Memoir ‘44 - Operation “Margarita”
With today’s announcement of the Memoir ‘44 Air Pack expansion, we thought it would be an auspicious time to begin writing the first of a series of Blog entries that will describe what lays over the horizon for the Memoir ‘44 community.
In other words… We’ve heard you, and while we won’t change our policy of trying to avoid pre-announcements that inevitably lead to delays and disappointment for all involved (ourselves included!), we agree it can’t hurt to share a bit more of our product road map, especially when it comes to game systems like Memoir ‘44 and BattleLore.
As it should, this first post will thus focus on some of the background events that led to the just announced Air Pack -
Some 15 months ago, we launched the Memoir ‘44 Pacific Theater expansion; on that fateful day, we made the mistake of mentioning airplanes and a carrying case in the same breath, while introducing an aircraft carrier on one of the rectangular tokens still available on the Pacific Theater’s punchboards.
To protect the innocent, let’s just say that the release of the first season of “Baa Baa Black Sheep” on DVD made us do it and that this mistake was quickly compounded by some ill-considered manufacturing decisions.
Months later, there were still no airplanes, nor any carrying case anywhere in sight (exception made for a couple of really nifty home-made designs seen here and there at trade shows and on various computer forums)!
Meanwhile, we were hard at work on a Computer version of Memoir ‘44 (the subject of a future blog entry) but still months away from anything we felt comfortable sharing. The Memoir ‘44 community was growing by leaps and bounds but beginning to chomp at the bit and wondering whether BattleLore had sucked up all of Memoir ‘44 development resources; and while several key elements of the Air Pack and a now softened-up Carrying Case (more on this later) were already designed, none were advanced enough for us to share.
So we all took a vacation to Cancun Mexico, where we devised a new Operation - Code-named “Margarita”, of course! - and made the decision to uncouple the release of the Air rules from that of the by then infamous “missing carrying case”.
From there on, all the pieces rapidly fell into place. Working feverishly through the Spring and Summer, we quickly had:
- a small, tightly-knit group of veteran M44 players ready to help us polish the product through product feedback, external play-testing, proofreading, translations and the like… (note: while this is an experiment that worked great, and will likely be repeated in the future, no need to start e-mailing us about how you could help too! Thanks to the growing set of community tools we have on our forums and boards, we know where to find you when and if we need you
) - the first (for us, at least) mass-produced miniature planes painted to a standard that we felt good enough to warrant making it an integral part of the expansion
- some really neat game play mechanics, that allowed for a variety of fun, simple, yet flavorful air actions; a streamlined set of air sortie rules, and an elegant combat mechanism that allowed us to retrofit the Air rules to ALL expansions and scenarios released to date!
Next week: Taking to the Skies!
P.S.: In case you’re still wondering… No, the carrying case is not dead, but has considerably changed in scope and design. It’s now a Campaign Bag, a well-weathered prototype of which recently traveled from Toulouse to Hong Kong via Amsterdam and London, on to San Francisco, Cancun, and finally back to Paris! Details will follow in an upcoming entry on this blog.
Other Languages:
September 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
“Honk Kong” ?
Must be the French spelling
Not sure what to think of the painted airplanes.
Next thing you will begin selling new painted armies as well.
Not that I won’t like them
- I probably will (it is only my wallet that won’t like it)
September 4th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Sweet!
September 4th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
initially, i did not warm to the idea of the painted airplanes vs the unpainted minis. However, for those of us not so savy in recognizing wwii plane silohuettes, the painted markings should be a welcome sign. It took me all of 5 minutes to like the idea. Well done, DOW.
September 4th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Mik,
We were just testing to see if you’d notice the alternative spelling. Actually given the traffic there, “Honk Kong” should be the new spelling!
Mark
September 4th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Also make sure you click on the product’s title (in bold at the top of this entry) it will get you to the product info. There you can click on Overview and on Inside the box.
September 4th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Will you see “The Rat Patrol” DVD ?
Great Jop
Thanks
September 4th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
This is bloody good news!!!!
Bring them on!!!
September 4th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
What a wonderful and elegant way to release the expansion and tell us a little bit of information about upcoming products. Thanks for the information and the fun new expansion! I can’t wait to read the rules and then try the scenarios with these new rules.
Thanks DOW, what a wild ride!
September 4th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Allright!! We have been waiting for this! I can’t wait to get a look at those rules. What new hexes will be added? Are the planes all fighters or bombers? I have MANY questions. I will be watching the forms for upcoming answers.
September 5th, 2007 at 3:57 am
I actually HAVE Baa Baa Black Sheep on DVD. Robert Conrad rules!
September 5th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Oh gimme, gimme!
I need to throw money at this, and soon!
September 5th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I’m trying to temper my excitement. I’ll need to see what is actually included for the $40 US, to see if it’s a worthy investment.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Great news,that should put a smile on a lot of peoples faces ,me included.I hope that the planes come on those see through plastic stands that elevate them above the other ground units such as the ones in starcraft the boardgame,that would be a really cool and less cluttered approach .
September 6th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I want to know more about this Operation Margarita…sounds like an excercise I can handle
September 7th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Just what I was hoping to hear, finally, an expansion and some real insight as to the carrying case’s future. I can’t wait for it to be available for purchase!
For a time I thought M ‘44 was doomed to oblivion.
September 7th, 2007 at 10:50 am
By the way,
When will it be on sale? I will order it the minute it comes out!
September 7th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Pre-orders should go live on the web store at http://www.daysofwonder.com by the middle of September. Actual delivery is on track for November.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:35 am
oh sweet ambrosia! oh please tell us there will be ITS and BRITS someday…………….(btw, I did not like Tide of Iron), Clay
September 8th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
This is indeed very good news.
I just hope the rules for these airplanes aren’t too complicated.
I’m still looking forward to the carrying case, because i have got all the expantions and they are all over the place, plus i like to take this game to my friends.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:45 am
All I can say is: “Yes,Yes,Yes!”, I have been waiting for this for some time now. I know that DOW will do a GREAT job.
Thanks guys.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Looks great. Need more info!
September 16th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Looking forward to what is coming next.