Exploding robots! What can it be? I'm successfully spreading the Battletech gospel of @cgoepa.bsky.social and have converted another new player to Alpha Strike. I'm really having a lot of fun with this at the moment. #battletech

Battletech Alpha Strike with @stephan-ja-der.bsky.social in Sweden - that is, he is in Sweden, not me. It's good to be able to play remotely, because the alternative would be not playing together at all, which would be much less fun. #battletech

We had the second session of our Wildsea RPG campaign yesterday. I really enjoy the world, with ramshackle ships sailing over treetops in a world covered by a gigantic forest. And I'm playing a spider colony! Looking forward to further discovering the ways of this strange place. #wildsea #ttrpg

To get a little variety from painting ships, I joined the local Battletechmania initiated by @cgoepa.bsky.social. And I've finally settled on a colour scheme for my mercenary force, Tanit's Talons. This Catapult is from a box Christoph kindly gave me. More mechs will follow! #battletech

As the release date of Torpedoes and Tides approaches, I have filmed material for a playthrough video. Now for the editing... worst part is going to be hearing my own voice over and over again while putting the video together. #torpedoesandtides

Battletech Alpha Strike with @battlebrushstudios.bsky.social and @cgoepa.bsky.social at a friend's house yesterday. Maybe I found the Battletech game I actually enjoy playing. Classic Battletech is far too procedural and slow for my taste. Alpha Strike gives a fast, furious and fun game.

2 German S-boats use the Hearty Knoll light vessel as cover to approach an East Coast convoy. I've just finished my convoy mini-campaign with mixed results: Of 12 freighters, 4 were sunk by the E-boats and one by a mine. One of the freighters was an easy target because she had run aground... 1/3

Mayhem on the East Coast! A southbound convoy is attacked by E-boats off Cromer. I'm trying out a mini-campaign/scenario generator for Torpedoes and Tides. Will I be able to safely escort the sluggish merchantmen through E-boat Alley? 1/2

Look what I found at my parents' house. We didn't play either much, to be honest. I must have been 13 when I bought D&D on a holiday trip to England. Didn't find people to play it with though. Two or three years later, I had found some and we played GURPS instead.

A small and quick scenario for Torpedoes and Tides: In the night of 17 July 1943, Italian cruiser Scipione Africano encountered four British MTBs while through the Straits of Messina. In a high speed encounter that lasted three minutes, she sank one MTB and heavily damaged another.

Some of my students were involved in this huge charity bundle for legal aid in the US. Lots of stuff in there, from indie RPGs to video games: itch.io/b/3276/hello...

Some East Coast Colliers and a tanker. Scratch built in 1/1250 out of cardboard, balsa wood and plastic, as I'm working on a short campaign (or series of linked scenarios) about East Coast convoys for Torpedoes and Tides. I'm especially interested in exploring the escort's side. #navalwargaming

The next installation of @kaptainkobold.bsky.social's coastal forces sage is here! Lt. Harvey Knight is doing well indeed: hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #navalwargaming #torpedoesandtides

Very interesting thoughts on game design by Avery Alder: bsky.app/profile/half...

This #Torpedoes&Tides scenario was based on a historical action: in the early morning of 19 June 1942, three Steam Gun Boats of the 1st SGB flotilla, reinforced by the Hunt-class destroyer HMS Albrighton, attacked a German convoy. In our game, the first torpedo attack by SGB 8 missed the freighter!

Just finished scratch-building two French CH-5 class sub chasers in 1/1250. The proportions are off, but the things are tiny - only 3cm long. Commerical models are available, but I need them for a game on Friday, so no time for ordering. Tomorrow I'll paint them and then off we go. #navalwargaming

A S-boat is covering two battered comrades with smoke while British MTBs are closing in for the kill. Playtest of the "Hunting the Hunters" scenario for Torpedoes & Tides - one of four generic scenarios to be included in the book. I'm approaching the finishing line! #torpedoes&tides #navalwargaming

Yesterday, we played Mythic Bastionland for the first time. I admit that I was a little sceptical (although I suggested & ran the game), but it worked quite well. I had some difficulties merging the mechanical and the narrative levels of the game, but I'm sure it will be better next time. #rpg

Those are incredible! Honestly, there are commerical models that look worse.

Campaign mania! Last week, I also started a Torpedoes & Tides campaign. Three games in, I finally achieved success and increased my character's reputation! Read all about it here: wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/t... #torpedoes&tides #navalwargaming

The saga of Lt Cdr Harvey Knight continues with another Torpedoes & Tides campaign game played by @kaptainkobold.bsky.social: hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-... #torpedoes&tides #navalwargaming

The gallant @kaptainkobold.bsky.social has begun to playtest the campaign rules for the upcoming coastal forces rules Torpedoes & Tides. Read all about the exploits of Lt. Cdr. Harvey Knight and his flotilla of MTBs and MGBs on his blog: hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-... #navalwargaming

Another great Torpedoes & Tides AAR from the good Kaptain!

Great tutorial on how to make coastal forces model out of household material by @kaptainkobold.bsky.social: hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2025/08/maki... #navalwargaming

Another fantastic AAR of Torpedoes & Tides!

Playtesting 'Torpedoes & Tides' - fast-play rules for WW2 coastal actions based on Galleys & Galleons #wargames #wargaming #nerdlings hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2025/08/torp...

We had an absolutely fantastic gaming event yesterday. With four games it was almost like a mini-con! ‪@cgoepa.bsky.social‬ presented a spectacular Guards of Traitor's Toll table, Martin game-mastered Sellswords & Spellslingers, I did an ancient Roman gang fight with Song of Shadows and Dust 1/2

Despite the heat I had an excellent 4-player game of Torpedoes & Tides today. It was a large scenario from Pat Hreachmack's Clear the Coast! book set in the Mediterranean, with dog boats attacking a convoy and stumbling across some surprises... #torpedoes&tides #navalwargaming

Playtesting the Search & Rescue scenario for Torpedoes & Tides. The question marks represent potential locations of the Carley raft. The cotton wool is a fog patch. Blinds indicate vessels that haven't been spotted yet. 1/3 #torpedoes&tides #navalwargaming

If you want to print your own Mulberry Harbour breakwater, I've put the stl file up on wargaming3d. It's free! I've printed it in 1/1250, but it should work fine in other scales too. www.wargaming3d.com/product/tbra... #navalwargaming #d-day

Mulberry Harbour breakwater element in 1/1250. Desgined in TinkerCAD and 3D-printed. I'm quite pleased with the concrete effect, it looks much better at a distance (the thing is small, only 5cm long). I'm working on scenarios about defending the D-Day perimeter for #Torpedoes&Tides #navalwargaming

Cat in a box.

To celebrate International Naval Wargaming Day, we played a convoy scenario from my upcoming coastal forces rules, Torpedoes & Tides. Read more about the game here: wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/d... #navalwargaming

Absolute carnage! Not because of my actions, though - 2 ships lost due to mines, 2 due to a collision. Ok, maybe I was a bit cavalier and moved one boat into the minefield because the chance of hitting one is so low... In the end, a much closer German win then it looked like. #navalwargaming

Each year, INWarD celebrates the birthday of Fred Jane. This is a very relaxed event: play with friends or alone, in person or online, on August 6 or on some other day that better fits your schedule. Share your experiences here or elsewhere. Just have fun with tiny ships! :) #navalwargaming

Playing War Story: Occupied France. Very interesting game. Basically a glorified choose-your-own-adventure, but it moves along at a brisk pace, has tough decisions and a clever encounter (=combat) system. Not sure we're going to succeed in our first mission though - wish us luck! #boardgaming

A bit of holiday gaming. Race for the Galaxy is a perennial favourite of us. #boardgaming

Dog boats trying to stop an E-boat sortie from Le Havre. Another playtest of what is now officially going to be a standalone Ganesha Games ruleset. This is very exciting for me, as GG is one of my favourite rules publishers. #navalwargaming

This playtest was a proof that, when playing solo, it is possible to employ very poor tactics for both sides... Therefore, I couldn't really draw conclusions about the rules, only about how big an idiot I can be. #gamedesign #navalwargaming

Blast form the past! My first game of BattleTech for 35 years or so. My and @battlebrushstudios.bsky.social teamed up against @cgoepa.bsky.social, who also provided the miniatures, nifty game components and rules explanations. Fun game. #battletech

A starshell illuminates a nightly MTB attack on a convoy. Another day, another playtest of my coastal forces rules. I feel like I'm arriving at a point where I start to hope that, maybe, the current version of the rules could be the final (or almost final) version... #navalwargaming #gamedesign

Brilliant piece by Nick Skinner about what historical gaming is all about: www.patreon.com/posts/playin... #wargaming

One of our students (and a regular attendant of my class) made this wonderful gaming board as part of her MA thesis, which consisted of the tabletop-RPG "Potvory". The game critically engages with and queers Slavic mythology: studiotvora.itch.io/potvory #roleplaying #TTRPG #indieTTRPG

Exciting developments (which I'll keep secret for the moment as I don't want to jinx anything) spur me to even more playtesting of my coastal forces rules ideas. There is still work to do... not least streamlining and balancing. #navalwargaming

There's crime afoot in the occasionally peaceful city of Traitor's Toll. Only the partly hard-working Guard can somewhat guarantee the safety of the citizenry. First game of Guards of Traitors Toll at @cgoepa.bsky.social's place, who also provided the fantastic scenery. #wargaming

Jawoll, Malen im Paradice ist zurück! Pinsel, Farben und Figuren stellt der Store, ich stelle auf Wunsch Expertise. Alle sind herzlich willkommen, vom Anfänger bis zum Fortgeschrittenen. Anmeldung bitte hier: shop.timesloth.io/de/paradice/... Ich freu mich. :)

Academia: plodding through 8 pages of this document in order to submit a 6-page paper... Also: Word 2003 🤪 (We're talking about a huge publisher here, one of those who are ripping off universities by charging fantastic sums for subscritpions) #academia

Today is the anniversary of D-Day, an operation that I always found deeply fascinating, from its strategic impact to its symbolic meaning. The organisatorial and logistical dimension is no less mind-boggling. Looking at the naval side, it involved around 7.000 ships. 1/3 #d-day

Porty's first sortie as SO of the flotilla - what could possibly go wrong? Find out in the latest installment of my coastal forces soap opera, I mean campaign: wargamingraft.wordpress.com/2025/05/31/p... #navalwargaming