CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

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MagnusNygaard
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Joined: 16 October 2022, 12:16

CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

Post by MagnusNygaard »

Part of the Battle of the Bulge, today, St.Vith is a sleepy town in Belgium.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St._Vith

It's also one of the better scenarios of the base game...

https://boardgamearena.com/archive/repl ... s=93247714;


I've had to enlist another general to help me finish this series, so Wiking44 is stepping in for Edocentric. As always - please feel free to post your own comments about this map in general or link to matches fought on the St.Vith map that has interesting strategies or situations.
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MagnusNygaard
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Re: CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

Post by MagnusNygaard »

This is one of my favorite maps of the base game. There's always a risk of the game becoming a rout for one side or the other, but unlike many of the other games where this can happen, you do actually have some control over it, and it can happen for both sides, equally... as will sadly be evident from the match I played with Wiking44...

There are some interesting elements, right off the bat. For instance, the Germans are caught against the back line - in all three flanks, and the allies are in a pretty good defensive position, BUT they will have to leave that to push seriously against the Germans. The lack of any artillery for the entrenched side is what makes this different than many of the other scenario setups.

I started as the Allies and Wiking44 as the Axis.
I had a fair starting hand - MOVE OUT, RECON IN FORCE, PROBE CENTER, and ATTACK RIGHT - nothing fancy, but not bad.
Wiking44 immediately played INFANTRY ASSAULT to move as many of his center infantry into better defensive positions. This is always a very good idea for the German player. And I followed up with another "Chess opening"... moving the two allied Armor in the town of St.Vith out and around the mountains to be a potential threat.
We both stalled a little for a couple of rounds, sniping at each other's units. I was coming out worse in that exchange, however, so I decided something had to be done.
I tried a strategy that has worked for me before on St.Vith. Normally having 4 cards is a significant weakness, leaving you no way to plan anything ongoing - but on St.Vith, the Germans are vulnerable to attacks on all flanks - especially early on. So I tried to simply push as much as I could, using whatever cards I got to both confuse and stress my opponent. The risk being, of course, that if he didn't break, I would be in serious trouble.
... unfortunately he didn't break.
And for a while it looked as if I might lose 6-0... but in the end I got it up to 6-3 - not good, but not impossible to come back from.

Second round I had another interesting starting hand, but since I had to win 6-2 I couldn't just barge ahead, I had to be sneaky-like...
I had both MOVE OUT and ARMOR ASSAULT - as well as an ASSAULT, a PROBE and an ATTACK... unfortunately on three different flanks. And, as I mentioned - the Germans can't defend all flanks, so I had to chose.
I noticed how Wiking44 was moving his armor around to concentrate on my Left Flank, while not making moves to protect his un-sandbagged infantry. This smelled of a trap for me - so I - uncharacteristically for me, I must admit, used an entire ASSAULT card to move all my units into cover...
I then tried to go for an offensive on the opposite (my right) Flank. Only to get AMBUSHED, and when I tried to come back, using my ARMOR ASSAULT, it completely fizzled and I was once again left "standing with my pig-tails in the mail box" - as we say in Denmark. I quickly realized I couldn't win 6-2 - and tried to get an honorable win, but as I ran out of good cards, Wiking44's got increasingly deadly.
In the end I lost 6-3 again.

Thanks to Wiking44 for stepping in. And congratulations with the win...
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Wiking44
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Re: CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

Post by Wiking44 »

First let me start off with a big thank you to MagnusNygard and Edocentric for letting me sub this scenario, Playing such a high caliber player like Magnus means I would have to play my "A" Game which is an American saying 😂
This is a very good scenario and have had many pitched battles especially in the center which if the U.S. can get a jump start on the Sleeping Germans with some good cards to back it up can wreck a lot of havoc so I started off with Infantry Assault to get my infantry in good cover and flanking positions
I decided to mainly ignore the U.S. infantry in the center as they are very hard to take out unless you have time.
It was 5-1 in the last turns and Magnus did a big push on my left flank taking a risk of getting encircled but i had only a Recon 1 card for that side and risked using my armor to take out his 1 fig infantry he had cowering on the woods but my tankers must have run out of HE ammo and could not get the kill, I knew he was going to counter and i had a few 1 fig infantry in the open vs his Panzers and got away with only losing 1 medal fortunately I drew a HQ card after playing my Recon 1 and was able to encircle him and get the final medal 6-2

Second round I played it safe and just waited to let him get close and collect some cards sorry If I do not remember all the details Magnus has explained it in better detail than I can but it was a pitched battle with lots a single figs waiting to be picked off final score 12-6

Also does anyone ever use that lone U.S. infantry figure in St. Vith? he seems so useless maybe there can be a German medal on St. Vith to give the German an incentive to go that far.

Again a big thanks to Magnus for a fun game.
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Waikirikiri
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Re: CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

Post by Waikirikiri »

This is an interesting scenario that either side can win with reasonable cards and dice.

it is hard for the newer, novice, player as a lot of strategic planning is required - one needs to think two or three turns ahead.

Using terrain for cover while positioning for future attack or defense.
Reminds one of "Panzer Bush" tactics from the Avalon Hill board game "Panzer Blitz" (who is old enough to remember and play AH games?).

It also requires combined arms attacks to make best use of cards and dice.

Unfortunately with a lot of new players the experienced player should have the advantage in this scenario.

And yes I do use the Allied infantry in St Vith - any spare centre moves and it gets moved towards the flank at most risk.
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Natus
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Re: CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

Post by Natus »

Love this scenario and thank you to the developers, but the terrain card for Mountains in the St. Vith scenario seems to give conflicting information (or perhaps it's just my inability to read rules correctly.) The Terrain card says the Mountains are impassable, but also that infantry can retreat off them or down them. Ultimately, if Allied units in the Center are ever made to Retreat into the Mountains, it's as if the retreated off the board, yes?
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Wiking44
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Re: CSI Memoir 44 - St. Vith

Post by Wiking44 »

Natus wrote: 09 December 2022, 04:22 Love this scenario and thank you to the developers, but the terrain card for Mountains in the St. Vith scenario seems to give conflicting information (or perhaps it's just my inability to read rules correctly.) The Terrain card says the Mountains are impassable, but also that infantry can retreat off them or down them. Ultimately, if Allied units in the Center are ever made to Retreat into the Mountains, it's as if the retreated off the board, yes?
The scenario rules say the the Slopes towards St. Vith are impassable and the info on the map says the Hills are impassable so an allied unit with its back towards the hill will lose one figure for every flag rolled minus 1 flag for being entrenched
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