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Fort Worth Gamers: gaming session 11/04/23
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Michael Ward
Nov 6, 2023, 1:21:02 AM11/6/23
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Fort Worth Gamers: gaming session 11/04/23
Saturday, 11/04/23 1:00 PM to 4:50 PM at the Hulen Mall food court, in southwest Fort Worth, TX
This was another of our regularly scheduled Saturday afternoon game sessions. We had two gamers on this fairly warm afternoon.
Today’s game was my Memoir ‘44. We played two scenarios from the Mediterranean expansion, twice each, so that we could both sample playing offense and defense. So, a total of four games. All scenarios from the Med. expansion are set in North Africa. So some new terrain tiles and rules were gradually added.
Scenario #1 of the Med. expansion was “Hellfire Pass” set in June 1941. Initially Jeff took the Allied (British) troops, while I ran the German/Italian forces. New terrain (to us) were “erg” hexes. They’re hilly terrain with a series of ridges. Also new were the exit hexes behind the German troops, on their base line. The Brits could gain victory points by exiting units off that board edge if they could get down the road, and past the German (and a few Italian) troops. Besides infantry, the Brits had five heavy tank units (four tank figurines each, instead of the usual three). Two of the German infantry units were equipped with Panzerfaust (their version of a US bazooka). The Germans had a mere two panzer units on their back line. The Germans/Italians had also sown a minefield seven hexes wide transversing the middle of the board. Plus, they had eleven barbed wire to boot; quite the formidable defense!
Jeff’s Brits lead off the battle. His infantry advanced towards the formidable Axis defenses. He soon eliminated one of my two artillery units (which is rather difficult to do). Ah, but then he encountered my minefields, and that “slowed his roll” for a while. Meanwhile my Axis units remained in place. For they were already in good defensive terrain, so moving would only make them more vulnerable.
In the end Jeff managed to eliminate one of my artillery batteries, destroy one of my two panzer units, and slay a handful of my infantry. Meanwhile my Germans and Italians were able to three times the casualties on Jeff’s British.
Scores: Michael W / Axis 6, Jeff G / British 2. Duration: an hour and eight minutes.
We then turned the board around. Now Jeff ran the formidable desert defenses of the Axis side. And... the end result was about the same, only reversed.
Scores: Jeff G / Axis 6, Michael W / British 1. Duration: 43 minutes.
So, as you can see, unless one rolls the dice exceptionally well, for the Brits this scenario is a meat grinder.
Our next game was the next scenario in the expansion booklet: #2 Sidi Rezegh Airfield. It too was set in the dessert. The main terrain in this scenario were ten impassible escarpment hexes scattered about the board. There was also a road running diagonally from the British baseline to the German baseline. (Though this time exiting units off the board did not yield VPs.) There was also a nearby three hex long wadi. In the German center backfield were two special hexes. One near the corner was a small town, currently being held by a lone German infantry unit. While the Germans held it they had one VP for it. There was a similar situation in the center back of the German territory. That was the Sidi Rezegh Airfield. Whichever side held it would yield them one more VP. So basically the Germans began the scenario with two VPs gratis.
As to military units, the Germans had six panzer units mid-board, while the British had eight tank units near their back line. Jeff took the British side, while I ran the German forces. This was basically a tank vs. tank battle, as neither of us had any artillery. As to the two infantry units I had... they were useless for battle. Their only function was to hold the two objective hexes they already possessed.
Drawing infantry (or artillery) cards in this battle just cluttered up one’s hand, as they were useless, since there were no infantry to activate. I was doing OK until mid-game when I began drawing these useless cards. And I believe Jeff eventually drew a couple of them too. So... it was mainly hey diddle diddle strait up the middle until our tanks came within range (three hexes) of each other. Then the bloodletting began. My six panzer units eventually gave a good accounting of themselves, when we met mid-board.
Scores: Michael W / Axis 5, Jeff G / British 3. Duration: 32 minutes.
Then we turned the board around and now Jeff ran the German side (and began with two free VPs). The battle played out almost the same.
Scores: Jeff G / Axis 5, Michael W / British 3. Duration: 14 minutes. Rather short, as we used up all our “good” cards quickly in order to close with the enemy and “get on with it!”
See BoardgameGeek http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ for more information on the games mentioned above. And if you're in the area on Saturday afternoon feel free to join us for a game.
--
Michael Ward
Fort Worth Gamers
And check out our MeetUp page http://www.meetup.com/FortWorthGamers/ .
Saturday, 11/04/23 1:00 PM to 4:50 PM at the Hulen Mall food court, in southwest Fort Worth, TX
This was another of our regularly scheduled Saturday afternoon game sessions. We had two gamers on this fairly warm afternoon.
Today’s game was my Memoir ‘44. We played two scenarios from the Mediterranean expansion, twice each, so that we could both sample playing offense and defense. So, a total of four games. All scenarios from the Med. expansion are set in North Africa. So some new terrain tiles and rules were gradually added.
Scenario #1 of the Med. expansion was “Hellfire Pass” set in June 1941. Initially Jeff took the Allied (British) troops, while I ran the German/Italian forces. New terrain (to us) were “erg” hexes. They’re hilly terrain with a series of ridges. Also new were the exit hexes behind the German troops, on their base line. The Brits could gain victory points by exiting units off that board edge if they could get down the road, and past the German (and a few Italian) troops. Besides infantry, the Brits had five heavy tank units (four tank figurines each, instead of the usual three). Two of the German infantry units were equipped with Panzerfaust (their version of a US bazooka). The Germans had a mere two panzer units on their back line. The Germans/Italians had also sown a minefield seven hexes wide transversing the middle of the board. Plus, they had eleven barbed wire to boot; quite the formidable defense!
Jeff’s Brits lead off the battle. His infantry advanced towards the formidable Axis defenses. He soon eliminated one of my two artillery units (which is rather difficult to do). Ah, but then he encountered my minefields, and that “slowed his roll” for a while. Meanwhile my Axis units remained in place. For they were already in good defensive terrain, so moving would only make them more vulnerable.
In the end Jeff managed to eliminate one of my artillery batteries, destroy one of my two panzer units, and slay a handful of my infantry. Meanwhile my Germans and Italians were able to three times the casualties on Jeff’s British.
Scores: Michael W / Axis 6, Jeff G / British 2. Duration: an hour and eight minutes.
We then turned the board around. Now Jeff ran the formidable desert defenses of the Axis side. And... the end result was about the same, only reversed.
Scores: Jeff G / Axis 6, Michael W / British 1. Duration: 43 minutes.
So, as you can see, unless one rolls the dice exceptionally well, for the Brits this scenario is a meat grinder.
Our next game was the next scenario in the expansion booklet: #2 Sidi Rezegh Airfield. It too was set in the dessert. The main terrain in this scenario were ten impassible escarpment hexes scattered about the board. There was also a road running diagonally from the British baseline to the German baseline. (Though this time exiting units off the board did not yield VPs.) There was also a nearby three hex long wadi. In the German center backfield were two special hexes. One near the corner was a small town, currently being held by a lone German infantry unit. While the Germans held it they had one VP for it. There was a similar situation in the center back of the German territory. That was the Sidi Rezegh Airfield. Whichever side held it would yield them one more VP. So basically the Germans began the scenario with two VPs gratis.
As to military units, the Germans had six panzer units mid-board, while the British had eight tank units near their back line. Jeff took the British side, while I ran the German forces. This was basically a tank vs. tank battle, as neither of us had any artillery. As to the two infantry units I had... they were useless for battle. Their only function was to hold the two objective hexes they already possessed.
Drawing infantry (or artillery) cards in this battle just cluttered up one’s hand, as they were useless, since there were no infantry to activate. I was doing OK until mid-game when I began drawing these useless cards. And I believe Jeff eventually drew a couple of them too. So... it was mainly hey diddle diddle strait up the middle until our tanks came within range (three hexes) of each other. Then the bloodletting began. My six panzer units eventually gave a good accounting of themselves, when we met mid-board.
Scores: Michael W / Axis 5, Jeff G / British 3. Duration: 32 minutes.
Then we turned the board around and now Jeff ran the German side (and began with two free VPs). The battle played out almost the same.
Scores: Jeff G / Axis 5, Michael W / British 3. Duration: 14 minutes. Rather short, as we used up all our “good” cards quickly in order to close with the enemy and “get on with it!”
See BoardgameGeek http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ for more information on the games mentioned above. And if you're in the area on Saturday afternoon feel free to join us for a game.
--
Michael Ward
Fort Worth Gamers
And check out our MeetUp page http://www.meetup.com/FortWorthGamers/ .
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