BigBoard Gaming: WARNO Weekly Wargaming News

WARNO #4 Weekly

BigBoardGaming — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 02:02:21 GMT

THE SITUATION

Seventy-five [ Political & Non board wargame vids removed] videos across thirty-one channels for sure the busiest week since this newsletter started, and the most diverse from the stand point of topics & eras.

Last issue WWII took forty-six percent of everything historical. This week the hobby went wandering. In seven days: the siege of Acre in 1291, Cambrai in 1917, the Palatinate War of the Thirty Years’ War, ASL in the Pacific, and a hundred-and-ninety-nine-minute walk through the Weimar Republic.

WWII is still the biggest single block at twenty-one videos, but it is no longer most of the map.

Three things worth digging into.

Cuius Regio has arrived! Justegarde put up fifty-three minutes on the Palatinate War scenario — 1,485 views, twenty comments. GMT’s Thirty Years War game has been quietly landing on tables since release and this is the first substantial play video I’ve seen on it.

I just finished my Intro scenario, of it. BigBoard videos will start dropping on the 13^th of August.

WBC has been digested. Next. MMP’s We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 47 is the debrief, and at thirty-seven comments on a sixty-minute podcast it drew more discussion than anything except Zilla’s monthly.

If you didn’t get to Seven Springs, that’s the recap to listen to.

And the most-discussed video of the week wasn’t a game at all. Zilla Blitz’s Game of the Month pulled 3,728 views and sixty-two comments.

So, it appears state-of-the-hobby videos clearly work! This is the second week running one has out-viewed every playthrough on the roster. Not my personal preference, mind you. I’d rather sit down to a long dive into an actual game. But the numbers say plenty of people disagree, and that’s useful to know.

NEW TO THE ROSTER — Lone Boardsman

A new channel joins the coverage this week, and it earns its place immediately: Lone Boardsman put out a thirty-eight-minute triple review of the Worthington Kickstarter including: Midway Solitaire, Pacific War 1942 and Tarawa 1943 in one sitting. He also posted a solo write-up of Colonial Twilight on the French-Algerian War, where the FLN came back from an early French ascendancy to take Algiers on the third Propaganda card.

Solo-focused, patient, and covering the small-publisher end that gets thin coverage elsewhere. Worth a follow.

buymeacoffee.com/bigboard ...or Manhattan

SIGNAL — Under the Radar

Camp Sawyer — Panzer North Africa: Gazala, “Grant’s Graveyard” 265 views, seven comments, thirty minutes on the opening turns of Gazala. Small channel, unhurried, and picking a battle that gets talked about far more than it gets played. Just a side bar here, the Panzer North Africa module is fantastic, so seeing Tobruk and it compared was great! Grants vs Pzr III’s and IVs epic.

265 views · 30 min · WWII —

MISSION — Video: the threads worth pulling

· Rare periods had a good week. Wayne Hansen ran Crusaders: The Siege of Acre 1291 solo (766 views, 44 min) — medieval siege warfare is close to unrepresented on YouTube. Hexed And Countered continued Tankschlacht: Cambrai 1917, the coordinated combat phase, which is the first tank battle getting proper treatment.

· Thirty Years War: Justegarde on Cuius Regio, the Palatinate War scenario.

· WWII, still the largest block: Bill Needels on Sicily II at Primosole Bridge; The Players’ Aid reviewed ASL Starter Kit #4: Pacific; ASL Academy Ep 53 on series replays; TheGimpyGamer previewed Panzer Strike.

· Naval: RvT (Dickie) continued Rule the Waves 3 — “Hoovering up in Biscay”.

· ACW: Pushing Cardboard unboxed Army of the Potomac; Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials ran a 102-minute Roads to Gettysburg II rematch.

· The long haul award: Calandale, 199 minutes introducing Weimar Republic.

MISSION — BLOG: Featured Posts

Blogs this week

The Players Aid - Unboxing Video: Battles in the East Volume 2: Uman Pocket and Guderian’s Final Blitzkrieg from Decision Games — 2026-08-08 - World Boardgaming Championships 2026 Mission Debrief – A Look at the Numbers — 2026-08-07 - History Behind the Cards – A Look at Checkpoint Charlie from GMT Games – Card #4: Faceoff with the Soviets — 2026-08-06 - Interview with David Thompson Codesigner of Rebels Against Rebellion from Flying Pig Games Currently on Kickstarter — 2026-08-04 - Wargame Watch – What’s New & Upcoming – August 2026 — 2026-08-03

Big Board Gaming - Jena, 14 October 1806 — Preamble — 2026-08-08 - Ukraine ’44 — After-Action Report, Part 2: Turns 6–12 — 2026-08-05 - Ukraine ’44 — After-Action Report (opposed) — 2026-08-04 - Winter War: The Game That Wins the War Finland Lost — 2026-08-04 - GD’42 Part2 — 2026-08-02

Sgt Steiner’s Wargaming Blog - Battle Command - Dresden scenario — 2026-08-08 - Colonial Twilight - a quick COIN interlude — 2026-08-08

Cardboard Commander - My First Look at War Diary Magazine — 2026-08-04 - Discord Invite Link — 2026-08-03
The current standard for best wargame magazine on the market today. I love my War Diary.

Wargaming Weekly - Wargaming Weekly #079: Is this the most important wargaming book of 2026? — 2026-08-03
We will discuss this topic at length next week. I’m reading the book -Important to whom?

PAXsims - Ground Zero: Training cyber-defenders the way we teach wargamers — 2026-08-07

A Wargamers Needful Things - Lee’s War: The War in Virginia 1861 - 1865 by Worthington Publishing — 2026-08-08

NEW FROM BIGBOARD

Five posts this week: - Jena, 14 October 1806 — Preamble (8 Aug) - Ukraine ’44 — AAR Part 2: Turns 6–12 (5 Aug) - Ukraine ’44 — AAR, opposed [part 1] (4 Aug) - Winter War: The Game That Wins the War Finland Lost (4 Aug) - GD’42 Part 2 (2 Aug)

Ukraine 44, is now complete a full run through opposed, and several turns solo. Will also be used to compare a recent The Third Winter play thru of the same battle space!

buymeacoffee.com/bigboard or ya know…a beer :)

SUSTAINMENT — The Full Roundup

Everything that dropped this week, by channel. 75 videos across 31 channels — alphabetical, no ranking.

Armchair Dragoons - #CNXONL26 Matrix games how arguments shape outcomes — 17 views · 2 min

ASL Academy - Advanced Squad Leader RSS - Episode 53 - Series Replays — 310 views · 53 min · WWII

Big Board Gaming - vive le Emperor [en] Jena. Fire combat. — 15 views · 2 min - wrap ukraine 44 solo. — 52 views · 1 min - Jena VIE system /1 intro & turn 1 — 312 views · 4 min - Ukraine ’44 comments and other stuff on table!! — 351 views · 18 min - 14vps! Fallschirmjaeger SCS. — 320 views · 2 min · WWII - Fallschirmjaeger turn 10 update /11 — 513 views · 2 min · WWII

Bill Needels (Punched) - Panzer Battles - Furball and Flight For Soviet Mobile Forces (T4A8) — 27 views · 8 min · WWII - Drive on Voronezh - Breakaway (Turn 1) — 98 views · 54 min · WWII - Sicily II - Primosole Bridge — 101 views · 16 min · WWII - Holland ’44 - A Little Short (Southern Turn 5) — 82 views · 17 min · WWII - Unboxing - Drive on Voronezh — 455 views · 21 min · WWII - Holland ’44 (Southern Turn 4) — 64 views · 13 min · WWII - Sicily II - Primosole Bridge Setup — 3,669 views · 2 min · WWII

Calandale - Weimar Republic (errors) 25 & wrap — 190 views · 70 min - Weimar Republic (errors) 23 — 196 views · 39 min - Weimar Republic (errors) 19 — 288 views · 61 min - Weimar Republic intro — 745 views · 199 min - Elric review — 538 views · 51 min - Elric Homebrew 2 & wrap — 96 views · 66 min - Elric Homebrew 1 — 153 views · 110 min

Camp Sawyer - Panzer North Africa - Battle of Gazala - Grants Graveyard - Turns 8 and 9 — 93 views · 21 min · WWII - Panzer North Africa - Battle of Gazala - Grants Graveyard - Turns 6 and 7 — 142 views · 23 min · WWII - Panzer North Africa - Battle of Gazala - Grants Graveyard - Intro and first few turns — 265 views · 30 min · WWII

Category Solo - Space Infanty Federation - Unbagging & First Look — 52 views · 10 min

Gaming with ER Bickford - Fire & Movement 66 — 16 views · 9 min - Moves Magazine 97 — 17 views · 8 min - Tobruk 1941 S&T 278 — 46 views · 19 min · WWII - Indo Pakistani Wars S&T 174 — 23 views · 21 min - Fire & Movement 64 — 22 views · 9 min - Moves Magazine 96 — 28 views · 8 min

Hexed And Countered - No More Paperwork: My Classic Traveller Solo App (Beta Version) — 42 views · 20 min - Tankschlacht: Cambrai 1917 (Revolution Games) | Gameplay Primer Part 2 — 132 views · 45 min · WWI - Tankschlacht: Cambrai 1917 (Revolution Games) | Gameplay - Coordinated Combat Phase — 426 views · 48 min · WWI - The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) | Solo Gameplay Part 2 — 304 views · 50 min

Justegarde - Cuius Regio - The Palatinate War scenario (GMT Games) — 1,485 views · 53 min

Line of Departure - WBC’s 2026: The Full Report — 50 views · 23 min - Leaving WBC’s — 54 views · 2 min

Lone Boardsman - Worthington Kickstarter | Midway Solitaire, Pacific War 1942, Tarawa 1943 | Triple Review! — 356 views · 38 min · WWII

Meandering Mike - Unboxing Falling Crescent - An Exploration and Comparison to Lawrence of Arabia — 134 views · 63 min

MMP Not Dead Yet - We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 47 - WBC Debrief! — 1,284 views · 60 min

My Own Worst Enemy - And The War Came Part 3 — 114 views · 27 min - And The War Came Part 2 — 247 views · 44 min

Nangwaya - German 12th Army Assessment — January 7th, 1915. — 24 views · 6 min

Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials - Roads to Gettysburg II - Scenario #1 - Meade Moves North - REMATCH, part 2 — 213 views · 102 min · ACW

Pushing Cardboard - 1809 Talavera Unboxing (Tactical Workshop) — 96 views · 15 min · Napoleonic - First to Fight Unboxing — 95 views · 6 min - 56 - Shayne Logan, SD Histcon North recap — 110 views · 61 min - Army of the Potomac Unboxing — 398 views · 12 min

RvT (Dickie) - 09 Let’s Play Rule the Waves 3 | Hoovering up in Biscay — 498 views · 35 min

Seek Out and Play - Is Guerilla a Hidden Gem ? — 204 views · 11 min

The Discriminating Gamer (Cody Carlson) - TDG: 1862 War in Virginia — 176 views · 7 min - TDG: Wingspan Pocket unboxing — 267 views · 13 min - TDG: Tesseract Games: Marvel Legendary 2nd Edition Dividers — 278 views · 3 min - TDG: Pacific War 1942: Solitaire (2nd Edition) unboxing with Ray — 334 views · 6 min · WWII - TDG: Camp Grizzly: Second Edition — 3,121 views · 12 min - TDG: Old School Tactical: Volume 5 - Battle for France 1940 unboxing with Ray — 558 views · 16 min · WWII - TDG: Wilderness: May 5-6, 1864 unboxing with Ray — 334 views · 11 min · ACW - TDG: Invincible: The Hero-Building Game, Season 2 — 529 views · 7 min

the2halfsquads - T2HS 390: Ghost Rider Fire and Art du Pont — 66 views · 59 min

Tony’s Board Life - Fields of Fire 2 Peleliu Mission 1 Part 3 — 77 views · 39 min

WARdROBE - Baptism By Fire Kasserine BCS end of turn 4 — 21 views · 3 min · WWII

Wayne Hansen - Let’s Play! Crusaders: The Siege of Acre 1291 | SOLO PLAYTHROUGH — 766 views · 44 min · Medieval

Wiseguy History - John Tiller’s ‘Battleground Gettysburg’ - 1 July, 1863. — 145 views · 143 min · ACW

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WARNO Issue #3

BigBoardGaming — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 23:41:21 GMT

THE SITUATION

62 New vids this week. Lots to cover. Thirty seven of them clock in as “real wargame videos!” The rest are a diverse blend. From Calendale’s pontification on Elric – all 7+ videos to Mr Bickford doing yoemans work on old Wargame Magazines! aka Moves & F&M! Then a swag of RPG style game vids and a few interviews.

Thirty-seven had a real wargame on the table. The other twenty-five: fantasy and licensed-IP titles (13), hobby talk with no game in front of the camera (8), and magazine flip-throughs (4).

Inside the historical half:

· WWII — 17 videos, 46%

· ACW — 4, 11%

· Early modern (1600s–1700s) — 4, 11%

· WWI — 3, 8%

· Napoleonic — 2, 5%

· 20th-c. naval — 2, 5%

· Modern / political — 2, 5%

· AWI — 1, 3%

· Industrial age (1850–1920) — 1, 3%

· Jacobite Rising (1745–46) — 1, 3%

Seven of those seventeen WWII videos are Bill Needels on his own — Sicily II, Holland ’44, Panzer Battles, posted most days of the week. Without his week, WWII is 10 of 30, a third rather than a half.

Everything below WWII is one or two channels deep. ACW is Rebels Against Rebellion covered twice plus Monocacy and the Line of Battle podcast. WWI is both halves of VUCA’s The Far Seas plus a Tankschlacht unboxing — Cambrai, 1917. The early-modern column is Bickford’s Nine Years War run and a Baltic Empires unboxing. Napoleonic is Hexed And Countered alone at Marengo. The Jacobite row is John Maag prepping a Charlie’s Year campaign (Red Sash).

The audience numbers run the other way from the production numbers. The 17 WWII videos pulled about 5,980 views between them — roughly 350 apiece. The 13 non-historical ones pulled 12,160, about 935 apiece.

Reading the numbers: this is 30-odd curated channels, not the entire hobby. View counts are lifetime-to-Saturday, so a Sunday video has had six more days to accumulate than a Friday one. Just a tid bit as I look at the numbers i.e. I posted a video this afternoon it has 18 views.

Smaller channels with less subs will be hard pressed to clock 4 figure+ view patterns, whereas larger channels that are not Wargame specific can do so with some ease, and draw in non wargamer and wargamer alike views.

Elsewhere it was WBC week — The Players’ Aid filed daily debriefs from Seven Springs for six straight days, which is most of this issue’s blog volume and worth reading as a run rather than as separate posts. They actually wrap that all up tomorrow.

SIGNAL — Under the Radar

Meandering Mike — Avoid Overseas Surprises When Buying Games (A Walk and Talk) Not the biggest small channel, but the most useful video in the gather — and the best comment-to-view ratio of anything this week (~97 views, 17 comments). Mike walks and talks through what importing a wargame now costs an American buyer:

· The de minimis exemption is gone. Orders under $800 used to clear without duty. That’s expired, not renewed.

· Country of origin is what’s assessed, not country of shipment — he’d previously been charged at the Chinese rate on a Chinese-made game imported via Canada.

· A “North American store” is not a promise of a domestic warehouse. He ordered two games from a European publisher’s North-American-flagged storefront, it shipped from Europe, and FedEx presented an import bill of $30.90 — roughly double what he’d paid for shipping — with no warning from carrier or seller.

· The carrier’s admin and processing fees can dwarf the duty itself. Owe twenty cents of duty, get charged five or ten dollars to process it.

His advice: read the fine print on who carries the duty, check where the goods ship from and where they were made, and if you can’t get a straight answer from the seller, don’t order. He credits eBay’s global shipping programme for stating up front when charges are covered. He says three times that it isn’t a political video, and he’s right that it doesn’t need to be — it’s consumer mechanics.

97 views · 26 min —

MISSION — Video: the threads worth pulling

· VUCA Simulations had a busy week. The Far Seas drew an unboxing and first look from Category Solo and a solo playthrough from Hexed And Countered; The Players’ Aid discussed Imperial Elegy: Solo Bots.

· Flying Pig’s Rebels Against Rebellion got an overview from Zilla Blitz and a preview from Hexed And Countered. Flying Pig is running a kickstarter for this strategy card driven game. I have not seen anything on it, but it appears to be a historical Euro set in the ACW around anti succession movements.

· Zilla Blitz also made complexity his August monthly-update topic, off a poll of about 900 responses: medium won at 42%, but 33% said they want their games more complex, not less — the opposite of what he’d predicted, and he says it’s changing what he covers.

· Napoleonic: Hexed And Countered ran Napoleon at War Deluxe Edition (Decision Games) at Marengo across two parts.

· ACW: Wayne Hansen played Early Threatens Washington: Monocacy Junction solo, and MMP’s We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 46 featured Nick Roser on Line of Battle. Nick has a fantastic new design out that is on the PXXX list at MMP.

· WWII: Bill Needels posted a full week on Sicily II plus Panzer Battles and Holland ’44; WARdROBE finished an Old School Tactical East Front scenario; Battlefield Banter closed out Combat Commander: Mediterranean Scenario 21; ASL Academy ran an episode on the morale system.

· Naval / strategic: RvT (Dickie) continued Rule the Waves 3 as Italy.

· Podcasts and interviews: Cardboard Commander put out a Zone of Control episode; Pushing Cardboard interviewed Shayne Logan.

· For newcomers: Seek Out and Play’s Three Types of Print Wargames is a genuinely clean four-minute explainer — hex-and-counter, card-driven, card-only, with a note on each one’s downside. Worth having a link to when someone asks where to start.

MISSION — BLOG: Featured Posts

· The Players’ Aid — WBC 2026 daily debriefs, Days 1–6 plus the series opener. Read as a run.

· The Boardgames Chronicle — Men of Iron: Blood & Roses overview, and Part 4 of the Crusades campaign via C&C Medieval (Ramla).

· Wargaming Weekly — a first win in an AI-adjudicated wargame, reviewing The Price of Hasakah on the Providence platform. — https://wargamingweekly.substack.com/p/the-price-of-hasakah-on-providence-by-experttheory

· Sgt Steiner’s — Khalkhin Gol with Chain of Command 2 at the Ulster Wargames Society.

· Grymauch’s Solo Wargaming Blog — Pony Wars: The Homestead, turns 9–16.

From the field — professional / serious-play corner Standing note: PAXsims covers professional and serious-play wargaming rather than the hobby. It’s here because the two fields borrow from each other constantly, and the professional side is where a lot of design thinking gets tested first. - Wargaming and the perils of LinkedIn — LinkedIn has become the de facto professional network for conflict simulation, and the post examines what that platform’s incentives do to the discourse. - Wargaming in a resilience context — the UK Resilience Academy’s insight paper by Rob Grayston, arguing civil resilience exercising should deliberately borrow matrix games, serious games and megagames from military wargaming. - How to Play a Matrix Game – An Introduction — short instructional video from the wargaming team at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

NEW FROM BIGBOARD

I posted 2 vids 1 on Fallschirmjaeger and 1 on Ukraine 44. The Third is a quick comment on whats up next…after being all sweaty. You know where to find my stuff.

On the blog this week: - One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies — #5: The Infantry — 1 August - Winter War: The Game That Wins the War Finland Lost — 29 July

SUSTAINMENT — The Full Roundup

Everything that dropped this week, by channel. 62 videos across 24 channels — alphabetical, no ranking.

ASL Academy - Advanced Squad Leader RSS - Episode 52 - Morale System Discussion — 309 views · 51 min · WWII

Battlefield Banter - Combat Commander Mediterranean , by GMT Games, Scenario 21, Episode 3 : the grand finale! — 61 views · 48 min · WWII

Big Board Gaming - rock paper…no scissors:) — 18 views · 2 min - ukraine ’44- turn 4 /1 — 209 views · 2 min - Fallschirmjaeger /10 — 290 views · 2 min · WWII

Bill Needels (Punched) - Sicily II - Airsick? — 20 views · 16 min · WWII - Sicily II - Western Sicily Turn 2 — 49 views · 17 min · WWII - Panzer Battles - Germans Defend without 11th Panzer This Activation (T4A7) — 44 views · 7 min · WWII - Holland ’44 - Link-up at Eindhoven and Cutoff at Valkenswaard (Southern #2 Turn 3) — 49 views · 8 min · WWII - Sicily II - G4 Ever (Western Sicily Turn 1) — 39 views · 14 min · WWII - Panzer Battles - Soviet Full Court Press (T4A6) — 92 views · 9 min · WWII - Western Sicily - Sunday Drive (pregame) — 156 views · 7 min · WWII

Calandale > Note (curation): All wargames, but he editorializes politically - SCREEN his picks, skip the political ones. - Elric Kingdoms — 146 views · 49 min - Elric Empires — 211 views · 78 min - Elric Successor — 232 views · 31 min - Elric Dragon Masters v Usurper — 166 views · 94 min - Elric Bright Empire — 185 views · 14 min - Elric intro — 561 views · 105 min - Mr President review — 1,128 views · 50 min - Mr President 2020b & wrap — 147 views · 116 min

Cardboard Commander - Zone Of Control Podcast | Episode — 365 views · 32 min

Category Solo - The Far Seas - Unboxing & First Look - VUCA Simulations — 140 views · 18 min

Gaming with ER Bickford - Nine Years War Part 3 — 7 views · 15 min - Nine Years War Part 2 — 15 views · 9 min - Nine Years War Part 1 — 27 views · 13 min - Fire & Movement 60 — 21 views · 6 min - SD69 May3 — 13 views · 27 min - Alexandros Command 10 Magazine — 50 views · 17 min - Moves Magazine 95 — 25 views · 7 min

Hexed And Countered - The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) | Solo Gameplay Part 1 — 108 views · 36 min - August 2026 Content Preview — 546 views · 6 min - Napoleon at War - Deluxe Edition (Decision Games) | Marengo Gameplay Part 2 — 270 views · 82 min · Napoleonic - Rebels Against Rebellion (Flying Pig Games) - Preview — 321 views · 27 min - Napoleon at War - Deluxe Edition (Decision Games) | Marengo Gameplay — 722 views · 52 min · Napoleonic

John Maag - Learning Charlie’s Year - Campaign Prep — 129 views · 95 min

Justegarde - New Arrival - Tankschlacht (Revolution Games) — 652 views · 10 min

Meandering Mike - Avoid Overseas Surprises When Buying Games - A Walk and Talk — 97 views · 26 min

MMP Not Dead Yet - We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 46 feat Nick Roser and Line of Battle! — 1,212 views · 54 min

Pushing Cardboard - Live Cardboard 37 - Shayne Logan Interview — 211 views · 36 min

RvT (Dickie) - 08 Let’s Play Rule the Waves 3 | Coastal Cruiser Battle — 248 views · 38 min - 06 + 07 Let’s Play Rule the Waves 3 Italy | Big Victory + Not So Much — 1,016 views · 54 min

Seek Out and Play - Three Types of Print Wargames — 112 views · 4 min - S4E7: “The Rulebook Revolution” Speak Out & Play - July 2026 — 80 views · 23 min

The Discriminating Gamer (Cody Carlson) - TDG: Sniper Elite: Operation Kraken unboxing with Ray — 210 views · 9 min - TDG: Midway Solitaire — 1,822 views · 12 min - TDG: The Mandalorian: Adventures - Sworn to the Creed unboxing with Ray — 595 views · 12 min - TDG: Enemies of Gotham City — 2,200 views · 19 min - TDG: Star Trek: Captain’s Chair - Second Contact unboxing with Ray — 567 views · 11 min - TDG: Cody’s Top Ten IP Fantasy Games (July 2026) — 5,599 views · 16 min - TDG: Tarawa 1943 Solitaire unboxing with Ray — 918 views · 8 min · WWII

TheGimpyGamer - Kingdom Dungeon Hero Review — 245 views · 13 min

Tony’s Board Life - Fields of Fire 2 Peleliu Mission 1 Part 2 — 138 views · 31 min

WARdROBE - Holland 44 Short Campaign Thoughts — 50 views · 18 min · WWII - Old School Tactical East Front scenario 1 done! — 148 views · 6 min

Wayne Hansen - Let’s Play! Early Threatens Washington: The Battle of Monocacy Junction, July 9 1864 | SOLO GAMEPLAY — 115 views · 82 min · AWI

Wiseguy History - Space Imperia 4x [PC version of GMT’s Space Empires 4x] — 1,244 views · 58 min

WARNO · Issue #2

BigBoardGaming — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:11:44 GMT

THE SITUATION

Four currents this week from the data crawl and analytics.

1. WBC week. The World Boardgaming Championships kicked off at Seven Springs. Half the hobby is either there or watching from home, so expect the next fortnight’s videos and blogs to be thick with con reports and table shots. The Players’ Aid are on the road to it, and MMP’s crew are talking it up. For me, I have mixed feelings about going. Lots of nostalgia competition play, I mean how many times can you be crowned #1 The Russian Campaign player? But it is or was the definitive place for competitive play, and ranking. Just not my jam.

I go to play #rolldice and drinks some brews with new and old friends. I need to go, just to say I did. It remains a very popular event, that involves more than just wargaming.

2. Peak release season? The new-game conveyor is running flat out: Cuius Regio (GMT’s Thirty Years War), Fall of Berlin (Legion), that arrived a few months ago.. new toi me!, Fallschirmjager [on the table here] and No Turning Back (MMP),[Would love some feedback on V3 rules!] The Far Seas and Imperial Elegy (VUCA), Tankschlacht (Cambrai), Baltic Empires (GMT). If you’ve a wishlist, its shipping!.

3. The review conversation went wide. The “what is a review actually for” question kept spreading past this channel. Cardboard Commander wrote a whole piece off it (and was kind enough to name where it started), and TheGimpyGamer dug into the Players’ Aid’s own take on what reviews are and aren’t. Good to see the hobby chewing on it out loud.

4. American Civil War still going strong. Gilbert Collins is deep in a Blue & Gray replay run, GCACW is getting narrative treatment, Roads to Gettysburg got a rematch, and Three Days of Gettysburg landed a deluxe edition. If you game blue-and-gray, this was your week. For the second week in a row 9% of all posted vids.

MISSION — Featured Picks: Video

Zilla Blitz — Upcoming Wargames + Giveaway, July 2026 The monthly state-of-the-industry pass: what’s in production, from print-and-play up to the big boxes, publisher by publisher. If you want a single video to know what’s coming, this is it. (Noble Knight are sponsoring, and doubled the store-credit giveaway this month.) 11.5k views · 23 min —

Hexed & Countered — The Far Seas (VUCA) | First Look Joe walks the box on VUCA’s new The Far Seas, German cruiser operations at the opening of WWI, 1914. You run the eight great commerce raiders scattered from China to the Caribbean while a far larger Allied fleet hunts you down. Solitaire-friendly, single-ship scale. Designed by Martin Anderson and Julius Brunkow. 1.7k views · 31 min —

Ardwulf’s Lair — Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years’ War | Unboxing GMT’s brand-new Cuius Regio (1618–1648, designed by Francisco Gradaille) gets the box treatment. A gorgeous two-map production on a period we almost never get gamed at this level. Complexity 5, solitaire suitability 6. (One I’m on the table with myself right now.) 2.3k views · 11 min —

MMP Not Dead Yet — Ep 45: WBC This Week The WBC preview from the MMP crew, and a warm one: Brian’s back in the chair after major heart surgery (a bypass and a valve). Good to see him upright and talking games. They run down what to look for at the championships. 1.3k views · 23 min —

Wayne Hansen — Midway Solitaire (Worthington) | Mission 6 + Mini-Review Wayne takes Worthington’s pocket-sized Midway Solitaire and goes straight for the throat: Mission 6, sink all three Japanese task forces, the hardest in the box. Play-through plus an honest mini-review at the end. (He notes the copy was a review copy from Worthington.) 623 views · 42 min —

Category Solo — Straubing West | World at War ’85 A tight solo battle report from the Storm & Steel wave: West German Panzergrenadiers holding two towns against a Czech tank regiment rolling in on T-72s. Cold-War-gone-hot at a size you can actually finish in a sitting. 403 views · 11 min —

Gilbert Collins — Blue & Gray: Battle of the Wilderness Chapter 4 of Gilbert’s Blue & Gray Deluxe replay series, and his own fourth-favorite of the quad: the Wilderness, 1864, forests and trained-defense and all. He also dropped Shiloh and Fredericksburg this week, so there’s a whole ACW binge waiting if you want it. 622 views · 30 min —

The Players’ Aid — Nostalgia | Monthly Debrief (June) Alexander and Grant’s monthly sit-down, this time on nostalgia in the hobby: mostly a good thing, they argue, but a force that can quietly hold the hobby in place too. A thoughtful hour if you like the meta side. 4.6k views · 90 min —

SIGNAL — Under the Radar

The Tabletop’s Edge — The Civil War (GCACW) Narrative, Ch.1: “All Green Alike” A upcoming smaller channel doing something worth your click: a deliberately narrative run through Great Campaigns of the American Civil War, July 1861. He skips the rules-minutiae on purpose to let the story the system generates come forward, dice rolls and all. If you believe a wargame is a story engine first, this is your kind of playthrough. Give him a look. 253 views · 24 min · ACW —

MISSION — BLOG: Featured Posts

· Cardboard Commander — “Game Reviews: Helpful Intel or Just More Tabletop Noise?” The review conversation, picked up and run with. — https://cardboardcommander.com/2026/07/25/game-reviews-helpful-intel-or-just-more-tabletop-noise/

· The Boardgames Chronicle — Baltic Empires (GMT) overview. A 2–5 player strategic game on the Northern Wars, 1558–1721 — the Baltic from the fall of the Teutonic Order to the Great Northern War. — https://theboardgameschronicle.com/2026/07/24/baltic-empires-the-northern-wars-of-1558-1721-game-overview/

· The Players’ Aid — Interview: Akar Bharadvaj on Chalice of Poison (Iran-Iraq War, GMT). Designer talk on an under-gamed modern conflict. — https://theplayersaid.com/2026/07/20/interview-with-akar-bharadvaj-designer-of-chalice-of-poison-the-iran-iraq-war-1980-1988-from-gmt-games/

· The Boardgames Chronicle — Three Days of Gettysburg: Deluxe. The 1995 GCACW-adjacent classic, redone. — https://theboardgameschronicle.com/2026/07/19/three-days-of-gettysburg-deluxe-edition-unboxing-overview/

SUSTAINMENT — The Full Roundup

Everything that dropped this week, by channel.

I’m deep into Turn 1 on this one.

Ardwulf’s Lair - UNBOXING | Line of Battle | No Turning Back (MMP 2026) — 1,281 views · 10 min - UNBOXING | Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years’ War (GMT 2026) — 2,271 views · 11 min - Deadhouse Landing — 400 views · 1 min

Armchair Dragoons - #CNXONL26 What is shared situational awareness — 1 views · 1 min

Battlefield Banter - Combat Commander from #gmtgames , Scenario 21, from the Mediterranean expansion, Episode 2 — 39 views · 94 min - Paths of Glory by @GMTGames Episode 4. — 29 views · 11 min

Big Board Gaming - Fallschirmjaeger Top of Turn9 — 342 views · 2 min - Reviews. What matters? — 367 views · 11 min - you caulked what? — 553 views · 2 min

Bill Needels (Punched) - Panzer Battles - 11th Panzer Down on the Farm (T4A5) #ww2 #wargaming — 16 views · 9 min - Sicily II - Gela Counterattack (Hello OCS World) #ww2 #wargaming — 107 views · 35 min - Panzer Battles - 5th Mech Entry and Plotting (T4A4) #ww2 #wargaming #mmp — 35 views · 37 min - Holland ’44 - Hurrah! and Oops? (Southern #2 Turn 2) #ww2 #wargaming #gmtgames #marketgarden — 81 views · 13 min - Panzer Battles - 11th Panzer Hunting Soviet Armor and VPs (T4A3) #ww2 #wargaming — 29 views · 11 min - Panzer Battles - 11th Panzer Heads for the Hills, in a Good Way #ww2 #wargaming — 70 views · 7 min - Panzer Battles - Soviets Capture Nizhne-Chirskaya (T4A1) #ww2 #mmp #wargaming — 125 views · 13 min - …plus 1 more from this channel

Calandale - Mr President 2020a — 128 views · 105 min - Spiderlight book discussion — 56 views · 11 min - Divine Right review — 482 views · 44 min - Divine Right 4 & wrap — 149 views · 102 min - Divine Right 3 — 210 views · 100 min - Divine Right 2 — 237 views · 113 min - Divine Right 1 — 395 views · 61 min - …plus 3 more from this channel

Cardboard Commander - Zone Of Control Podcast | Episode #69 — 403 views · 23 min

Category Solo - Straubing West - World at War ’85 Solo Battle Report — 403 views · 11 min

Chewie Matt - Mistral 1744 45 — 85 views · 13 min

Gaming with ER Bickford - Fire & Movement 54 — 12 views · 5 min - Channel Update July 24th 2026! — 39 views · 6 min - No Peace Without Honor Part 5 Conclusion — 13 views · 10 min - No Peace Without Honor Part 4 — 17 views · 8 min - Moves Magazine 92 — 18 views · 8 min - No Peace Without Honor Part 3 — 22 views · 10 min - 1969 San Diego Statis Pro April 21 vs Atlanta — 9 views · 22 min - …plus 3 more from this channel

Gilbert Collins - Chapter 6 - Blue & Gray Quad Replays - Fredericksburg — 347 views · 32 min - Chapter 5 - Blue & Gray Replays - Shiloh — 461 views · 18 min - Chapter 4 - Blue & Gray Quad Replays - Battle of the Wilderness — 622 views · 30 min

Hex to Hex - GD 41 Initial Air and Artillery Strikes — 224 views · 5 min

Hexed And Countered - Fallschirmjaeger (MMP) | First Look — 759 views · 19 min - Fall of Berlin: The End of the Thousand-Year Reich (Legion) | Gameplay — 516 views · 47 min - Tankschlacht (Revolution Games) | First Look — 850 views · 14 min - The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) | First Look — 1,731 views · 31 min

Matt White Wargames - One of the best Learn to Play Books - Hunt for Blackbeard — 116 views · 15 min

MMP Not Dead Yet - We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 45 - WBC THIS WEEK! — 1,284 views · 23 min

My Own Worst Enemy - And The War Came Part 1 - Introduction/Turn 1 — 181 views · 53 min

Nangwaya - War Summary For July 19th, 1918. — 12 views · 13 min

Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials - Roads to Gettysburg II - Scenario #1 - Meade Moves North - REMATCH, part 1 — 282 views · 74 min - Combat Commander: Mediterranean - Scenario 21 - Saint Agatha — 253 views · 54 min

Pushing Cardboard - Early Threatens Washington Unboxing — 172 views · 13 min - Tankschlacht Cambrai 1917 Unboxing — 395 views · 12 min

Seek Out and Play - Gunslinger: Horses — 83 views · 4 min

The Discriminating Gamer (Cody Carlson) - TDG: Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game - Rebels & Empire Reinforcements Expansion — 1,489 views · 10 min - TDG: The Witcher: Old World — 1,300 views · 13 min - G.I. JOE: Operation Cobra - All-In Pledge unboxing with Ray — 608 views · 57 min - TDG: Cody’s Top Ten Games Set in Japan (July 2026) — 1,141 views · 11 min - TDG: Duel of Meloch unboxing — 613 views · 15 min - TDG: Star Trek: Captain’s Chair - To Boldly Go unboxing with Ray — 759 views · 22 min - TDG: Mysterium — 699 views · 7 min

The Tabletop’s Edge - The Civil War A (GCACW) Narrative Chapter 1: All Green Alike 15-16JULY 1861 — 253 views · 24 min

the2halfsquads - T2HS 389: Sledge Sisters Ride Again — 96 views · 52 min

TheGimpyGamer - The Players Aid Talks About What Review Are and Are Not — 220 views · 30 min - Escape From Project Riese Review — 142 views · 43 min

Tony’s Board Life - Fields of Fire 2 Peleliu Mission 1 Part 1 — 332 views · 38 min - Three Days of Gettysburg Unboxing — 138 views · 15 min

WARdROBE - OST East Front Scenario 1 - one turn to go! — 12 views · 1 min - Operation Mercury (1992 @GMTGames ) just getting started #wargame #history #ww2 — 141 views · 1 min - Scenario 1 Turn 1 East Front Old School Tactical by @flyingpiggamespublishing #aar #ww2 #wargames — 138 views · 1 min - Old School Tactical East Front Vo1 2ed Training scenario setup #ww2 #wargaming #boardgames — 182 views · 2 min - ASLSK Decision at Elst Scn 2 - set up planning. #wargame #ww2 #marketgarden — 251 views · 2 min - VITW Race 4 Messina Turn 3 S&T magazine game #wargames #wargamer #wargamesrules — 180 views · 2 min - VITW Race For Messina 1981 S&T US invasion over — 224 views · 6 min - …plus 1 more from this channel

Wayne Hansen - Recon! Early Threatens Washington: The Battle of Monocacy Junction, July 9 1864 | Preview — 183 views · 25 min - Let’s Play! Midway Solitaire (Worthington) | WW2 | Mission 6 (IMPOSSIBLE) & Mini-Review — 623 views · 42 min

Blogs

The Players Aid - World Boardgaming Championships 2026 Daily Debrief Series — 2026-07-25 - From Cover to Cover: The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History – Alexander Mikaberidze — 2026-07-24 - My Favorite Wargame Cards – A Look at Individual Cards from My Favorite Games – Card #87: Proletarian Revolution from The Republic’s Struggle: Battle for the Republic, Spain 1931-1939 from NAC Wargames — 2026-07-23 - History Behind the Cards – A Look at Checkpoint Charlie from GMT Games – Card #3: Demonstrations — 2026-07-22 - June 2026 Monthly Debrief Video – Nostalgia — 2026-07-21 - Interview with Akar Bharadvaj Designer of Chalice of Poison: The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988 from GMT Games — 2026-07-20 - Unboxing Video: Vendée 93 from Fellowship of Simulations — 2026-07-19 - Unboxing Video: SPQR: The Battle of Alesia 52 BC from Art of Wargames — 2026-07-18

Cardboard Commander - Game Reviews: Helpful Intel or Just More Tabletop Noise? — 2026-07-25 - Save 8% on Your Next Cube4Me Order! — 2026-07-18 - Operation Cardboard Is a GO! — 2026-07-18

PAXsims - Looking after Eden — 2026-07-21 - PGS wargaming courses — 2026-07-21 - Wargaming Conference AWL 2026 registration open — 2026-07-21

The Boardgames Chronicle - Baltic Empires: The Northern Wars of 1558-1721 – Game Overview — 2026-07-24 - Three Days of Gettysburg: Deluxe Edition – Unboxing & Overview — 2026-07-19

Grymauch’s Solo Wargaming Blog - TBW Miniature Flags — 2026-07-23 - Pony Wars: The Homestead Turns 1 - 8. — 2026-07-19

Sgt Steiner’s Wargaming Blog - They Died For Glory gets an outing — 2026-07-24

WARNO — Warning Order Issue #1

BigBoardGaming — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 03:15:49 GMT

Issue 1 · week ending 20 July 2026 · a BigBoard Gaming roundup

If you know a Youtuber/channel that needs covering drop me an email bigboardgaming@gmail.com, same if you would like your channel covered, wargame bloggers welcome also!

Issue #1

The Situation

If the community had one flag flying this week, it was the American Civil War. It was everywhere and at every scale: Gilbert Collins and Tabletops Edge both launched long-haul series (the Blue & Gray quads and a full GCACW narrative), Patrick and Roger pushed deeper into Roads to Gettysburg II, Seek Out and Play dug into Blue & Gray entrenchments, and the blogs kept pace with a Three Days of Gettysburg deluxe unboxing. If you play blue-and-gray, this was your week.

Underneath that ran a heavy release-and-preview season, and its center of gravity is unmistakably GMT. Hexed & Countered’s first look at North Africa ‘40 (the desert-war expansion behind our own Operation Compass work, more on that soon) was the marquee unbox, but Zilla Blitz’s monthly roundup is the real map of what’s coming: a new hidden-movement Recon series, the much-anticipated Weimar Republic, single-sitting front-in-a-box designs from Worthington, and a raft of Compass, Revolution, Vuca and Vae Victis titles. The Players’ Aid, meanwhile, ran an unboxing-and-interview tear all week (Vendée 93, SPQR: Alesia, Congress of Vienna, Next War: Iran).

Two quieter currents are worth flagging. The First World War is stirring Cambrai at Pushing Cardboard, The Lamps Are Going Out at My Own Worst Enemy, a lethal Trench Raid at Cardboard Commander, and Falling Crescent on the horizon. And there’s an odd little Iran/Persia cluster surfacing at once: Next War: Iran, the Chalice of Poison Iran–Iraq designer interview, and Paul Musgrave’s geopolitics essay on the Strait of Hormuz.

But the loudest thing this week wasn’t a game at all it was an argument about reviews themselves. The Players’ Aid published a manifesto on what a wargame review is and isn’t; the conversation rippled outward (this channel’s own “Reviews. What matters?” landed in the same stretch). When the hobby stops to argue about how it talks about games, that’s usually a sign it’s healthy and growing.

Mission — Featured Picks: Video

Zilla Blitz — Upcoming Wargames + Giveaway — July 2026

9,644 views · 450 comments · watch

The month’s most-watched video and a genuine pulse-check on the pipeline. Zilla walks the release board across publishers: GMT’s Coast Watchers (the new hidden-movement Recon series), the Weimar Republic (1,800+ pre-orders), and the Levy & Campaign solo-bot system; Compass’s WWI Falling Crescent and the Marianas CSS tri-pack; Revolution’s Tankschlacht Cambrai 1917 and Early Threatens Washington (Blind Swords #13); Worthington’s single-sitting Russia ’41 and Germany ’45; plus crowdfunders A More Perfect Union and Politique, and Vuca’s Pacific Fleet. Sponsored, with a $100 Noble Knight giveaway.

Hexed & Countered — North Africa ’40 (GMT) — First Look

3,527 views · 9 comments · watch

Joe unboxes Mark Simonitch’s just-arrived expansion to the 4X desert series — a ziploc, not a box, and it requires North Africa ’41. It pushes the war back to the 1940–41 Italian invasion and Operation Compass, with a meaty 48-page rulebook, dedicated O’Connor and Rommel special markers, Italian demoralization-and-collapse rules, and a notable return to the series-standard ZOC-bond rules. He’s a fan of the series and promises gameplay to follow. (Of note to us: this is the very game and campaign behind our Operation Compass work.)

Gilbert Collins — Blue & Gray Quads — Replay: Antietam, Part 1

2,209 views · 10 comments · watch

The launch of a long-haul series: Gilbert will play through all eight games in the Blue & Gray Deluxe Edition ACW quad, in personal-preference order rather than chronological, opening with a favorite — Antietam. Playthroughs, not reviews; he’s running the exclusive rules per module plus the attacker-effectiveness optional rule.

Tabletops Edge — The Civil War: A GCACW Narrative — Ch.1 Prologue

1,208 views · 10 comments · watch

Another ambitious ACW series opener. This one narrates the entire Civil War through Great Campaigns of the American Civil War, one campaign per chapter, each led by a prologue setting the map situation, historical background, and both sides’ plans before play begins.

Stuka Joe — Campaigns of 1777 — Preview

819 views · 8 comments · watch

A components-and-rules preview of the strategic War of Independence game bundled with Strategy & Tactics #316 — the 1777 northern-colonies campaign at roughly 20 miles to the inch and two weeks a turn, point-to-point, medium complexity and medium solo suitability.

Ardwulf’s Lair — Unboxing — First Republic / Première République (Vae Victis)

807 views · 8 comments · watch

Ardwulf opens Adrien Dobb’s card-driven French Revolutionary Wars game (the War of the First Coalition), a bilingual Vae Victis folio magazine-game following up his recent designer interview with Dobb on the channel.

ASL Academy — Advanced Squad Leader — Bypass Movement Example

705 views · 20 comments · watch

A clean teaching video (with a companion website article) walking through infantry bypass movement in ASL how it lets an encircled squad slip a pocket and rejoin its platoon, and why it transforms the battlefield versus traditional movement. A nod that starter-kit players don’t get the tool, which makes the case for graduating to the full game.

Cardboard Commander — Zone of Control Podcast #68

430 views · 22 comments · watch

Recorded on the road from Albuquerque. Jerry’s headline is a refreshed top-10 favorite solo games (six titles changed since the last list), wrapped around an AAR of a brutal Trench Raid (WWI) session and a rulebook breakdown of A Most Fearful Sacrifice (Gettysburg).

Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials — Roads to Gettysburg II, Scn #1 — Meade Moves North, Pt.2

396 views · 17 comments · watch

A 95-minute opposed continuation (with Roger) of the first scenario of Roads to Gettysburg II, picking up at turn 3. Worth noting for the newshounds: they mention GMT’s imminent pre-order of the dual GCACW package Stonewall in the Valley + Sheridan in the Shenandoah, which Roger has been playtesting.

Signal- New to WARNO: Channel Spotlight

A welcome addition to the roundup. Hex to Hex covers Napoleonic, ancient and WWII hex play with a patient, teaching bent. He posts regularly and was simply between videos this week, so here are two recent picks worth your time.

Hex to Hex: Fuentes de Oñoro (Part 1)

523 views · watch:

An intro and playthrough of Terry Doughty’s Fuentes de Oñoro, the new title in the Glory & Empire series. Playing the opening scenario head to head against himself, he unpacks the game’s order driven command system: a corps commander (Loison, 6th Corps) issues one order to a division commander, and every brigade inside that division’s command range executes it automatically. It is a clean, readable model of Napoleonic command friction. Peninsular War, 1811.

Hex to Hex: Late Attack (Part 2)

910 views · watch:

His most watched recent video carries the fight into Fuentes de Oñoro village itself. The French 6th Corps rolls a division into the British line and wrecks it, then the Brits counter with battalions held back in reserve. It is the assault and counter assault grind that defined the real battle, where, as the designer’s own notes stress, you only take an objective by assaulting for it. Plenty of disorder, broken units, and morale swinging both ways.

Sustainment- VIDEO: The Full Roundup

Hexed And Countered - North Africa ’40 (GMT Games) | First Look — 3,527 views · 18 min - July 2026 | New Wargame Arrivals — 2,338 views · 11 min - The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) | First Look — 897 views · 31 min - Flying Fortresses - B-17 Missions Over Europe (Worthington) | Gameplay: Missions #2 & #3 — 663 views · 27 min - Wrath of the Wyvern: Sons of Rivesk (Lion Banner Games) | First Look — 164 views · 31 min - Tankschlacht (Revolution Games) | First Look — 164 views · 14 min

Gilbert Collins - Blue & Gray Quads - Replay - Antietam Part 1 — 2,209 views · 16 min - Blue & Gray Quads - Antietam play through part 2 — 556 views · 6 min - Chickamauga Replay - Part 2 of the Blue & Gray Play test series — 524 views · 9 min - Chapter 3 of Blue & Gray Quad Replays - Chattanooga — 411 views · 23 min - Chapter 4 of Blue & Gray Quad Replays - Battle of the Wilderness — 40 views · 30 min

Tabletops Edge - The Civil War: A (GCACW) Narrative Chapter 1: All Green Alike Prologue — 1,208 views · 25 min

Stuka Joe - Campaigns of 1777 Preview Video — 819 views · 32 min

Ardwulf’s Lair - UNBOXING | First Republic: The War of the First Coalition (Vae Victis 2025) — 807 views · 7 min - UNBOXING | Old School Tactical vol. 5 Battle for France 1940 + First to Fight Poland 1939 — 727 views · 17 min

Advanced Squad Leader Acadamy Play - Advanced Squad Leader - Bypass Movement Example — 705 views · 9 min - Advanced Squad Leader RSS Livestream! - Episode 51 — 325 views · 92 min

Cardboard Commander - Zone Of Control Podcast | Episode #68 — 430 views · 34 min

Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials - Roads to Gettysburg II - Scenario #1 - Meade Moves North, part 2 — 396 views · 95 min - Combat Commander: Mediterranean - Scenario 21 - Saint Agatha — 141 views · 54 min

Pushing Cardboard - Tankschlacht Cambrai 1917 Unboxing — 337 views · 12 min - Early Threatens Washington Unboxing — 107 views · 13 min

MMP Not Dead Yet - We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 45 - WBC THIS WEEK! — 336 views · 23 min

Big Board Gaming - Reviews. What matters? — 283 views · 11 min

TheGimpyGamer - Headquarters Cold War Review — 228 views · 66 min - Leviathans The Great War Review — 176 views · 42 min

Bill Needels (Punched) - Holland ’44 - Southern Scenario - British and 101st Move Towards Eindhoven (T2) — 185 views · 9 min - Holland ’44 - Southern Scenario - Action at Eindhoven (T3) — 178 views · 15— 141 views · 8 min - Holland ’44 - Southern Scenario - 30 Corps Links Up with 101st (T4) — 92 views · 11 min - Panzer Battles - Halftime and Play Aids — 89 views · 23 min - Panzer Battles - Soviets Capture Nizhne-Chirskaya (T4A1) — 77 views · 13 min - Holland ’44 - Southern Scenario - Turn 5 Wrap and Analysis #ww2 #wargaming #gmtgames — 58 views · 11 min - Panzer Battles - 11th Panzer Heads for the Hills, in a Good Way — 34 views · 7 min

Camp Sawyer - Shiloh First Day - An Introduction and Learning scenario — 174 views · 30 min

Calandale - Mr President Scenario Book — 170 views · 76 min - Astra Titanus review — 109 views · 15 min - Delta V intro — 97 views · 24 min - Astra Titanus Colonial Troubles — 54 views · 43 min - Delta V solo mess — 44 views · 56 min - Astra Titanus Heros Pyre — 40 views · 32 min - Astra Titanus DSIT — 32 views · 39 min - Astra Titanus Final Countdown — 16 views · 46 min

Matt White Wargames - On the Table - Dog Boats - Solitaire WW2 wargame — 156 views · 16 min - Hunt for Blackbeard Unboxing & First Impressions — 105 views · 21 min - One of the best Learn to Play Books - Hunt for Blackbeard — 25 views · 15 min

WARdROBE - VITW Race For Messina 1981 S&T US invasion over — 153 views · 6 min - Baptism By Fire BCS Campaign Reset — 147 views · 1 min - VITW Sicily Messina US Landings Scenario Turn 1 — 146 views · 13 min - Big Boy goes through St Louis Webster Groves — 17 views · 0 min

Seek Out and Play - Blue & Gray Deluxe Edition: Entrenchments — 127 views · 3 min

Tony’s Board Life - Three Days of Gettysburg Unboxing — 107 views · 15 min

My Own Worst Enemy - The Lamps Are Going Out Turn 17-Fall 1918 and Final Thoughts — 102 views · 32 min

Battlefield Banter - Combat Commander , Mediterranean. Scenario 21 St.Agatha — 82 views · 83 min

Gaming with ER Bickford - No Peace Without Honor Part 1 — 55 views · 8 min - Koeniggratz S&T 275 — 53 views · 15 min - No Peace Without Honor Part 2 — 29 views · 10 min - Moves Magazine 90 — 29 views · 10 min - Moves Magazine 88 — 27 views · 9 min - Fire & Movement 52 — 21 views · 4 min - Fire & Movement 53 — 12 views · 7 min - 1969 San Diego Statis Pro April 21 vs Atlanta — 3 views · 22 min

the2halfsquads - T2HS 389: Sledge Sisters Ride Again — 46 views · 52 min

Meandering Mike - Life, Health and Louisbourg - A Walk and Talk — 42 views · 48 min

Chewie Matt - Mistral 1744 45 — 12 views · 13 min

BLOG — The Read

The blogs echoed the video week and sharpened it. The Players’ Aid carried the load nine posts, from the review manifesto to a run of unboxings and designer interviews while The Boardgames Chronicle doubled down on the ACW thread (Three Days of Gettysburg) and kept a heavy first-impressions cadence (Chandragupta, Danger Forward). The through-lines match the feeds: Civil War, a flood of new GMT/Compass releases, and at the professional/contemporary edge that most tables never reach PAXsims on climate-and-stability games [lol]… and Wargaming Weekly’s land-drone micro-game.

Mission— BLOG: Featured Posts

The Players’ Aid — On Wargame Reviews — What They Are and What They Are Not

https://theplayersaid.com

The week’s meta-conversation. Sparked by a Mark Herman post, Grant lays out TPA’s philosophy of the review: not a full exploration, not a balance verdict, not a historicity ruling — an real impression of how a game plays and who it’s for. (This is the piece the wider hobby, us included, has been chewing on all week.)

The Boardgames Chronicle — Three Days of Gettysburg: Deluxe Edition — Unboxing & Overview

https://theboardgameschronicle.com

A deep look at GMT’s deluxe treatment of the 1995 classic on the largest battle of the Civil War — feeding directly into the ACW current running through the whole week’s video output.

A Wargamers Needful Things — Air & Armor: Würzburg — Designer Signature Edition (Compass)

https://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk

A review of Compass’s DSE reissue of the tactical armored what-if of a Third World War in Europe the perennial challenge of simulating a war that never happened.

The Players’ Aid — Unboxing: Next War: Iran (GMT) + Interview: Chalice of Poison (Iran–Iraq War)

https://theplayersaid.com

Two posts, one theme: an Iran/Persia mini-cluster surfacing across the community this week the sixth Next War title (where the Allied player must attack) and a designer chat on the Iran–Iraq War game Chalice of Poison.

The Boardgames Chronicle — Chandragupta: Great Battles of the Mauryan Empire (GMT) + Danger Forward: Gela 1943

https://theboardgameschronicle.com

First impressions on the 13th GBoH volume (ancient India, Welch under the Berg/Herman framework) and on the BCS Sicily title both part of a heavy unboxing-and-first-impressions season.

Wargaming Weekly — #077: A micro-wargame about land drones

Paul introduces Iron Horse, a two-player micro-game modelling unmanned ground vehicles for logistics and CASEVAC in the Russo-Ukrainian war — the modern/contemporary edge of the hobby that most tables don’t touch.

Sustainment: BLOG — The Full Roundup

The Players Aid - Interview with Akar Bharadvaj Designer of Chalice of Poison: The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988 from GMT Games — 2026-07-20 - Unboxing Video: Vendée 93 from Fellowship of Simulations — 2026-07-19 - Unboxing Video: SPQR: The Battle of Alesia 52 BC from Art of Wargames — 2026-07-18 - Video Review: Congress of Vienna from GMT Games — 2026-07-17 - RAW Video: With the Hammer: Thomas Müntzer & The German Peasant War in Thuringia from Conflict Simulations Limited — 2026-07-16 - On Wargame Reviews. What they are; and What they are not…at least according to TPA — 2026-07-15 - My Favorite Wargame Cards – A Look at Individual Cards from My Favorite Games – Card #86: LRRP from Fire in the Lake: Insurgency in Vietnam from GMT Games — 2026-07-14 - Interview with John Lapham Designer of A More Perfect Union: The Struggle to Ratify the Constitution from Catastrophe Games Coming to Kickstarter Soon — 2026-07-13 - Unboxing Video: Next War: Iran from GMT Games — 2026-07-12

The Boardgames Chronicle - Three Days of Gettysburg: Deluxe Edition – Unboxing & Overview — 2026-07-19 - First Impressions for March of the Ants: Evolved Edition — 2026-07-17 - Chandragupta: Great Battles of the Mauryan Empire – Unboxing & Overview — 2026-07-15 - First Impressions for Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943 — 2026-07-12

A Wargamers Needful Things - Air & Armor: Würzburg, Tactical Armored Warfare in Europe, Designer Signature Edition Compass Games — 2026-07-14 - Worthington Publishing News — 2026-07-14 - In Fours to Heaven: Coming Soon From Vuca Simulations — 2026-07-12

Cardboard Commander - Save 8% on Your Next Cube4Me Order! — 2026-07-18 - Operation Cardboard Is a GO! — 2026-07-18

Systematic Hatreds (Paul Musgrave) - Guardian of the Strait of Forever — 2026-07-13 - Avoiding Phony Universals — 2026-07-13

PAXsims - Using serious games for understanding climate and stability: A Climate of Instability — 2026-07-17 - CNN Academy UCD humanitarian simulation 2026 — 2026-07-13 [Editorial note I include Paxsims becuase of its Professional wargaming, despite the fact that these here are CLEARLY not wargames.

Wargaming Weekly - Wargaming Weekly #077: Are you looking for a micro-wargame about land drones? — 2026-07-15

Sgt Steiner’s Wargaming Blog - PBEM update - Combat Mission and Storm Over Arnhem — 2026-07-16

Grymauch’s Solo Wargaming Blog - Pony Wars: The Homestead Turns 1 - 8. — 2026-07-19

Issue #1

WARNO is assembled from a curated list of community channels and blogs. Featured creators, we’re sending readers your way — keep it coming.

Know a channel or blog that deserves covering? Want yours in a future issue? Email bigboardgaming@gmail.com. Wargame bloggers welcome.