Memoir 44

At first glance I assumed I wasn’t going to like Memoir 44. I looked at the box and it didn’t seem to appeal to me as I thought it was another simplified wargame. I thought I needed something more complex. Then my brother had to go ahead and buy the game proving me wrong in the process.

I fell in love with this game after the first play through.

At first glance the set up seemed complicated, but it was completed much more easily and quickly than I had anticipated. The variation in the box components and the map suggestions provided are amazing. The replayability is very high. The game provides suggestions for simple short battles or ongoing campaigns, there are even rules for adding multiple boards together for epic games. Maps ideas can be obtained to cover so many historical battles of World War II. This is an armchair general’s dream game. The rules and set ups are simple enough for younger gamers and there is so much room for expanding upon strategic development in this game. Teens and smarter young characters should be able to play with old time wargamers and everyone should enjoy it.

The big part of strategy in this game comes from the split between three territories on the board: right flank, centre and left flank. How you work within these three will be determined by the random cards you draw. Each card gives directions to units and they vary in usefulness from set up to set up. On one game my units were heavily concentrated in the centre and right flanks with a token unit on my left flank. The cards available to me mostly focused on the left flank. I had some serious issues getting momentum for my battle plans and my brother ended up walking all over me. The second game was miraculous as it seemed like the dice weren’t actively trying to kill me. This became a frantic and close battle with my brother eking out a narrow win by the skin of his teeth. Now my brother always wins wargames. He's a combat engineer, he lives and breaths war. Having him frantic and wide eyed over my efforts got me hooked.

There are so many expansions for this game. Campaign books open up loads of maps to attempt. Army packs open up the Mediterranean, the pacific theatre or the eastern front. An equipment pack expands on unit selections, and an air pack does the same for aircraft. New boards for desert/winter warfare, battle map packs, and there's even an old style army campaign bag to hold everything.

The big benefit is the dollar value you get from Memoir 44. You don’t have to break the bank to get a fantastic basic wargame. I have certainly shelled out more for games without the level of replay value or strategic value. The best part is the developer Days of Wonder allows for the uploading of scenarios by fans onto their website and lets registered players download them for free here.

For the downsides to the game there is the random draw factor for the cards. There is a significant amount of luck factor as to which strategies you can implement. This could bother those who prefer to develop a strategy. However, personally I enjoy the addition of the luck factor. It gives the game the feel that somehow I am unable to communicate with certain units, and I'm dealing with an inept military hierarchy that is hamstringing me. It really pushes the real time strategy on the fly approach.

If you enjoy war games at all go out and get Memoir 44. This is me saying I was wrong, my brother was right.