Clervaux – The Road to Bastogne

by GeneralHowitzer | Jan 4, 2026 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Combat Cards, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Western

Clervaux - The Road to Bastogne

Clervaux Axis Left

Clervaux Axis Center

Clervaux Axis Right

Clervaux Allies Right

Clervaux Allies Center

Clervaux Allies Left

Memoir 44 Clervaux

December 16-17th, 1944:

Clervaux was the first hard punch the Germans threw on their dash toward Bastogne during the opening of the Battle of the Bulge, and our boys met it head-on.

At Clervaux, the men of the 110th Infantry Regiment were badly outnumbered and staring down German armor—but they didn’t blink. They fought from roadblocks, stone buildings, and that old castle like seasoned professionals, squeezing every minute they could out of the enemy. They knew the mission wasn’t to win ground; it was to bleed time.

Clervaux fell, but it fell hard—and that delay threw sand in the German gears. Those precious hours helped seal Bastogne’s defenses and turned a German gamble into a fight they couldn’t win. That’s how wars are won: not by retreating fast, but by making the enemy pay for every damned mile.

~~ General Howitzer

VP’s: 8

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 6

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Winter

Location:

Belgium

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Battle of the Bulge

German Name:

Unternehmen Wacht Am Rhein

Summary:

This is a fun and exciting scenario as the Americans attempt to hold off a German onslaught of tanks and infantry in the Battle of the Bulge.

Objectives:

Eight Medals. There are also two Exit Medals for the Germans to breakthrough, and three Permanent Medal Objective (Turn Start), including the castle at Clervaux.

Battlefield:

Winter conditions, with roads and rivers cutting through the battlefield.

Troops:

Allies – 8 Infantry, 3 Armor, 1 Artillery

Axis – 9 Infantry, 7 Armor

Special Rules:

1. Winter Combat rules – two hex armor movement

2. Reduced Visibility rules – only hit with Grenades unless in Close Assault

3. Tank Destroyer (2,2,2,2), and hits Armor on Stars

3. The river is frozen, but impassable.

4. Pontoon Bridge rules – use an Attack card to build a bridge

5. Also play with Winter Combat cards in addition to regular Combat cards

6. Winter Combat Cards – two per player;

Allied Strategy:

1. Defend the Exit Hexes.

2. Defend the three Permanent Medal Objectives.

Axis Strategy:

1. First priority is to get some bridges built across the impassable Our River, so that your tremendous tank force can make a difference in this battle. Play an Attack card, and instead of moving three units, build a Bridge in that section.

Author: Days of Wonder

URL

Peleliu Landings [Overlord]

by GeneralHowitzer | Nov 24, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Beach, Destroyer, Infantry, Jungle, Location: Pacific, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Overlord Game, Pacific Theater, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Pacific

Peleliu Landings (Overlord)

Listen up. When our boys hit Peleliu, they weren’t stepping onto some quiet stretch of sand — they were walking straight into a hornet’s nest carved out of coral and steel. The Japanese didn’t waste men on the beaches; they dug themselves into the ridges, the caves, and the guts of that island, building a fortress designed to bleed us dry.

The 1st Marine Division landed under murderous fire — artillery, machine guns, everything the enemy could throw. They took casualties by the score, but they kept pushing, clawing their way off those beaches yard by yard. By nightfall, they’d carved out a foothold. Not victory — just a place to start swinging.

Peleliu wasn’t taken in a day. It was a slugging match, the kind where grit and guts matter more than numbers. And the Marines proved that when the chips are down, America’s fighting men don’t back up — they break through.

~~ General Howitzer

13 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 11

Axis – 8

Complexity:

5/5

Conditions:

Beach

Context:

Historical

Location:

Palau Islands

Year:

1944

Theater:

Pacific

Campaign:

Guadalcanal Campaign

Summary:

This is an Overlord game, so make use of the Jungle Command cards, two per side.

Objectives:

12 Medals including Territorial Control, and Exit Row medals and a sudden death hex all for the Japanese.

Terrain:

Beach and jungle terrain, and mountains, and an airfield.

Troops:

Allies – Infantry, Armor, Destroyers

Axis – Infantry, Armor, Artillery

Special Rules:

1. Majority Temporary Territorial Control – whomever controls 3 of the 4 buildings of the airfield

2. Exit Row Medals – to any Marine forces that exit

3. Imperial Japanese Army Command rules – Seishin Kyoiku Doctrine (SKD), Yamato Dashi Concept (No Surrender), Banzai War Cry

4. US Marine Corps rules – Gung Ho! rule – activate one extra unit more than the card played indicates

5. Airfield rules – no movement restrictions, no combat restrictions, no line of site restrictions

6. Jungles – Movement, must stop; Battle, only if starting in, or adjacent to hex; blocks Line of Sight;

7. Minefields,

8. Marshes,

9. Mountain terrain – only Infantry may move onto Mountains; Battle, up the mountain reduces dice by two; blocks Line of Site

10. Destroyers – attacks at 3,3,2,2,1,1,1,1

Allied Strategy:

1. The Marines should avoid the Japanese up in the mountains on their left flank. There is little to be gained in that sector. Instead direct your forces at an angle towards the center, to bring pressure to bear towards the airfield.

2. The two Exit hexes for the Marines are an excellent and achievable goal. Work your way through the jungle and send some of our boys home to safety!

3. You have a warship at your disposal on your left flank. Use it at every opportunity to degrade the enemy forces. It is close enough to the center, that you can provide some good support for the forces fighting on the center beach.

4. The Marines are able to use their Gung Ho! ability to command one additional unit – but only in one section at a time. So the Command-In-Chief (CIC) should decide which sector requires the additional unit to be ordered, to either shore up a section that needs additional defense, or to enhance an attack with one additional unit to command.

5. You start the battle with three Engineer units. Get them off the beach and into the jungle as soon as possible. They will be able to overcome the jungle terrain protections, ignoring them at Close Assault, and being able to roll three dice for each attack. This will help to quickly blunt the Japanese SKD abilities.

BIG PICTURE STRATEGY FOR BOTH SIDES:

1. Because this is an Overlord game, hand management becomes critical. At the start of the game, both sides have plenty of cards to fight with. The Allies get 11 cards, and the Axis get 8. But because they can spend up to three cards per turn, and only get replenished at the rate of 2 cards per turn, each side will begin to run out of playable cards, about half-way through the game, and will have to resort to Initiative Rolls for one of their Field Commanders.

2. The center two sections are where most of the action is going to take place. As the Marines push up toward the Airfield, and the Japanese bring their Armor out from behind the mountains, they will all converge for an awesome bloodbath on the central beach.

3. This is a long scenario with 13 Victory Points. This means strategic hits, and good defensive moves, so that you are attacking the enemy from places of protection, will slowly build up to a successful attack, unit by unit. This scenario is not won in a single decisive attack. You will need to use your forces everywhere for a total war attack methodology.

4. This is an Overlord game, so be sure to understand the rules for how the Commander-In-Chief (CIC) distributes cards, and who is authorized to attack in which sections. Clarify before the game starts, any special rules for how to apply multi-sectional cards, and Tactic cards. The official Days of Wonder Overlord rules can be found here on the General Howitzer site.

Axis Strategy

1. You have a number of powerful Armor which are capable of doing great damage to the enemy on the beach. But they are blocked in by your Infantry. So get the Infantry moved out of the way, and take a couple of turns to attack the unprotected and helpless forces on the beach.

2. Keep a few forces close to the Airfield, which is a Permanent Majority Medal Objective. If the enemy controls three of the four building hexes at the end of their turn, this will earn a Permanent Medal Objective.

3. Also keep a few forces close to the Exit hexes to prevent the enemy from escaping, and earning medals.

4. Because of the Seishin Kyoiku Doctrine (SKD), your full force Infantry units get to roll one extra dice in Close Assault attacks. If you move your forces quickly forward onto the beach, you can capture the Marines at their weakest, and with your extra dice rolls, either kill them, or push them back into the sea for retreat kills. (Although it should be noted that historically, the Japanese attacked the beach from a distance and waited for the Marines to come to them, all the while inflicting heavy losses upon them for each territorial gain.)

5. You have two Artillery units which can reach all the way to the beach. Use them at every opportunity to attack the enemy from a distance. Do not move out your forces too early to the beach. Make them come to you, and keep hitting them with the Artillery as they approach.

Author:

Days of Wonder

Link:

Night Withdrawal Exit Velocity?

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 26, 2025 | 1944, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Smackdown

As a Memoir 44 commander, here is your chance to test your battlefield instincts against other commanders. Find the best course of action to protect your troops and defeat the enemy. Review the battle situation and then add your comment to the discussion.

This pic shows the successful escape of the Axis forces during the scenario, Night Withdrawal. They finished off their escape with a Their Finest Hour card which fortunately rolled dice to allow the last two units to escape right before they would have surely been finished off by the Allied forces, who were closing in.

As you can see in this pic, four out of the five medals achieved were due to exiting the battlefield.

Is this a normal result for this scenario? Are the Axis usually able to escape with so many forces?

How’s it work out for you? Do you normally win your medals by killing of enemy units, or by escaping?

Counter-Attack of Panzer Lehr

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 9, 2025 | 1944, 2025 Refresh, 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. You have more firepower than the enemy, but you will need to get into the protection of the hedgerows before they come down the lanes. Then you will be in a position to halt their counter-attack action.

Axis Strategy:

1. Historically, this counter-attack by the Axis failed, so you will have an uphill battle to win. But any units you get across the Allied baseline will result in a medal for you.

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, 2025 Refresh, 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. Your Armor is outnumbered five to two. You will need to coordinate your forces of both the Infantry and Armor working together to fend off the Panzer Lehr forces.

Axis Strategy:

1. You have an overwhelming Armor advantage, but your tanks are blocked and far away from the action (which is more than likely the village of Le Rocher), so you need to get them there as soon as possible.

Battle Reports

Author:

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

Link:

Belle-Lande

by GeneralHowitzer | Oct 2, 2025 | 1944, 2025 Refresh, 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. Historically, the Allies had a hard time attacking Belle-Lande, so your forces on the right flank will be facing a challenge if they attempt to cross the open land into the two defended hexes on the right. It may be better to pursue the ridge on the right and the hedgerows on the left for the Infantry forces. Then your Armor can attack from a distance to soften the town defenses before you launch your Infantry against it.

2. Every hex of Belle-Lande is a Temporary Medal Objective. Taking out just two hexes of Infantry and moving in, will gain you four of the five Medals needed to win.

Axis Strategy:

1. This is primarily a defensive role for the Axis. Stay behind your sandbags and fire away.

Battle Reports

Author:

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

Link: