CSI MEMOIR 44 - COUNTER ATTACK ON MORTAIN

[MagnusNygaard]

https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=314328980

Part of Operation Lüttich - famous battle, infamous scenario of Memoir 44.

[MagnusNygaard]

There are a lot of the scenarios in the base game of MEMOIR 44 that would benefit greatly from an update or a second work over by Richard or the guys at Days of Wonder.
Perhaps no scenario more than ATTACK ON MORTAIN. It has the horrible cornering of helpless units of ARNHEM BRIDGE (you need at least 3-4 turns to exit your units as the Axis), the horrible placement of units all lined up with no retreat of the FIRST WAVE (though thankfully not within reach of 2+ dice of artillery), combined with the unfair Hill 317 that grants 6-8 dice on the Germans units if played early on, and the fact that BOTH sides have flanks that are completely useless, but can cost them the game if they can't hold on to them... And it's only to 4 medals... Perhaps the biggest sin of them all.
Imagine spending 15-20 minutes setting up all that terrain, for one player to get 1 or 2 turns before he has lost.
OK, so. If you ever play this map live, just make it 6 medals - and reduce the Hill 317 to being "Axis" AIR POWER 1-1-1-1 instead (or use the Air Pack - if you're so lucky to own it).

With that out of the way - when I saw my hand I knew I was in trouble. I had no Left Flank cards - so no way of getting rid of the Hill 317. 2 Probes in the center - not bad, but not enough for an offensive or getting any real chance of a medal. OK, so I had INFANTRY ASSAULT - one of my favorite cards to change a game on its head. Problem with this scenario is that the Axis infantry units are both scattered on all three flanks and not in a position to get into any cover or contrate on any one target. I did have ATTACK and ASSAULT Right Flank. Which helped me in no way, other than to maybe get my units off the back line.
What I really needed was time - I hoped Edocentric couldn't move his Armor out too soon. But my hope was in vain. Not only did he get his Armor out, it came down on me hard, and despite some very bad dice, I just couldn't reply.
4-0...
Next to no figures killed.
I more or less gave up when I realized I had mostly cards on the Left Flank this time - when I needed right flank cards, and while I had an ASSAULT for the Center, that just not going to cut it. I tried to make sure that I didn't get four-zeroed in both games, but that was my only objective.

Edocentric had a good point: This is one of the worst maps to throw beginners into. Not only does it have rarely used rules like Hill 317 and steep hills (move 2 to get up and 1 to get down) as we've mentioned you can easily feel that you get NO chance if you get the wrong set of cards against you.

A scenario with wasted potential.

EDIT: I had feeling that I'd seen 2 versions of this scenario on the Days of Wonder site, and lo! there they were! Maybe Richard had updated it when he did one of the Air rules expansions? 5-6 medals? Weaker Air Power from Hill 317... Nope.
https://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/e ... /?id=13757
https://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/e ... iew/?id=16
Let me know if you can spot the difference...

[edocentric]

Counter-attack on Mortain - a promising map which ends far too early (only 4 medal win conditions) and a map where you should only play against someone with equal experience / capability. A novice player against an experienced player will usually end in a complete wipeout for the novice.

US Strategy: the base strategy for the US player is dictated with the initial hand they receive. Since Recon section cards (but NOT Recon in Force) can be used as Air Power, a US hand heavy with Recon section cards is bombs away on the German player - targeting units with no retreat path to increase odds of figure destruction. Remember that you can traverse sections when using a Recon section card as Air Power as long as one of the units you target is in the corresponding Recon section. This option is only available to the US player as long as they have a unit on one of the two hexes of Hill 317 so keeping someone there becomes paramount. In this match, I had no Recon cards at all but did have a Direct from HQ card backed up with Their Finest Hour - which allowed me to open with the fallback strategy of getting the US armor on the left flank into the open field. I also moved up the US artillery in the left flank to get closer to the German units and provide a clearer path for the US armor. In my second move, I had a crazy roll on Their Finest Hour (6 units to activate!) so that allowed me to make a sustained push into the Center section (where the bulk of my movement cards lay) with my US armor. Then it became a mop up exercise and I win the first round 4-0 against Magnus (losing only two figures in the process!).

German Strategy: since I had such a commanding lead from the first round, I could play it safe as the German player - also since I knew my opponent would have to go for broke to try to win. My basic German strategy in this scenario is to do everything I can to knock the US infantry off Hill 317 in my first / second move. The German player should rightfully fear the US player's ability to unleash multiple Air Power cards in this scenario as they have many units with no retreat path in each section from the outset. I like to move two of my German armor within two hexes of Hill 317 so I can get four combat dice against the US infantry on Hill 317 in the first round and then back it up with Close Assault in the second round. Since hills are a two hex move in this scenario, it's important to keep your armor no more than two hexes away so that you can traverse the hill on your second move to press the attack. I was able to push the US infantry off of Hill 317 on my first move, so I spent the rest of the game hunting for at least 1 medal or 3 destroyed figures to seal the victory. Magnus pressed forward with quite a few Center section cards which allowed me to sit back and snipe away at him. I was able to parlay a Firefight / Assault Right Flank / Move Out card combo to finish out the second round 4-2 against Magnus.

I do like this scenario, but it usually ends quite quickly and a lot comes down to if the German player can knock the US player off of Hill 317 and how many Recon as Air Power cards the US player can pull off before that happens. So quite a bit of luck of the draw which can lead to odd outcomes as what happened here. You'll see this dynamic of Recon as Air Power card later, but mostly on the German side in their Blitz attacks on the Eastern Front - since it is only 1 die per target for the Germans rather than 2 die as it is here for the US, it is not as devastating.

[Wiking44]

I always thought 4 medals was too short so I did redo this as 6 medals on SFTF and it plays much better

[MagnusNygaard]

I always thought 4 medals was too short so I did redo this as 6 medals on SFTF and it plays much better

Looks great! I've linked it here for those of you who wants to try it out.
https://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/e ... /?id=10995

I was actually thinking about making a list of "fixed" maps from the Basic Game.

[Wiking44]

I always thought 4 medals was too short so I did redo this as 6 medals on SFTF and it plays much better

Looks great! I've linked it here for those of you who wants to try it out.
https://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/e ... /?id=10995

I was actually thinking about making a list of "fixed" maps from the Basic Game.

That would be great Magnus!