WARNO · Issue #2

Your weekly heads-up on what’s landing in the wargaming space.

Jul 25, 2026

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.

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

BigBoard Gaming

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