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Strategy

Memoir '44

Tactics

The Command Card

May 20, 2026

Play Smarter. Strike Harder.

GeneralHowitzer.com

Memoir '44 News

THE FOCUS THIS MONTH IS ON THE "BOMBARDMENT" AND "ARTILLERY BOMBARD" CARDS.

How to use them
Historical Lessons on Artillery usage

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UPCOMING MEMOIR 44 TOURNAMENTS:

UK Games Expo

UK Games Expo (UKGE) is the largest tabletop Games Convention in the UK, where all aspects of the tabletop gaming hobby are represented under one roof. The next UK Games Expo will be from Friday 29 May 2026 to Sunday 31 May 2026 at the NEC, Birmingham and Hilton Metropole Hotel.

While Memoir ’44 may not have a published official tournament schedule yet, UKGE traditionally hosts open play and competitive events across many board game categories.

May 29-31, 2026

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US Open

Location: the National Museum of the Marine Corps

August 22-23, 2026, Washington, DC

STRATEGY & TACTICS

The Barrage and Artillery Bombard Cards

There are two awesome cards available to the Memoir 44 commmander.

Should you be fortunate enough to receive them in your hand, you will want to make the best use of it.

Do not waste these valuable cards. They can decisively turn the tide of the battle in your favor, if you know how to use them.

Let's talk first about the Barrage card:

This is a great card to begin a game by either taking out well-guarded artillery, or to save it for a coup-de-grace at the end of a game.

According to Alexis Beuve of the "Memoir 44 – Tactics and Strategy Guide", there are three rules that govern the use of the Barrage card:

1. Interdiction – use it to deal with a strong threat that would be difficult to deal with in any other way.

Think of a heavily shielded artillery or armor in a city or forest hex with a sandbag. You would have to throw a lot of troops against it to gain the victory. But the Barrage can very quickly cut that force in half or even more.

2. Strategic – Any attack from Barrage needs to play a key role in turning the tide of the battle, not just a tactical hit.

That is, an attack has the likelihood to win a medal, and/or gain control of a territorial section.

3. Accessibility – If the unit survives the barrage, you need to be able to attack it again with other forces.

This is one point that is often overlooked. If you attack, for example, an Artillery tucked way back behind the lines, with a sandbag, the possibility of a complete kill is not high. So, be certain that you can take out the unit with the barrage. Do not waste a Barrage on just weakening an enemy unit, unless you have a very clear and specific plan for finishing that unit on the next turn.

Use the Barrage well, and turn the tide in your favor.

How about the Artillery Bombardment card?

If you have an Artillery Bombard card, you need to plan for its use. With some Section cards first, move your Artillery forward where needed to gain an extra dice roll for each one. Usually this will change your firepower from 1D to 2D. But for the Artillery Bombard card, since you get to throw twice for each Artillery, this can have a massive increase on your firepower. If you have just one Artillery unit, you will move from 1D to 2D, but if you happen to have three Artillery units, then your firepower will increase from 3D to 6D!

This card takes planning, so do not waste it at the fist moment. Move your Artillery into position, prepare your attack, and then when ready, rain down fire from above upon the enemy!

From General Howitzer:

The Battle of the Seelow Heights

(April 16–19, 1945)

The Power of a Barrage

Artillery was a decisive factor in many battles during WW2.

One of the more notable instances was the Battle of Seelow Heights in 1945, near the end of the war.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights (April 16–19, 1945) was a massive World War II artillery battle and the final major defensive stand by German forces before Berlin. Over 9,000 Soviet guns and rockets fired roughly 500,000 shells in a 30-minute opening barrage, targeting the German 9th Army on the Oder River.

Massive Firepower: The Soviet bombardment was one of the largest in history, featuring artillery pieces placed every 11 feet along a 18.5-mile front.

What was the impact of this massive artillery barrage against the Germans?

The barrage was immense but only partially effective. It inflicted heavy disruption and casualties, yet failed to achieve a clean breakthrough on Day One, forcing the Red Army into costly frontal assaults. Ultimately, artillery mass plus relentless follow-on fires still decided the battle—but over several days, not hours.

Soviet artillery outside Berlin

( Photographer: Unknown)

Lesson for Memoir 44 commanders: Artillery alone rarely wins a war. You will need to follow up your Artillery attacks with other units, such as Infantry to move in, and finish off the enemy. The goal of using a card like Barrage or Artillery Bombardment is to soften up the enemy so that you experience less losses when your Infantry assault the enemy positions.

Position of soviet and german troops in Seelow hills battle

(Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 only as published by the Free Software Foundation.)

GRAND CAMPAIGNS

There are many campaigns on the GeneralHowitzer.com site.

You can play battles in historical order if you like, and follow the Campaign Guidelines which are also available.

https://generalhowitzer.com/campaigns/

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