Survivor: Memoir Edition!

Last winter, my 12-time AGM and right-hand man, John Skiba, informed me that he would be unable to attend this year’s WBC, so I invited him to select the scenarios for the tournament. He came back with the most diverse assortment of scenarios this tournament has ever had: A tactical Normandy scenario with no special rules, a Commissar scenario from the Eastern Front, an amphibious landing, a Pacific cave scenario, Winter Combat Cards, and a Breakthrough scenario with Winter Reduced Visibility. Five of these scenarios are evenly balanced between Allies and Axis. Whoever would win this tournament would have to get through quite an obstacle course! (Then, it turned out, John’s family plans changed, and he wound up being able to attend.)

As is customary in Memoir, our format was 2-game matches (you play both sides of each battle), in a single elimination tournament, with a Mulligan round the night before. We don’t bid for sides. Also, when signing in, every player draws a tiebreak number that will be the final determinator if a match is tied on all other attributes. A higher series of numbers is reserved for players who bring a game, so bring your game if you can, folks! (Tiebreakers matter. We did have a tied match this year.)

Our attendance of 43 was massively better than last year’s 42, but shy of pre-pandemic levels. This year’s field included 8 past WBC Memoir champions, as well as a number of other members of the Memoir tournament community. (For info about online tournaments, feel free to contact the GM via his email on the preview page.)

Next year will be the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and the 20th anniversary of Memoir. We’ll do something special. Mark your calendar to be part of it!

The winner of this tournament automatically earns the right to compete online for the annual Memoir Champions Trophy. This by-invitation tournament is open only to top finishers from the leading face-to-face and online tournaments. (Our 2017 WBC champion, Jon Manley, won the 2017 Champions Trophy against an incredibly tough international field of players.)

In addition, this year, game designer Richard Borg sent copies of the special scenario booklet that was used for the 2005 WBC tournament, to be given as prizes to the top four finishers.

And now, on to the play-by-play.

MULLIGAN ROUND … VELIKAYA BRIDGEHEAD

We began with a lively Eastern Front scenario from 1941, drawn from Campaign Book 1, with Russian Commissar rules and German Blitz air strikes. Tanks, infantry, and Russian cavalry fight for forest protection in the Left and Center sections, while the Germans can attack protected Russian troops on the right.

We had 14 matches – fewer than last year, but some of our regulars were in semis or finals of other events. The results were 5 sweeps, 5 splits won by Allies, and 4 splits won by Axis. The Allies won 15 games, versus 13 for Axis, by an average score of 4.57-4.43 medals and 16.90-19.90 figures. Very even results. Highlights: Four Allied players won by scores of 6-1: Sam Edelston, Hannah Manley, Jon Manley, and Christopher Miller. For Axis, Sam Edelston and Alexander Metzger scored 6-1 wins.

ROUND 1 … VELIKAYA BRIDGEHEAD

Same scenario as the night before, with 15 new competitors, 8 returning players restarting after losses in the Mulligan, and an eliminator. We had 12 matches, which was an improvement over last year’s 10. There were 7 sweeps, 3 splits won by Allies, and 2 splits won by Axis. The Allies won 13 games and lost 11, with an average score of 4.92-4.42 medals and 21.29-21.08 figures.

Highlights: Timothy Manley and David Wolfe scored 6-0 shutouts for the Allies. The biggest Axis wins were 6-2, scored by Steve Lollis and Michael Shea. Timothy Manley swept 2009 champion Gordon Rodgers out of the tournament, while John Parker scored a split victory to oust 2005-2006 champ Joe Harrison.

ROUND 2 … CAPTURING THE CROSSING

Another Campaign Book 1 scenario, this is a tactical Normandy battle with the British and entrenched Germans, and protective terrain available for both sides. Mixed forces of infantry and armor and an artillery for each side. No special rules at all.

Out of 12 matches, we had 6 sweeps, 5 splits won by Allies, and 1 split won by Axis. The Allies won 16 games and lost 8, with an average score of 5.21-4.67 medals and 22.21-21.71 figures.

Highlights: The biggest win for the Allies was 6-0 scored by Andrew Bichard, as part of a sweep that eliminated 2018 champion Christopher Miller. Biggest Axis win was 6-2, scored by Caleb Hufford. This was a rough round for former champions, as Michael Shea knocked out Geoff Heintzelman (2014, 2021), Alex Bell squeaked past 2019 champ Sam Edelston by 4 figures, and in our first clash of champions, Steve Lollis (2004) ousted John Skiba (2010).

ROUND 3 … CAPTURE OF PARRY

Amphibious landing scenario from Campaign Book 2, with the gung-ho Marines coming ashore against an entrenched Japanese force in the Marshall Islands. The left half of the board has a row of landmines that the lone Allied engineer would love to defuse if he lives long enough. If the Marines can reach the far end of the board, there are four turn-start permanent objectives.

Because one player had to drop out, we had 11 surviving contestants and an eliminator. This round’s 6 matches included 5 sweeps and 1 split won by Allies. Overall, the Allies won 7 games and lost 5, with an average score of 4.67-4.92 medals and 21.33-22.00 figures. The Japanese averaged more medals, despite having fewer wins, because three Marine forces scored lower than 3 medals, while no Japanese force scored below 3.

Highlights: The biggest Allied win was 6-3, scored by Alex Bell and Steve Lollis. Biggest Axis win was 6-1 by Dan Winnowski. The sweeps were won by Alex Bell, Peter Eldridge, Steve Lollis, Nathan Wagner, and Dan Winnowski.

Through three rounds, the only player with a perfect 6-0 record and 36 medals was Nathan Wagner. At 5-1 with 35 medals were Alex Bell and Dan Winnowski. At 4-2 with 34 medals were Jon Manley and Matthew Miller. That’s probably the first time we’ve had five players who didn’t lose any of their first three matches by more than a single medal. Also at 4-2, Steve Lollis had 32 medals, and Andrew Bichard was eliminated with a record of 4-2 and 33 medals.

ROUND 4 … THE MEAT GRINDER

This is a familiar scenario from the Pacific Theater expansion. Marines vs Japan again, but this time they’re inland, with the Japanese heavily defended in caves (with cave movement that can pull a weakened infantry out of danger), bunkers, and towns. The Marines have flamethrower tanks and combat engineers in each section of the map, plus a couple of artillery units. (Yes, this is a particularly rich scenario.) The only unbalanced scenario in this year’s tournament, the Japanese tend to win this one about 2/3 of the time.

The players rolled dice for matchups , and the dice paired two former champions, Steve Lollis (2004) vs Jon Manley (2017, and also last year’s 4th place finisher) … two other 2022 Laurelists, Dan Winnowski (3rd) vs Matthew Miller (5th) … and two players who have never previously Laureled in this event, Alex Bell vs Nathan Wagner.

The Allies and Axis each won 3 games, with an average score of 4.83-6.17 medals and 22.33-24.83 figures. The big disparity in medals is because the Japanese scored at least 5 medals in their three losses, while the Allies scored fewer than 5 in their three losses.

Alex Bell vs Nathan Wagner: In game 1, Alex’s Marines pushed hard on their left flank, only to encounter stiff resistance, with their two engineer units there being quickly eliminated. The American armor then tried a right flank attack, only to have the Japanese respond with Assaults in both the left and center sections. Those cards plus great dice quickly put an end to the American attack. Nathan’s Japanese prevailed, 7-1 medals, 22-7 figures.

Game 2. Nathan’s dice as Allies continued to serve him well, although the game was much closer. Ultimately, he scored a 7-5 victory, with a 30-26 advantage in figures. Match result: 14-6 sweep for Wagner.

Matthew Miller vs Dan Winnowski: In game 1, Matthew’s Japanese, on their first turn, rolled a pair of pineapples against the Marines’ valuable Center artillery, which had advanced into the jungle. However, Dan was able to get his engineers through the mines and do some decent damage to the IJA before being vanquished. Late game, the Japanese infantry charged out of the caves, but their dice were average. Dan countered with a 4-unit Finest Hour and good dice, including finishing off a Japanese artillery unit, to win the game 7-5, with 27-19 figures.

Game 2. With the advantaged side and great cards, Dan patiently played the whole game, retreating weak units, and waited for the Marines to attack on the cave side, which they never did. Once Dan got to 4 medals, he was really weak on his left flank, so he stormed out of the caves on his right with an assault and infantry assault – to only moderate success, as his dice against his tanks were ineffective. The banzai charge nearly backfired, but Dan was able to use a 1-1-1 to finish off two single-figure infantries and a no-retreat tank to earn the sweep. 7-4 medals, 32-27 figures. Match result: 14-9 sweep for Winnowski.

Steve Lollis vs Jon Manley: Jon enjoyed great dice and timely cards in both ends of the match. Their Finest Hour was played 5 times – including twice by Steve in game 1 and twice by Jon in game 2. Jon’s Japanese won the last medal by rolling 4 Tanks against a full-strength Marine armored unit. Game 1 was a narrow victory for Manley’s Marines, 7-6, 29-25. Game 2 went to Manley’s Japanese, 7-3, 25-14. Match result: 14-9 sweep for Manley.

ROUND 5 … BATTLE OF CELLES

This scenario from the Battle of the Bulge came in the Equipment Pack. It features a pair of German halftracks ready to resupply damaged units, and the Allies can bring in up to three Armor Breakthrough units on the far side of the board. (The extra tanks can be a mixed blessing, as they aren’t allowed to battle when they enter, so they can be sitting ducks.) We also used Winter Combat Cards; before this round was an extensive briefing, to make sure all players were comfortable with all of its special rules.

The three survivors were Nathan Wagner (8-0, 50 medals), Dan Winnowski (7-1, 49 medals), and 2017 champion Jon Manley (6-2, 48 medals). To complete the Semifinal field, the highest-ranked loser from round 4 was reincarnated, giving new life to Alex Bell (5-3, 41 medals).

Wagner vs Winnowski: Game 1. Right after Nathan’s American Armor Breakthrough, Dan played Direct From HQ and surrounded the Allied tanks with his own, but Dan’s dice only took out one unit before going 2-for-9 on the second no-retreat tank. Later, Dan was unable to take out an Allied infantry with a Firefight. The same charmed infantry survived when Dan rolled 2 flags against it – foiling his plan to use the “Heat of Battle” Combat card. So, instead of 9 dice against a 3-figure infantry unit for a likely win, that Allied infantry survived, and Nathan’s Allies won on next turn. 6-5 medals, 29-17 figures.

.In game 2, Dan’s Allies had card problems, at one point holding four Right section cards – on the Germans’ strongest flank and far away from the action. Later, Dan did an Armor Breakthrough with an Armor Assault, fatefully forgetting that the new tanks couldn't battle on that turn. The following turn, Nathan played an “Out of Fuel” Combat card, which further hindered the Allied armor. But late in the game, Dan started drawing some strong cards: Firefight, General Advance, Move Out, and this allowed him to make a comeback and win the game 6-5 medals, 30-18 figures.

Match result: 11-11 medals, 47-47 figures. Uh-oh. Dead-heat tie. By tournament rules, the first tiebreaker in late rounds is cumulative wins, so Nathan’s “awesome lucky streak of winning in the previous rounds” prevailed, with 9 cumulative wins vs 8 for Dan. Two razor-close games, but the match result was the closest shave of all.

Manley vs Bell: Game 1: A very close game! Jon’s Germans used the halftrack resupply rule to undo three hits, but Alex picked up a medal by destroying the other three halftrack figures. Alex brought in the Armor Breakthrough units on an Assault card and threatened in the center. Some good rolling and defensive terrain allowed the Germans to take a 5-3 lead. However, after Jon whiffed against a single-figure infantry with 3 dice, Alex stormed back with a 2-medal (nearly 3) turn, tying the score at 5. Jon eliminated a unit the next turn to win the battle, 6-5 medals, 23-23 figures.

Game 2: Alex’s Germans were severely limited by their hand. Jon’s Allies had great cards to dig Alex into a hole he couldn’t get out of. The score tells the tale…6-1, 21-14. Match result: 12-6 medals, 44-37 figures in favor of Manley.

ROUND 6 … RESISTANCE AT MARVIE

From the Winter Wars expansion, this is a Breakthrough scenario (played on a board that’s 17 rows deep, instead of the usual 9). It’s another scenario from the Battle of the Bulge, but this one includes the Reduced Visibility rule, where on distant attacks only Grenades are hits. The 14 American units are almost entirely in their Left and Center sections, and most of their infantry is protected by terrain or sandbags. They’re surrounded in front and on their right by a force of 21 German units, including 8 armored, 3 artillery, and 4 Special Forces infantry. (Surprisingly, despite the disparity, this is another 50-50 scenario.) A particularly devilish feature about this scenario is that a few German units are behind the Allied lines, so flags will retreat them toward the Allies.

We used the Breakthrough deck, which has 80 cards instead of the usual 60 (including an extra of Their Finest Hour, Ambush, Firefight, Armor Assault, Counter-Attack, and others), gives extra, movement-only “On the Move” orders on Section cards, and has a few other differences from the standard deck. This match was also played with Winter Combat cards.

Wagner vs Manley, Game 1: Nathan had only played one previous Breakthrough game, over a year ago, but his Germans came out swinging. He pushed from the Allied Right toward the Center. The Allies lost some figures, but the Germans left themselves exposed and close to the Allies. The Allied response was deadly, trapping several German units and rolling hot dice, giving Jon’s Allies a big 9-4 win, with 31-22 figures.

Game 2 began with a steady, plinking rain from Jon’s German artillery along the front, powered in part by a pair of Artillery Bombards, rolling at least a half-dozen Grenades in all, and wearing down the American defenders. Jon’s artillery focused on nearby targets at 2d range, rather than trying to finish off some distant single-figure targets. The two sides finally contacted a German Armor Assault on their seventh turn, followed by a stream of big cards from both sides. Nathan’s Allies grabbed a 6-4 lead with three kills on a Direct From HQ on their 12th turn, but the Germans came back with kills on each of their next four turns. The last German turn was an Attack Left that encroached behind the Allies for their eighth kill, while their On-the-Move Panzer snatched an objective hex on the opposite flank. Interestingly, even though the Allies start this scenario with no units fully in their Right flank, each side lost four units in that section – more than half of all kills. Axis wins, 9-8, with 35-27 figures.

Match result: 18-12 sweep for Manley, for his second WBC Memoir championship. Jon joins Joe Harrison and Geoff Heintzelman as 2-time champs.

MULTI-PLAYER OVERLORD GAMES

In addition to the tournament, we had four multi-player Overlord games. These are always a highlight, because many players only have a chance to play them at conventions. They also tend to be a source of great battle stories. As always, we had a mix of elementary and advanced Overlords; the elementary ones are particularly great for bringing in inexperienced players.

This year, thanks to large numbers of players, we opened up a second table during two of the five periods.

Thursday afternoon: [Kursk] PROKHOROVKA

We began the weekend with a great basic Overlord from the Eastern Front expansion that has no special rules except for a fordable stream. As would befit the biggest tank battle of the war, there’s a lot of armor out in the open in the Center and Right sections, while the Left section is a much more tactical battle with three long rows of forest hexes.

Allies were commanded by Manuel B., with left-to-right Field Generals Roberto B., Sam Edelston, and E.S.T. The Germans were commanded by John Parker, with Field Generals J.T., Jon Manley, and Justin Hasty facing them.

The Germans were blessed with good cards, playing Assaults for all three Field Generals on their second turn (15 orders in all). Their next turn followed this with an Armor Assault on their left, a second Assault Center, and a total of 5 charred Russian armored units. A Russian Counter-Attack in the center destroyed three Panzers, and the Russians would bag three more Panzers over their next two turns to gain a brief advantage. However, the Germans then began a new offensive against the Russian Left, as they took advantage of a couple of Allied units that had advanced out of cover and then pushed some Panzers around the edge and into the Russian rear for a total of 4 kills. Additionally, a heavy Russian tank outside of the center town got stranded and stomped in the back row. The final blow was a German Behind Enemy Lines, which nailed a weakened, retreated Allied infantry. 12-8 victory for the Germans, 48-36 figures. In particular, the Germans outscored the Allied Left, 4-1, and the Allied Right, 4-2.

Friday night, après-tournament: STALINGRAD: PERDITION

This is a great, very competitive, well-named scenario composed by Eric Mosso. Both sides have targets in each section from the very start, and there aren’t many good places to hide. Since both sides have several artillery units and snipers, nowhere is safe. Commissar and Blitz rules are in effect. The Russians are defending six multi-hex objectives that are temporary medals for any side occupying at least one hex (i.e., both sides can have a medal at the same time), so the City fighting is always fierce. Most of the heavy Russian units are behind a frozen Volga River.

The Russian defenders were commanded by Dan Winnowski, with Field Generals Matthew Miller, J.T., and Roberto. The German attackers were led by Andrew B., with Field Generals Christopher Miller, Manuel B., and Justin Hasty.

It was a brutal, grinding battle. The Russians start with 8 medals in this 20-medal scenario, and they held a big lead for a long time. Late in the battle, German armor pushed through a gap and threatened some weakened units in the Russian rear, but an Allied Armor Assault and Center card combined to slay the three Panzers. On the final turn, the Russians were able to get 3 medals, fittingly one by each Field General. On the left, the sniper finished off a single-figure, no-retreat infantry. In the center an armor unit moved into Red October Factory for a medal. On the right, they had a 50-50 shot against a single-figure infantry and got it. Russian victory, 20-17.

Saturday morning: CAPE TOROKINA LANDINGS

This is an exotic scenario from the Khalkhin Gol Battlemap expansion. The left half of the board is mostly water and features a host of US Marine units aiming to clean a handful of Japanese infantries off of two islands, and then come ashore to support a bigger American landing on the right half of the board. The dry land is mostly beach, jungle, and road.

The Marines were commanded by John Parker. Field Generals left-to-right were Joe Gehring, E.S.T, and John Skiba. Facing them were the Japanese commander J.T. and Field Generals Andrew B., Franklin, and Sam Edelston.

The Marines played a Finest Hour on their second turn, ordering two infantries in each section, which was sufficient to eliminate the lone defender on the tiny center island. The Japanese Counter-Attacked, ordering 7 infantries (four in the center), eliminating 2 infantries in the center and one on the big island. The Japanese Center handicapped the Marines by preventing them from coming ashore directly across from the big island. The Allied captured bunkers on the mainland three times, but each time they were eliminated within 1-2 turns, as the Japanese Left had a steady flow of orders and lethal dice.

After the Japanese cleaned out all of the ground units from the Marine Right, their artillery and mortar repositioned to where they could reach targets in the center. After a couple of shots, the artillery plinked away a singleton infantry on the small center island to complete a 15-9 win (68-47 figures) on their 12th turn.

Saturday afternoon: TWIN BATTLES OF WARNACH AND BIGONVILLE

This advanced scenario comes from the Equipment Pack and is a “kitchen sink” scenario that uses most of the unit types. The Americans have mortars, mobile artillery, and a Big Gun, while the entrenched Germans have machine guns, heavy anti-tank “88” guns, a Tank Destroyer, a Nebelwerfer that can fire smoke shells, and a Command Car for extra orders. The weather and visibility are miserable, so armor movement is reduced and only Grenades hit at a distance.

At game time, we had only a few very experienced players and enough less-experienced ones to fill a complete table, so we set up a quick game of Tigers in the Snow (below), while the hard core played two-on-two. The Allies here were Christopher Miller and John Parker, The Germans were Joe Harrison and Matthew Miller.

A highlight or low point of the battle came when the Germans played Their Finest Hour and rolled “an abysmal number of orders.” The Allies Counter-Attacked and got 9 orders. This in turn was Counter-Attacked by the Germans who again rolled few orders. Call this “The Dance of the [Finest] Hours.” The other highlight or low point was when the valuable German Command Car fell through the ice into the frozen river.

Final result was an Allied victory, 15-9 medals, 64-38 figures.

Saturday afternoon bonus scenario: TIGERS IN THE SNOW

Don’t let the cute title fool you. It’s February 1945, and the Soviets are pressing toward Germany. In the lower left quadrant of the board is a massive force of 10 Red armored units. In the upper right quadrant are 8 German armored units, including 4 Tiger Tanks. (Tigers are single-figure units where hits must be rerolled, so it takes an average of 18 dice to destroy one – but one can be destroyed with a single roll, or it can take a hundred.) Both sides’ armor really want to meet in the middle of the board, but first they have to get past long lines of infantry and artillery. The Russian armor is penned in by a river that’s initially traversed by a single bridge, but they can build pontoon bridges to increase their options … and the Germans can attempt to blow up the bridges.

J.T. commanded the Allies, with left-to-right Field Generals E.S.T., Joe Gehring, and Manuel B. Opposite them were German commander Andrew B., with Franklin, Sam Edelston, and Roberto.

The Allies got things going on their third turn, when their Barrage retreated the German Right artillery to the back row and a tank immediately it … and then on their next turn an Infantry Assault on their right charged four units forward and killed two Tigers. However, over the next six turns, the armor on the German Left avenged that setback by eliminating the four aggressive infantries, two more infantries, and both of that flank’s artilleries – including a game-ending double-Grenade roll. One notable event from another part of the board was that the Russian Left built a pontoon bridge across the river, and the Germans immediately succeeded in blowing it up.

13-6 German victory, 47-23 figures, in 9 turns.

Saturday evening: BASTOGNE

Another basic scenario to finish the weekend. Both sides have mixed forces of infantry, armor, and some artillery. Everybody’s initially in the open, but there are plenty of forests and towns for cover. Ther are no special rules whatsoever.

The Americans were commanded by Jon Manley, with left-to-right Field Generals Geoff Heintzelman, Timothy Manley, and Hannah Manley. The Germans were commanded by John Skiba, with Field Generals right-to-left Christopher Miller, Matthew Miller, and Andrew B.

The battle began slowly but soon became an intense struggle on the German left / Allied right, Andrew vs Hannah, with some support from both sides’ center forces. Then, on the Allied 4th turn, Their Finest Hour was played with 4 orders on the right and only 3 for the other sectors combined. A German Ambush here wiped out a full-strength Allied tank – critical roll, as that tank could have easily wiped out two weak German units. The Germans hit back hard with Armor Assault in the center, and three Allied tanks went up in flames. This gave the Germans a 6-3 lead, but the Allies bounced back with their own Armor Assault and took out three Panzers in return, tying the game at 6-6.

The first eight German medals were gained by killing off Allied tanks. As the tank battle goes, so goes the game. In the next two Allied turns, despite issuing 23 orders, including three Assaults played on their last turn, poor shooting (7-for-30) only gained them one kill. They did claim two town medals so at the end of Allied turn 6 the score was 10 to 9 German.

On German turn 7, they Barraged a 2-figure tank off the board on their left. This ensured a German win, as their Left had been issued Behind Enemy Lines and a town medal could be claimed with the second move from that card. But before than happened, the Miller brothers worked together to cut off and kill a tank for the last medal needed. 12-9 victory for the Germans. A close-fought battle, and well played by all!

Saturday evening bonus scenario: THE KHALKHIN-GOL ENCIRCLEMENT

Just after the scheduled Overlord began, several more players showed up. With the GM’s American and German figures in use, the logical thing was a scenario pitting the Russians against the Japanese. Khalkhin Gol! Bingo!

This Battlemap pits the Soviet army (and Commissar) against the Japanese in Mongolia in August 1939, just before the World War officially started. All three Russian sections are loaded with tanks, while the Japanese rely more on infantry dug in behind sandbags. The only Japanese armor is some light, 2-figure tanks in the center. Each of the six Field Generals has a highly mobile armored car, and both sides have a bit of cavalry on each flank. This tends to be a fairly balanced scenario.

Sam Edelston commanded the Russians, with left-to-right Field Generals Sam, Manuel B., and Augustus H. The Japanese were commanded by E.S.T., with Roberto taking their Right and Center and J.T. on their Left.

There was action in all sections. For most of the battle, Japan maintained a lead of 1-3 kills plus 2-3 objectives. The Allies had one 5-medal turn, but the Japanese immediately got 3 back on their own turn – and the turn after that they played a Finest Hour, rolled 9 orders, and added 3 more kills.

Contact by the Allied Right began with the first turn, with a daring but unsuccessful cavalry attack. Meanwhile, the Axis Right got an almost-continuous flow of nice cards; their armored car caused trouble until it was eliminated, and on the Finest Hour, a Japanese infantry rolled 5 hits against a 3-figure tank. Normally, armored cars are difficult to destroy, requiring an average of 12 dice, but three of them – two Russian, one Japanese – fell within a combined total of little more than a total of 12d. But the heaviest fighting was in the center, where the Russians scored 7 kills, against 5 by the Japanese, who nearly made it all the way to the medal bridge. The final two kills were scored in the center by the Japanese at Remisova Hill. Final score: 18-15 medals, 61-54 figures, in 9 turns.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The GM wishes to thank AGMs John Skiba, Jon Manley and Geoff Heintzelman for their help in the tournament room and leading some of the Overlords. Thanks also to Jon Manley, for leading the pre-tournament instructional demo, with assistance from Hannah Manley, Timothy Manley, John Parker, and Dan Winnowski. Thanks, as always, to Richard Borg for creating this wonderful game, and to Days of Wonder / Asmodee for continuing to support and expand it. And special thanks to the organizers of WBC for allowing us to make this North America’s premiere Memoir ’44 event year after year.