July really is “the Saturday of Summer” and we get toward the end of it, #TuesdayNewsday is starting to pick up with more releases and other news & events
A very nice thread on Twitter here about how even small museums can have a meaningful impact
One of the reasons we make games, is to help remember. Remembrance is important, and time to time, I found a place where remembrance is done in a more concrete, precise way. Their job is uterly important. Let me show you… 👉 pic.twitter.com/GsMOfDrVef
— Team Snafu & SDT (@SnafuDST) July 22, 2024
Ardwulf’s Lair launched some new t-shirts, so for the low low price of just a shirt, you, too, can join the TWEEZER MAFIAâ„¢
Hitting the shelves (and webstores) near you now!
- Compass moved Flanks of Gettysburg to their “recent releases” on their website but you can still grab it at the pre-order price if you hustle
- Matrix Games released Strategic Command WWII: War in the Pacific
- The Art of Rodger B. MacGowan is now available
- Close the Atlantic World War Three is available on Wargame Vault, and includes maps and counters in the download
- Ludopress released the latest issue (#41) of ALEA magazine; the main game included is Assault on Ancient Japan – Kyüshü 1945, along with other minigames
- The next “Northern Fury” novella has been released – The Nordkapp Affair is in ebook format right now with paperback imminent1
- High Flying Dice Games released a pair of new games
- GMT’s latest shipments – mostly reprints – are starting to land in people’s mailboxes
- I, Napoleon
- Skies Above the Reich, 2nd printing
- Virgin Queen, 2nd printing
- Downfall: Conquest of the Third Reich, 1942-1945
- Following up their new starter set launched last week, there are 2 new Team Yankee starter boxes
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
- Ventonuovo Games has a new Blitz in the East game that’s on pre-order
- There’s a new Verdun card game on Kickstarter
- Flying Pig has Pipe Creek – Meade’s Last Stand on pre-order; this is an expansion for A Most Fearful Sacrifice
- Welp, the 2.0 version of Compass Games’Â Breaking the Chains came & went on Kickstarter before we could even tell you about it
Looking for a deal? Getting more bang for your buck?
- WDS “Game of the week” is Panzer Campaigns – Tunisia ‘43 for $29.95
- “Lich Queen Barbie” dice? Â Why not . . . Â at least you can read them easily! Save 10% with coupon code BARBIE at checkout
- Precis Intermedia is holding a Christmas in July 2024 sale and you can save 20% with coupon code XJN8LH59FN at checkout until 31 July
- Pretty good deal on game-focused books from MIT press here – Elusive Shift, Zones of Control, and others
- OSG has a moving sale right now, with 20% off boxed, in-print games through August 17
- Miniature Market has Rommel’s War on sale
- Noble Knight has Eylau 1807 from Sound of Drums in stock and on sale
- Commander Bug Wars is on Steam early access
- Two big BattleTech packages at Bundle of Holding: Total War and Readouts
This week’s best written coverage from the wargaming world
- Rocky muses on the upcoming Modiphius Space: 1999 game
- Pushing Cardboard released episode #34 with Patrick from VUCA
- Space Biff reviews Comet from Hollandspiele
- Here’s the backstory to WDS’s upcoming campaign for their Danube Front ’85 game (tho this scenario is set in ’87)
- Thin Red Line Games gives you a dive into the Warsaw Pact orbat for their upcoming In A Dark Wood game
The best videos this week from our wargaming friends
- Bill Molyneaux wraps up Historicon
- Moe is live on Whiskey Charlie tonight
- My Own Worst Enemy is playing Chickamauga from Rebel Fury
- Justegarde continues his Battle of Blenheim
- Zilla Blitz interviews Friends-of-the-Dragoons and Song for War designers Chris & Seth
- Ardwulf’s counter clipping stream talked about depth & breadth in wargaming
Various news & notes from the business end of the gaming world
- ICv2 reports on the new President of Wizards of the Coast
- BoardGameWire reports that Maggie Clayton is the new head of games over at Kickstarter
- The Spiel des Jahres winners were announced, and there continues to be an under-representation of female designers; Rascal Reports some similar issues with the Ennies
- OSG has released the latest issue of their online Wargame Design magazine, Vol V, nr 4
- Giant consignment sale coming up at Capstone Games in Cincy at the end of September; start planning your road trip now
Some thoughts on kicking off game design from Clint here
If you're getting started in game design, whether for commercial, military or classroom use, here's a template you can use for making a simple game.
Let's say you've chosen a particular time period, conflict or other scenario you want to cover.
Follow these steps:
1. Factions:… pic.twitter.com/tN5mn0coFd— Clint Warren-Davey (@Clint_Davey1) July 23, 2024
It’s been a busy pretty damned slow week for the regiment; here’s what you might’ve missed!
- Saturday Night Fights ~ The Battle of Gross Gorschen for “Bloody Big Battles”
Reminder than #UnboxingDay is on hiatus until 2025, when we’ll re-evaluate its potential return
Recapping a pair of previous stories from the last few weeks ––
We don’t normally make a big deal out of our Patreon, which helps us keep the lights on here, largely because we’re kind of sheepish about asking people for monetary support. Â So this is probably the only time this year you’ll see us bring it up other than thanking people on our podcast.
Some other Patreon-funded creators to look into? Ardwulf, My Own Worst Enemy, Designers & Dragons, Beyond Solitaire. Got some others you happen to like? Â Feel free to pimp them in the comments below!
We were planning on our big site migration last week, but, well . . . ‘things’ happened. Â We’re getting back on schedule now, and we’ll soon be migrating the main Armchair Dragoons site and forums, to a new physical server. Â Expected downtime is no more than 2 hours or so, but we all know who that goes. Â This is a technical update that’s probably a year overdue, so it definitely needs to happen this Summer.
We’ll give folks plenty of warning through our social channels (Mastodon, Facebook, Twxtter, Instagram, Threads) and on the site before we make the move, but we’ll be dark for a bit while we pack up the digital boxes and cruise around the corner in the data center to some newer/snazzier hardware.
Don’t forget to check our consolidated event & convention calendar for more!
You can also submit your own events for our calendar here.
Upcoming Dragoons Events
- Wargame Days at The Gamer’s Armory in Cary, NC ~ 4 August and 8 September2
- Next confirmed live event is The Fall Assembly, 11-13 October 2024
- Next planned virtual event is the ACDC3, 17-19, 2025
Other Conventions & Events
- 20-28 July 2024 WBC (Seven Springs Resort PA) <– RIGHT NOW!
- 8-11 August 2024 SDHistCon East (Newport RI)
- 15-18 August 2024 HistoriKC Fest (Kansas City MO)
- 20-22 September 2024 Southern Front (Morrisville NC)
- 27-29 September 2024 Czech Consim 2024 (Prague CZ)
- 11-13 October 2024 Armchair Dragoons Fall Assembly (Raleigh/Cary NC)
- 17-20 October 2024 GMT Fall Weekend at the Warehouse (Middle of Nowhere CA)
- 6-11 November 2024 Compass Game Fall Expo (Meriden CT)
- 7-10 November BottosCon (New Westminster BC)
- 8-11 November 2024 FoxCon (Dallas TX)
- 8-11 November 24 SDHISTCON (San Diego CA)
Focusing on the practitioner world ~ don’t forget about our dedicated area in our forums for the wargame professionals!
- Connections USA proceedings are now available
- 2024 Peter Perla Wargaming Achievement Award honoree MAJ Tom Mouat, MBE
- “Wargaming the next global emergency” . . . Â from, well, 2 years ago
- USMC hiring a Wargaming Assistant Director for the Krulak Center at Quantico
- How might the Joint Fires Network change future wargaming projections
- First-use on nukes? Â How might cultural assumptions color the way we play in high-stakes wargames?
- The next GUWS webinar is Using Analogue Serious Games To Plan Cities Collaboratively on 6 August and followed on 20 August with Wargaming outside of War: How NGO’s use games and gaming to expand maritime and as we approach the end of Summer they’re like to return to their normal schedule
Littoral Commander trial game at the Staff College (with the academic staff)… pic.twitter.com/j9ch48uOuJ
— Jim Dawson (@JimDaws93102644) July 18, 2024
Something neat from outside the wargaming world we thought was worth sharing
and a bonus one, because this was too weird to not share
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.
Thank you for visiting The Armchair Dragoons and mounting up with the Regiment of Strategy Gaming.
You also can find our regiment’s social media on Mastodon, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even Threads.  (We have an Instagram page and it’s really just a placeholder & redirect to our articles.)
You can support The Armchair Dragoons through our Patreon, also, 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.
Hi Brant. There’s another new game that recently came out, in the Italian magazine Para Bellum (issue XIII): La Squadriglia degli Assi. It’s WWI air combat over the Italian front, with all the different Italian and Austro-Hungarian planes that participated. Designed by Andrea Angiolino and Gregory Alegi, it’s an updated modernized version of their game of the same name that came out in 1994, which was a precursor to Wings of War (which begat Wings of Glory). Has English rules, charts and player aids. Elegant playable system which nicely represents planes of different speeds and manueverabilities flying around while firing at one another (and eliminates the dreaded Wings of Glory “fudge factor”). It’s got nice graphics, and is unique in providing comprehensive coverage of the air war over Italy. Noble Knight has it.
we’ll take a look – thanks!