This match up happened very early on in the pairwise comparisons. I thought “wow! This is a tough choice.”
How am I going to chose between BattleLore (Second Edition) and Memoir ’44?
Both are based on the Richard Borg Command and Colours system.
Yes BattleLore has some extras to its mechanics. Setting the game up is actually part of the game play. It also adds lore to the game, which is basically magic. And that setup as game play is inspired.
Memoir ’44 has had way better support when it comes to expansions. There is a shit load of stuff for it. Ok some are mega expensive because they are out of print (which I don’t get, because it’s a popular game, an ever green title, and keeping stuff like expansions in print shouldn’t be an issue.) Plus I’m not sure FFG will do much more with BattleLore now with their RuneWars mini game just hitting the stores.
So does it just come down to theme? Do I prefer fantasy over historical? Or vice versa?
I decided this was a draw. Theme wasn’t a big decider in the end for me. Because if on the day I wanted to play a game like these it would come down to what theme am I in the mood for?
So I put this decision out on social media to get the thoughts of others on what they would chose.
I suspect Henning might be a little biased in his answer below. But he is correct his art in BattleLore is amazing.
So what would your choice be?
Never really liked battlelore but loved memoir! The two games play completely differently in my opinion and memoir is just better.
Sometimes I just want big monsters to command ;)
Sorry, I am biased towards Memoir 44 (to start, I’ve never owned or played Battlelore).
Other than Star Wars, I have had little interest in things fantasy and I love re-enactments of historical battles (especially Total War Rome on the PC and Time Commanders on TV).
In addition to Memoir 44 (2 base copies) I also own the Equipment expansion pack and I’m looking to expand further in the not-too-distant future (particularly want the Air expansion pack, but not at some silly price).
Other games I own from the same or similar genre include Axis and Allies 1942 Special Edition, Risk (modern Red edition) and Risk Battlefield Rogue. So you can see there was only ever going to be one winner in my household.
To balance this a little, I do own fantasy games. However as I’ve already stated they revolve around the Star Wars franchise as I own Star Wars Risk Original Trilogy, Star Wars Risk The Clone Wars and Star Wars Risk (Basic and Black editions) – the latter is a particular favourite of my family as I’ve pimped with Micro Machines and other effects (see my website at: http://ultimateswr.wixsite.com/customswr).
I just have the base game, Campaign book 2, D-Day Maps and the newest map pack. But I do have access to everything via friends in my gaming group. It is a great game. Which I need to get to the table again.
Wow that’s a lot of copies of Risk.
Hi Darren,
LOL @ numbers of copies of Risk :)
I have even more copies of Monopoly! Mega Monopoly, Here and Now Electronic banking Monopoly, Monopoly Revolution, Monopoly World Cup 1998, Monoooly World Cup 2006, Monopoly World Cup 2010 and My Monopoly to name a few.
In addition I have a prototype not found in stores which I created in 2011 called Monopoly British Army edition. It was intended to be a Limited Edition (around 1,000 copies initially) which I hoped would raise cash for charity for the victims and their families of those injured whilst serving on duty. But alas I could not raise the financial support needed to get it released (see my website at: http://monopoly-bafe.wixsite.com/armycharity).
So as you can see, board gaming is fast becoming a popular past-time in our family.
My boss is into monopoly too. She plays a “mega” variant involving two or more boards.