Hauts-Vents is Taken

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 12, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Base Game, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Hauts-Vents is Taken

Listen up. We broke Panzer Lehr’s punch, then Task Force Z, beefed up with three companies from Task Force X, did exactly what winners do—drove straight for the high ground at Hauts-Vents. Our armor blasted through the wreckage, clawed onto the forward slope of Hill 91, and held under heavy pressure. The enemy tried to rip it back—tanks in column, bravado first, brains second. We’d already hauled the guns up; artillery smashed the counterattack, and their armor scattered to the hedgerows.

Result: Hill 91 captured—the day’s decisive prize. Flanks inched forward, but the center took the crown. Lesson: seize the height, bring the guns, break the counterpunch—then keep rolling.

~~ General Howitzer

Medals

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 4

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

France

Year:
1944

Theater:

Western Front

Summary:

The asymmetrical starting pattern of this game makes for an interesting and challenging battle for both sides.

Objectives: 6 Medals
The three hexes of Hauts-Vents are each a temporary medal objective for the Allied player.

Hill 91 is composed of six hexes. If the Allied player controls at least two of those hexes at the start of their turn, they earn TWO temporary medals. If there are less than two Allied forces on the hill, then both medals are returned.

Terrain:

Countryside with hedgerows and hills.

Troops:

Allies – 7 Infantry, 5 Armor, 2 Artillery

Axis – 6 Infantry, 3 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy:

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder, part of the 2025 Refresh of the Base Game

Link:

Counter-Attack of Panzer Lehr

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 9, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Base Game, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Counter-Attack of Panzer Lehr

Listen up. Just past midnight, 11 July ’44, Panzer Lehr shoved columns into the seam between the 47th and 39th Infantry and hacked our wires to pieces. For a moment it was noisy and blind—but the 9th Division sized the breach, slammed in blocks, and sealed the gap like a vise.

What followed was a butcher’s bill for the enemy. Their tanks, bled of momentum and coordination, ran headlong into American armor and anti-tank guns and were picked apart. By afternoon, the counter-attack was gutted—steel burning in the hedgerows, infantry scattered, command broken. They bought themselves one day—nothing more.

Lesson: when the enemy punches a hole, you don’t panic—you orient, block, and crush. Kill the spearhead and the body dies. Then you turn back to the business of advancing.

~~ General Howitzer

Medals

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 4

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

France

Year:
1944

Theater:

Western Front

Summary:

The asymmetrical starting pattern of this game makes for an interesting and challenging battle for both sides.

Objectives: 6 Medals
Including an exit medal objectives for the Axis player who escapes through the Allies’ baseline.

Terrain:

Countryside with hedgerows and forests.

Troops:

Allies – 4 Infantry, 8 Armor, 2 Artillery

Axis – 5 Infantry, 6 Armor

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy:

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder, part of the 2025 Refresh of the Base Game

Link:

Panzer Lehr at Hauts-Vents

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 8, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Base Game, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Panzer Lehr at Hauts-Vents

Listen up. Just after midnight, 11 July ’44, Panzer Lehr—Germany’s showpiece—came rumbling through Hauts-Vents, tanks up front, infantry in tow. We didn’t wait for introductions. Our guns spoke first.

Lehr was fresh in January; by July they were tough but tired. In the hedgerows, strength on paper doesn’t matter—fire discipline and nerve do. My units cut their infantry to pieces in a string of sharp dawn fights and bloodied the panzers until their thrusts lost steam. By mid-afternoon, our lines were firm, their armor still dribbling in without mass, and the initiative was back in American hands.

Lesson: meet steel with steel, kill the spearhead, and the rest of the phalanx goes nowhere. Hold the line, then drive.

~~ General Howitzer

Medals

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

France

Year:
1944

Theater:

Western Front

Summary:

The asymmetrical starting pattern of this game makes for an interesting and challenging battle for both sides.

Objectives: 6 Medals
Plus, the two hexes of the town of Le Rocher are temporary medal objectives for the Axis player.

Terrain:

Countryside with hedgerows and hills.

Troops:

Allies – 7 Infantry, 2 Armor, 2 Artillery

Axis – 5 Infantry, 5 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy:

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder, part of the 2025 Refresh of the Base Game

Link:

Belle-Lande

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 2, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Base Game, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Tactical, Theater: Western

Belle-Lande

Listen up. Our attack on Hauts-Vents bogged down. Hobbs did the right thing—shifted weight to the 119th and drove on Belle-Lande to turn the enemy’s flank. Task Force X pressed; Task Force Y moved to back up the 2nd and 3rd Battalions. Then the surprise: Belle-Lande, reported empty, lit us up—tanks dug in, infantry stiff as a board. That unexpected fire choked the relief and killed momentum.

We clawed to the village edge, took the measure, and found steel in the hedgerows. With darkness closing, we pulled the forward elements, called in the guns, and set to blast a path for dawn. End of the day: no objectives taken.

Lesson: never trust last night’s report—recon twice, flank hard, and keep artillery married to the advance. Momentum is earned; when it stalls, you reset and hit harder.

~~ General Howitzer

Medals

5 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

France

Year:
1944

Theater:

Western Front

Summary:

The asymmetrical starting pattern of this game makes for an interesting and challenging battle for both sides.

Objectives: 5 Medals
Plus, the town of Belle-Lande is a complete set of temporary medals for the Allies.)

Terrain:

Countryside with hedgerows, hills, and 8 hexes for the town of Belle-Lande

Troops:

Allies – 7 Infantry, 6 Armor, 1 Artillery

Axis – 6 Infantry, 5 Armor

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy:

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder, part of the 2025 Refresh of the Base Game

Link:

Battlegroup Heintz at Hauts-Vents

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 1, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Base Game, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Tactical, Theater: Western

Battlegroup Heintz at Hauts-Vents

Listen up. Hauts-Vents was a knuckle of roads west of St-Lô—the kind of crossroads that decides a campaign. The Germans threw together Kampfgruppe Heintz from the 275th Infantry to sit on it. We pushed XIX Corps—30th and 9th Infantry up front with 3rd Armored’s CCB—to rip that hinge off the door.

They fed in Panzer Lehr on the 10th and counterattacked hard on the 11th. Didn’t matter. We took Hill 91, smashed their thrusts, and CCB seized the Hauts-Vents crossroads. Result? Their screen cracked, their line started to sag, and St-Lô’s fall became a question of hours, not weeks.

Lesson: take the crossroads, break the spine, keep moving. Momentum wins France.

~~ General Howitzer

5 VP’s

4 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 4

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Location:

France

Year:
1944

Theater:

Western Front

Summary:

The asymmetrical starting pattern of this game makes for an interesting and challenging battle for both sides.

Objectives: 5 Medals
The town of La Rocher has two hexes worth one medal each.)

Terrain:

Countryside

Troops:

Allies – 9 Infantry, 2 Armor, 1 Artillery

Axis – 7 Infantry, 1 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy:

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Link:

Sword Beach (Breakthrough)

by GeneralHowitzer | Sep 23, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Beach, Breakthrough Game, Countryside, D-Day, Infantry, Location: France, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Sword Beach (Breakthrough)

historical description

VP’s

12

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 4

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Beach

Context:

Historical

Location:

Normandy

Year:

1944

Codename:

Summary:

12 Victory Points:

12 Medals, including Permanent Medal Objectives for Allied control of Casino Riva Bella, Strong-point Cod, and Strong-point Trout. Also a 2-Medal Temporary Objective for which ever side controls the Orne River and Canal. Finally, massive 3-Medal Temporary Objective for whomever controls the two Hexes representing Caen. Initially the Axis player gets these three medals at game start.

Terrain:

Countryside and Beach

Troops:

Allies – 8 Infantry including 3 Elites, 5 Armor, 2 Artillery

Axis – 10 Infantry, 3 Armor, 2 Artillery

Allies:

Big Picture Strategy: Like all beach scenarios, the number one primary goal for your forces is to Get Off the Beach!. Do not pause to capture the three frontline enemy medals. You can encircle them and then attack from all sides.

Axis:

Big Picture Strategy: Get your forces forward. Bring the battle to them.

Author.

URL