Reviewed by Michael Peck
The Military Book Review

Does anyone play board games anymore? Nowadays, faceless opponents battle each over the Internet. And that's too bad, because no Internet player six time zones away can offer the personal satisfaction of watching your opponent's face as you trounce him.

Memoir '44 exemplifies the joy of playing on a kitchen table instead of a computer screen. A wargame based on the Allied campaign in Europe in 1944-45, it's a fun, challenging design that also manages to teach a little history in the process.

Combining fun and history is no mean feat, and designer Richard Borg earns kudos for pulling it off. Many board and computer wargames are either too complex or so simplistic that their version of history is closer to Loony Tunes. But Memoir '44 combines the visual appeal of Eurogames (German strategy games that have become very popular in the United States), with the historical flavor of more realistic wargames.

Its physical components are eye-catching. The attractive cardboard map is printed with ocean and beach terrain on one side and a grassy plain on the other. In a clever touch, woods, hills and towns are printed on hexagonal tiles that are placed on the map depending on the specific battle (there are 16 scenarios ranging from the airborne assault on D-Day to the desperate battle of St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge). Other tiles represent bunkers, barbed wire and sandbags.

The playing pieces will look familiar to veterans of the Axis and Allies game. The armies (actually platoons through battalions, depending on the battle) are represented by small, plastic infantrymen, tanks and artillery. The figures are historical, with Sherman tanks for the Americans and Panzer Mark IVs for the Germans.

However, the heart of Memoir '44 is the cards that players draw from a deck. Tactics cards allow special events such as air strikes or artillery barrages, in which players designate enemy units and roll dice to attack them. Section cards, such as Recon or Assault, allow players to move and attack with their units.

Yet be warned, you would-be Pattons. Blitzing a path to Berlin will not be easy, thanks to an elegant yet simple command and control system. The map is divided into three sections; left, center and right. Each Section card allows a limited number of units to move, and usually in just one map section. Thus there will be much gnashing of German teeth as the Allies punch through the left map section — and the German player’s cards only allow him to move units on the right-hand map.

Combat is simple and straightforward. Each type of unit rolls a certain number of dice depending on the range. Tanks are the most powerful, but artillery shoots the farthest. And what of the poor ol' infantry? Borg cleverly shows the superior staying power of infantry (60 men in a platoon versus five vehicles in a tank outfit) by giving infantry units four plastic figures, compared with three in a tank and two in an artillery unit. Units are not considered eliminated until every figure is gone, so infantry can endure losses that artillery can't. Armor is also penalized when fighting in rough terrain: narrow forest trails and village streets are not a tank commander's friend. Victory goes to the first side to eliminate a given number of enemy units or capture terrain objectives.

So is Memoir '44 a realistic game? Not in a technical sense. There's no real differentiation between different models of tanks, and real armies don’t freeze their right flank while they move their left. But Memoir '44 gets to the essence of good generalship; using limited resources wisely. Because you can't move all of your units all of the time, victory goes to the commander who chooses the best option when none of the options are very good.

Yet the best reason to play Memoir '44 is that it’s fun. Extremely fun. The unpredictable nature of the card play makes for tense games that are often won by just a hairsbreadth. Scenarios can be played in less than an hour — perfect for those with busy work and family schedules. There is also a Web site with a huge number of fan-designed scenarios.

Many games claim to be suitable for children. But the pretty graphics and snappy game play of Memoir '44 make it a great tool for both introducing youngsters to strategy games, and luring non-wargamers to the hobby. Memoir '44 has definitely earned a place on the game shelf.