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)

The Battle of Sword Beach took place on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) — the easternmost of the five Allied landing beaches during the Normandy invasion. It was assigned primarily to British forces, with support from Free French commandos, as part of Operation Overlord.

By nightfall on June 6, the Allies had:

Landed over 28,000 troops
Secured a beachhead about 5 miles deep
Linked up with Canadian forces from Juno Beach
Held their positions despite German counterattacks

Listen up, men — Sword Beach wasn’t just another patch of sand; it was the gateway to Caen and the key to cracking open Hitler’s Atlantic Wall on the eastern flank. At dawn on June 6th, the British 3rd Infantry hit that beach under a storm of lead and steel. Mines, wire, and concrete — it didn’t matter. They went straight through it, methodical as a tank rolling downhill.

While naval guns thundered from offshore, the Royal Engineers cleared obstacles like veterans of a hundred storms. And those Free French commandos — they fought like lions, linking up with the boys from Pegasus Bridge to lock down the flank before Jerry could regroup.

The Germans tried to hit back with their 21st Panzer Division, and for a moment, they even reached the coast — but our airmen and artillery smashed them flat. By nightfall, the British held Sword, linked up with the Canadians at Juno, and built a bridgehead five miles deep.

Caen didn’t fall that day — but Sword showed the world how an army fights when it’s trained, disciplined, and led with purpose. That’s how you take a beach — with steel in your hands and fire in your gut.

~~ General Howitzer

VP’s

12

Card Balance:

Allies – 6

Axis – 4

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Beach

Context:

Historical

Location:

Normandy

Year:

1944

Codename:

Operation Overlord

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.

1. Once you have gotten your forces out of the water, then you can encircle the enemy at the three Permanent Medal Objectives at Casino Riva Bella, Strong-point Trout and the Chateau. Those medals are almost a given, so do not lose an excessive number of forces attacking them before you are out of the water.

3. Get your Artillery out of the water as soon as possible. They will be vital to breaking through the strongholds of the enemy on the beach. It will be especially important to take out the Artillery in the bunker as soon as possible, or it will destroy your forces.

Axis:

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

1. You have Armor stuck in your lower left flank which you need to get forward to the beach as quickly as possible. Practice some delaying techniques for a couple of turns to allow your Armor forward. You will be in a much better position to repel the enemy forces.

2. Two approaches to deal with the enemy forces in your lower right flank:

Option A: Eliminate the enemy forces on your lower right flank along the Canel de Orne as quickly as possible so that you will not have to worry about a rear-action attack. Then you can move your forces forward towards the beach.

Option B: Surround them and slowly pick them off throughout the game, saving the coup-de-grace for the end, when you can kill off the final Infantry for one Medal, and then move onto the bridge for two Medals. This will earn you three! medals in a single turn. Save it for last to win the round.

Author: Days of Wonder

URL

The Tatsinskaya Raid

by GeneralHowitzer | Sep 22, 2025 | 1942, Armor, Artillery, Breakthrough Game, Infantry, Location: Russia, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Strategic, Theater: Eastern, Winter

The Tatsinskaya Raid

By late December ’42, Paulus’ 6th Army was choking inside the Stalingrad pocket, and the Soviets slammed the door tighter with Operation Little Saturn. They tore through the Italian 8th Army like paper, and Badanov’s 24th Tank Corps drove a steel fist 150 miles deep into German lines. His T-34s rolled right onto Tatsinskaya airfield, smashing up Junkers 52s that were the lifeline to Stalingrad.

The Germans scrambled the 11th Panzer and 306th Infantry to hit back, and they hit hard. Badanov’s tanks took a pounding, but he held that airfield for four bloody days before clawing his way back to his own lines. The cost was high, but the result was clear: the German relief effort was crippled, Stalingrad was left to rot, and the mighty Wehrmacht had been dealt another hammer blow on the Eastern Front.

~~ General Howitzer

VP’s

10 including the Airport Permanent Objective Medal

Card Balance:

Allies – 4

Axis – 5

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Winter

Context:

Historical

Location:

Russia

Year:

1942

Codename:

Operation Little Saturn

Summary:

Victory Points:

10 Medals, including the airport Permanent Medal Objective

Terrain:

Winter terrain

Troops:

Allies – Infantry, Armor, Artillery

Axis – Infantry, Armor, Artillery

Allies:

1. Your forces have a massive armor advantage over the Axis in this raid scenario. You need to coordinate your efforts and arrive at the frontlines of battle together.

2. Your very first challenge is to deal with the Artillery and Infantry hidden in the forest right in the front center of the battle field. Until you deal with them, they will hamper all of your attack efforts.

3. If you can deal with the Artillery quickly, before the Axis bring down their other units, you can gain a couple of medals very quickly, as that Artillery is the key defensive point on this end of the battlefield. But if you do not have the cards and forces to take it out quickly, you will destroy several units during the attack. [Athafil, Italy]

4. The airport is a Permanent Medal Objective. You don’t need to stay on the hex, so you can just grab it and then leave to a more defensive position.

Axis:

1. This is primarily a defensive scenario for the Axis. You need to engage the enemy, but if you attempt to battle the massive armor forces out in the open, your forces will get decimated.

2. Your forces are stuck behind the forests. You need to get them, especially the armor, forward as quickly as possible to support your advance forces which are defending the airport.

3. The airport is a Permanent Medal Objective for the enemy. Hold it as long as you can. Make them pay for it with a lot of units.

4. Your Artillery in the center frontline is your strongest asset. Use it at every opportunity.

5. You have many assets stuck in the forests and marches in the back. Get them out as quickly as possible and forward to provide additional attack strength and support with your forward Artillery.

Author.

URL

Opportunity at Falaise

by GeneralHowitzer | Aug 31, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Special Weapons, Tactical

Opportunity at Falaise

Operation Tractable was no walk in the park—it was a slugging match to crack open Falaise and slam shut the German retreat. After Totalize stalled at Hill 195, General Simonds didn’t waste time crying over it—he drew up a new plan and hit them again on August 14.

This time the Canadians rolled in daylight, the 4th Armoured hammering from the west, the 3rd Infantry grinding from the east. Smoke screens masked their advance, Kangaroos hauled men through fire, and German anti-tank guns spat death every step of the way. The enemy counterattacked hard, slowing progress, but the Canadians kept pushing. By the 16th, they broke into Falaise, and after two more days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the city was theirs.

It wasn’t the end, but it was the first crack in the Falaise Pocket. With Falaise in Allied hands, the jaws were closing on the German 7th Army—and they knew it.

~~ General Howitzer

VP’s

5

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

4

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

Normandy

Year:

1944

Campaign:

Battle of Normandy: Operation Tractable

Summary:

Victory Points:

5 Medals, including a temporary medal for the town of Falaise.

Terrain:

Countryside with a river running across two thirds of the battlefield.

Troops:

Allies – 8 Infantry, 4 Armor

Axis – 8 Infantry including 1 Anti-tank gun, 1 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allies:

1. This scenario has a unique feature for the Allies, in that they can layout smoke screens on three hexes. It is probably best to put those in front of the closest enemy forces so that they cannot fire, while you prepare your attack.

2. Your best opportunity as Allies will be in your right flank. You can attack the units on the hill, and then begin putting pressure on the central section, and push towards the Medal in the town. The units in the woods in the center section are particularly hard to kill as the fordable river causes you to lose one attack dice, so you will be hitting the woods with just 1D per close assault Infantry unit.

Axis:

1. Your weakest area will be your left flank. With the river to protect the rest of your forces, you will need to get your armor to the left side in order to defend against the forces coming at you on that side.

2. You have an Anti-tank Infantry unit on the hill, which you can use to hit any Armor that comes your way, since it will also score a hit with Stars.

3. Protect the Medal Objective in the town. Do not allow the hex to remain empty if the enemy Armor gets near it.

Author.

URL

Wittmann’s Final Battle

by GeneralHowitzer | Jul 29, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Countryside, Infantry, Location: France, Medal Objectives, Memoir 44, Scenario, Special Weapons, Strategic, Theater: Western

Wittmann’s Final Battle

Wittmann’s last ride came on August 8, ’44, when the Canadians kicked off Operation Totalize south of Caen. He rolled out in his Tiger, thinking he’d stop the Allied push cold—but this wasn’t the Eastern Front, and the Allies weren’t amateurs anymore.

Somewhere near Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, his luck ran out. A Sherman Firefly—packing that damn fine 17-pounder—put a round through his armor and ended the fight before it started. Wittmann and his crew never saw it coming.

That day didn’t just take out Germany’s star tank ace—it proved the tide had turned, and our boys could kill Tigers just as fast as they came at us.

~~ General Howitzer

6 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies – 5

Axis – 5

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Countryside

Context:

Historical

Location:

France

Year:

1944

Theater:

Western

Campaign:

Battle of Normandy

Codename:

Operation Totalizer

Summary:

Objectives:

6 VP’s

Battlefield:

Countryside

Troops:

Allies – 9 Infantry, 4 Armor

Axis – 8 Infantry, 2 Armor, 1 Artillery

Allied Strategy:

1. Big Picture Strategy: You need to move fast during the cover of night. Every turn there is a possibility of getting a star which will increase daylight and extend the range of the enemy artillery.

2. You have four special forces units which can very quickly move in range to attack.

3. There are two objective medals in the right flank. You can keep pushing your forces in that direction as you have opportunity.

Axis Strategy

1. Big picture strategy; you will do well to delay and allow the presence of daylight to assist your defensive forces with your artillery. Do not rush out to attack. Allow several turns to take place so that you get more daylight and thus more range for your artillery.

2. Wittmann’s battalion is the four-tank unit with the special medal. It can ignore the first retreat flag, which can assist you in close quarters battles with enemy armor.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Resource:

BGA

Umurbrogol Pocket

by GeneralHowitzer | Jul 15, 2025 | 1944, Armor, Artillery, Campaign Book: V2, Infantry, Location: Pacific, Memoir 44, Pacific Theater, Scenario, Tactical, Theater: Pacific

Umurbrogol Pocket

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The Battle of the Umurbrogol Pocket in November 1944 was one of the fiercest and most grueling phases of the Battle of Peleliu during World War II. U.S. Marines faced deeply entrenched Japanese defenders in a mountainous, cave-ridden area known as “Bloody Nose Ridge.”

General Howitzer’s summary:

The Umurbrogol Pocket was a nightmare carved into rock—our Marines went up against die-hard defenders holed up in caves. The Japanese were dug in deep, fighting to the last man, and made us pay for every inch in blood. Flamethrowers, grenades, and guts—that’s what it took to root them out. It was slow, savage, and costly, but in the end, we crushed them. That ridge showed just how far the enemy would go—and how much farther we were willing to go to win.

5 VP’s

Card Balance:

Allies (US Marines) – 5

Axis – 4

Complexity:

3

Conditions:

Jungle Beach

Context:

Historical

Location:

Marianas & Palau Islands

Year:

1944

Theater:

Pacific

Campaign:

The Battle of Peleliu

Codename:

Operation Stalemate II

Summary:

Objectives:

5 VP’s plus a Last to Occupy Medal Objective

Battlefield:

Combination of hills and hills with caves .

Troops:

Allies – 9 Infantry, 4 Armor, and 2 Artillery

Axis – 8 Infantry

Allied Strategy:

1. Use your Artillery and Armor as much as you can to attack the Japanese defenders at a distance. When they are sufficiently weakened, you can move in your infantry, beginning with your Engineers to finish up the forward units.

2. The fresh water river is a victory medal which goes to the Last to Occupy. Keep some forces on hand to grab it as a final victory point.

Axis Strategy

1. You have a very strong defensive position which allows you to quickly move between caves and hide your weak units when necessary.

2. Take advantage of your Seishin Kyoiku powers and attack any enemy troops using the Banzai War Cry which come within two hexes of your Infantry.

3. Guard the fresh water source, and keep the enemy away from it, as they will attempt to grab it on their final move.

Battle Reports

Author:

Days of Wonder

Resource:

Campaign Book, Volume 2