The
Memoir '44 Campaign Bag is a new accessory for your
Memoir '44 gaming.
The Components
The main component of the Campaign Bag is, as you'd expect, a "reinforced fabric" canvas bag. It's generally well made. The fabric seems sturdy and the various zips and ties all appear to be good quality. There's a sturdy strap on the bag with a shoulder rest, and overall it seems pretty comfortable to carry. The bag is olive-colored and has some simple Memoir '44 graphics on it.
The bag has been sized to hold all of the existing Memoir '44 supplements. The main bag has room for two copies of Memoir '44 (in case you're playing Overlord games), the Air Pack, and one supplement. There's also a velcro strap to hold the big boxes in if you've got less than a full complement of games, so that they don't fall open. I was somewhat leery of laying my boxes on their sides, but the components were only minorly disturbed when I pulled them out, as the Memoir '44 box is packed pretty well.
Two pouches to the side are each perfectly sized for the two other expansions available at this time. There's another pouch on the opposite side of the bag for your extra maps and some very small ones to the front side for dice.
Overall, everything fits well. Given the base idea of creating a bag to store all of the existing Memoir '44 boxes, this one is well (even cleverly) designed. If you've previously had to carry piles of boxes to transport Memoir '44 to a friend's house or your favorite game store, this is a terrific solution.
Because I believe in playtesting, I took my bag out for a walk. Beforehand, I packed everything inside. That was one copy of the main box and each supplement. That made the bag almost full, leaving room only for a second copy of the main games. The whole bag weighed 12 or 13 pounds. It felt a bit on the heavy side, but the shoulder rest kept the strap from digging into my shoulder. According to Google maps, my playtest/walk was exactly 1 mile. In that time I had to adjust the shoulder rest a few times, but never felt the need to move the bag from one shoulder to the other. Overall, it thus seems to work well.
With all that said, I'm well aware that many people are disappointed in the Campaign Bag. That's because it was originally announced as a "Carrying Case" and many people envisioned an accessory that would allow them to sort all of the tiles, maps, and figures from Memoir '44 into a more coherent whole, absent the boxes. Honestly, I also would have preferred something like that mythical ideal, and if it's what you're expecting, the Campaign Bag may be a disappointment--but ultimately I can only review a product by measuring how well it accomplishes it's own goals, and in that regard the Campaign Bag is quite nice.
A special "Breakthrough Map" also comes with the bag. This is a new map that's approximately twice as deep as the standard Memoir '44 map, forming an approximate square. It's printed on sturdy paper, which sadly makes it lower quality than the rest of the Memoir '44 components. However the graphics stand up to the usual (high) Memoir '44 standards, while some extra effort has been made to make the map very usable by printing copies of the info cards to the sides.
(It's worth noting that half of the printed cards are in English and half are in French, meaning that one player will replace his printed cards with the real things--unless you happen to have an English-speaking player playing a French-speaking player, I suppose. However the pre-printed cards are still a big plus, as Memoir '44 only comes with one copy of the cards, and this makes it so that both players can easily reference them).
Overall, as a bag intended to hold the Memoir '44 boxes, the Campaign Bag is elegantly designed and sturdy. Despite the disappointment of the paper map, I've still given it an above-average "4" out of "5" for Style. The reader can then decide whether this particular accessory fits his own needs or not.
The Gameplay
The Campaign Bag introduces just one new gameplay element: the breakthrough map. It's two-sided.
One side contains a special "Breakthrough to Gembloux" scenario with all the terrain pre-printed and notations even made for where your units go. It also contains the names of all of the cities, right there on the board, which was a very nice touch.
The other side is a blank countryside map that can be used with new scenarios. As far as I'm aware there aren't any new breakthrough scenarios available yet at memoir44.com, but I'm sure there will be soon.
The breakthrough maps aren't actually fully explained in the Campaign Bag (though you have everything you need to play the Gembloux scenario). However, it appears that their central conceit is that they're about twice as deep as a standard Memoir '44 map and that one players needs to "break through" by exiting at least one unit off the map on the other side.
Breakthrough to Gembloux is a huge scenario, perhaps the largest thus far written for Memoir '44. Just about every unit from the basic set is put on the board, and a player must earn 12 medals to win. In addition, the Germans must win one of those medals by exiting a troop off the side of the map.
When my wife and I played Gembloux, it was a lengthy, drag-out fight. I ended up destroying every one of her units but one before I could finally get someone off the board. The final score was something like 16-11 (based on the assumption that the Germans just kept accumulating points until they could get someone off the board). It ran about 90 minutes, and thus was surely the most epic game of Memoir '44 we've ever played.
Relationships to Other Games
The Memoir '44 Campaign Bag is a supplement to Memoir '44. It's designed to hold all the current supplements: Air Pack, Eastern Front, Pacific Theater, Terrain Pack, and the Winter/Desert Board.
The Game Design
Generally I thought the Breakthrough Map was worthwhile because it created a somewhat different Memoir '44 gameplay experience. Other scenarios have required you to get off the map, but this was the first one where it was truly hard, thanks to length of the board, and thus it became a major focus.
I can't say if the longer, epic feel is a regular element of breakthrough scenarios or not. The game ended up being a little long for me personally, but I did feel like it remained interesting for most of its length (except, perhaps, only the very end) and that Memoir '44 can support the length of play. The breakthrough map was a good way to achieve the goal.
Though I'm pleased with the breakthrough map, my Substance rating has to reflect the fact that it's a pretty minor part of the Campaign Bag package. If you're buying the Campaign Bag, it should primarily be because you want the bag to carry stuff around: the actual gameplay only earns a "2" out of "5" for Substance. It's comparatively sparse.
Conclusion
The Memoir '44 Campaign Bag is a bag that can be used to easily transport your complete set of Memoir '44 games and expansions. It's a sturdy, well-designed accessory for that purpose, but don't expect it to allow you to sort out your pieces or do anything more.
Though there is a well-designed "breakthrough" map that comes with the Campaign Bag, it's a minor part of the overall package.
Review Summary