Memoir '44: to buy or not to buy?

Matt, what exansions do you recommend? Which ones are essential?

For me I can't get over the apparently non existent scaling. There are scenarios that seem tactical level, then I see a giant Overlord set up that covers the entire Normandy peninsula using the same system ? Can't wrap my head around that.

MattDP wrote: It's a far bigger issue in M44 than Ancients IMO. In the latter, you can kind of imagine how gradual losses would eventually lead to a morale collapse and a rout, as was the case in many historical battles. By the time of WW2, better training and command structure meant that just wasn't the case any more.

Yeah, but the result is that you find yourself rooting for retreats, as the other guy doesn't get credit for retreats in a kill-five-first win scenario. In ancient battles most of the deaths occurred after one of the armies fled the field, chased down during their retreat. A couple of units fleeing on one side of the field before first contact could be the end of it all in spite of nearly zero losses. (Yeah, I know, you can look at elimination as an indication of fleeing, but that still doesn't fix the fact that retreating is bad but actually helps the guy doing it in the current rules.)

That's not the case in Memoir '44 and battle damage was indeed more important. But I would like to have seen more scenarios where taking a bridge or holding out for six turns was the victory condition, because that was the nature of the war, particularly on the Western Front. Eastern Front was a slugfest, but that part of the war was largely over prior to Normandy.

I would love to see a scenario for the base set where paratroopers come down on one corner of the board and have to grab a bridge and hold it through a particular turn. Wouldn't be surprised if there aren't historical precedents for that sort of thing, and it would add a lot of flavor to the game.

S.

Sagrilarus wrote:
I would love to see a scenario for the base set where paratroopers come down on one corner of the board and have to grab a bridge and hold it through a particular turn. Wouldn't be surprised if there aren't historical precedents for that sort of thing, and it would add a lot of flavor to the game.

S.

and trivially easy to make up yourself, using the physically dropped in troopers (as used in some official scenarios), upside down counters perhaps for decoy markers (on both sides), reveal when used or targeted, and some kind of dice roll per turn for reinforcements from the defenders, or automatic replenishment after unit losses. VP "total" for attacking side as number of turns the bridge or building is held. The beauty of the simplicity of the system is that its very clearly a "do it yourself toolbox" for "plastic soldiers".

Applejack wrote: Matt, what exansions do you recommend? Which ones are essential?

Well, it's complicated.

The best single expansion is Eastern Front, without a doubt. But getting that leads you down the route to Campaign book 1, which is out of print and goes for silly money. If you do go that route, pick up the terrain pack and then the book. The winter board and air pack are nice to have, but not necessary.

The Pacific expansion is a step up from the base game, but it's not as good as Eastern Front. However, it does lead you toward Campaign Book 2, which is still available. I've never played it, however, so I can't comment.

A third possible route is breakout games. These use a much bigger board and so take a lot longer to play, although the game is arguably a bit deeper as a result. I wouldn't recommend this though, as I think the speed of the game is part of its charm.

Days of Wonder has PDFs of the Campaign Books for sale on their website; $15 for Vol 1 and $30 for Vol 2.

wadenels wrote: Days of Wonder has PDFs of the Campaign Books for sale on their website; $15 for Vol 1 and $30 for Vol 2.

I think Vol 2 is still for the book. If you find a link to a PDF please let us know!

wadenels wrote: Days of Wonder has PDFs of the Campaign Books for sale on their website; $15 for Vol 1 and $30 for Vol 2.

Ah, I didn't know that. In which case, totally pick up Eastern Front.

Did they ever come out with a master rule book that incorporated all the errata?

No, you would think they would have by now, it would be great if they tided it up a bit, got all the rules on single sheets, released a nice looking binder perhaps and got all the scenarios as PoD or released to buy as packs of binder pages. Something like Universal Heads ref sheets are probably the best bet right now