Days of Wonder - Memoir '44: Expansion - Winter Desert Board Map - Board Game

The base game is great fun and the add-ons all have merit.

If you are not a fan of the WWII board-game - "Memoir 44" - then you should go and get a copy of that game first. It is a great game for two people aged from 8 to 100 and certainly worth the full 5 stars.Tigers in the Snow is one of many extensions to the base game. The huge maps in this extension are "Overlord" size. So to play these maps you will need: a second Memoir 44 base game; OR the Overlord extension. My son and I already owned and have enjoyed playing the Eastern and Mediterranean Front and we didn't feel like paying for the Overlord extension or another base game so we used pieces from these sets. We did run short of some units here and there so we supplemented official Memoir 44 soldiers with some Airfix 1:72 scale figures which, while not the same and a little smaller than Memoir 44 soldiers, worked fine.The 6 Tiger tank figures that come with the maps are excellent. There is a nice solid feel to them. They are just that bit bigger than the standard tank figures and give that feeling of "edge" that Tigers must have. The Overlord scenarios are great fun. You will need an hour or two, rather than an "ordinary" game which takes less than an hour, and a large table. Overlord games are designed to be played with 2 or even 3 players on each side. We played one to one, though and really enjoyed the battles. Market Garden we particularly liked - We had both recently seen the film "A Bridge Too Far". Having to move soldiers and tanks to take and relieve the bridges at Arnhem, Nijmegan and Eindhoven was a great experience.So only for Memoir 44 fans but if you like Memoir 44 you will love this!Note for two players who want to go a bit further and deeper than standard Memoir 44 scenarios, but don't want the problems of Overlord, the "Breakthrough" maps and the recent "Winter Wars" extensions are wonderful.

Great quality and massive essential for breakthrough games with narrow but deeper maps- these boards essentially replace the long out of print and hard to get published map packs - but benefit form not being pre printed with terrain so any published BT battle can be played as long as you own the required terrain - ideally to get the most from this add on you will want the Winter Wars expansion giving you the breakthrough card deck which is very different in play from the core game deck. The terrain pack is also useful to most games set on these maps and occasionally we've needed mor than the figure count of one core game to play.

In some ways I wonder if I should have bought these instead of the winter /desert board, you get two huge double sided boards - so thats a big beach board with countrside board on the back AND a big snow board with desert on the back. And it is no problem to simply mark a retreat line and use them as "normal" boards - in terms of material value that is pretty good given the single smaller snow / desert board is often not much cheaper than thisIf you are on a budget and only do (or want to) buy one board expansion then this makes sense - but there is a big BUT. The smaller boards are reinforced at the folds AND they have a satin finish that isn't slippery - they are pretty nice to use. On the other hand the Breakthrough boards are not reinforced at the folds (though mine havent done anything bad yet) AND they have a shiny surface more like a "normal" board game - and that can be very frustrating as the terrain hexes you put on slide about. Knock the board and you can trash the whole scenario. I ended up with both sets of boards and tend to use the Breakthrough boards only for Breakthrough scenariosMoving the playing Memoir 44 in Breakthrough form I have to admit is is quite a different experience, in a good way. Distances matter and there is more opportunity to prepare and plan and manoeuvre. Games play a bit longer (obviously) but it is still a 2 player expansion (unlike Overlord). Playing for a while on a big board and going back to 'normal' feels very constricting.Another possible downside would be the Command cards, the boards suggest changing how you use the base set cards but the proper Breakthrough deck works better - and for some reason you have to buy the Wnter Wars expansion to get it (?!). Also big boards need lots of terrain hexes and, again, you may find you need to have / buy other expansions to use them. And you need a big table to play. And, annoying to me, the boards are about 3mm to big to fit in the standard box. Finally, there arent that many scenarios to find on the Days of Wonder website, which is a shame but it isnt hard to tweak standard scenarios into the bigger spaceIn summary, good expansion that genuinely adds something worthwhile, but compromises (of design and needing other expansions) may mean this isnt the first/best choice for you. Starting out? get an army expansion or two first (eg Med, Pactific, Eastern Front). Got most bits already (then you probably wont have needed to read this) then go for it

Mine is all painted and ready to add to my Memoir 44 collection. The tanks were a joy to paint, and the miniatures matched up nicely with a bare minimum of modelling and brush work. The rules look balanced and interesting. I`m sure the Pacific Theatre expansion will add a whole new dimension to my games. I am currently playing through (and thoroughly enjoying) playing through the host of various scenarios from my base Memoir 44 boxed set... which allows me to paint the pieces in each expansion (I bought them all, same time from Amazon) without interrupting play at all. When I`ve finally painted everything for the add on sets, I`ll finally take the plunge and pant the base game pieces. Meanwhile I`m plodding away happily. The Pacific Theatre set is highly attractive, and the rules look fascinating. Can`t wait to sink my teeth into them.

Box is bigger than i had expected; same size as the original core game box. Excellent components, and adds a whole new facet to the game. Recommended.

A great addition to my Memoir 44 packs. This has got to be one of my favourite games ever!

present ....brother loved it and said it has improved the original game (need actual game to use this product)