Memoir ’44 - Tips & Strategies

One of the great things about Memoir ’44 is it’s expandability. It’s not a game…it’s a game system! One of the complaints about M44 is that it’s so lightweight and limited, that some wargamer snobs don’t consider it a “wargame”.

Well, I believe this is better addressed in one of the more recent expansions called “Breakthrough”. Basically, Breakthrough introduces a larger board for two players. It’s about the size of two normal base game boards put together on the wide sides, making it a deeper board. The breakthrough scenarios allow for “deeper” game play not just because of the board, but also more medals need to be won and more units on the board.

For this expansion to really shine, you need the “Winter Wars” expansion which includes the new “Breakthrough” command deck. These cards really open up your options, because it allows you to move more units while others are attacking. This helps the game a lot, because the board is so long! You’re units sometimes have a long way to go to get to the front line and engage the enemy.

Tanks can be a formidable weapon given their movement and range of 3 each. They are often best used at this maximum range to stave off an unwanted Ambush attack.

Their most powerful tool, however, is the Armor Overrun (AO). AO lets you move into an adjacent vacated hex due to a retreat or unit elimination and then attack again. This is effectively a double turn when it is triggered. Use it to mop up weak units, especially those trying to stay out of the fight. If you go after stronger units (those with most of their figures), make sure their retreat path is not completely blocked. Rolling a flag on the first strike is more powerful than a single hit.

Be cautious of terrain type as the terrain you are standing on, or overrun into, may prevent moving and/or additional combat this round.

Once the base game scenarios start to get stale, the next place to look is the army packs. They are the simplest expansion to get, and they add a lot to the base game with new armies and rules for each army. You don’t have to get all 3 either, you can just pick one and try it out, then get another.

The Pacific Theater focuses on the Japanese armies with new miniatures and rules for them. You reuse the US/Allies units for the base game to play the marines with some new rules for them. Scenarios for that part of WWII are included as well.

The Eastern Front adds the Soviet forces miniatures and scenarios to reflect the other side of the European front. Some people highly recommend this one, and this theater gets more love in future expansions.

The Mediterranean Theater adds the British units. Expect lots of tank battles in this one as you roam over the Sahara Desert trying to push back the Italians and Germans. This introduces the Italian rules and anti-tank weapons.

Beyond those expansions, things get more complicated as more expansions require previous expansions to fully utilize new scenarios.

If you need to protect wounded units, move a stronger unit next to an enemy unit to keep them from attacking the weaker unit. The rules say, that units must attack other units that are adjacent to them. In other words, you can’t attack another unit at long range if an enemy unit is adjacent to you.

This can be an effective tactic to buy you some time particularly from enemy artillery.

One of the most valuable moves in Memoir ’44 is being able to cut off a unit’s retreat. This allows flags on a die roll to count as hits now and increases the probability of a hit. Tanks become key to this strategy, because they can move up to three hexes and still battle with up to 3 die depending on terrain. Combine that with an armored assault card, and it’s lethal.

So when attacking see if you can maneuver one of your units to where it can block a target’s retreat, you’re in good shape if it doesn’t leave you too vulnerable the next turn.

Also, always be on the lookout for units that can’t retreat because they are at the back of the board or their own units block the retreat path. That makes them prime targets.

It can be annoying when a retreat flag is rolled against you. Not as damaging as a hit, but usually as frustrating. Some terrain allows you to ignore a flag, which is a benefit.

However, many people forget this is (usually) an option. When more than one retreat flag is rolled, it is often best to accept the first flag as well. This will allow you to move 2+ hexes away (instead of ignoring one and only moving 1 space). Frequently, this will get you out of range of other attackers this round. Look also to move into better coverage because of the terrain type or blocking Line of Sight (LOS).

Remembering that ignoring flags are optional can turn an annoying roll for you into a frustrating roll for your opponent.

Often I play against people playing a little too close with their Armor..Infantry tends to chew up tanks if you can get within close range of them. Use the tanks range of three to your advantage, keep a distance and try to let enemy infantry close that gap, by the time they get to you they have probably taken heavy casualties and you are good to charge in and pick up that armor overrun.

When you are using multiple units to attack a single target, it is best to attack with the your unit that is farthest away. You want all your attackers to be able to attack. But if you attack first with your unit that is closest, the target may have to retreat out of range of the farthest unit. So, you would have wasted activating that farthest unit. If you attack with the farthest unit first, the enemy may have to retreat, but will still be in range of the nearest unit for another attack.

The only time you shouldn’t attack with longest range unit is if the target could potentially retreat out of range (behind a hill or forest). Then you’d want to attack with the units next to the target for maximum dice. Hopefully, the long range unit like artillery can still be in range if the target retreats for an attack.

This is a silly variant but offers some surprising tactical depth.

You need a big bag of zombie figures, or tokens to represent zombies.

When an infantry unit (not armor or artillery) is eliminated, immediately replace it with a four-zombie unit.

Zombie units have their own “turn” immediately after the Axis turn. All zombie units move one hex per turn toward the nearest non-zombie unit. If more than one unit is equidistant, determine which they approach randomly. Zombies are indiscriminate eaters.

If a zombie unit ends its movement adjacent to any non-zombie unit, they attack. A zombie unit battles with as many dice as it has figures. This makes a new horde very dangerous.

Zombie units are battled as though they were infantry, and do not re-spawn when eliminated. They do not count toward victory conditions.

In play this variant creates large numbers of fairly dangerous hordes that must either be avoided (reducing tactical choices) or fought (wasting resources). Both sides suffer equally. It’s pretty fun.

Not ready to invest in the Memoir ’44 game system? Well, try the online version at http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44-online/en/

You get 50 gold ingots to play which amounts to about 18 to 25 games depending on scenario. Download the rules to the base game from the board game website, so you know how the units work in battle. Pick the first few scenarios which are from the base game.

By the time you play a few scenarios, you’ll have a good idea what the game is like and know whether or not you want to buy it.