I brought over some assistance from the center and cleared out a lone figure on the objective.  ‘It’s now just a matter of mopping up’…or so I thought. My assisting unit soon bore the brunt of Hawkmoon’s luck.  Quickly reduced from 4 figures to 1 in yet another smashing roll I was forced back into the town.  It should’ve worked in my favour setting up a cross fire to bag 2 more medals, I instead had to focus all of my fire to eliminate a single infantry.  Suddenly, things were completely out of my control as the remaining single armor figure dashed in.  Eliminating a 3 figure infantry with one shot then doing the overrun to hit the lone infantry in town (that’s right, 1 die!).  There was simply no way to cover off the objectives anymore on that flank…it was over 6-4.

Now comes the sad part.  The rematch.  What can I say,  there was simply no matching that luck…except with the complete opposite. Getting dealt a Dig-in with 4 cards and Hawkmoon starting with an Air Strike certainly didn’t bode well.  Things went from bad to worse.  I ran about the battle field like a chicken with it’s head cut off…time and again Hawkmoon’s dice were simply devastating. While my dice couldn’t hit a thing.  I know, that’s what everyone says. But this was one of those battles where everything just kept going wrong…for me anyway.

Hawkmoon played it well, I can’t take away from that.  He did everything right and followed up everytime.  The luck was simply overwhelming.  Hawkmoon, if you are reading this, buy that lottery ticket my friend and send me half the winnings!  He earned 4 acheivements this day as well.  Congrats there!

Today Hawkmoon got the bear…but as the saying goes…’Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes he gets you’.  I’ll be hunting Hawkmoon

I mounted my Tiger but the engine wouldn’t start (java problems on my mac).  I grabbed the nearest halftrack (PC) and made my way to the front.  It served well but still suffered some mechanical problems.  Fortunately, the Tiger was fixed and I was back in full action!

7 days of battle behind me now and I will soon pull out of the line to rest and refit.  Herein is my intel report of what actions were encountered and what trials we faced and what we hope the outcome is.

Jumping into the crew commander spot, I knew I would like this tank.  The opticals are simply outstanding.  It was much like the model I had trained on (the boardgame itself!) and much better than the opticals on the old PzIII (some of you may know this as Vassal).

The situation was always made clear and in the sequence we had all been taught.  After planning the order is issued and units designated for action in a clear manner.  Once all orders had been issued, units would move.

The opticals made it clear where they could go but it would take some know how to understand how far or where the unit could go and still battle (the Move is marked out in green but you need to understand the unit capability as that isn’t clearly shown.  ie. Infantry moves one and battle or two and no battle, there is nothing to indicate where the unit could move and battle as opposed to just move…so be sharp out there!).

Battle is straightforward.  Targets available are indicated along with the strength that it will be hit with (dice).  From there it is just a matter of confirming the target and battle takes place.

Retreating units have clear indicators on where they can withdraw to.  Quick march to that spot (double click the retreat hex) will get the unit there without disruption as opposed to dragging their feet (click and dragging the unit to the spot would at times cause a crash).

After a couple of missions against the simulator, I was ready to battle live opponents.  This was at times met with frustration as it seemed as soon as I had the upper hand, I was recalled (crash).  However, as the situation improved, the ability to stay in the fight stabilized.

I still need a crew that understands how to effectively Ambush however.  While most of the men under my command are relatively new they seem to think they know how best to Ambush.  “Hans!”  I yell, “not there! Here!” But they disobey.  A couple of them will be up for charges once this is over. Some however have reacted accordingly and have proved decisive on a couple of engagements.

The action this past week however has been fast and furious.  Fortunes of war have been fickle and the enemy has been strong but we will continue in this fight and drive the allies back into the water.  I am reminded of the thrills encountered in the earlier battles back when we were training.  There are many fights to come in the days ahead.

Oberleutant Brummbär

(In addition to the Grumbling Bear report, I found the Beta experience to be a blast.  Sure there are some minor frustrations but that comes in ‘testing’ doesn’t it?  While the game currently only features the base game scenarios, I look forward to the potential this system offers and look forward to playing all of my Memoir ‘44 friends who I have met online!)

Ok while not quite that restrictive,  Days of Wonder is keeping a tight leash on the beta testers.  For good reasons…none of which I can talk about. I was delighted to receive an email about becoming a beta tester for the new Online Memoir ‘44 game.  I had an opportunity to get into some games today and had a great time.  I think this is going to be very popular.  Unfortunately, I can’t say more here.  Fortunately, DoW has a forum that we can discuss the game on.  You can find it here – Online Memoir ‘44 forum

I hope to get a chance to play all of you online very soon!

Quick shout out to my Dutch friends, Happy Liberation Day!  (yesterday, I know…but it was also my wedding anniversary!)

Until then though, I hope you enjoy this bonus offering – Dire Heroes, the Advanced, Optional and Experimental rules.

Cheers!

While the price is higher than Magcloud (which is only available in North America and the UK) the quality of the Lulu copy is about the same.

Lulu also affords me the opportunity to make this available as a download.

You can find out more at the Lulu.com page for Dire Heroes.

Right now until Jan. 1st, MagCloud has a 25% off sale so it’s selling for just $4.80 USD (normally $5.40 USD)

Click here to check out a preview and to order.

Thanks to all of my supporters who were encouraging in making this a reality!

If you own a copy of Memoir ‘44, you practically own this game. All you need is a copy of the rule book (which will be available shortly through this site).  In the meantime, I have made a little contest in which you can win a free copy. Visit the entry for the game on BoardGameGeek.com for details and good luck!

Here’s an early Christmas gift for everyone – the complete Memoir ‘44 dice decal sheet! While I’m still waiting on some indented dice (I was hoping to show an example) these should be fine if you can get a source for blank dice.

(Thanks to Tom Mouat for the permission to use the soldier and tank font in the creation of this sheet)

As some of you may already know, I have been busy working on a project of my own.  It’s a First World War game that can be played with a standard Memoir ‘44 set.  It’s called Dire Heroes – Gas Attack at Ypres.  For those not familiar with the 2nd Battle of Ypres, here is where the first effective gas attack was launched in modern warfare.  The game opens with the gas attack.  From there players try to force the capitulation of their opponent through a Military or Morale Victory.

The game is now in production and I hope to offer it up soon.  In the meantime, check out the Dire Heroes dice sheet that you can use to make your own set of dice (I’m looking into a source for indented dice, will keep you info’d).  Of course, feel free to download my Memoir ‘44 dice making tutorial to see what I am talking about.