Is there a Commands & Colors English Civil War game in our future?

Junior and I attended the HMGS East "Cold Wars" convention in Lancaster, PA this past weekend. In between games we like to walk around and look at what people are doing. I particularly like to see what rulesets people are using. So as we were strolling through the Lampeter Room where all the tournaments are held, we just happened to come across Richard Borg and a group of gents playing an English Civil War (ECW) game with 28mm figures on a cloth marked out with hexagons. Richard Borg is of course the renowned author of several popular games such as the Commands and Colors (C&C) ancients system, Memoir '44, Battle Cry, etc. In the first picture below he is the gent in the white shirt.

What struck me about this scene is they were obviously using the same card movement/action system that has become familiar to us in Richard's games, but this time the rules and cards appeared to be home made. I asked him if this was an experimental ECW version of C&C and he acknowledged that it was. I then asked him if we are going to see this published some day and he said "hopefully."

So there you have it folks; a great "scoop" from your favorite gaming blog! Remember, you heard it here first!

Coming soon: Memoir '44 Campaign Book

Good news for all you Memoir '44 fans out there! The Memoir '44 Campaign Book is now available for pre-order from Days of Wonder. It sounds like it has a lot of good stuff in it that could keep you playing for many years to come. I saw an announcement today that describes what is in the book. Here is what they say:

"The Campaign Book includes 12 different campaigns in three theaters of operation - Battle for Normandy in the summer of 1944, playable with the base game; the Blitzkrieg to the West in 1940, which takes advantage of the Terrain Pack; and Operation Barbarossa, for use with the Eastern Front expansion on the Russian Front in 1941. Along with the Advanced Campaign Rules, over 50 new Memoir '44 scenarios are included in the 112 page, full-color book."

50 new scenarios! That will definitely keep you busy!

Having Fun with "Memoir '44"

So, what are your plans for New Year's Eve? Wine, women, and song? I'll tell you what I'll be doing. I'll be sitting at home playing quick and easy boardgames such as "Memoir '44." (And maybe drinking one beer, or maybe two or three.) If your are not familiar with "Memoir '44" let me just tell you that it is a very clever, very easy, WWII combat boardgame. It's a bit like "Axis and Allies," but whereas "Axis and Allies" is at the strategic level, "Memoir '44" is at the operational/tactical level. It is easy to set up, learn, and play a quick game or two, or even three, in one setting on your kitchen or dining room table. The game comes with numerous soft plastic tank, infantry, artillery, sand bag, barbwire, and obstacle pieces. It also comes with a double-sided game board so you can run beach scenarios or normal terrain scenarios. There are numerous double-sided hexagonal terrain tiles for creating many different scenarios, each one having a total different terrain situation. The game's utilizes a card system that limits what you can do each turn; so you have to choose wisely. Some of the cards only allow you to activate 1 to 3 units in your center, or right, or left flanks. Some of them allow you much more latitude, and some of them allow you to put a real big hurt on your opponent if you are lucky enough to draw them. Learning when to use the right card at the right time is an important, and fun, part of the game.

My son and I have been having a good time with the game. We are working on the Normandy scenarios that come with the basic game box. We just finished playing through the first Normandy beach landing scenario (Sword Beach) which is a big challenge for the allied side. We played it through four times before I finally proved that the allied side can win the scenario.

"Memoir '44" has become a very popular game system with several expansions and web site support. The publisher is called "Days of Wonder." We have two of the expansions but we still have a long way to go with just playing through all the scenarios in the basic box. The next one on our list is Point du Hoc. That should be interesting!