to Oliver North's office in Washington.
When the scandal broke, Oliver North and his secretary Fawn Hall conducted what became known as a 'shredding party,' destroying a day's worth of documents. The full truth of Iran-Contra may never be known because of what was fed through that shredder.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.