General Howitzer’s Field Guide to Memoir 44

A Memoir 44 Strategy & Tactics Community

Liberation of Paris – Attack or Hide?

by | Nov 22, 2024 | Memoir 44, Smackdown

Attack or Defend?

So, historically the Axis lost this battle, and according to the DoW Battle Reports, the Allies win 75% of the time. So it is a pretty tough battle for the Axis. So what should the Axis do in this situation?  Go up against the full force of the Allies on the right flank, of four Armor and two Infantry? Or practice a strategic retreat and live to fight another day?

I have tried fighting and trying to get some early hits on the Allied forces. The problem is that even with some successful hits, there are just too many of them left to fight.  So this time, I decided to retreat into the woods, and fight from a better defensive position in the woods at d8.

Was this the right call or not?

What do you think?

 

Smackdown_LiberationParis_choice1

So here is what happened in the next several turns.  I think that I held up well, since I was firing from a protected position, and his armor was in the open:So they line up against me, and took out one armor in the town on the lower right section.

Then I fired back and took out two of his armor figures.

Next turn, one of his armor units has been eliminated, and I am still there!

Fortunately, I was blessed with an abundance of right section cards to keep up the attack.

The battle’s not over yet, but I am feeling pretty good, as I am getting better results than I normally do as the defending Axis in this scenario.

And here is the current score:


So, I am one medal behind. Will probably lose, but remember that it is a two-round game, so as long as I do better than usual as Axis, I have a good chance of winning the whole game.

Juno Beach – The Kind of Dice I Want

by | Nov 21, 2024 | Beach, Memoir 44, Smackdown

When you are defending as Axis in a beach scenario, if you can’t totally destroy the enemy in a dice throw, the next best thing is to throw a Flag to force a retreat.  

Like this:

Juno Beach

This dice throw which was limited to only 2D, had one Infantry hit, and one Flag; the perfect combination.  Degrade their forces, and then push them further back onto the beach, to give you more time to hit them again.

Afterall, for beach scenarios it is all about slowing down the Allied advance.  And in this case, (if you can’t get a hit, then at least) Flags are your friend!

 

Agree or not?

Battle of Bataan

by | Nov 19, 2024 | Jungle, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario

Battle of Bataan: Abucay Line

Scenario_Battle-Bataan_setup

On January 7th, 1942 Japan invaded the Philippines. Under orders from General MacArthur American troops and their allies retreated to a defensive line that stretched from Mt. Bataan to the China Sea. The American troops, although outnumbering Japan, were of mixed quality and had low morale. After three months of hard fighting and with American supplies dwindling, the line broke and thousands of American troops were forced to surrender.

6 VP’s

2 victory metals are placed at the bottom of the American line. Japanese units who make it to the hexs between the metals count as a victory point and are moved to the Japanese players victory stand.

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 6

For the Air Power card Japan will roll 2 dice and America will roll 1

Complexity:

2

Conditions:

Jungle

Context:

Historical

Location:

Year:

1942

Theater:

Pacific Theater

Campaign:

Codename:

Summary:

Requires base Memoir ’44 and Pacific Theater Expansion. Imperial Japanese army command rules are in effect. Marine rules are in effect for units marked with the Marine emblem. Units marked with Chindits emblem are Philippino guerilla fighters and follow same rules as French resistance.

Objectives:

This is a six VP scenario, with Medal Objectives

Battlefield:

Jungle

Troops:

(There is no indication from the author of the troop deployments.)

Allies – 

Axis –     

Allied Strategy:

Axis Strategy:

Author:

Fan Creation

Link:

Best First Move – Japanese Counter-Attack

by | Nov 17, 2024 | Memoir 44, Smackdown

Take a look at this start for the Allies in Japanese Counter-Attack.  

Given the hand I have, and all other battlefield considerations, what is the best move here?

Normally, you will want to soften up the enemy first thing with an AirPower Card.  I was about to do that, when I remembered this:

No AirPower is allowed with only a 2 of night vision.  This also excludes using the artillery for any section cards.

And without artillery, all of the center section cards are pretty unusable, as I only have one infantry in the center, which cannot attack alone.

And at this stage of the game, using Their Finest Hour, would be wasted.

So what to do?

Vassieux – Defensive Consolidation

by | Nov 17, 2024 | Memoir 44, Smackdown

What would you do as your first move?

So my very first action as Allies, was to pull back my forces. The Axis were coming in hot with six hexes of infantry against my group of three. 

So I pulled back my already half-power infantry at d5 to the hill at E4. And my three-quarter power infantry at F4 to the hill at F3; and my third infantry which was actually only two hexes away from the enemy Infantry at G6, to the forest at G3.   
The end result was that all three of my infantry were able to make 1D attacks, resulting in only a loss for the enemy of 1 figure.  

But my forces were secure for the next enemy attack. And since I was outnumbered, I thought that placement in defensive positions on the hills and forest was the best spot from which to battle. 

Agree or Disagree? Do you think I should have moved forward and attacked, in the hopes of taking out one unit? Or backup and fight more slowly and less powerfully?

~~ General Howitzer.