Memoir '44 Variant

I thought I would post this idea from the Days of Wonder forum.

A battle die result of Grenade only hits when in Close Combat (in an adjacent hex) or against an Artillery unit.

When I first read that, I thought that it "makes sense"; grenades represent short-range combat. Of course, the designer had mathematically taken into account that Grenades would always hit, but some discussion has surrounded the idea that the hit rate is too high as it is. With that, I agree; M44 is very bloody, and because you throw so few dice, hitting on an additional face means it is very luck oriented. (See my previous blog entry on what that is.)

What this does, of course, is makes Close Combat that much more powerful than it is now. Infantry not only get three dice instead of one or two, but their chance to hit would now be 16% higher (because ranged fire would be lowered), distorting the importance of assault even more.

I will give it a try, probably using VASSAL to do the testing - so it doesn't take so much time to setup and tear down games - and report back here.