Tightening the Noose

by GeneralHowitzer | Jun 2, 2025 | 1939, Armor, Artillery, Breakthrough Game, Countryside, Infantry, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Eastern

Tightening the Noose

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“Listen up! In August ‘39, the Red Army under that tough son of a gun, Zhukov, went to work along the Khalkhin-Gol River—right on the border of Mongolia and Manchuria. The Japanese wanted to push their luck and bite off a chunk of land, but Zhukov wasn’t about to let that happen.

He took tanks, infantry, artillery, and air power, and he tightened that noose like a hangman on payday! Those Japanese 23rd Division boys didn’t know what hit ‘em—no way out, no way to retreat, just the iron hammer of the Soviets crushing them from every side.

The result? A total victory for Zhukov and his Red Army, driving the Japanese back and showing the world that these Russians could fight, surround, and destroy like nobody’s business. That’s the kind of operation I like, boys—surround ‘em, cut ‘em down, and don’t stop until the job’s done!”

~~ General Howitzer

8 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 7

Axis – 4

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Mongolia

Year:

1939

Theater:

Eastern

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

8 VP’s, plus Territorial Objective Medals for each side

Battlefield:

Countrsyide with a road and a river stretching up and down the battlefield

Troops:

Allies (Soviet Union) – 9 Infantry, 9 Armor, 3 Artillery

Axis (Japanese ) – 10 Infantry, 2 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Link:

Download PDF

The Cadets of Saumur

by GeneralHowitzer | May 31, 2025 | 1940, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Overlord Game, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

The Cadets of Saumur (Overlord Map)

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“Let me give it to you straight, boys—back in ‘39, before the big show kicked off in Europe, there was a damn fine brawl brewing out east along the Khalkhin-Gol River. The Soviets, under that iron bastard Zhukov, took on the Japanese who were itching for a scrap in the borderlands.

Those Russians didn’t just trade blows—they went for the kill. They wrapped the Japanese 23rd Division up tight in a steel trap—tanks on the flanks, artillery in the rear, and air power pounding them into the dirt. No escape, no second chances—just one big, smoking ruin when the Red Army was done.

The result? The Japanese learned a lesson in modern warfare and didn’t forget it, and Zhukov walked out of there with a reputation as the man who could gut an enemy army whole. That’s how you fight a battle, boys—encircle, crush, and leave nothing but wreckage behind!”

~~ General Howitzer

Timeline of the Battle:

June 17, 1940 –
German forces approach the Loire River as French defenses collapse elsewhere. Cadets at Saumur are ordered to hold the bridges.
June 18, 1940 –
The cadets and their instructors begin preparing defenses, mining bridges, and setting up strongpoints.
June 19, 1940 –
German troops launch assaults to seize the Saumur bridges. The cadets, though heavily outnumbered, fiercely resist throughout the day and destroy bridges to slow the advance.
June 20, 1940 –
After holding for two days and inflicting delays on the Germans, the cadets receive orders to withdraw. German forces occupy Saumur later that day.

12 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies (France) – 8

Axis – 10

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1940

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

12 VP’s with two Permanent Medal Objectives for the Axis.

Battlefield:

Countryside with many rivers, railroad, and towns

Troops:

Allies – 17 Infantry, 2 Armor, 3 Artillery

Axis – 20 Infanty, 3 Armor, 3 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author: Jdrommel

Link:

The Khalkhin-Gol Encirclement

by GeneralHowitzer | May 30, 2025 | 1939, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Overlord Game, Scenario, Special Weapons, Strategic

The Khalkhin-Gol Encirclement (Overlord Map)

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“Let me give it to you straight, boys—back in ‘39, before the big show kicked off in Europe, there was a damn fine brawl brewing out east along the Khalkhin-Gol River. The Soviets, under that iron bastard Zhukov, took on the Japanese who were itching for a scrap in the borderlands.

Those Russians didn’t just trade blows—they went for the kill. They wrapped the Japanese 23rd Division up tight in a steel trap—tanks on the flanks, artillery in the rear, and air power pounding them into the dirt. No escape, no second chances—just one big, smoking ruin when the Red Army was done.

The result? The Japanese learned a lesson in modern warfare and didn’t forget it, and Zhukov walked out of there with a reputation as the man who could gut an enemy army whole. That’s how you fight a battle, boys—encircle, crush, and leave nothing but wreckage behind!”

~~ General Howitzer

18 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies (Russia) – 12

Axis (Japan) – 8

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Mongolia

Year:

1939

Theater:

Eastern

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

18 VP’s with various Medal Objectives for various territorial control.

Battlefield:

Countryside with many rivers, roads, rivers, and hills

Troops:

Allies – 16 Infantry, 18 Armor and Trucks, 3 Artillery

Axis – 21 Infanty, 7 Armor, 4 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Link:

Reichswald – The Siegried Line

by GeneralHowitzer | May 9, 2025 | 1945, Armor, Countryside, Infantry, Location: Netherlands, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Special Weapons, Strategic, Theater: Western

Reichswald - The Siegried Line

February 9th, 1945. The Reichswald—five miles of hell standing between us and the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Hitler’s war machine. You want to break Germany? You punch through there.

We stacked the odds—brought in the numbers, massed near Groesbeek, and started pushing toward Kleve. The Krauts had about 11,000 defenders, and hell, some of ’em were barely fit to fight—one unit full of men with stomach problems, another made up of deaf troops. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong.

Because they were dug into the Siegfried Line—pillboxes, dragon’s teeth, minefields—you name it. They’d flooded the land to the north and south, squeezing us into a freezing, muddy kill zone. And just when you think it couldn’t get worse? The sky opens up with six days of cold, soaking rain. Floods everywhere. Roads turned to soup. Trucks bogged down. Men freezing.

But don’t forget this: they still had paratroopers in reserve. Hardened, mean, disciplined bastards with nothing to lose.

That was the hand we were dealt. The map was a mess, the weather was hell, and the Germans were desperate—but we were coming anyway.

You are in command now. The question ain’t whether it’s hard—the question is: do you have the guts to drive through it and break their damn line?**

Because history doesn’t wait. You either make it—or get buried under it.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Netherlands

Year:

1945

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s, plus two city temporary Objective Medals

Battlefield:

Countrsyide with marsh on one side, a road running through much of it, and numerous ‘dragon’s teeth’ roadblocks which can only be removed by use of the Allied Dozer tanks.

Troops:

Allies – 10 Infantry, 3 Armor

Axis – 9 Infantry, 1 Armor

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author:

Originally played in the Dutch Open, 2022; and in The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025.

Link:

Poterie Ridge

by GeneralHowitzer | May 8, 2025 | 1944, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Special Weapons, Strategic

Poterie Ridge

July 4th, 1944—while folks back home were waving flags and lighting fireworks, the boys of the 82nd Airborne were earning every damn star on that flag with blood and grit in the fields of Normandy.

The 325th Glider Infantry and 508th Parachute Infantry, fresh off taking Hill 131, were ordered to grab La Poterie Ridge and Hill 95—the last line before Mont Castre, the Germans’ last high ground in that sector. The order came, and they didn’t hesitate. On Independence Day, they moved—through the open, under artillery cover.

But then the guns stopped. Too soon. Our boys were still in the open. The Krauts opened up with machine guns and mortars, and all hell broke loose. Those fields became a slaughterhouse—but those troopers kept pushing, kept fighting, and by nightfall, they took that ridge.

They paid for every inch of it with guts and lives. That was the last fight the 82nd Airborne saw in Normandy. By July 11, they were pulled back, replaced by the 8th Infantry, and sent back to England to get ready for the next jump.

You’re in command now. The lines are drawn. The men are ready. What comes next? That’s up to you. Just remember: fortune favors the bold—and so do the history books.

~~ General Howitzer

7 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

The Invasion of Normandy

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

7 VP’s, plus two temporary medals for the Allies

Battlefield:

The battlefield is covered with many forest and hedgerow hexes.

Troops:

Allies – 10 Infantry, 1 Artillery

Axis – 9 Infantry, equipped with machine guns and mortars

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author: Jdrommel

(Usage: Played at Chattanooga Open, 2023; and The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025)

Link:

Escouves Forest

by GeneralHowitzer | May 7, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Tactical, Theater: Western

Escouves Forest

August 1944—Écouves Forest. Thick woods, rough country, and Germans with their backs to the wall. Perfect place for a fight.

After we busted out of Normandy, the Krauts tried to make a stand in that damned forest north of Alençon, thinking trees and shadows would stop the Allied hammer. Well, General Leclerc’s French 2nd Armored Division rolled in and showed ’em that no terrain—no matter how dense—can save you when the Allies are coming.

It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t easy. The fighting was up close, personal, and vicious—tanks blasting through trees, infantry ambushed from behind every stump. But the French didn’t blink. They cut through that forest like a buzz saw through timber, rooting out the enemy one foxhole at a time.

And when the smoke cleared, the Écouves Forest was ours—and the jaws of the Falaise Pocket slammed tighter on those retreating bastards.

That fight mattered. It sped up the collapse of the German line in France and helped crack the door wide open on the road to Paris.

Moral of the story? You corner a desperate enemy in the woods, you don’t tiptoe in—you charge in, guns blazing, and don’t stop till the last one runs or drops.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 5

Complexity:

2

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s, plus the City of Ecouche for the Allies

Battlefield:

The center of the battlefield is dominated by the large Ecouves forest which is hiding some Germans.

Troops:

Allies – 6 Infantry, 6 Armor

Axis – 5 Infantry, 4 Armor

Allied Strategy:

1.

Axis Strategy

1.

Battle Reports

Author: Jdrommel

(Usage: French Open, 2022; Also played at The Finest Hour Open, Chicago 2025)

Link:

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