Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
Summary
Game Type - Board Game
Play Time: 30-60 minutes
Number of Players: 2-8 (Most commonly 2 players)
Mechanics - Card Driven, Scenario Based, Dice Rolling Combat
Difficulty - Moderate (Takes 5-6 plays to become totally familiar)
Components - Excellent
This review follows on from my review of the base game in the Memoir System. As such I will endeavour to analyse this expansion on its merits and then comment on what it adds to the Memoir ’44 system. I have owned this expansion for well over 12 months now so I have been patient in learning the game before getting this review to you (20 plays in all at this point). I hope it reflects my understanding of the 'Pacific Theater' and is of use to readers.
I’ll also highlight the fact that this review will not go into the basic game play of Memoir ’44. I have covered this in detail in the following review and I suggest you read that first if you are unfamiliar with the system - Memoir '44
Overview
The Pacific Theater is the second real expansion of note for Memoir '44 (I discount the Terrain Pack as a solid expansion at this point but will revisit it after the Air Pack is in my hands).
As the name suggests the Pacific Theater focuses on the battles that took place in the Pacific and in particular it highlights the key battles fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and the US Marine Corps. The scenarios cover the time period of ’41-’45 and follows the lead taken by the Eastern Front in departing from the time frame of the base game (I recognize that this also occurred in the Terrain Pack).
As one would expect the game offers a range of new figures, tiles and terrain, tokens and scenarios. But most importantly it offers new rules that alter the play.
The Components
Part of what makes Memoir stand out as a game, and Days of Wonder as a Company, are the great looking components that help one’s imagination run wild with possibilities.
Figures
In all the Pacific Theater comes with 66 new figures to allow the Japanese to enter the fray. All units follow the standard rules of their unit type unless the Scenario Briefing states otherwise.
Japanese Infantry (48) – The Japanese Infantry come in a tan or fawn colour (as do all the Japanese units). The poses for the Japanese are unique to all other previously seen infantry used in the game. 299
The Japanese soldier holds his gun in two hands and has a staggered pose, suggesting that he is on the march. A small backpack completes the miniature and together it suggests a highly mobile unit. Although simple, I really like the sculpts for the Memoir expansions.
The harder plastic used in the Eastern Front is also evident here and works well.
Image Courtesy of <PERSON> (Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks) (12) – These units are also unique in design. I don’t have the historical knowledge to know if the sculpt is an accurate representation of the Ha-Go but I am guessing they were made to scale as they are easily half the size of the armour units used by the Germans, Americans and Russians.
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Image Courtesy of ColtsFan76
Artillery (Type 98 75mm) (6) – These are a little more fragile looking than the Russian Artillery and again this is probably due to the Japanese design. You can tell from the appearance that these were designed to be unfolded and set-up quickly (correct me if I'm wrong), helping the Japanese to stay highly mobile. These units are actually referred to as Anti-Aircraft Guns and this highlights the concerns the Japanese had with the Americans in this theater.
Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
The Pacific Theater offers 13 new terrain tiles to freshen up the gaming experience and offer realistic situations found in the Pacific Theater.
Image Courtesy of ColtsFan76
Beaches – These tiles now allow a scenario to have scattered beach placed on the all grass side of the board, or placed on the 'beach-head' side to extend a beach as required. The effects for these tiles are the same as regular beach outlined in the base game (link to review can be found at the bottom of this page).
Mountain Caves & Hill Caves – - The artwork here is functional. Mountains are depicted with a white star based center (presumably to represent snow) and holes to represent the dug-out caves. The Hill Caves are similar featuring cave holes with a hill based border. These tiles are double sided, with the reverse side featuring the underlying terrain with no caves (see battle below). 92