Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars is a winner. My gaming partner isn't drawn to Napoleonic and/or hexes, but loved this. Yes, it's light, but don't let that or the homespun production fool you. Timing, combined arms use and risk taking when needed make this a smart challenge. @mropla.bsky.social

Yes, absolutely well deserved. Finally, a 'war' game my wife is asking to play. We're on holiday and have worked through the first two scenarios. The denouement takes place tonight...

Highly recommended based on my bit of play-testing. I love the movement system, the perils of leaving too large an electronic footprint, and innovative order mechanism. Also, great to have the game printed in the Czech Republic, not China, as a protest at China's support of Russian aggression.

Gofynnwyd i rai o'n Cymrodyr i siarad am eu teithiau unigol a'u cymhellion, a sut mae'r Gymdeithas yn gweithio i adlewyrchu amrywiaeth Cymru. We asked some of our Fellows to talk about their individual journeys and motivations and how the Society reflects Welsh diversity. youtu.be/zCYnVVWSOkM?...

No finer sporting venue.

Mae ein trydydd Colocwiwm ar gyfer Ymchwilwyr Gyrfa Gynnar ar waith ym Met Caerdydd. | Our third Colloquium for Early Career Researchers is under way at Cardiff Met. lnkd.in/eUq9_gUw www.learnedsociety.wales/early-career...

Ukraine is not being prepared as it should in air defense, and instead of sucking up to Trump, the Europeans should be far more proactive. They even have cards to play, if they had self respect. How about saying Europe will only buy US weapons if the US sells Ukraine Patriots?

The tyrants are hoping we will become blasé about state murder, from Kyiv to Gaza. There are small things we can do. u24.gov.ua

Lots of old men killing people.

@sebastianbae.bsky.social Littoral Commander Baltic gets a positive note in latest edition of In Moscow's Shadows for demonstrating the difficulty of waging a large scale campaign in the Baltic. My two interests (international relations & wargames) in my favourite podcast. Happy Father's Day to me.

What ICE is doing is unAmerican. What Trump is doing is unAmerican. We do not tear gas peaceful protestors. We do not use American soldiers on our own soil to fight Americans. We do not kidnap people who have committed no crime. Do not let them redefine American values. We must be loud about this.

Listening to the radio is good for you. I've never quite got the music of Stravinsky but Neil Hannon just said something in introducing a piece from Patrushka that made such sense when the music started that I can't wait to explore more. Private Psssions (Radio 3 in general) is indispensable.

We played a first game of the full campaign of Verdun 1916: Steel Inferno. Lots of first timer mistakes (neither of us aggressive enough when circumstances in our favour) but love how it evokes the brutal bombardments and desperate rebuilding of breached defensive lives. Tardi card art is awesome.

My cup runneth over. Happy days. #safc youtu.be/bAIsOnxmX2o?...

The Battle of Eylau, just getting under way at #PunchedCon. @soundofdrumsgames.bsky.social

Looking forward to receiving this together with the English language reprint of the superb Verdun 1916. I have the French language edition of that game, which I can deal with but my gaming partner can't. Good prices too. kck.st/42CTJ2P

147 FOR JACKSON PAGE! Congratulations to Jackson Page on making his first maximum 147 break in professional competition during his World Championship qualifying match against Allan Taylor. It is the 215th 147 in professional snooker history.

We gave Library or Death a first run-out, with the short learner scenario. All keen to now try a longer one; this only hinted at the possibilities. Smooth playing as are all COIN games, but lots of impediments to hurdle in pursuit of victory.

Not Another One is becoming my favourite podcast about UK and global politics, bringing together four journalists from different corners of the political spectrum. How will Trump tariffs and market chaos change the US and the world? www.podbean.com/ea/dir-nkajm...

Exciting new arrival from @vucasimulations.bsky.social. Good to see this era being explored. Will be interesting to compare it with the forthcoming Order and Opportunity from @vpjarponen.bsky.social @gmtgames.bsky.social which, from my testing of it, is evocative, fast-playing and tense.

Finally got Downfall: Conquest of the 3rd Reich on the table. Simple rules, looks stunning, is immersive and cinematic. However... we play games at a good clip, more interested in fun than winning, but seven hours to get just a quarter way through is too long. Wish I knew what we're doing wrong.

A first learning (solo) game of In the Shadows from @gmtgames.bsky.social. The resistance fell just short of victory: they'd bumped off enough Germans but failed to recruit the final resistance cell needed. I got rather pinned in the hills of southern France.

Tulsi Gabbard posted this on 3/14/25 WHILE she was participating in an ongoing unauthorized release of classified information from 3/13-3/15/25.

An update on the war following a recent trip. The situation has improved compared with Fall 2024. Russian offensive momentum slowed significantly over the winter, though it is premature to claim that the front has stabilized, especially following AFU withdrawal in Kursk. /1

Wordle 1,368 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 (PS I use a different starter word each day and, yes, I know no-one cares about Wordle attempts but indulge me.)

We should probably do that… well obviously there’s a problem with Bsky!

This is Marco Rubio explaining how the USA promised to defend Ukraine forever if they got rid of their nuclear arsenal left after the Soviet Union fell. This is why lil marco was sinking into the couch. He was hoping we wouldn’t find it…so don’t RT right now this very second.

That invite Keir Starmer and the King issued to Trump to visit the UK now looks even more embarrassing.

🇵🇱 🇪🇺🇺🇸

Thank God for Tim Snyder, who has relentlessly amplified Ukrainian voices, provided vital historical perspective on Ukrainian identity, and kept the the torch of a moral humanity blazing when the world has been pitch black.

Hearing the news about Rodger B. McGowan, I had to go and have a root around in the loft. His artwork shaped an important part of my teenage years. Anzio and Storm over Arnhem were my favourites of his box covers and the games I loved most.

The British Way Malaya scenario is a superb iteration of @gmtgames.bsky.social COIN series. There is a grubbiness in how British imposition of resettlement into new villages raises opposition in a province, but the very presence of those villages prevents that opposition from scoring victory points.

Watching John Higgins and Mark Selby while waiting for the Luca Brecel v Jackson age match is like sitting in gridlock when you're late for your plane. #WelshOpen #Snooker

Eh? Religious freedom is being violated in the UK? Is he getting confused with priests in the UK violating young children, which they have for decades? This man went to Yale. What has gone wrong in the US higher education system that he can produce ignorant buffoons like this.

The Sunderland Echo's breaking news bar is once again doing its best to cheer up the north-east of England...

"I am on a night train from Kyiv, bound for Zaporizhzhia, a city in the southeast of Ukraine which is about twenty miles from the front... As I get ready to go to sleep, I find myself thinking that Americans are also speeding towards a line." snyder.substack.com/p/crossing-a...

I now wait to hear Farage and all the Brexiteers, for whom sovereignty was all, condemn without equivocation Trump's 'plan' to sell out a sovereign nation.

Elon Musk has shown his hand. If politicians like me won’t curb his malign powers, who will? | Ed Davey

Yokohama was a Christmas present, a style of game I never buy, but we played it last night and it's tremendous. 4 players, 90 minutes, zips along, with that perfect balance of enough room to plan a few steps ahead, while always needing to be flexible in the moment as the board state changes.

An article worth reading. S Frederick Starr was one of the few academics/analysts to understand that the USSR was collapsing. nationalinterest.org/feature/ukra...

A little after action report of a recent leaning solo play through of Next War Vietnam from @gmtgames.bsky.social. hexbyhex.wordpress.com/2024/12/12/n...

RAFFLE 🏆 Like, retweet, and follow by Dec 22 (midnight EST) and you can win a signed copy of my Littoral Wooden Unit Upgrades for my "Littoral Commander Indo-Pacific" #wargame! May the odds be in your favor. 😁 🎲 #wargaming

Looks like Assad wanted a ride and not ammunition.

Much has been written about Russia's economy, but even well-regarded Western outlets have only scratched the surface. Frustrated by shallow analysis, our team interviewed a former deputy energy minister to get the full picture: frontelligence.substack.com/p/war-deficits-and-the-russian-economy

If we extrapolate the current war against Ukraine to World War II (as we often do), at this point, Hitler has invaded Poland but suffered defeats near Warsaw and Krakow, lost Poznan and has been locked in grueling battles for almost three years over completely devastated border districts.

Please retweet in advance. This will be a long thread in which I will explain and show the approach of mass corporate defaults in Russia. I will also show that Putin's economy is currently in the worst possible position. Here is the IFX-CBONDS G-SPREAD index 1/n

All been there, mate, all been there. 14 Locks Canal walk, Newport.

Check out our latest InsideGMT article from designer @vpjarponen.bsky.social: "Order & Opportunity: November 2024 Development Update" insidegmt.com/order-opport...