How can I make a game of Memoir '44 last longer?

Question

Whenever I have a game of Memoir '44 I feel as if you take ages to set up, and the game is over really quickly, before you have had time to develop tactics. When I win I don't feel like a winner and when I loose I feel cheated. I have tried playing one army just defeat the other, and this became very boring for both players, I have likewise tried increasing the number of victory points you need to win and this has the same problem.

Answer 1

Do you play each scenario twice (switching side each time)?

This has a double advantage: First, you set the scenario up once every other game instead of once each game. Second, as the scenarios are based on true events, they are not always 50/50 balanced. The idea by playing on both sides is to get a global score (sum the medals up to get an overall winner).

If you feel it's still too short you might want to investigate the Breakthrough mode which can be enhanced by the Winter Wars Expansion

Answer 2

Well the overlord game certainly takes a little longer if you have the players for it (https://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/other-expansions/overlord/). Also using more of the specialized units from the other expansions can prolong the game a tad. Also the online version (https://www.daysofwonder.com/online/en/#m44) of the game is extremely well done, for me it's hard to actually setup the physical game anymore because online I can play games quickly. However this hardly prolongs the game, but you can learn a lot more strategy by playing online and play other scenarios more quickly online.

If you are actually wanting to change the rules of the game, it's hard to do since Memoir 44 is very well balanced as it is. What you could do is make units harder to kill. Give all units "hitpoints" so that they require multiple hits to kill. Also you can make up scenarios which are more difficult by adding units and more objectives and raising the amount of units needed to defeat your opponent. I imagine you could use some of these methods as a handicap as well.