by Welcome to your weekly escape from reality… directly into #TuesdayNewsday! 📰 ➡️
Origins Awards nominations were announced at GAMA Expo last week, and yet again the designers of the games were left off the nominee lists. Of note, the CSR’s1 have included the designers with the nominations since they were revived post-pandemic, and for a lot of years beforehand.
Origins did get a couple of things right, though, as Richard Borg is entering the Origins Hall of Fame this year on the strength of his long career of excellent designs, with the Commands & Colors engine obviously leading the way. Designer Antoine Bauza (7 Wonders) and artist Wayne Reynolds (Pathfinder) are also being inducted this year.
Some Armchair Dragoons-related site news: we finally finished our slow-moving forum migration and update, which also included putting a new ‘skin’ on the forum that changed our look-&-feel. For now, we’re sticking with this theme on the forum, which allows users to customize some colors as well as pick a light/dark theme. We do have some visuals to finish fixing, like the thread icons and smileys, as well as the logo linking back to the front page, but 95% of the migration is done and in place. If you haven’t hit the forums lately, pop in and check them out.
Those of you that have the forum bookmarked in your browser should create a new bookmark to update it, as some of back-end php files might have changed, but are automatically redirecting you. It reduces the possibility of you getting a nav error, and cuts down on the number of errors we get in our error log on the back end2
The Europa series revival continues, as there’s now a new/official website for information & news about the team that’s bringing them back
The latest? They announced last week that
We are pleased to announce the non-profit Europa Series Wargames Foundation has been formally incorporated under the laws of the state of Illinois as authorized by Rich Banner.
and they plan to continue posting news updates to that site
Time to upgrade your arsenal with this week’s batch of newcomers. ️
- A pair of new starter packs are available fro PicoArmor, as you can get both a WW2 German v Soviet starter pack, or a WW2 US v German one; and with 3mm minis you can play a BIG battle in a small space (or a bigger battle in a big space!)
- Looks like Battle Commander Vol I: Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns is finally landing in mailboxes; there’s also an expansion with some additional battles
- High Flying Dice released The Maid Ascendant about Joan of Arc’s first command action, the siege of Orleans
- Battlefront released their Firestorm: Blitzkrieg France campaign system for Flames of War
- This week on Wargame Vault
- Divine Descent is a a skirmish battles game with heavy mythology overtones
- The Forage Ahead American Revolutionary War Rulebook also has a limited ‘free’ version you check out
- There’s a bunch of expansions and scenario books, but you gotta start with the War Stories core rules first3
- They’ve been pushed back at least twice, but Legion Wargames finally released
- Doodlebugs! about the German V1 rocket offensive against the Brits
- The Fall of Berlin, with the Russians racing to grab the German capital before the Americans
- Wargames Illustrated #459 is now shipping
- Free League has a massive new Pirate Borg starter set now available and includes the PDFs through DTRPG
- New releases on Steam
- Tabletop Fantasy War includes a hex-based map and some rather jagged graphics
- Spacefleet: Heat Death seems to be going to an Expanse-like feel
- New DLC for Holdfast: Nations at War include Dreaded Pirate Lafitte and Nelson’s Own
- ASL Companion #2 from Le Franc Tireur is in stock at The Gamer’s Armory
- 🎲 DICE!
- Dice Envy just launched their Gobbostopper pattern and it looks like it lost a paintball game
- Black Oak Workshop should have their new blood-drenched polyhedrals at GaryCon
- Catalyst has a new House Kurita command lance with 4 models & pilot cards that you can use with Alpha Strike or the full game
- $10 says Compass Games starts shipping Combat 4: Eastern Front on Wednesday
This week’s crowdfunding campaigns are looking mighty tempting.
- COMAO – The Game of Modern Air Warfare has now launched on Kickstarter and folks have been anticipating this one for a while; it’s hit the goal in the first 3 hours and not showing signs of slowing down
- This week’s newsletter from On Military Matters has you covered for books on all thing pre-gunpowder, with titles on Slavic warriors, ancient Brits & Celts, Byzantines on the water, medieval knights, and more
- Modiphius has the Star Trek Adventures 2nd ed – Species Sourcebook on pre-order
- Warlord has a Folgore Bundle for Bolt Action! that includes the Armies of Italy book
- This week on Kickstarter
- The Magnus Archives Mysteries is new from the daughter of designer Geoff Englestein
- The next HarnQuest campaign is live; you can either get the Spring issue, or start a 1yr/4-issue sub with the Spring issue
- One wonders if the folks who put the Threshold zine on Kickstarter bothered to check if there’s another FRPG magazine already called Threshold that’s over 5 years and 30-odd issues into existence4
- And this week’s hopeless campaign is an honorary mention for the now-5-years-gone Stellaris Infinite Legacy which (unlike Up Front) actually produced prototype games, trays, minis, cards, etc that people could play with at conventions, but still hasn’t shipped to backers for a campaign whose estimated delivery was April 2022
- Some new Axis & Allies pre-orders from Renegade
The discount gods have spoken—here’s what’s cheaper this week. ⚡
- WDS ‘Game of the week’ is Panzer Campaigns: Sealion ’40 for all your cross-channel invasion dreams, at just $29.95, on sale until Sunday
- Spring subscription sale from S&T Press that gets you a $50 voucher for a new/renewal subscription and S&T/WatW subs each count separately; offer is good until 30 April
- Big sale on stuff from Renegade Game Studios, mostly from their Garphill Games’ lines
- Massive sale on all things Distant Worlds 2 on Steam (h/t Martok!)
- A 1st ed copy of War in Europe Module #1 – The First World War from Noble Knight will only set you back about $295, for a player’s copy
- Total War: Attila is still under $12 at GOG
- Crazy-cheap build-your-bundle at Fanatical on Free League’s Symbaroum RPG
- Worthington as a couple of bundles on sale at their site
- Sand & Sea Bundle with Archie’s War and Rommel’s War
- Solitaire Bundle with Bismarck Solitaire and Waterloo Solitaire
Articles assembled—here’s this week’s lineup.
- First Impressions of Next War: Taiwan – 2nd Edition
- Mentioned In Dispatches S16 E6 – Professional Development for Practitioners
- Saturday Night Fights ~ “Fire As She Bears”: The Battle of Cape St. Vincent (3)
- Conference Report – Games of War
- Connections Online 2026 – Wargaming Soft Factors – 20-25 April
- AARs
- From The Armchair Dragoons Archives
- Back on 13 Nov 24, we dropped taking Rommel to Hart with Normandy ’44 by Rocky
- On 12 Jun 22, we released the Origins 2022 Exhibit Hall Walkaround on our YouTube channel
- Something Else
- Gameplay this week
- This week in our forums we’re talking about Songs of Syx
- This week in our merch shop you definitely need a hoodie for those overly-AC’ed game rooms at your next convention
The Best Thing We Saw On Another Site This Week Was
Sociocultural Dynamics of the Defense Wargaming Community of Practice (PDF)
The wargaming community in general is tired with the discussion of how to define a wargame and express that a robust, dictionary definition is unnecessary and possibly harmful as it could curb creativity. While a definition is important in preventing misunderstandings and providing a base for more systematic and structured processes related to the term at hand, the lack of support for a formal definition comes from an understanding that the definition of a wargame has little to do with the game itself, and is instead about the intentions and goal of the game. Having an academic discussion about definitions is all well and good, but given the background of community members and reasons for wargaming, it makes sense that a response to that discussion would be one of action where the participants are left wondering how it can be directly applied to wargaming to improve the process, design, or state of play.
and also
Creativity refers to the ability for designers to be creative during game development as they seek unique games and game mechanics that address questions and objectives, and the ability for players to be creative in the game as they learn more about interacting and decision-making in the provided scenarios. This core value, like accuracy, indicates a community that is receptive to new ideas, methods, and change. Interviews, observations, and literature analyses highlighted the importance of Peter Perla’ s The Art of Wargaming. Not only does this book provide the operational basis for modern wargaming, the importance of wargaming as an “art” was made very clear during observations. The wargaming community in general is tired with the discussion of how to define a wargame and express that a robust, dictionary definition is unnecessary and possibly harmful as it could curb creativity. Issues that have been observed regarding the term “serious game ” revolve around the importance placed on play, art, and the connection to hobby games. Some issue statements that I heard identified “serious games” as a term that “implies that other games are trivial or childish” and excludes fun as an important part of gameplay, as well as a clarifying statement that “ wargaming is an art rather than a science.” There is extreme emphasis on the common trope “safe-to-fail,” indicating that wargames are meant to be spaces to test out creative ideas that would be too risky to try under real world circumstances.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: LIVE CARDBOARD SHIFTS ONE HOUR EARLIER STARTING THIS WEEK5
Ardwulf’s counter clipping stream covered THE TOPIC
Various news & notes from the business end of the gaming world
- This week, Scott Thorne’s column talks about this year’s GAMA Expo exhibit hall
- BoardGameWire explains the latest expansion to Spiel Essen’s footprint
- Rascal takes stock of their current situation in year 3
- ICv2 talks about the continued wrangling over tariff refunds (or not)
- Gaming Trend puts some new faces to work
- Brooks & Catie Barber have launched Hawk & Dove Games
- Why I Brought TTRPGs to English Class (Roll20)
- Registration is open for CSW Expo, 10-18 July
- Company Updates
- Matrix Games has a tactics update for Rules the Waves 3 for download
- Decision Games are surveying the audience again on 2026 designs – some in progress and some just proposed
- #Maneuver Warfare VASSAL module updated
- Discussion from Sound of Drums about why there will not be an update kit to take Assault Red Horizon 41 from the original game to the revised edition currently on crowdfunding
- Wargame Design Studio updated their Squad Battles: Winter War game to the 4.03.4 engine
Reviewers have a responsibility to get the rules right. Before publishing negative review because something isn’t working, double check you got the rules correct. Designer will be more than happy to help.
— Geoff Engelstein – The Universe Explained with Cookie out now! (@gengelstein.bsky.social) 2026-03-04T12:15:09.128Z
One of the deadly sins of the game designer…#gamedev #indiedev 🎲✂️
— City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ (@citysquarestudios.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T09:53:21.951Z
Articles, advice, and ideas for those of you on the creative side
- Skeleton Code Machine talks about Shards of Infinity and the different ways cards interact
- Matthew Dunstan’s latest game design video is about AI and recent game design current ‘events’
- Should you get a games degree? Professionals weigh in (Narrative News)
- Dan Thurot inspires a new take on a maligned mechanism
Don’t forget to check our consolidated event & convention calendar for more!
You can also submit your own events for our calendar here.
Our Next Armchair Dragoons Events
- Wargame Days at The Gamer’s Armory in Cary, NC ~ April 5, May 3, and June 7
- Next confirmed live event is Buckeye Game Fest (Columbus OH), 12-15 March 2026
- Next virtual event is Connections Online 2026, 20-25 April
Upcoming Conventions & Events
- 11-15 Mar Dice Tower West (Las Vegas NV) <– THIS WEEKEND!
- 12-15 Mar AireCon (Harrogate UK) <– THIS WEEKEND!
- 12-15 Mar Buckeye Game Fest (Columbus OH) <– THIS WEEKEND!
- 12-14 Mar SaltCON (Layton UT) <– THIS WEEKEND!
- 13-15 Mar Game On Expo (Phoenix AZ) <– THIS WEEKEND!
- 13-15 Mar Terminal City Tabletop Convention (Vancouver BC) <– THIS WEEKEND!
- 19-22 Mar Breakout Con (Toronto ON)
- 19-22 Mar GameStorm (Portland OR)
- 19-22 Mar GaryCon (Lake Geneva WI)
- 20-21 Mar Cold Barrage (Havre de Grace MD)
- 20-22 Mar Hot Lead 2026 (Stratford ON)
- 20-22 Mar Hotlead (Stratford ON)
- 20-22 Mar Vanguard VI Spring 2026 (Reading UK)
- 25-29 Mar Adepticon (Milwakuee WI)
- 26-29 Mar PAX East (Boston MA)
- 3-6 Apr Conquest Melbourne (Melbourne VIC)
- 8-12 Apr Game mORe (Albany OR)
- 9-12 Apr Bellum Omnium: Wargamecon 2026 (Malaga ESP)
The Annual Professional/Practitioner Wargaming Conference, Co-Sponsored & Hosted by the Armchair Dragoons
- Our announcement on the conference can be found here
- Event submissions are open for extended events, both seminars and game sessions
- Regimental Captains of the Armchair Dragoons’ Patreon get free badges for all of our events, including Connections Online
- You can follow Connections Online in a lot of places on the web, and checking the Linktree will give you those options
Focusing on the practitioner world ~ don’t forget about the dedicated area in our forums for the wargame professionals!
- Sociocultural Dynamics of the Defense Wargaming Community of Practice (Univ of Maralyand, h/t to Rwizi from WW)
- To sharpen their tactical thinking, the 35th Infantry Regiment recreated the Battle of Villersexel on a training set (Translated from Le Trois)
- Thread of photos from the Kings College London Crisis Sim last week (Evan DAllesandro)
- History and more-than-human agency in videogames (Taylor & Francis)
- First Sergeant Academy sharpens readiness through wargaming, data-driven leadership (USAF)
- Contribution of the Dynamic Programming Approach to Solving a War Game of Attrition and Attack (DSpace)
- As one of the comments says: wargames don’t just model conflict – they model preferences (LinkedIn)
- This week, Mick Ryan’s ‘Big Five’ compares the military to Formula One racing in how they are adapting to a new era
- The next GUWS webinar is Kingfish ACE: A Case Study for Application of Gaming and Leadership on 13 April followed by Games for Conflict and Resolution on 20 April
- PaxSims latest article covers the Wargaming and Game Theory Working Group
- Get Hired! SAIC has a posting for Modeling and Simulation Planner and Analyst
Something neat from outside the wargaming world we thought was worth sharing
holy shit
— bryson (@brysonm.bsky.social) March 8, 2026 at 9:20 PM
That’s all for this week!
You can chat about the news in the Intel Dump in our discussion forums and next Tuesday we return with another update for you
Thank you for visiting the Regiment of Strategy Gaming and riding with The Armchair Dragoons.
Rather than list a bunch of social media links, the easiest thing to do is to check out our LinkTree, which connects you to all of our various locales around the web.
You can also support The Armchair Dragoons through our Patreon, and find us at a variety of conventions and other events.
Feel free to talk back to us either in our discussion forum, or in the comments below.
Footnotes
- which were the Origins Awards for the longest time
- trust us, this is a LOT
- new on Wargame Vault but been around for a while
- then again, there’s wargame companies out there ripping off names from other games, too, so it’s not like it’s a new thing
- probably not planned for the week the clocks changed for everyone, but it works out that everyone’s making all their adjustments in the same week
- translated from Japanese
- at least not that we could figure out from the website
(7) Il Trono di Carte (Throne of Cards) will be available from the Risorgimento Museum bookshop or Blacknight Editions (the publisher) after the big game fair in Bologna in May 2026. The Museum event was put on to take advantage of an exhibition on the Great Brigandage that was ending at the end of March, so they made a few pre-production copies. The final production will have a mounted mapboard and English-language instructions.
thanks for the update!