Haven’t done a strategy post in over a year! But I know you like them, so there will be more of them over the next months. Today, we’re returning to a mainstay: Here I Stand (Ed Beach, GMT Games) is one of my favorite games ever – if not my favorite game of all. (I should really do one of those Top X games of all times posts!) So far, we’ve had three strategy articles for it already: How to Win as the Hapsburgs in Here I Stand How to Win as the Papacy in Here I Stand How to Win as England in Here I Stand All of them have been in the tried-and-true fashion of giving three basic tips which new ..read more

Earlier this year, I assessed the state of board game/history blogging and found it to be somewhat better than expected. Reports on the death of blogging seem to have been greatly exaggerated. I resolved to highlight great blogs more often so that my loyal readers will find additional sources of inspiration and enjoyment. So, here are the first recommendations – three of my favorite blogs! The Boardgames Chronicle Who is the author? Michal (based in Poland). What will you find on the blog? There are both written articles (usually richly illustrated with photos) and videos on the blog. They inc ..read more

Welcome back to the fifth – and last – instalment of the 1848 series! So far, we’ve seen the European continent erupt in a plethora of revolutions fueled by liberal, democratic, and nationalist demands. The centrifugal tendency of their underlying movements turned out to be no match for a unified response of the conservative, monarchist forces which mostly restored the old order by the end of 1848. In this post, we’ll have a look at the last attempts of the revolutionaries to create a new world in 1849 in Germany, Italy, and Hungary before we turn to what remained of the great revolutionary co ..read more

This is a blog. The hottest medium of self-expression… in 2003. Since then, blogs have turned from the exciting new thing to something a lot of people were dabbling in to something a lot of people had once dabbled in. Now, conventional wisdom has it, the blogosphere is withering away – including the blogs on history and/or board games. Let’s see if that is true, what might have replaced blogs, and what that means for this particular blog here. The Data I’ve been blogging for well over six years now. In that time, I’ve seen other blogs come and go. Of the 68 blogs which I follow via WordPress o ..read more

One of my board gaming resolutions for this year is to attend the right events – those that are really up my alley. In that spirit, I once more attended the San Diego Historical Games Convention (online)… with a slightly more active role than before. News You Can Use: Spielworxx Uli Blennemann from Spielworxx gave an update on what to expect from the company in the next year and beyond. Now you know that I am a big fan of Weimar (Matthias Cramer, Capstone Games/Skellig Games/Spielworxx), so of course I was hoping for some more exciting games… and I was not disappointed. Two games in particular ..read more

It’s good to have goals. Thinking about them gives you clarity on what you want, chasing them is fun, and fulfilling them even better. Thus, here are my board gaming resolutions for 2024. Complete a 5×5 For those not in the know – a 5×5 refers to the feat of playing five games at least five times each. A more common goal among gamers is to complete a 10×10 (so, ten games played ten times each), but I know my limits… after all, while I did complete a 5×5 last year, it took me until December 29. Thanks to Dave from the Dude! Take Your Turn blog for the Twilight Struggle: Red Sea (Ananda Gupta/Ja ..read more

I had the special pleasure of attending BochumCon on the first January weekend! BochumCon is a small invite-only convention held in Bochum, Germany focusing on longer, more complex games (often with a historical theme) organized by designer Matthias Cramer (of Weimar and Watergate fame). Here’s how it went. Organization First of all, it must be noted that the organization of the con is top-notch, aiming to reduce all kinds of friction so that your full attention can go to a good time of gaming: Gaming tables, bedrooms, and meals are all provided by the same venue. All the longer games are sch ..read more

Happy new year, everybody! I hope it will bring you much joy. I also hope it will bring you board games (which is basically the same thing). The question is, however: Which games? – Here are a few 2024 releases which look most intriguing to me. As always, don’t take this as a shopping list (neither for you nor for me). Your taste in games and your discretion how many new games you want to chase decide what will end up in your shelf (and, hopefully, on your table)! After that reminder, on to the games. As all of them are set in human history, they are ordered from most ancient to most recent ..read more

Now the year truly comes to a close. I’ve celebrated the sixth anniversary of this blog this year. I guess that means it’s time for this blog to grow up and go to school. Let’s see what has been going on here this year – as the last Farewell 2023 post. You can read the other posts here: Farewell 2023 – New-to-Me Games Farewell 2023 – Historical Fiction Farewell 2023 – Non-Historical Games Farewell 2023 – Historical Non-Fiction Farewell 2023 – Historical Games Overall, my blog views increased by around 20% compared to 2022. Nice to see I’m not just yelling into the void! As per usual, around 40 ..read more

Games + History = Life. Here are the three that gave me most life this year! You can read the other Farewell 2023 articles here: Farewell 2023 – New-to-Me Games Farewell 2023 – Historical Fiction Farewell 2023 – Non-Historical Games Farewell 2023 – Historical Non-Fiction ©Fort Circle Games.Votes for Women (Tory Brown, Fort Circle Games) As I’ve written in the New-to-Me Games post a few days ago, Votes for Women is a good game. More than that, it’s also good history, for a variety of reasons: History wants to bring out new facets of our past, and the struggle for women’s suffrage has barely ev ..read more