This week's session was held at John's house and I took along Memoir '44, hoping to show the others why it was voted best 2 player game in the International Gamers Awards this year. We played the Pegasus Bridge scenario with John and NIge taking control of the Axis forces while Mark G and I were the Allies.

Memoir '44 is a light card-driven war game designed by Richard Borg, set around the D-Day landings in World War 2. It is beautifully produced by Days of Wonder and the game has lots of replay potential as there are 12 different scenarios described in the rule book and more available on Days of Wonder's website. The aim of the game is to be the first to win a certain number of victory medals ( 4 in Pegasus Bridge) and these are awarded for eliminating an enemy unit or controlling certain strategic terrain ( like bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal). The scenario describes the layout of the map and the types of terrain involved (open countryside, villages, woodland etc.) and where each side's forces begin the game. A turn involves firstly playing a command card, which determines the orders you can issue that turn. You then announce which units you are issuing orders to, move those units, attack enemy units, determine the outcome of any battles, and draw a new command card. The command cards are critical as they restrict what you can do on a turn and you often cannot do what you would like to ideally. Combat is resolved by rolling dice: the number being determined by the type of unit attacking, the distance between the battling units and the terrain being fought over. The dice can either show a hit, miss or retreat. Each hit results in a piece being lost from the unit being attacked and retreats require any remaining pieces in the unit moving backwards one hex for each retreat result. If a unit is eliminated, the attacker is rewarded with a victory medal. As soon as one side wins the required number of medals, it wins the game.

In our Pegasus Bridge scenario, there was a lot of whining going on from the Axis players. Their initial two command cards didn't allow them to order any of their units so we let them draw two new cards to get them on their way. They quickly took control of the two bridges and got rid of one of our units, which meant they could have won the game on the second turn with the right die rolls. After that though, the Allies used their greater numbers to take back Orne Bridge and whittle down a few units. The Axis forces were looking very depleted and the Allies moved in for the kill against a lone infantry piece in the countryside. However, the sneaky Axis players revealed an Ambush card (a card which we didn't know existed) wiping out the attacking Allied unit, and followed it up with a Barrage card (another card we were unaware of), targeting a lone Allied infantryman, which had been left well out of the way of enemy forces, with 4 battle dice. The inevitable elimination of that piece gave the Axis forces their fourth victory medal and won them the game. The Allies felt extremely hard done by (and rightly so) but had to admit they had been out-manoeuvred on this occasion.

Everyone thought this was a very good game and the team play worked nicely, even though the game is really meant for two. It plays very quickly and there is quite a bit of tension. Even though there is some luck in the die rolls and your cards limit what you can do on a turn, it is great fun and the amazing components make the game really shine.