Memoir ‘44 … twenty years on

MEMOIR '44 was created by Richard Borg and published in 2004 by Days of Wonder and has proven to be a very popular hybrid miniatures/board game. I own the basic set as well as most of the supplements and one of the scenario books, and over the years I have enjoyed playing the game. In fact, it was playing MEMOIR ‘44 that sparked off my development of MEMOIR OF BATTTLE (MOB), MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOBAT) and eventually THE PORTABLE WARGAME.

A new, revised version of the game has (MEMOIR ‘44 REFRESH) been released to mark the twentieth anniversary of the game’s release … and I just could not resist buying a copy. I ordered it via Amazon, and it arrived on Wednesday.

The box contains:

• 1 x A double-sided board
• 144 x Axis and Allied miniatures
• 36 x Obstacles
• 44 x Double-sided terrain tiles
• 60 x Command cards
• 22 x Summary cards
• 8 x Attack dice
• 6 x Activation tokens
• 2 x Cardholders
• 1 x Rulebook
• 1 x Scenario book

If one compares the two editions, the new version includes the following changes:

• New elevation rules: Units on a higher elevation can now shoot over their own adjacent troops.
• More scenarios: The new edition includes a total of 22 rather than the original's 16.
1. Pegasus Bridge
2. Sainte-Mère-Église
3. Sword Beach
4. Pointe Du Hoc
5. Omaha Beach (First Wave)
6. Mont Mouchet
7. Battlegroup Heintz at Hauts-Vents
8. Belle-Lande
9. Panzer Lehr at Hauts-Vents
10. Counterattack of Panzer Lehr
11. Hauts-Vents is taken
12. Vassieux, Vercors
13. Operation Cobra
14. Counterattack on Mortain
15. Toulon
16. Liberation of Paris
17. Montélimar
18. Arnhem Bridge
19. Arracourt
20. Saint Vith, Ardennes
21. Saverne Gap, Vosges
22. Omaha Beach - Overlord (this requires two game boards)
• New miniatures: The new edition has re-modelled miniatures that are made of a harder, more detailed plastic.
• Activation tokens: The new edition includes activation tokens to track which units have moved and fired.
• Card holders: The game now includes two curved card holders fore players to place their cards in.
• New dice: New, plastic dice, have replaced the original wooden ones.
• Terrain pieces: The sandbags and barbed wire are now produced in a neutral grey colour, unlike those in the original game where they were coloured for either the Axis or Allied side.
• Terrain pieces: Some new, double-sides terrain tiles(e.g. sea walls) have been added.
• Rulebook: The rulebook has updated and reorganised
• Box: The new edition’s box is larger and thicker, with a better designed insert for storing the components.
• Box art: The new edition uses a slightly different colour palette and the box art has been updated.

All-in-all, the new edition is a worthy celebration of the original game and - in my opinion - was well worth buying. All I’ve got to do now is to persuade someone at my local club to play it!

Working towards a set of 'universal' wargames rules

Whilst I was on my recent cruise I had time to give quite a lot of thought to the rules I have been using in the Zubia-based mini-campaigns I have fought since Christmas ... and have come to the conclusion that I am on the verge of putting together a set of simple, fast-play wargames rules that will be adaptable to a variety of different historical periods.

The 'universal' wargames rules that are evolving are based upon the work I had previously done when I wrote the following:

• THE PORTABLE WARGAME
• MEMOIR OF BATTLE (MOB)
• MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOBAT)
• ITCHY & SCRATCHY

They also draw heavily upon the work of Joseph Morschauser and Richard Borg.

In a nutshell the rules can be summarised as follows:

• Units have initial strength values of 4 (infantry), 3 (cavalry), and 2 (artillery);
• Units retain an undiminished ability to fight (i.e. they throw the same number of combat dice) until they are destroyed (i.e. their strength value is reduced to 0);
• When one side's remaining strength value is reduced to 50% of the combined strength value they began the battle with, they cannot continue to advance from their existing positions, although they may withdraw and continue to defend themselves; when both sides are reduced to 50% of the combined strength value they began the battle with, the battle ends;
• A card-driven unit activation system is used;
• Unit movement is restricted by the terrain the unit is moving through and whether or not it is engaging in combat during its current activation;
• One combat resolution system for both fire and close combat;
• The combat resolution system uses standard D6 dice, with the number of dice thrown depending upon the range at which the combat is taking place;
• The combat resolution system uses pairs of dice to determine 'hits' on enemy units (i.e. 1 + 1 = 'hit' on an enemy artillery unit; 2 + 2 or 3 + 3 = 'hit' on an enemy cavalry unit; 4 + 4 or 5 + 5 or 6 + 6 = 'hit' on an enemy infantry unit; enemy units in cover require these scores plus an additional pair to be 'hit')

I had initially decided to use special D6 dice similar to those used in Richard Borg's BATTLE CRY and MEMOIR '44 rules, but I found that my attempts to do so were flawed (i.e. the dice seemed to end up unbalanced) so I reverted to a simpler system based on the one used in my ITCHY & SCRATCHY rules. (The original idea for this combat resolution system came from Archduke Piccolo [see my blog entry of 14th September 2013 and his blog entry of 13th September 2013].)

These rules have now been set down on paper, but require some more play-testing before I make them more widely available. In the meantime I want to complete varnishing and basing my collection of Del Prado pre-painted 25/28mm-scale Napoleonic figures before the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo in June.

My birthday celebrations

First of all I would like to thank everyone who sent me birthday greetings ... including Google!

The first thing that I do most mornings after getting up, feeding the cat, and making my wife a cup of tea is to read my emails ... and the long list of them from friends and regular blog readers who wanted to wish me a happy birthday was a great way to start the day. (The cat joined in the celebrations by bolting down its breakfast and then 'revisiting' it all over the carpet outside our home office. It certainly brought me back down to earth with a bit of a bang.)

My personal celebrations began on Friday when Sue and I went out for lunch in the Mark Masons' Hall Carvery Restaurant, St James's, with some friends. We sat by the window in the beautifully decorated restaurant, overlooking St James's Street and the entrance to St James's Palace. The food was excellent (an hors d’oeuvres trolley, followed by a selection of roast meats with all the trimmings, a dessert trolley or cheese selection, and tea or coffee to finish up with) and including wine it cost just over £33.00 each. The quality of the food was more than matched by the company, and the three hours we spent over lunch seemed to zip past and was a great way to begin my celebrations.

After reading my emails on Saturday morning, Sue and I went to Café Rouge in Bluewater for a full English breakfast, followed by a bit of light retail therapy. We got home just after 1.00pm, had a drink, and then I opened my birthday cards and presents. The latter included INLAND WATER TRANSPORT IN MESOPOTAMIA by Lieutenant Colonel L J Hall (Originally published in 1919; re-published by The Naval & Military Press Limited in association with FIREPOWER, The Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich (ISBN 1 84342 952 7]). This was sent to me by my old friends and fellow wargamer, Tony Hawkins.

After lunch I sorted out some of my Prussian 25/28mm-scale Napoleonic wargames figures so that I will be able to begin basing them later this week, after which I began preparing for my birthday celebration mini-campaign. The idea for this was stolen wholesale from the campaign section of the PLAN B: RUSSIA 1941 wargame rules on the NUMBERS, WARGAMES AND ARSING ABOUT blog that is written by Old Trousers. The campaign works very simply, and uses a linear system that links together scenarios from Neil Thomas's ONE-HOUR WARGAMES.

For the sake of simplicity – and because Old Trousers has done all the preliminary work for me – I am also setting my mini-campaign in Russia in 1941. I will be using my own draft modern (i.e. World War II) rules to fight the battles, although they are currently just a mishmash of my PORTABLE WARGAME: MODERN rules and my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules ... with a few bits added.

Just after 8.00pm Sue and I went to the Saray Restaurant in Welling for my birthday dinner. The restaurant describes itself as being 'Mediterranean', but the food has a very strong Turkish element to it ... which is something that I like. The food and service was excellent ... and the experience was made all the better by the discovery that the restaurant was owned by the family of a young man that used to teach. The young man – whose name is Metin – even organised for my dessert to be delivered to our table with a lit candle in my baklava whilst 'Happy Birthday' was played over the restaurant's sound system.

The perfect end to a perfect day.

Painting figures: Another experiment ... and some related thoughts

Since returning from our recent cruise I have been experimenting with the use of cheap acrylic craft paints to paint figures ... and I am very pleased with the results.

Other than the primer, the following figure was painted using nothing but acrylic craft paint.

I decided not to use Nut Brown India Ink to 'shade' the figure ... and I don't think the figure looks any the worse for it ... as the following comparison shows.

I am now thinking about using this simple technique to paint some more 20mm-scale figures.

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Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign project ... and I began to come to the following conclusions.

• I was going to have to 'bath-tub' the whole thing if I was ever going to be able to stop it becoming a monster ... and that was a compromise that I was unsure about making.
• In order to stop the cost of the project from escalating to a level I could not justify, I was going to use as much of what I already had in terms of figures and vehicles rather than start from scratch.

In the end I decided that realistically I was unlikely to ever fulfil my dreams of a full-blown Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign, and that I had to rethink the whole thing.

At this point in my thinking I was reading through some of my old blog entries, particularly the play-test battles that I fought between Morschauserland and Eastland ... and it made me wonder if I should consider rejigging the whole thing along similar imagi-nation lines. The pluses in favour of this are:

• I already have an imagi-world with suitable imagi-nations. (This would enable me to avoid the ethical conundrum I would otherwise have to face regarding whether or not to wargame the politically/racially-motivated excesses committed by both sides during the real war.)
• I would not be restricted to using specific model vehicles, aircraft, ships, figures, and even uniforms for my imagi-world version of the Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War. (I recently 'found' a large number of Spanish Civil War figures that I could use for smaller allied contingents and/or militia.)
• I could use one or more of the sets of wargame rules that I already have to hand including:
• MEMOIR '44
• MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT)
• THE PORTABLE WARGAME: MODERN
• MORSCHAUSER'S MODERN RULES (adapted for a grid)
• RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES (both the original and the TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED versions)

The negatives are:

• That I doubt that I could find a regular opponent to control one of the two sides ... but as most of my wargaming is done solo, this is not a major consideration.
• That it might not be seen as 'proper' wargaming by some people within the hobby ... but I have been around long enough not to worry too much about what those sort of people think any more.

I am not fully committed to this course of action as yet ... but the more I think about it, the more attractive it becomes.

The immediate future

My recent visit from the black dog, followed by the cruise my wife and I took to the Western Mediterranean, has given me the opportunity to think about my wargaming and my blogging. Since I got back from the cruise I have been blogging a lot less than I had previously (I was up to three blog entries a day at one point!) and have felt much better for it ... and so I am trying to discipline myself to writing no more than one blog entry per day. During the cruise I also read through quite a few of my previous blog entries, and noticed that I had set myself targets that I had not met ... and that I had then stressed myself trying to achieve them.

That will not be happening again.

So what will be happening in the immediate future?

Firstly I have two more blog entries to write about my recent cruise. One will be about Sir John Moore's tomb and its surrounding garden, which my wife and I visited whilst we were in La Coruña. The other will be about the small military museum that is situated in La Coruña.

Secondly I hope to be taking part next Sunday in a wargame that deals with the 1920 Battle for Warsaw. This is being organised by one of the members of the Jockey's Field Irregulars and will feature 15mm-scale figures, a large squared terrain board, and Richard Brooks's OP14 rules.

Over the next week or so I will be very busy on the Masonic front, and this is going to take up quite a bit of my time. In a week's time one of the Lodges to which I belong will be doing a Third Degree, and the rehearsal for that is taking place this evening at Freemason's Hall in central London. Tomorrow evening – and on the following Tuesday evening – I am taking part in a rehearsal for the Installation of the new Master into the Chair of my Mother Lodge ... and the actual ceremony will be taking place on the following Wednesday. Although I don't have a lot to say and do at either ceremony, I do need to practice ... and the only way that I can do that effectively is to go to the rehearsals.

Over the past few weeks I have also done some thinking about the various projects that I have yet to finish or make some progress with. Since getting back I have tried to paint some of my L-shaped built-up areas … and fell foul of the recent changes Games Workshop have made to their range of paints. As their paints are the only ones that I can find on sale in my area, I have – over recent years – used them for most of my modelling … but I doubt that I will be doing so again in the future. They are now so thin that it takes several coats to cover something adequately, and even then the paint seems to give an uneven finish. They are probably ideal for painting figures where you are going to want to shade and highlight everything, but not for the ‘gorilla with a six-inch paintbrush’-style of painting that I am capable of.

I have decided that I do want to make some progress with my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project … and the inspiration for this has come – in part – from the recent blog entries on Conrad Kinch’s blog. He has been fighting a Battle of Kursk campaign using Richard Borg’s MEMOIR ’44 rules, and it looked like the sort of wargame that I want to fight with my 20mm-scale collection. I have therefore taken the plunge and ordered a copy of the MEMOIR ’44: OPERATION OVERLORD set, which contains enough additional cards and dice for me to run games for several players. Being the sort of cussed person that I am, I will probably end up using my own rules rather than the MEMOIR ’44 ones (MOBAT [MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE] and/or Ross Macfarlane’s 20TH CENTURY SQUARE BRIGADIER immediately spring to mind), but the option of ‘borrowing’ ideas from Richard Borg’s rules is something that I would be a fool to miss out on.

As to building up my collection of 25mm/28mm-scale Napoleonic figures … well that is going to be a long-term dip-in-and-out project. I realised that this was a project that I did not want to rush, and by doing it as and when I feel the need to do something different I will be able to take my time with it.

Lots to think about

Yesterday's blog entry generated a lot of very useful comments, and I have already begun to think about possible improvements that I can make to my existing ITCHY AND SCRATCHY rules.

I have also been thinking about the mid-twentieth century version of the rules that I want to develop. I already have a title – TOMMY AND JERRY – and I have my PORTABLE WARGAME: MODERN and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE rules from which I can borrow ideas.

I do, however, have a couple of problems. One is aesthetic and revolves around whether I should develop the rules for individually-based figures or multi-figure bases. The other is more complex and revolves around my desire to re-fight the Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War ... but without the political aspects of the war between Nazism and Communism intruding into my campaign. In other words I do not want to field SS and NKVD units in my games ... but without them would I be re-fighting the Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War?

I do have a possible solution ... and that is to use imagi-nation versions of the two sides. I have already done this for my wars/battles set in 1891, and it would not be impossible to do the same for 1941. Germany would become Teutonia and Russia would be SPUR (the Soviet Peoples' United Republic). Teutonic allies could include Magyarvia, Remania, and any number of other smaller states.

The latter is just an idea at the moment ... but it would enable me to equip my model armies with generic rather than specific weaponry, which in turn would allow me to 'mix and match' all sorts of stuff that I already have available to use.

Re-visiting MOMBAT

Over recent weeks David Crook has been acquiring a large collection of Green and Tan Army Men figures. These are approximately 42mm tall and are sold in bags of up to 200 at a time.

I understand that he is going to use them to form two generic mid-twentieth century armies, and he suggested that he would probably use them with my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules. This spurred me to re-visit the rules, and I soon realised that they were not quite as fault-free as I remembered. I have, therefore, been spending some time over the past few days revising and – hopefully – improving the rules.

One major change that I have made to the rules has removed the need to use the special Battle Dice that I had previously 'borrowed' from Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 wargame. These special dice have now been replaced by normal D6 dice.

I hope to play-test the revised rules in the near future, and once I have I will make them available via the Internet.

Hexblitz II ... or Memoir of Modern Battle with knobs on?

In the midst of dealing with my father's future care, I have still been plugging away at drafting HEXBLITZ II. To be honest I have wasted a lot of time on this project ... but it has given me something to think about at a time when my mind needed some form of diversion.

Currently my draft looks less like HEXBLITZ and more like MEMOIR OF MODERN WAR (MOMBAT) with knobs on! I started by grafting the system for calculating a unit's strength or combat value from HEXBLITZ onto the MEMOIR OF MODERN WAR (MOMBAT) game structure. I also added the playing card tile-based Turn Sequence from my PORTABLE WARGAME: WARGAMES RULES FOR THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, and the stacking limits and support rules from OPERATIONAL ART. The resulting draft still needs some work ... but I can at least see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Although this was not what I originally set out to do, it seems to work ... and once my father is settled into his temporary care home placement I hope to play-test the completed draft.

Going round in circles

I have spent over an hour this morning working on my third draft of HEXBLITZ II ... and have just realised that I have metaphorically painted myself into a corner. From past experience I know that when this happens I need to leave things as they are and have a serious re-think.

The problem is that I am trying to bring together features from a number of my previous wargames rules (HEXBLITZ, OPERATIONAL ART, and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT)) ... and I cannot seem to get the elements to gel together. They almost do ... but not quite.

What I now intend to do is to print off copies of the rules I want to meld together and highlight the various elements I want to use. I will then literally 'cut and paste' the highlighted passages together, and then I will have a basic draft to work from.

An interesting suggestion

I exchange emails with David Crook on an almost daily basis, and in yesterday's he made a very interesting suggestion regarding basing my figures for my planned Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign. What he suggested was that I should base all my figures on MEGABLITZ-sized bases, with a small square of magnetic material fixed to the back of the base.



The reasoning behind his suggestion is that:

• The figures can be used with the MEGABLITZ rules system ... and I already have quite a collection figures and vehicles based for use with MEGABLITZ;
• The bases would be compatible with my PORTABLE WARGAME: MODERN rules (both the basic rules – where whole bases are removed – and the Big Board version – where the existing single-figure removal system would be replaced by changeable magnetic strength markers);
• The bases could be used with Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 rules (or my own MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE [MOBAT] rules) and Hexon II terrain. Changeable magnetic strength markers could again be used to replace the single-figure removal system.

David's suggestion has a lot of merit ... and would solve quite a few problems, including allowing me to avoid having duplicate collections of figures and vehicle.

At present I am giving his suggestion serious – very serious – consideration ... but I will not be making any decision in a hurry.

Getting your priorities right

Over the past few days I have had lots of time to think. There is usually not a lot to occupy ones mind whilst sitting at a sleeping relative's bedside ... and since last Friday I seem to have done quite a lot that. I have used the opportunity to do some serious thinking about my wargaming priorities ... and have made several short, medium, and long-term decisions.

In the short-term I want to finish play-testing my nineteenth century land/naval wargames rules. This will include another battle between the Rusland Navy and the Fezian coastal defences, and with a bit of luck I might manage that within the next week or so. I also want to re-visit my MEMOIR OF BATTLE and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE rules, if only because they will give me a break from my PORTABLE WARGAME rules.

In the medium-term I want to get some models made and figures painted for both my nineteenth century and Interwar/World War II projects. For the latter I have to decide between:

• Using 15mm-scale vehicles with 20mm-scale figures (my current plan … but one that may well be subject to change OR
• Using individually based 20mm-scale figures and vehicles OR
• Using 20mm-scale figures mounted on multi-figure bases and individually based vehicles that are compatible with my existing MEGABLITZ collection.

In the long-term I hope to:

• Re-fight the MADASAHATTA Campaign … or at least a version of it;
• Build up at least one 54mm-scale FUNNY LITTLE WARS army;
• Stage an Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign.

These are my current priorities … and all I have to do is to try to achieve them. On paper they look quite simple and easy targets to reach – given enough time – but I suspect that in reality they might be a bit more difficult to attain.

Warbases

One of the things that I bought at the recent SELWG show was a number of pre-cut MDF bases from Warbases. The company produces a wide range of different bases, and I was particularly interested in the ones that took figures mounted on one pence pieces.

This morning I had the opportunity to see what the two, three, and four figure bases looked like with some 20mm-scale figures on them ... and I think that look very good indeed!

I can envisage using the four-figure bases for COMMANDS & COLORS-style games (including BATTLE CRY, MEMOIR '44, MEMOIR OF BATTLE, and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE), a slightly larger version of the three and two-figure bases for MEGABLITZ, and any or all three of the base sizes for the PORTABLE WARGAME, depending upon the size of the grid squares/hexes.

I think that by going down this route I will be able to both have my cake and to eat it. In other words I will be able to have single figure bases and multi-figure bases available to me as and when I need then and will no longer need to have several different collections of figures for the same period mounted on single and multi-figure bases.

A modified version of Battle Cry

In a sudden burst of enthusiasm this morning I sat down at my computer and drafted a modified version of Richard Borg's BATTLE CRY rules.

The rules are aimed at fighting battles from the earlier part of the twentieth century, and include rules that cover simple tanks and aircraft. I would like to develop my own set of Command Cards, but in the interim I hope to use either those from BATTLE CRY or MEMOIR '44.

In many ways these rules do some of the things that I had hoped my revised version of my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules might have achieved ... but with fewer 'ifs', 'buts', and 'ors'.

Preparing for COW

COW2012 (the 2012 Conference of Wargamers) takes place over next weekend ... and for the first time in years I am not putting on a session.

I decided earlier this year that it was unlikely that I would have reached a point with either my MEMOIR OF BATTLE (MOB) or MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules where I would want to present them at COW, and that trying to put something else on was not very feasible ... so I decided to take a year off and enjoy being a mere participant. That said, being a participant does not mean that I don't have anything to prepare for COW; I do.

I have a large number of Spanish Civil War books that I have promised to my fellow blogger, Trebian, and these will need to be boxed or bagged up so that I can take them. I have also offered to take my 1:1200th-scale merchant ships along just in case an opportunity arises for a naval wargame using Ian Drury's simplified version of Fletcher Pratt's rules. And finally, I have also volunteered to take along some of my 54mm-scale Britains figures for an afternoon of lawn (or possibly floor) wargames that are being set up by Jim Wallman.

So although I may not be running a session at COW2012, I will certainly be heavily involved in some sessions and will be driving up to Knuston Hall with a carload of stuff!

Memoir '44 revisited

My recent attempts to revise my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules had not been very satisfactory and I had put the project on the back-burner until I felt ready to look at it again ... and then I read one of Ross Mac's recent blog entries about a battle he had fought using Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 rules.

My starting points for MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) had been the original MEMOIR '44 rules and Joseph Morschauser's 'Modern' wargames rules, and it was not until I read Ross Mac's blog entry that I realised that Richard Borg had added additional rules in the later MEMOIR '44 supplements. Buying these supplements would have been a very expensive way to find out what the additions were ... but the publishers have very kindly made them available online, with the result that I was able to download them and print them off. (The free downloads can be found here.)

Armed with these additional rules, I created a single-page Combat Chart for my own use. This outlines the main, salient points of the original and additional rules ... and creating it was a very useful way to understand the way the main combat mechanisms work and interrelate.

(Click on the image to make it bigger. Please note that I use the expression 'engage in Combat' rather than 'Battle' throughout the chart, and refer to the dice as Combat Dice.)

The most important changes that I noticed were the increased diversity of Infantry Units that were now available and the introduction of anti-tank and self-propelled artillery. It was these very things that I was having most problems with when revising my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules, and here were some possible ideas as to how those problems could be solved.

I therefore decided that it might not be a bad idea to fight one or two battles using the extended version of the MEMOIR '44 rules. To do so, however, I need to decide whether or not to use single-figure bases or multi-figure bases.

In the games that he had recently fought, Ross Mac used figures mounted in pairs. By going down this route I could easily use part of my existing collection of MEGABLITZ armies. On the other hand, single-figure bases might be more adaptable in the long run and would be more in keeping with the original design of MEMOIR '44.

I help me to decide which of the two alternatives I should use I took a look at some of the basic Infantry Units that I would need. In the following photographs the Unit made up of single-figure bases appears first and the multi-figure bases are second.

Infantry

Infantry and Machine Gun

Infantry and Mortar

Infantry and Anti-tank Weapon

I suspect that the anti-tank weapon in the last two examples should be something smaller than an anti-tank gun (e.g. a Panzerfaust or Bazooka), but it was all that I had available when I took the photographs.

Although the single-figure bases are in keeping with the original rules, I prefer the look of the multi-figure bases. The latter also have the advantage of being multi-purpose as I can also use them for MEGABLITZ battles. I will probably use the multi-figure bases for the trial battles I intend to fight using the extended version of MEMOIR '44, but any final decision as to which I will choose will have to wait until later.

Back to square one

Whilst I was on my recent cruise I did some serious thinking about the improvements I wanted to incorporate into the latest incarnation of my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules. I even word processed some detailed notes that outlined my thoughts and ideas with the intention of using them as a basis for the next draft of the rules.

Yesterday I sat down and re-read my notes ... and realised that I had laid the foundations for a far more complex set of rules than I originally intended to create, and that it had all the makings of developing into an unplayable monster.

I had a choice. To carry on regardless in the hope that I could 'tame' the monster ... or to leave things as they are and to start afresh. Experience told me that the first course would probably end up with me feeling frustrated and unfulfilled ... and with a monster that was smaller but still a monster.

I chose the second course of action ... and I will leave things as they are. I will not, however, give up on the idea of redrafting my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules. Instead, that particular project will be held in abeyance for the time being.

Too hot to wargame?

My toy/wargames room is in the loft conversion that was done about eight years ago. It faces south-west and has a wonderful view across London. It is also insulated to the building standards that were (and I think still are) in force ... which means that it is nice a cosy during cold weather ... and bl**dy hot when the weather gets warm!

For the past two days it has just been too hot to wargame in there, even with both of the windows open, the blinds down, and the 18-inch electric fan going full belt! All of the above manage to keep the temperature lower than it might be, but after about five minutes I am soaked in sweat and beginning to feel very uncomfortable. Trying to wargame or even do any modelling in there is just impossible, and is likely to remain so until the unseasonably hot weather passes.

So what have I done instead of wargaming? Well I have been doing quite a bit of reading, some writing, but – most importantly – some thinking, especially about my MEMOIR OF BATTLE (MOB) and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules. I think that the former are on the edge of being finished (just a few minor tweaks remain to be made), and once I am happy with the way that they work I will apply the lessons I have learned to MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE.

So I may not have been able to wargame for the past few days, but I have been doing what a lot of wargamers seem to spend a lot of time doing instead … I have been thinking about wargaming!

Getting ready for my next wargame

Having completed the sort-out of my toy/wargames room (well, the truth is that there are still one or two minor things to be done but ...) I am now getting ready for my next wargame. It will be based on the first scenario in the ART OF WAR: OPERATION BARBAROSSA scenario book (Bridge on the River Bug), and after a lot of deliberation I have decided to use the latest draft of my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules to fight this battle.

The latest draft uses ordinary D6 dice rather than special dice 'borrowed' from Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 game and the playing pieces will be drawn from my collection of Russian and German MEGABLITZ units. I will not be fighting the battle tomorrow as I am fully booked up for the day. (I am going over to see my father in his care home, followed by a visit to see David Crook of A WARGAMING ODYSSEY fame.) I do hope to start on Wednesday ... emergencies excepted.

A slight change of direction

My cold has meant that I have just not felt like doing anything practical for the last couple of days. As a result I have made no progress with my plans to build the Zvezda model kits that are supplied with ART OF TACTIC: OPERATION BARBAROSSA. I have, however, had time to think ... and I have done quite a lot.

One of the things I have been thinking about is my large collection of 20mm-scale World War II figures and vehicles. The collection has been languishing unused in its storage boxes for quite some time, and I really ought to use it. It also struck me that rather than make the Zvezda models I could use my existing figures and vehicles.

My thoughts in this direction were further influenced by a request I recently received for a copy of my OPERATIONAL ART rules and hex-based variant of Tim Gow's MEGABLITZ rules.

Either set of rules could easily be used to refight the first scenario in the ART OF TACTIC: OPERATION BARBAROSSA scenario book, something that I had planned to do in the very near future. I originally intended to use my MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT) rules for this wargame, but I now have a choice of three sets of rules that I could use.

I am not quite sure which of the rules I will use ... but thinking about this project has helped to keep my spirits up over recent days.

Richard Borg, Art of Tactic: Operation Barbarossa, and Samurai Battles

During the past twelve months I have been acquiring quite a lot of models produced by the Russian manufacturer Zvezda. My purchases have included two sets of the ART OF TACTIC: OPERATION BARBAROSSA boxed hybrid miniatures/boardgame as well as additional boards, figures, and equipment from David Crook and various retailers. Although the rules are quite playable, they are not my 'style', and it was my intention to just use the boards and playing pieces along with some rules of my own, MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT). The latter are heavily influenced by Richard Borg's BATTLE CRY! and MEMOIR '44 rules, and I have enjoyed developing and using them.

It was therefore hardly surprising that a news item dated 28th March that I saw yesterday on the BOARDGAMEGEEK blog made me sit up and take note. The blog included the following quote from Zvezda:

Samurai Battles puts you in command of brave warriors clashing on the battlefields of feudal Japan! Assemble your army using magnificently detailed and historically accurate miniatures, then face your opponent on an endless variety of battlefields created from beautifully painted terrain and elevation tiles.

You can play Samurai Battles two different ways:

• Commands & Colors: Designed by Richard Borg, this award-winning game system features a fast-paced, card-driven mechanism to represent the "fog of war". Special Dragon cards, along with Honor and Fortune tokens, will influence your luck in the thick of the battle!
• Art of Tactic: Designed by Konstantin Krivenko, this game system requires wits and strategy. You and your opponent secretly plan your moves every turn, then the actions of your warriors are resolved simultaneously – just like a real battle!

Both game systems are easy to learn, and offer deep strategic and tactical challenges to please every fan of historical board games. Samurai Battles is the perfect blend of the beautiful and the historic – and the perfect way to explore the exciting battles of medieval Japan.

Wow! It would appear that what I had been considering doing with ART OF TACTIC: OPERATION BARBAROSSA, Zvezda is doing with SAMURAI BATTLES ... using Richard Borg's rules with their game boards and playing pieces.

I am now wondering if they are going to add a version of Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 rules to future runs of ART OF TACTIC: OPERATION BARBAROSSA. If so ... I might just be ahead of the game!