Card-driven Light Wargame Arena: Memoir '44 vs Mythic Battles

Two games enter... only one can leave. In today's article, a game-on-game battle royale between two light war games. In the red corner we have the long-time favourite and people's champion: Memoir '44. In the blue corner, a plucky little slugger far from almost everyone's radar: Mythic Battles.

Now I like memoirs, and I like myths; but which is best? Only one way to find out... FIGHT!

The contenders

Memoir '44

Picture by Mads Floe

Memoir 44 should require no introduction. Designed by Richard Borg, it was one of the early and
most influential of the Commands & Colors light wargame series. A highly successful game from powerhouse publisher Days of Wonder, it's an attractive and accessible game primarily based on the D-Day landings. An army (pun!) of expansions has been released, and it even has a digital version on Steam.

Mythic Battles

Less well known is Mythic Battles. I shall be brutally honest and admit I hadn't heard about it myself, and only stumbled upon it by accident. It was designed by Benoit Vogt, who, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't designed anything else commercially available. Released relatively recently by another fairly high-profile publisher, Iello, it appears to have had very little marketing or support (though two expansions have been released - but not in the UK as far as I can tell).

Round 1: the field of battle

Both games revolve around cardboard battlefields with terrain entities to introduce some strategic elements. Memoir has a double-sided (shore or inland) board, split into hexes, with individual hex tiles to be added to create a varied battlefield; Mythic Battles has six double-sided boards, subdivided into squares, to be selected and arranged in a 2-by-2 fashion. Winner in this category: Memoir '44 by a nose.

Round 2: pieces on the board

This is one of the big differences, and can be dispensed with very briefly. Mythic Battles uses counters to indicate unit positions; Memoir has adorable plastic miniatures. Despite the high quality of counter art, this round is a clear win for Memoir '44.

Round 3: use of cards

Now that the trivial opening rounds are behind us, let's get into the meat of the conflict. Both Memoir '44 and Mythic Battles are card- and dice-driven games. Both use cards to select which units you move on your turn, while both use dice to determine the outcome of conflict. However, there are key mechanical differences between the two games, and they change everything.

Picture by Kelly B

Memoir '44 allows each player a hand of cards, most of which indicate a section of the board (centre or left or right flank) and a number of units within this section you may activate this turn. Theoretically, this should give rise to a careful game of hand management, as you weigh up holding your best cards to make a devastating strike when your opponent wanders into range, or to move now and try to take strong positions or eliminate key units. However, for me, it doesn't seem to work that well. Two crucial flaws undercut this strategic element: one is that some cards are just stronger than others, and the other is that both players are drawing from the same deck. Your next card (and your opponent's next card) is just as likely to be strong or weak, irrespective of the card you just played; in other words, if you played a weak card to preserve stronger cards, you are just as likely to pull another weak card to replace it, while your opponent might throw down power-cards and draw strong ones in their place. Yes, I understand the principle of regression to the mean, but there aren't enough draws in the game for that sort of averaging to come into effect. While the game sometimes gives you a reason to hold onto specific cards, it just doesn't provide sufficient pressure to force you to play sub-optimal cards in the hope of your hand improving in the future.

Mythic Battles takes a very different approach. Each player has individual decks, which are constructed from cards representing the units in their army (different units contributing different numbers of cards); each card allows the specific depicted unit to act when played. As with Memoir, players have hands of cards to choose from in any given round; however, hand management is actually a real mechanic, as you may choose to discard cards in return for power points, but at the price that these cards may not be available when you need them. You may also use "Art of War" cards to select a card you really need right now from your deck; this comes with a cost too, however, as these Art of War cards may alternatively be used to activate multiple units on a single turn. Since you know what's available in your deck, and you made the choice of what would be in it in the first place, card usage involves compelling decisions. Which cards to use this turn? Which units would be better used next round? Is it a good idea to discard for power points, or will you need that card in the foreseeable future? Do you really, really need to use an Art of War card to pull a specific unit card?

I don't mind that the Memoir '44 card draw is sometimes frustrating. I mind that it doesn't really give rise to compelling decisions, particularly compared to Mythic Battles. This crucial round is a clear win for Mythic.

Round 4: use of dice

As previously stated, both games use dice to determine the outcome of combat. Memoir '44 uses a simple, clear system; you roll dice (depending on unit type and range), and the icons clearly indicate hits (by target type), misses and forced retreats. Mythic Battles uses a slightly more complicated system; number of dice is variable based on unit and health, and are numbered 0-5. 5s "explode" (i.e. roll again and add), while any non-zero dice can be discarded to add one to the value of another dice (potentially making it explode). Hits are determined by the number of dice which, at the end of this process, have a value above the target's defence (which usually requires values of 5 or more). Comparing the two systems, Memoir '44 is easier to teach and understand, while Mythic Battles feels less arbitrary; more dice (from higher attack value) are stronger, but outcomes are generally less "swingy" than Memoir. This round goes to Mythic by an edge.

Round 5: units

This is probably one of the biggest areas of difference. Memoir '44 ultimately doesn't make that much

Picture by Dave Slater

of a distinction between units. It's based primarily around infantry and tanks; the latter have advantages at range, and have some other bonuses such as the overrun ability, but ultimately there's not all that much to distinguish them. A close range attack rolls three attack dice, irrespective of the unit type or it's health; a single infantry can do as much damage as a triple tank. Elite units have minor bonuses, but units never feel all that different (except, maybe, artillery). Yes, the system is simple, but in this reviewer's opinion, it's gone too far.

Mythic Battles, by contrast, makes unit differences one of its strengths. Players select their own units with a simple point-buy system; each unit has difference values for close attack, ranged attack, movement, health... and special abilities. Wonderfully, as units are damaged, they lose (beautifully illustrated) cards from each unit's mini-deck", revealing the next health level with different capabilities; damaged units actually act differently in this game, and the way that's handled is elegant and simple. It just has every conceivable advantage over Memoir. The only criticism I would make is that the unit special abilities are perhaps too much; each unit has around 3 or 4, and each needs to be looked up in the rulebook (effects are not printed on cards). This is particularly over-the-top since many special abilities are nearly identical, and could really be reduced to a much smaller number. Limiting each unit to one or two unique abilities, and printing them on the cards themselves, would probably have worked better. Nonetheless, despite perhaps a little too much complexity, this round is for Mythic Battles.

Round 6: multiplayer

And now Memoir '44 gets back into the fight. Mythic Battles multiplayer is pretty much limited to just playing a slightly larger, wider game in teams. It's not that much different from the one-on-one game. Memoir, however, delivers some fantastic ideas when it comes to multiplayer. The Overlord expansion allows vast battlefields with up to eight players battling it out, not just as a bigger version of the normal game, but as a chain of command, with a commander who controls the hand and distributes cards to their subordinates. While I confess I haven't played the Overlord game, I can clearly see the potential. It's not just more of the same - it's a whole different game with a unique dynamic. This round goes to Memoir.

Round 7: replayability

The final round is the most difficult one to judge. Memoir '44 has a host of expansion options - however, the starting box only has so many scenarios, and not nearly enough unit differentiation. Mythic Battles, while not offering much variation in terms of defined scenarios (it has a "campaign book" of scenarios, but they're really an extended tutorial), has wider replayability in the box thanks to much greater variation of units and the point-buy system. While this is a bit of a chalk-to-cheese comparison, Mythic Battles has the edge on replayability based on the contents of the basic box.

The judge's decision

Counting the round-by-round statistics makes it look like this was a close battle. It's really not. Both

Picture by the author

these games fundamentally revolve around cards and dice; both these categories go to Mythic Battles, particularly as regards card mechanics. There's no doubt in my mind that it's the better game.

That said, there are two exceptional situations in which I would go with Memoir. One is with newcomers to modern boardgaming, who want a war theme; while I would ordinarily go elsewhere for a gateway game, Memoire is simple and approachable for someone who really wants battlefield strategy. The other exception is in team play - that's a clear win for Memoir '44. Otherwise, quite frankly, I would actively avoid playing Memoir '44; I find it too arbitrary without anything like enough strategy for something that purports to be a wargame, even a light one. By contrast, I think Mythic Battles is a work of quiet genius. If you can find it, get it.