WARNO — Warning Order Issue #1
Your weekly heads-up on what’s landing the wargaming space
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!
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
Zilla Blitz - Upcoming Wargames + Giveaway | July 2026 | New Releases | Board Games — 9,644 views · 23 min - 82nd Airborne Panzer Corps 2 Elite All American Gameplay | DLC | PC WW2 Wargame | Part 1 — 1,426 views · 50 min
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
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.