Saving Your Work, C3i Update, and More ~ #TuesdayNewsday

Get ready for your weekly wargaming roundup! #TuesdayNewsday brings you the latest from every corner of the wargaming world—from the latest tabletop battles to professional defense sims. Don’t miss out!

Last week we reported on the MMAS final papers – which included the wargames designed for that program – being scrubbed from the Ft Leavenworth Combined Arms Research Library thanks to the current administrations jihad against anything they even suspect of “DEI”¹.

Regardless of political leanings, removing government-sponsored degree-granting academic work from the official archives ends up taking away potentially valuable learning & training material from an audience where that training can literally have life-&-death consequences.

Well, a private initiative has rescued some of those MMAS papers, and they’re now stored in a private archive.  We are also investigating how the Armchair Dragoons could also support this initiative going forward, too.

 

Most recent email newsletter from Steven MacGowan, about the future of C3i and RBM Studios

C3immortals,

Many of you have already heard from my posts through Facebook or discussions sprinkled across the internet, but I figured you are owed an official announcement here.

Rodger B. MacGowan was born on May 5, 1948, and died from pneumonia on February 21, 2025. He was 76.

I dreaded writing this because I find that every time I tell someone new, it becomes more real, and more painful each time. I’m sorry I couldn’t write this for you all sooner.

The reality of my father dying is overwhelming to me. Everyone loses parents, friends, loved ones of some relation. I recognize that it is part of life and must be. But I feel like I had something special, something unique with my father. And I’m reminded of that loss every time I turn back to the business we’ve built together.

Since 2016, nearly every parcel you’ve received from RBM Studio has passed through either Dad’s hands or mine. We made every business decision of any significance together. We made a promise to each other that we would put quality above everything else, and serve you, the readers, to our utmost. We were so, so proud of what we made, and in the literal days before the fire, we were making more plans for how to expand the possibilities of what RBM Studio could be.

I’ve lost my business partner. But he was also my closest friend and confidant, my basketball, soccer and Little League coach, my gaming and movie buddy. We lost the home that I was raised in and that Rodger broke his ankle to help build. We’ve weathered countless fires and earthquakes, cancer and many other challenges through the years. I was hopeful, and he was too, that the destruction wrought by the Palisades Fire could lead to a fresh start for us, in a way.

Countless messages from every corner of the world have hit my inbox over the past few weeks, beautiful stories describing love for my father’s artwork, recounting how his designs suckered many a grognard into the hobby, recalling his kindness interacting with others, admiring his dedication to the hobby. That is also overwhelming to me. It is incredible and wonderful to see such a small hobby have such a big heart, and I feel lucky to build such profound bonds with so many so quickly. I have never been one for the limelight, I have always been happy to let Dad be our spokesman; who wouldn’t want to be his friend? To know the man who drew so many works of art, that you couldn’t fit all of them in a 200 page book? There is no replacing him.

I hope to honor his memory by completing C3i Magazine Nr38 with help from close friends like Mark Herman, Charlie Kibler and Mark Simonitch. From there, as long as you are with me, I want to keep C3i going. I have a short blog post here with details regarding our Nr38 timeline and pre-orders.

My mother, Mae, and I are so deeply in debt to you C3immortals and RBM Studio faithfuls. Your support, understanding, and compassion through our gauntlet of horrors has been nothing short of amazing. Rodger was so happy to see how our Gofundme progressed up until he was hospitalized. He saw it more as a manifestation of your love for us than anything.

I want to thank you once again for the incredible support you’ve already given—your donations have meant the world to us in these unimaginable times. I’m painfully aware that asking for more may feel like asking for too much. But the loss of my father is a void we’re still struggling to fill, and the road to rebuilding and honoring his legacy is long. If you are able to contribute further, please know that every extra dollar is not just financial aid—it’s a tribute to Rodger’s life and a step toward carrying forward the work we began together. And if you can’t donate further at this time, sharing our story and the campaign would be equally powerful.

I could not be more proud of my father. I am so lucky to have known him as well as I did. It makes me so happy that so many of you could come to know him too. I hope that you, dear reader, can join me in mourning him, but also celebrating a wonderful life. And as he would say, tomorrow is another day.

Sincerely,

Steven

 

Hitting the shelves (and webstores) near you now!

• Crusades: Book I released on Friday, it’s the new game from WDS’s new “Sword & Siege” series; we had the first article about it on release day
• Strategy & Tactics #352 is now out
• All indications on the VUCA website are that New Cold War has been released
• Vae Victus #179 is now shipping
• Dark City Games released On The Savage Plain Vol 1, a TFT-style adventure gamebook with hex-grid combat
• Compass Games moved Stellar Horizons 2: Galactic Frontier to their released column on their site, but still showing a $30 discount if you grab it quick!
• White Dog Games released Israel 1948, a contest winner from BGG
• New set of Lock ‘n Load Tactical replacement counters that incorporate errata and corrections from previous LNLT games
• New Munchkin expansion – Warm Fuzzies!
• Free League released the new Black Powder and Brimstone RPG
• Phantom Ops is a new shooter on Steam and it’s on sale for under $1 for its launch
• Partisan gives you a backstory for a Soviet soldier trapped behind Nazi lines in WW2, on sale for the launch thru 24 March
• A bunch of Bolt Action! books now available as PDFs
  • Digital Armies Of Germany: Third Edition PDF
  • Digital Bolt Action Compendium PDF
  • Digital Once & Future King – Hail Caesar Supplement PDF
  • Digital The Wars Of The Roses – Hail Caesar Supplement PDF

 

 

Time to get those orders in now and then either (a) complain that it’s 2 years late, and/or (b) be surprised when it gets here sooner than you thought

• Compass has Engine Thieves on Kickstarter
• The latest reprint of A Most Fearful Sacrifice from Flying Pig Games just launched today on Kickstarter
• Pre-order the new Star Trek Adventures Technical Manual from Modiphius, and get the PDF right away
• Not sure that we ever noted that OSG has The Last Success (from TLNB) on pre-order
• La Der des Ders – The War to End War is a strategic-level WW1 game coming from Hexasim currently on pre-order
• This week’s “launch it on a Wednesday” winner is Ventonuovo, who launched their expansion for their Moscow ’41 game on Kickstarter last week
• Last call for pre-orders on the HASL Slaughter at Ponyri from MMP
• Trenches: Night Raid is a WW1 roll-&-write game on Kickstarter
• Wind in the Sails: The Rise of Ancient Empires is on Gamefound
• Neva Wargames has a bunch more games that you can pre-order
  • Rebellion & Punishment: War Of The Alpujarras
  • Peking: 55 Days Of Fury
  • Spartacus: Rome Under Threat
  • Crete: Death From The Sky
  • Cid Campeador: Warlord
  • Kursk: Rotmistrov’s Offensive
  • Jarama: The Battle For Madrid
• Blue Panther are taking pre-orders for 2 new Mike Nagel games, both projected to ship toward the end of March
  • Off The Line is a game of man-to-man combat in WW2
  • Blade & Bow is a game of tactical ancients battles
• Bolt Action! mystery boxes from Warlord Games
  • Mystery Box – Axis
  • Mystery Box – Allies

 

Looking for a deal? Getting more bang for your buck?

• WDS “Game of the week” is the ACW Campaign Overland for $29.95
• Dice Envy has Hanahaki, a new 8pc metal set of dice, available, and you can save 10% with coupon code YEARN at checkout
• Kraken Dice are offering a free mystery dice set with a $25 purchase, no coupon needed
• Most of the MicroProse catalog is 10-30% off this week in the Steam sale
• Avalanche Press found some backstock of their black SS pieces from Dishonor Before Death (instead of the camo background they use for them now) so if you have to have those Panzer Grenadier pieces in black, you can order the book, with those pieces, until the stock runs out, and save 20% with coupon code DISHONOR at checkout; note that the book will still be available after the black pieces run out, and you can still use the camo ones from Elsenborn Ridge and Fire & Sword
• Warbot III ships free with any minis order from Alternative Armies until 24 April
• Miniature Market has Risk 2210 A.D.: Frontline Expansion on sale
• There’s a couple of copies of the SPI classic Highway to the Reich on sale at Noble Knight

 

It’s been a busy week for the regiment; here’s what you might’ve missed!

• Saturday Night Fights ~ Talavera (5) for “Lasalle 2”
• Mentioned In Dispatches S14 E7 ~ GMT’s Battles of the American Revolution series
• Dispatches from Cyrano’s War Room, Part 4
• Armchair Dragoons Reviews Ju-87 Stuka Ace from Lock ‘n Load Publishing
• First Impressions of Crusades : Book I by Wargame Design Studio
• Wednesday War Stories ~ Iron Ships & Iron Men at the Battle of Hampton Roads
• AARs
  • Let’s Roll – Part 3
  • The Life & Times of I, Napoleon – Part 11
• Gameplay this week
  • Attack of St. Contest II for “I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum”
  • The Battle of Gravelotte (4) for “Bloody Big Battles”

 

Reminder, if you’re interested in writing for the Armchair Dragoons, please drop us a line in our forum or our Discord and let’s see if there’s a good fit for you.  Beyond reviews, we’re looking for AARs, historical analyses, game comparisons, and plenty of other things that interest the wargaming community

 

 

This week’s best written coverage from the wargaming world Solid read here from Goonhammer, where a minis site talks about H&C wargaming Rocky gives you an advance look on his upcoming review of Downfall Brian Train is going Elbows Up Stuart reviews A Greater Victory Our guys in Japan at Wargaming Esoterica take a swing at Napoleon’s Counterstrike Avalanche Press has an article about German plans to invade Ireland in WW2

The best videos this week from our wargaming friends Moe teaches you how to play Engine Thieves Justegarde takes two views to go through Baptism by Fire Baptism by Fire – Part 1  Baptism by Fire – Part 2 Beyond Solitaire Podcast 188: Amabel Holland on Cardboard Ghosts Zilla’s got an Iraqi Freedom: 30 Days to Baghdad First Look & Overview Bill’s showing you Pork Chop Hill Wargame in miniature Ardwulf had a chat on Organizing Your Wargames with Meandering Mike and see Mike’s own video on Getting Organized in the Man Cave of Madness

Ardwulf’s counter clipping stream talked about Unpopular Wargames

 

Various news & notes from the business end of the gaming world

• Columnist Scott Thorne breaks down the impact of the current tariff wars on the cost of your game at your local store
• ICv2 reports that the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design has added 2 designers and 2 games to their hall of fame; the next thing you should be asking yourself is why you can’t find this same info on the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design’s own website
• Carolina Game Tables have an update about their product line, with some changes to customization coming
• BoardGameWire has a big article about CMON’s profit warning to shareholders
• Rascal talks with John Stacy about how GAMA is evolving in an RPG-focused article
• Decision Games have a survey about their upcoming Napoleon at War Quad deluxe reprint that’ll be open until the end of the month
• ICv2 are also starting to release their “galleries” of images from GAMA Expo and let’s just say that you’ll see more photos (albeit likely different stuff) in one of our articles than in their entire series of pictures
• Fort Circle Games hikes up the kimono and give you their 2024 financial report

 

 

Don’t forget to check our consolidated event & convention calendar for more!
You can also submit your own events for our calendar here.

• Wargame Days at The Gamer’s Armory in Cary, NC ~ 6 April and 4 May
• Next confirmed live event is BuckeyeGameFest, 1-4 May 2025
• Next confirmed virtual event is Connections Online, 7-12 April, 2025

Other Conventions & Events

• 20-24 Mar GaryCon (Lake Geneva WI) <– THIS WEEKEND!
• 21-24 Mar Hotlead (Stratford ON) <– THIS WEEKEND!
• 28-30 Mar CircleDC (Washington DC)
• 26-31 Mar Adepticon (Milwakuee WI)
• 3-6 Apr Game mORe (Albany OR)
• 4-7 Apr Game On Expo (Phoenix AZ)
• 7-13 Apr Connections Online 2025 (Armchair Dragoons HQ Online)
• 10-13 April ChaosiumCon (Ann Arbor MI)
• 26 April GUWS Kriegsspiel Game Day (Washington DC)

 

You’ve seen the list of Origins events we’ve got for this Summer.  Starting next week, we’ll have other updates for you about the Wargame HQ at Origins, and at the end of April we’ll start our usual countdowns to the convention with event listings, vendor locations in the exhibit hall, and more.

 

Focusing on the practitioner world ~ don’t forget about our dedicated area in our forums for the wargame professionals!

• Massive wargame over upcoming Ukraine scenarios held in UK with 27 other nations present, and none of them were the US
• It’s kind of embarrassing that some of our oldest allies are now wargaming us as a legitimate ‘red’ threat
• Fight Club and the Canadian Armed Forces having a game day
• No, Russia Has Not Surrounded Thousands Of Ukrainian Troops In Kursk
• How to acquisitions play into future ORBAT discussions and long-term wargaming
• Wargame advice for the new DoD regime
• This week, Mick Ryan is in Ukraine, so instead of the usual “Big Five” we’re getting an interview with General Budanov
• The next GUWS webinar is Tactical Wargame Design on 18 March and then Spyships, Satellites, and SAMs on 8 April

 

 

Something neat from outside the wargaming world we thought was worth sharing

 

 

That’s all for this week!
Be sure to drop by our forums and join the fun, and next Tuesday we’ll drop some more news on you.

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Thank you for visiting the Regiment of Strategy Gaming and riding with The Armchair Dragoons.
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Feel free to talk back to us either in our discussion forum, or in the comments below.

1. however we’re defining it this week