Board Wargames

Dr. Strangelove is my favorite film of all time. While a grim satire of nuclear war and the dangerous consequences of nuclear weapons, it’s hard to deny it: being a B-52 guy in the late 50s and early 60s seems awesome. I’ve played board wargames for about fifteen years, and when I heard that Red Menace was about commanding B-52s in “Nuclear combat, toe-to-toe with the Russkies,” I jumped at a chance to play. is a production by Battlespace Games- an indie shop with a few titles, all available through their . The creator, R. Brent Ward, described it as being not 100% realistic, but more about the feel of the era—in that capacity, I think he nailed it.

By John Stafford and Jim Baldrighi

Greetings fellow gamers! I’m John Stafford, co-designer of’s new World War II boardgame D-Day and Beyond (DDAB). Back in October of 2019, my co-designer Jim Baldrighi and I sat down in my basement to play the old Avalon Hill classic boardgame, D-Day. We played over the course of two evenings and enjoyed the game enough to swap sides and play again.

Afterward, as we usually do, we sat back with an adult beverage and discussed what we liked about the game and what we didn’t, and what new or improved game mechanics we would employ to make it a more enjoyable or historically accurate experience. Jim and I use such games to make “keep or sell” decisions regarding our collections, so this discussion eventually comes down to three questions: “Did we like the game enough to keep it?”, “Does it need an upgrade?”, and closely related to the second question, “Was it fun enough to redesign it to our satisfaction?”DDAB is the result of three “yes” answers.

By Mitch Reed

Kickstarter has been a blessing to the gaming community. So many great games now have a path to our tables from small developers unlike any other time in our hobby. One such game is The Shores of Tripoli by located in Washington DC. Fort Circle is run by avid Nationals fan Kevin Bertram who has a steady social media presence on many gaming threads.

The Shores of Tripoli (SoT) looks at the Barbary Wars fought between the United States and the Barbary Pirates from 1801 until 1805. The game faithfully recreates this conflict with a fun and easy to play game that history buffs and seasoned grognards will both enjoy.

By Mitch Reed

I can admit that I will probably never re-read many of the books in my collection. The same can be said for many of the wargames I own, after playing them a few times I have little interest in re-playing them. However, some games stand out as classics that you just have to keep in your collection and play over and over again.

Battle for Germany is one game that is a classic that not only I have played many times, I even have bought multiple copies of the game. If you love this game as I do, you will be excited that has released a deluxe version of the game that I recommend you pick up even if you already have a cherished copy.

By Nate Fritz

I love World War II, but I have never given the African theater as much attention as I should. Undaunted: North Africa from Osprey Games has turned my interest level up to eleven with its coverage of the fight between the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and the Italian Army.

The game uses a deck-building mechanic to take actions and track your soldier’s health, when you run out of cards that unit is destroyed, which leads to fast-flowing tactical combat. Maps for each scenario are designed from two-sided tiles that create a dynamic battlefield and allow for a variety of engagement scenarios. Osprey Games provides 11 scenarios with the game and has a tracker that can be used to record outcomes of each scenario in order to determine who wins a campaign.

By Kreighton Long

This past weekend the hosted CYBËR WÅRS 2020 giving attendees a virtual convention experience that will hopefully help alleviate some of the pent up pressure to geek out after months of closed shops and social distancing.

Throughout the CYBËR WÅRS weekend over a dozen panels took place over Zoom with interviews of movers and shakers in the wargaming community. During one such panel representatives from came together for a 2-hour conversation including some sneak peeks at upcoming releases and works-in-progress over at Warlord HQ.

Many of our readers know that I am fascinated by the Great War, it was an event that changed the world unlike any other and when the guns fell silent in 1918 society, maps, and military thought were almost unrecognizable from how they looked in 1914.

This passion has led me to help develop a bunch of games that cover the Great War. Back in January I caught a glimpse of a game called Verdun 1916 Steel Inferno (V1916SI) by the French gamers at the Fellowship of Simulations. I was impressed as most gamers are with the sheer beauty of the game and I made sure I was the first backer when the project hit Kickstarter on 21 February, the 104th anniversary of the start of the battle.

Recently I was invited to be a part of a gaming experiment at the home of wargame designer If you are an avid wargamer you already know who he is, for those not familiar with his work you really need to check out some of his games in the COIN Series from GMT Games.

These games focus on counter insurgency operations during conflicts such as Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terror and focus on politics as much as military operations. The series has won many well-deserved awards and is groundbreaking in expanding our hobby beyond pushing troops around a map.

Reporting and photography by Troy A. Hill

We are live with Troy at Southern California’s Strategicon/Gateway Convention.

Troy talks with the crazy people running and playing in The Longest Day, a 24-hour-long Flames of War tournament. He also talks with Strategicon Events Chairman, the HMGS-PSW Convention chair about an upcoming convention, and with several independent game designers from the Pacific Southwest. Click the MORE tab to see links and photos for each.

Photos below:

By Mitch Reed

How does one review a game that is the latest in an award-winning series? Maybe talk about the one thing you didn’t love about the game?

One of the most prized possessions in my gaming bookcase has always been Guadalcanal from s. I loved this game, the big counters, the amazing artwork, and the solid rules made this one of my all-time favorites.

Despite my love for the game, it had one aspect I didn’t care for: the activation system. However, the third version of the game brings you a new activation system which changes  Conflict of Heroes into an entirely new game that will exceed its already lofty laurels.