Might eventually cobble together a blog, depends on how regular I end up doing these! Little review on Brian Asklev's upcoming Baltic Empires from GMT boardgamegeek.com/thread/36612...

This is a good perspective on the orders of magnitude in the TTRPG publishing industry, and by and large positions us correctly at the bottom-most named tier (while acknowledging that there's a broad swath of indie designers further down). cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2026/02/11/f...

If you have read it, first thank you so much! I'd really appreciate a review or rating, on Goodreads or elsewhere. It costs nothing but it can really help. www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

In general a lot of moderate liberals find it very annoying that leftists, radical liberals, and libertarians all end up at open borders, missing the "obvious" middle ground position, but the thing is that if you examine the issue at all, borders are pretty damn hard to actually justify

I've been kind of bad at promoting it, but I wrote a second book and it came out last year! It's about the Battle of Castillon but in a very real way it's about the Hundred Years War and what it is and how we remember it. I'm prettyproud of it. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Castillon-Ha...

Does anybody have a copy of the rules to Charles S Roberts Chancellorsville? The 1961 edition. I found rules for the 1974 second edition, from a different designer, on the Internet Archive but I'd like the original versions rules.

Playing more OCS with Alexandre today. We're definitely not exemplifying brilliant command, but we're having a lot of fun trying to figure out what to do in Sicily II. It's slow going as we learn (and re-learn) systems we haven't used before, but we're plugging away.

I've been kind of bad at promoting it, but I wrote a second book and it came out last year! It's about the Battle of Castillon but in a very real way it's about the Hundred Years War and what it is and how we remember it. I'm prettyproud of it. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Castillon-Ha...

Playing more OCS with Alexandre today. We're definitely not exemplifying brilliant command, but we're having a lot of fun trying to figure out what to do in Sicily II. It's slow going as we learn (and re-learn) systems we haven't used before, but we're plugging away.

I want to thank people who took the time to read the document and watch the video I shared. It is also important to me that it is understood: I do not believe Matthew, Paula, Monique or Naveen (or anyone else) had involvement (or awareness) of the actions the owner of Game Night Picks took. 1/4

So #BoardGame publishers - maybe think about whether or not someone who leaves random sexist comments on board game videos is someone you want in the credits of your rulebook as a proofer/editor.

Today I emailed publishers about a concerning practice a board game media creator engaged in. This will likely become public, so I'm providing the details here to give the full context of what I shared. 1) Document: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o8ovt... 2) Video: youtu.be/fHXGWflPj4c 1/2

Sharing again for the Monday morning in the Americas crowd

Ironic, as this was the magazine that referred to Pokémon as a "pestilential Ponzi scheme" in 1999, characterising its creator Satoshi Tajiri as a literal monster "His eyes are bloodshot; dark circles ripple beneath them... His monsters are a child's predelictions." He never gave another interview.

Look everyone we did it!

Another week, another review. This time it's me taking my third swing at the Great Battles of the American Civil War system, with By Swords and Bayonets from @gmtgames.bsky.social. Spoilers, but I think it's too complicated for me. www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/by-swor...

Another week, another review. This time it's me taking my third swing at the Great Battles of the American Civil War system, with By Swords and Bayonets from @gmtgames.bsky.social. Spoilers, but I think it's too complicated for me. www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/by-swor...

"Eighty-two years after his execution by the Gestapo on June 16, 1944, the Jewish historian and resistance fighter Marc Bloch will be inducted into the Pantheon on June 23... His family requested that 'the far right, in all its forms, be excluded from any participation in the ceremony.'"

Happy anniversary to all historians who observe.

Trauma und Unterhaltung Spiele können auf unterschiedliche Art und Weise unterhalten. Ein Teilbereich ist das Segment, dass ich mal mangelns alternativer Begrifflichkeiten als "Brettspiel-Doku" bezeichnet habe: Das Spiel befasst sich mit einem konkreten Thema, so dass sich die Spielenden ebenfalls…

Announcing the winners of the BEST January 2026 answers! Our glorious winners have produced some truly incredible posts, and you can check them all out by following the link below!

Last year for @sdhistcon.bsky.social I interviewed @djackthompson.bsky.social on the Homo Ludens YouTube channel about his upcoming design Rebels Against Rebellion. I was really proud of it, and I don't think enough people have seen it, so I'm plugging it again now! www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Cf...

Last year for @sdhistcon.bsky.social I interviewed @djackthompson.bsky.social on the Homo Ludens YouTube channel about his upcoming design Rebels Against Rebellion. I was really proud of it, and I don't think enough people have seen it, so I'm plugging it again now! www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Cf...

Gallows Corner funded in less than 90 minutes! At the time of writing, 302 outlaws have helped us raised more than £16,000, and the numbers keep swelling! Want to join the struggle for the soul of England? Want to burn it down and built back better? Back us on Kickstarter today: shorturl.at/km3rm

📽 Director Ida Lupino on location with Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy... #FilmNoir The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

It has been a while since I reviewed a game but I'm back! This week it's the excellent Verdun 1916: Steel Inferno from Fellowship of Simulations. This is one of the hottest CDGs of the last few years, and while it is impressive, do I love it? ...yes? ish? www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/verdun-...

For anyone who missed it, sexual abuser Neil Gaiman put out a bullshit post after a year and a half of radio silence about how journalism is now uncovering the truth of the "smear campaign" against him. Except the "journalism" just turned out to be a badly written substack.

It has been a while since I reviewed a game but I'm back! This week it's the excellent Verdun 1916: Steel Inferno from Fellowship of Simulations. This is one of the hottest CDGs of the last few years, and while it is impressive, do I love it? ...yes? ish? www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/verdun-...

Please make it your new resolution to visit AskHistorians once a week, because we've never been this invested in overtaking another community.

Noir update: we have watched 42 film noirs so far this year.

FLASH UNSALE! This weekend all our magazines cost the same they did during the week, ie they’re still all absurdly great value… Discover the world’s best print magazine today and prepare yourself for greatness! shop.wyrd.science

While I don't expect that in this capitalist hellscape it is always possible for the people who make things I want to also be good, one must draw a line somewhere. I vaguely knew this guy sucked, but given all that's going on I can't in good conscience be giving him any money, even indirectly.

Veteran Dice Tower reviewer Sam Healey resigns in wake of saying Alex Pretti, Renee Good were to blame for ICE killing them, after comments began impacting review giant’s annual pledge drive: boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...

The Dice Tower's silence on Sam Healy's fascist apologia is bad — hot take, I know — but it's also in line with this hobby's paradoxical insistence that games are simultaneously art and apolitical.

While I don't expect that in this capitalist hellscape it is always possible for the people who make things I want to also be good, one must draw a line somewhere. I vaguely knew this guy sucked, but given all that's going on I can't in good conscience be giving him any money, even indirectly.

Five jobs I've had * Lifeguard * Public servant (libraries) * Assistant professor * Freelance editor * Mover, specifically for an eccentric old professor

I only now, almost a month later, realised that I didn't actually post a link to the video, because I'm an idiot. Better late than never I guess. youtu.be/MWteJW-wYas?...

My year in review posts continue, this time with books! 2025 had more than its fair share of underwhelming books, but we're not hear to talk about that. Instead, these are my top 8 books I read in 2025, split evenly between fiction and non-fiction. www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/2025-in...

Last year my partner and I watched 117 noirs from the 1940s and 1950s. It was great, we're still watching them this year as well. However, I decided that the end of the year was a good time to put down some thoughts on noir and to recommend a few great ones: www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/la-bell...

A reminder to gamer friends (you know who you are), if you buy product from @multimanpublishing.bsky.social you’re putting money directly into this POS’s (co-owner) pocket.

Final post in my Year in Review, this time looking forward to the games I'm most looking forward to in 2026. Will I play this game? History suggests, very few of them, but I remain eternally optimistic. Also includes some shelf of shame games. www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/most-an...

Okay so it's WWII trivial pursuit basically. If I made up a parody of a historical game I think Iron Cross branded competitive rivet counting would have felt too on the nose, but actually that's just a real game apparently. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46...

A reminder that my latest article is available through Open Access. If you are interested in late medieval or early modern English warfare then be sure to give it a read or share.

A lot is awful at the moment (an understatement), and it's all very overwhelming. I am coping this week by being at the beach, and it's very nice.* *it's also freezing cold.

Last year my partner and I watched 117 noirs from the 1940s and 1950s. It was great, we're still watching them this year as well. However, I decided that the end of the year was a good time to put down some thoughts on noir and to recommend a few great ones: www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/la-bell...

Okay so it's WWII trivial pursuit basically. If I made up a parody of a historical game I think Iron Cross branded competitive rivet counting would have felt too on the nose, but actually that's just a real game apparently. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46...

Holy shit y'all. This one's a doozy.

I'm trying not to be a guy who posts only about the Famine board game, but I really liked this article from EPIC. While obviously skeptical of the whole idea, I think it tries to give it a fair shake and finds the product wanting epicchq.com/story/a-fami...

Remarkable how quietly everyone in this industry excuses Terraforming Mars. Even in offline spaces, people get very uncomfortable if anyone brings up the horrible things people behind this game have said.