Memoir 44 in about 3 minutes

[@3MBG]

Memoir 44 is just the best little 2 player war game on the market, and has been for a long time. Pretty much the only other acceptable arguments in this niche are the other games in the series and you can find just about any setting to fit. From space battles and Fantasty warfare to the US Civil War and Ancients. The Command and colors series has a wargame for everyone vaguely interested in wargames.

[@3MBG]

For a link to all the other games in the series, see the video description.

[@verdicktrobin]

@@3MBG Unfortunately, Battlelore Second Edition is not seeing reprints and is near-impossible to find at good prices here. :(

[@jerryf196]

Comparable to Undaunted!

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

this game looks like my imagination when I was placing plastic armies all over the kitchen tiles at home as a kid.

[@3MBG]

100%

[@MrStickman13579]

I love this game so much, it started me on the new hobby of painting mini figs. Painting all the miniature pieces in this game makes it sooo much more immersive.

[@3MBG]

I completely agree. I need to paint my set, but i have a video on the channel called "my painted games" of all the games I have painted including Axis and Allies.

[@deiseach02]

"Clausewitz for kids!" You buried that nugget. It is a great game for kids. Take out the special cards and even a 7-year-old can understand what is going on. And they really do understand. My son preferred the grey models at first, which my (English) wife found a little irksome. Gradually her history lessons sank in and he now prefers to play as the Allies. Learning can be fun!

[@3MBG]

Fantastic

[@angioman64]

And the large pre-printed maps make set up really easy. Such a masterpiece of a game that will give you lots of great memories.

[@jmobley6]

I’ve seen this around for ages but never looking into it, and I have to say I’m interested now. You do a wonderful job of summing up and displaying things simply, thank you!

[@3MBG]

Much appreciated.

[@dominicseibert3048]

I wrote to the designer about adapting this to the Star Wars IP. Would be a gold mine, I think. He seemed intrigued by the idea.

[@3MBG]

They did do a sci-fi space one a while back. But yes, it could work for just about anything. And i'm thinking of using a system heavily inspired by Memoir 44 in a light wargame i'm designing. The tweak with mine, is you build your own draw decks based on capabilities you are deploying. And its not, left, middle. right, It's different sectors on the board. But Memoir 44 is the clearest big inspiration for it.

[@musculusiv4172]

This was the game that really got me into baord games. True classic! And with the various expansions it's one of the best WW2 games out there

[@lukejw11]

Love M44. Such amazing longevity as well.

[@sebastianraducu7850]

One of my favorite boardgames, such a classic, and i have made a small version for on the go

[@tomsule]

Oh, thank you for review. I love this one!

[@joesolo1836]

I played Battlecry growing up and LOVED it!!! This looks great and all the expansions, hot damn thats awesome!!!

[@SurvivorsQuest1]

Such a great game. BGA has a great online implementation of it that is certainly worth checking out!

[@cyclemadness]

We played this tournament style in my game group one time. The last two were determined to finishing the evening with a winner despite not much time left for the evening. They finished the game in 8 minutes. I mean really, pick an order, do it, draw a new card.

[@3MBG]

hot damn that's some speed M44. I can see it though, two veteran players who agree to make the game go as fast as practicable. Still, very impressive.

[@catherinetaylor556]

“For something more tankey” 😂 brilliant

[@KirbyMD]

Got this for my father-in-law and we played it for a whole day straight, absolutely loved it! Only criticism i had was not being able to burn a turn to swap out your whole hand of cards. Getting stuck with 4 cards that do nothing on repeat is just annoying

[@3MBG]

See, to me that's the core of the game, that you have to manage that. You only get into that position by overfocusing on one flank. A trick i do is use those off cards to move units into the flank i need them, or better still, use another card to get units into that flank so i can clear those cards by chaining action and action with some units doing a breakthrough. I think thats part of expert play of this game.

[@Emsworth377]

There's a house rule that you can burn any card to move only one unit in any one section. Seems to work well.

[@KirbyMD]

@@3MBG Definitely fair! It was an edge case that only happened in 1-2 games where one of us would annihilate one flank and leave it sad, but that's part of playing well!

[@KirbyMD]

@@Emsworth377 duly noted, will have to try that!

[@matyasspevacek286]

So much nostalgia

[@dave3805]

I've been wanting this for years, but cant quite find a regular opponent. I wonder if I could play this 2 in hand solo?

[@3MBG]

I dunno if the solo mode would be all that. Check out the BGG forums and see if anyone has made one

[@Martin-lp4eu]

I am surprised you have not mentioned Undaunted. For me it is a candidate for the best light wargame.

[@3MBG]

I still haven't played it.

[@iansutton7416]

Whilst it may look like a wargame, the gameplay can feel more like a variant on the deckbuilding theme - Sabotage your opponent's deck by removing cards (kills) or clogging it up (fog of war) - race to the objective or play the longer game by curating the deck (as in many deckbuilders), but also with the added complexity of the deckbuilding also driving positioning (defensive, offensive, preparatory) I could absolutely see someone who likes deckbuilding, also enjoying this series of games, even if the theme washes over them. The spatial element and ability to directly hamper your opponent's deck adding additional intrigue to normal deckbuilding. That also allows for a surprisingly wide range of approaches.

[@Christian_from_Copenhagen]

I've heard of this game before but haven't considered it since I got into 40K (mainly playing with One Page Rules). This might be a wiser choice than Bolt Action in terms of storage and gameplay variety, thanks for the review! PS. I heard recently that there are plans for adapting Bolt Action into a board game this year, could be interesting.

[@BobLee-df4zh]

This looks is much more random than Undaunted. Undaunted uses dice for attacks but it's much more streamlined and can be mitigated.

[@3MBG]

Undaunted is also about 20 years newer ;)

[@Drumox]

Have you played any of the expansion content? My father in law loves this game. I think it can last a bit long, but for a war game, it's reasonably short

[@3MBG]

For a wargame, its very short. I have just the 3 main unit packs, Pacific, Eastern and Med. They're fine, slightly more rules in each one than the core box but only a little. It's just more good stuff really, but play the core out first unless one of those fronts is of huge interest to you

[@andrewme2245]

Can you give the list of alternate games you showed at the end? they went by fast

[@3MBG]

I've added a link in the video description above. That will go through to a list that has even more of them, there's a bunch

[@nialls1048]

The Napoleonics one is my favourite, it has a bit more complexity as there are different types of infantry, cavalry and artillery that all fight differently and then this is different by each nation, but the reference sheets are clear. A key difference between Memoir ‘44 and Napoleonics is that the number of dice you can role reduces as your units take damage. Both are fantastic games and I’m sure the others in the list will be too.

[@EclecticCamel]

I like Memoir 44 a lot, but I think Undaunted edges it out for top spot. This is a very close 2nd tho.

[@3MBG]

I keep bugging David for a copy of undaunted.

[@EclecticCamel]

@@3MBG I would love to introduce you to it. Just a quick jump over the pond! lol

[@halforange1]

Owned it, sold it, it just didn’t make it to the table often.

[@Zilong09]

Immediately knew that this is a GMG

[@3MBG]

Well, yeah, it hits a lot of notes that make for a great game for me. And it's also a near universal pick for best in its category. Tis a worthy game

[@cardboardconflicts]

Love it, but I think some of the OG box are a bit bland. The expansion have some neat scenarios and interesting unit types. It might stretch the wargame definition but don’t sleep on War Chest. My younger son prefers that now for 2 player we play but it’s surprisingly deep with drafted units.😊

[@wmarclocher]

3:43 So that's the name of your avatar

[@3MBG]

Indeed, Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian military theorist and the father of modern strategic studies. I've been using him as an avatar for decades as I did a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies.

[@ShineOnYouCD]

I have only played this on BGA and I’m so bad at it. lol Definitely not hating on it, I just think bad at strategic combat.

[@3MBG]

I find the key is juggling units over the lines. So got a lot of right cards make sure that when you are about to run out you move some of your right units into the center to use them there with center cards.

[@ShineOnYouCD]

@@3MBG thats smart

[@IF040020]

The second edition with modern armies NATO vs Russia would be so cool.

[@3MBG]

Too soon maybe? A lot of wargames get more easier to manage once they pass from living memory.

[@gera9576]

Please Review Company of heroes next!

[@3MBG]

Would love to, just haven't played it. The next war game coming up on the channel is an odd one, Churchill.

[@gera9576]

@@3MBG it is currently on the pledge manager state on gamefound for the 2nd version and it looks quite good!

[@joshtino5321]

I would have bought this game but tried online on steam and it seemed too luck based with the dice rolls.

[@3MBG]

Trust me, like a lot of wargames with dice, the more skilled player will still win every single time.

[@sinistersharkfish]

it really bothers me that one team is dark green and one team is blue idk it feels like theres not enough contrast. one team should be black or red or something

[@dave0754]

They went for historical accuracy over visibility

[@3MBG]

Its probably the colour correction on my photos, in person they are easy enough to tell apart.

[@3MBG]

The green on the board is right at some point where my camera freaks out with it white balancing. So some photos look super green, and others don't and i had to manually correct them to be somewhat in-between. Very frustrating.