Sunday, January 15, 2012

Star Wars Memoir '44

The weather turned rather chilly last night (-17, feels like -31) so Jessica and I found ourselves at loose ends around the house. I couldn't face another hand of cards and she was asking to play with the Star Wars figures I had painted up last year. Instead of hauling out HoTT and reteaching her the rules, I decided to try a game of Memoir.

I bought a deck of cards over the holidays so I quickly made up some dice, found a unit sheet and made some equations and we were off. I played the game mostly from memory and it seemed to work well. No scenario--just whatever figures we happened to have handy.

I pushed hard in the centre and on my right flank; Jess was content to hang back and shoot. She eventually managed to fell both my speeder bikes and my AT-AT walker. Above you can see a band of heroes led by a Jedi--I used to leader mechanic from CCA to incorporate powerful characters.

Setting up the game drove home to me how ratty my trees have become over the years. Also, I need some pieces to indicate entrenchment.

Eventually it came down to two foot units, led by Luke and Vader. And I got lucky with the dice, managing to rub the unit out by throwing a Bantha into the fight. We will likely be playing again today and hopefully I'll be able to give the rebels a bit more effective orbat.

Up next: Some 15mm FoW Germans are underway--flesh and trousers done so onto jackets today. They have a camo pattern that will be slow going. Then onto some 6mm Naps. And the club is tuesday so I'll need to haul out Battlelore and get that prepped.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now THAT is cool!

Bob Barnetson said...

Thanks Mark. Yeah, nice to see these fellows out and about. The Memoir system worked really well--simple enough an eight-year-old could play but with some interesting options for me. I need to think about airpower and snow speeders and the like. But otherwise it was fun and easy.

Dale said...

I have some of those figures and was going to use them for HOTT too, but I like the look of this better.

Oh, and by the way, they are 6mm Franco-Prussian War of 1870, not Napoleonics. (Unless those are not mine...)

Dale

Bob Barnetson said...

Ah, FPW it is!

Broeders said...

That looks fantastic fun Bob.

-17! We think its a cold day when its less than 10 degrees over here!

Bob Barnetson said...

Yes, it was -31 with the windchill this morning. And last Saturday it was +10. Awfully hard on the plants when the weather moves so erratically. Thanks--yes, it was fun.

Will said...

Awesome work, Bob! I am impressed with your ability to remember the rules and move them on the fly like that without reference. And extra points for gaming with your little one. Where are the figures from? Oh, and one small thing, that's a Dewback, not a Bantha.

Cheers!

Bob Barnetson said...

Will: Thanks. Yes, fortunately the games I play are simple and the Borg family has enough similarity that you can figure stuff out on the fly if you have played before. Gaming with Jess is a hoot--she is very unpredictable. Yes, a Dewback--you are correct. I am looking at expanding into a few cooler Imperial and Rebel units over the next few weeks with my commission money so stay turned.

Most figures are 25mm West End Games figs from the 1980s. You can find them on ebay but the more recent 32mm plastics are cheaper. The AT-ATs are action fleet toys. The speeder bikes are micromachines. Dewback are Titanium series toys. Snow speeders (not shown) are from an old Ertl Hoth set (but micromachines would be easier to find and almost the same size). I need to source some AT-STs.

Unknown said...

Stumbled upon this and am really impressed... Wow. I wish my friends would play board games with me nowadays..

Bob Barnetson said...

Thanks John. Yes, boardgames are a fun way to do miniatures--simpler rules, less ambiguity on the board.

Nicholas said...

This looks amazing, and would b so fun to play. Nicely done!

Bob Barnetson said...

Thanks. Wow, that was a long time ago, looking at my daughter's age in the photo! It is a pretty easy conversion from Memoir to Star Wars--just proxy the units as best as you can.

Unknown said...

Hi Bob,

Did you also apply the Memoir 44 Line of Sight rules to the AT AT's and ST's ?

Regards Paul

Bob Barnetson said...

Sorry, 11 years later I have no idea!