Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan – Airplanes to battle!

A few months ago, I ventured to Normandy, France to be a part of the 75th anniversary of D-Day commemoration events.

It was my first time visiting those beaches, fields, and towns and I’ll never forget it.

Getting a first-hand look at these historical sites where so many people sacrificed all, was sobering.

While I haven’t discovered any direct family members who were a part of the events on June 6, 1944, that didn’t stop me from wanting to be there on June 6, 2019 – 75 years later.

I’d planned the trip with a friend starting almost a year ahead of time. It gave me plenty of time to read many great books about D-Day itself and related events. So, by the time we arrived for our week-long visit, I could more fully appreciate the impact of that turning point in history.

Of course, I also have to give a nod to one of my favorite board games for planting the seed in my mind to visit – Memoir ’44!

I still don’t consider myself a “war gamer”, but I do love Memoir ’44.

After having been to so many of those locations, now playing the game has an even deeper appeal and appreciation for me.

One of my favorite locations was Pointe du Hoc.

It’s hard to imagine scaling those massive cliffs. And I appreciated seeing the cratered remains from all the bombing on that point.

As I play the latest Memoir ’44 expansion – New Flight Plan, it takes me back to that point.

 

What’s New in Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan

Like the many expansions before, Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan doesn’t dramatically change the game. Yet it adds some new flavor to the game that’s fantastic!

Years ago, Days of Wonder published a Memoir ’44 Air Pack that added airplane tactics into the game. However, it went out of print and was very hard to find. As such, I don’t have any experience playing from the Air Pack to compare it to. So, this is a fresh look at adding airplanes to Memoir ’44 for me.

Since airplanes were a big part of WWII, it seems pretty natural to bring them into Memoir ’44. Yet, doing so without disrupting the core play of the game is a big challenge. And what they’ve delivered in New Flight Plan is right on the money.

For starters, airplanes don’t overpower the game.

Instead, each side may only have 1 airplane over the battlefield at a time. Each player is given 1 airplane stand at the beginning of the game. When they deploy an airplane, they place the associated airplane model on their stand and put it in play.

Naturally then, while it’s being used, the player doesn’t have anything else to put another airplane on.

New Flight Plan comes with an Air Combat deck that’s used in conjunction with the standard Command deck. At the start of the game, after each player gets their starting Command cards, they also receive 2 Air Combat cards. Depending on the year of the scenario, one side will also have “air superiority” and will get an additional Air Combat card to begin.

To deploy an airplane, a player plays one of their Air Combat cards along with a section Command card. Thus, one of the units being commanded for that card play will be an airplane.

In the top corners of the card are symbols representing one of 3 types of airplanes: Fighter, Fighter/Bomber, and Bomber. The type of airplane deployed doesn’t need to match that symbol, but if it does, the player gets to do what’s written on the Air Combat card played.

If the symbol doesn’t match that airplane makes a standard Attack Run.

In either case, the player takes the matching machine gun and/or bomb tokens for that airplane.

When deployed, a player may choose any hex in the Command card section for the plane to enter the battlefield. It can even be directly over enemy units. The airplane can move 1 to 4 hexes but must end its movement on a hex not occupied by any ground units.

As the airplane passes over enemy units, the player places one of the ammo tokens on those hexes. As long as the enemy units are in adjacent hexes, the player continues to place one token on each enemy hex.

During the Battle phase, the player will roll 1 die for each token on an enemy hex. For Machine Gun tokens, only the matching symbol unit scores a hit. For the bomb tokens, a grenade will also score a hit.

If an airplane ends its movement adjacent to an enemy airplane, in addition to the Attack Run, it may engage in a Dogfight. Each type of airplane will roll a different amount of dice in a Dogfight. Like in other battles, only the attacker rolls dice.

Ground units may also try to shoot down an airplane. But it’s not easy (as you can imagine it really was).

First, the ground units must be in an adjacent hex to the airplane. They roll their standard number of dice for an attack and any grenade rolled, may be a hit. Any dice showing a result of a grenade are re-rolled to confirm the hit. On that confirmation roll, any resulting grenade symbols are a hit. Any flag symbols cause the airplane to withdraw from the battlefield.

In addition, at the start of a player’s turn, they may choose to withdraw their airplane from the battlefield. If they’re out of ammo tokens, they must withdraw it.

Of course, all the Air Combat cards have effects that differ from a standard attack run and can be powerful. There’s even an Air Ambush card that a player may play when about to be engaged in a Dogfight by an enemy airplane.

When an airplane is shot down, the airplane is removed from the battlefield and the token on the base of the stand is used as the victory medal for the conquering player. Thus, that type of downed airplane cannot be redeployed during the game by the player who had their airplane shot down.

Once over the battlefield, and airplane may be commanded as any other unit on the board. For example, if a player’s airplane is above the center section and they play a Command card ordering 3 units in the center, one of those three units may be the airplane – which will make a standard Attack Run.

There are a few other rules that we don’t need to dive into, because what we’ve described is the crux of the new elements. For example, there are a few ways for players to gain additional Air Combat cards during a game.

 

Our thoughts on Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan

The short and sweet is that I love it!

The addition of airplanes to Memoir ’44 is such a welcome addition. And Days of Wonder implemented airplanes without them being too strong or needless. They hit the right balance.

When I first heard of this expansion, I imagined airplanes flying all over the battlefield and wreaking havoc. So, I’m glad that’s not the case.

Having only one airplane over the battlefield at a time means each choice must be very strategic. And even though they’re leaving machine gun ammo and bombs in their wake, they’re typically not leaving much damage behind because they’re only rolling one die for each token.

Some of the Air Combat cards let them roll more dice per token or place more tokens on single targets, but for the most part, airplanes are picking off ground units little by little.

And in actuality, that’s pretty cool because it’s representative of the war itself. They’re effective in their own way.

For example, when playing the scenarios included in the expansion, it’s great to use airplanes for attack runs further back on the battlefield while ground troops are slogging it out on the front lines. Little by little, those back units start to fall apart. So, by the time the ground units get through, they find less resistance.

Thus, New Flight Plan adds a nice representation of a broader aspect of WWII.

 

Component Details are Awesome!

Anyone who has played Memoir ’44 already knows that the figures from each army are distinct models. From the infantry, to the tanks, and the artillery, each nation in Memoir ’44 has a unique treatment for their models. They’re a good representation of the types of units from those nations in the war.

The airplanes in New Flight Plan continue with that great level of detail.

Players aren’t using generic figures to represent fighters or bombers. Instead, each nationality has their own airplanes represented. And the insert in the game box has the types of planes labeled by name!

So, when you command a British army, you get to use models of actual British airplanes. The same for American, German, Russian, or Japanese!

It’s an awesome touch!

Likewise, the tokens that get placed on the airplane stands show the symbol for that nation. The stands have a circular insert area to place the type and nation token so when you see them over the battlefield, you can easily tell which airplane is which.

And of course, the obvious element of the clear stands themselves.

Having the airplanes physical above the ground troops on see-through stands rocks!

When an enemy aircraft is nearby, you feel the pressure of them circling above. And when you’re controlling an aircraft, moving the over a bunch of enemy units and going 4 hexes feels fast and powerful.

 

What you need to make the most of Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan

One caveat we want to mention is that Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan takes advantage of components from other Memoir ’44 expansions.

Players are welcome to introduce the elements of New Flight Plan in any Memoir ’44 scenario.

So, whether you just have the base game or have every expansion, you can add airplanes to any scenario you want. It’s that compatible!

However, this expansion also comes with 15 new scenarios that are specifically meaningful for air combat. The catch is that they require more than the base Memoir ’44 game components to play.

At the top of each scenario page, there are symbols showing which expansions you’ll need components from to create the scenario. Sure, it may seem like it’s a way to sell more expansions. But at the same time, Days of Wonder probably figures that if you’re interested in New Flight Plan, it’s because you already have an expansion or two.

(Besides, I’ve already had Memoir ’44: Winter Wars and Equipment Pack on my wish list for a long time anyway. So, will this really tempt me more than I have been to get those? Guess we’ll have to see.)

If you’re a Memoir ’44 fan, we highly recommend getting a copy of Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan.

(If you’re not yet a Memoir ’44 fan, kudos to you for reading this far. Go ahead and give the Memoir ’44 base game a try.)

We’d like to thank Asmodee and for a review copy of Memoir ’44: New Flight Plan.