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 13th 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.
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!
SUSTAINMENT — The Full Roundup
Everything that dropped this week, by channel. 75 videos across 31 channels — alphabetical, no ranking.
Aaron Plays - THE THREE DAYS OF GETTYSBURG | Why so Difficult to Learn? — 92 views · 18 min · ACW - MASHER / WHITE WING | Vietnam 1965-1975 | Turn 2: Part A | Two-Player Vassal Playthrough | Episode 2 — 34 views · 100 min · Cold War/Modern - SNIPER! | Fields of Fire Deluxe: Vietnam | Episode 4 — 46 views · 55 min · Cold War/Modern - F.U.B.A.R | Combat! Eastern Front | A Case of Mistaken Identity | Episode 13 — 66 views · 34 min - MASHER / WHITE WING | Vietnam 1965-1975 | Turn 1 | Two-Player Vassal Playthrough | Episode 1 — 99 views · 106 min · Cold War/Modern
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
The Players Aid - Review | Europe At War: 1940 Solitaire | Worthington | The Players’ Aid — 335 views · 18 min · WWII - Review | ASL Starter Kit #4 Pacific | MMP | The Players’ Aid — 1,493 views · 21 min · WWII - Unboxing | Midway Solitaire | Worthington | The Players’ Aid — 767 views · 9 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
Zilla Blitz - Rebels Against Rebellion Solo Gameplay | Board Wargames | Board Games | Flying Pig Games — 1,247 views · 40 min - Game of the Month | July 2026 | Board Games | Wargames | PC Games — 3,728 views · 11 min
Thanks for the add. The lone boardsman