Friends embark on 20-year board game battle

Two friends from Newcastle have set themselves the challenge of completing a board game which has never officially been completed. They expect it will take 20 years as they battle to fit it around their everyday lives - but while games can often put friendships to the test, the pair are determined to see it through, no matter how different life will look.

What would you be willing to commit 1,500 hours of your life doing?

Playing a game about a week during World War Two in North Africa might not be top of your list - but James Purcell, 29, and Andy Taeger, 30, decided to do just that.

The pair met about a decade ago at a house party and became fast friends after duetting to a James Blunt song.

They have spent every week since playing Dungeons and Dragons together.

"One day we were playing and this friend just mentioned off-handedly that there was a game that supposedly had never been finished and takes up to 1,500 hours," Purcell says.

"We had a bit of a laugh about it, thought nothing of it, and then a few weeks later we were at the pub and one of us said 'have you been thinking about that board game a lot?'"

They spent the next few hours in the pub discussing it and left committed to playing Campaign for North Africa in its entirety.

That was in October 2024. And for Purcell and Taeger, there's no going back.

The strategic board wargame was released in 1978 and simulates the entire North African campaign of World War Two.

Purcell says there has been no evidenced play of the full game and theirs would be the first occasion.

"The game was never fully playtested by the designers either," he adds.

Now two years on from their original commitment, the pair have managed a six-turn practice run to get to grips with the rules before jumping into the full game, which is 111 turns.

Every turn simulates a real week during World War Two in North Africa. Purcell is playing as the Axis forces - Germany, Italy, Japan - while Taeger is playing as the Commonwealth.

While 10 players are suggested, they are making do with just two.

Through spreadsheets they have to keep track of things like ammunition, food, fuel, water, even down to the rate at which water evaporates depending on the heat.

The practice ended in a draw and took 18 months to complete alongside their jobs and everyday lives.

Purcell works in mental health services while Taeger is a software developer.

"It feels sometimes like a job as well, we're filling out spreadsheets more so than playing a game, so a lot of the time it doesn't feel like fun, it feels like admin," Purcell says.

To hold themselves accountable, they set up a podcast, War With A Mate, which has already had more than 90 episodes.

And it has a good following already, with Purcell joking it is nice not having to bribe his friends and family to listen along.

But board games are known to get tense, even more so if you are at war with one another, and the friends are mindful of that.

"We're trying to keep it fairly chill, but sometimes it'll come down to a single dice roll and someone gets unlucky and there has been a bit of, not quite throwing pieces around because the board's too big, but there have been moments of frustration and tension," Taeger says.

Purcell adds: "I've had a few hissy fits, just with the rules being so complicated.

"I've been a bit annoyed when we've been so far in and I've realised I've done something wrong and had to make new plans based on that.

"Because to finish a single turn, it takes us months at a time."

But their podcast has a segment called Common Ground which forces the pair to try and agree on something from the episode, no matter how ridiculous.

They are hopeful it will stop them fighting.

The friends are now gearing up to starting their official Campaign for North Africa on 30 October, which will coincide with the podcast's 100th episode.

"I think when we start the full game, it'll be exciting," Purcell says.

"And then from there we've got the sort of void of 20 plus years that it'll take to finish the game.

"So I'm kind of worried that the excitement might wear off and then we're just locked into this thing for two decades."

War With A Mate already has listeners from around the globe, many of whom are happy they get to experience the game without having to do hundreds of hours of legwork.

"I think at certain times it'll be our biggest regret starting it and sometimes it'll be some real highs," Taeger says.

"But I think it'll be part people listening along to our deteriorating mental state."

It is certain the pair's lives will look different after 20 years, when they hope to have completed the game.

Purcell says: "It's sort of weird knowing that we'll be 20 years older.

"We can have any sort of different living circumstance, careers, so it's strange that this game is going to be a constant through that and it already has for two years.

"So it'll be interesting to see how it maps across."

Follow BBC Newcastle on X,Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Newcastle on BBC Sounds.