Reading · BigBoard Gaming

Seventy-five [ Political & Non board wargame vids removed] videos across thirty-one channels for sure the busiest week since this newsletter started, and the most diverse from the stand point of topics & eras.

Last issue WWII took forty-six percent of everything historical. This week the hobby went wandering. In seven days: the siege of Acre in 1291, Cambrai in 1917, the Palatinate War of the Thirty Years’ War, ASL in the Pacific, and a hundred-and-ninety-nine-minute walk through the Weimar Republic.

WWII is still the biggest single block at twenty-one videos, but it is no longer most of the map.

Three things worth digging into.

Cuius Regio has arrived! Justegarde put up fifty-three minutes on the Palatinate War scenario — 1,485 views, twenty comments. GMT’s Thirty Years War game has been quietly landing on tables since release and this is the first substantial play video I’ve seen on it.

I just finished my Intro scenario, of it. BigBoard videos will start dropping on the 13^th of August.

WBC has been digested. Next. MMP’s We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 47 is the debrief, and at thirty-seven comments on a sixty-minute podcast it drew more discussion than anything except Zilla’s monthly.

If you didn’t get to Seven Springs, that’s the recap to listen to.

And the most-discussed video of the week wasn’t a game at all. Zilla Blitz’s Game of the Month pulled 3,728 views and sixty-two comments.

So, it appears state-of-the-hobby videos clearly work! This is the second week running one has out-viewed every playthrough on the roster. Not my personal preference, mind you. I’d rather sit down to a long dive into an actual game. But the numbers say plenty of people disagree, and that’s useful to know.

A new channel joins the coverage this week, and it earns its place immediately: Lone Boardsman put out a thirty-eight-minute triple review of the Worthington Kickstarter including: Midway Solitaire, Pacific War 1942 and Tarawa 1943 in one sitting. He also posted a solo write-up of Colonial Twilight on the French-Algerian War, where the FLN came back from an early French ascendancy to take Algiers on the third Propaganda card.

Solo-focused, patient, and covering the small-publisher end that gets thin coverage elsewhere. Worth a follow.

buymeacoffee.com/bigboard ...or Manhattan

Camp Sawyer — Panzer North Africa: Gazala, “Grant’s Graveyard” 265 views, seven comments, thirty minutes on the opening turns of Gazala. Small channel, unhurried, and picking a battle that gets talked about far more than it gets played. Just a side bar here, the Panzer North Africa module is fantastic, so seeing Tobruk and it compared was great! Grants vs Pzr III’s and IVs epic.

265 views · 30 min · WWII —

· Rare periods had a good week. Wayne Hansen ran Crusaders: The Siege of Acre 1291 solo (766 views, 44 min) — medieval siege warfare is close to unrepresented on YouTube. Hexed And Countered continued Tankschlacht: Cambrai 1917, the coordinated combat phase, which is the first tank battle getting proper treatment.

· Thirty Years War: Justegarde on Cuius Regio, the Palatinate War scenario.

· WWII, still the largest block: Bill Needels on Sicily II at Primosole Bridge; The Players’ Aid reviewed ASL Starter Kit #4: Pacific; ASL Academy Ep 53 on series replays; TheGimpyGamer previewed Panzer Strike.

· Naval: RvT (Dickie) continued Rule the Waves 3 — “Hoovering up in Biscay”.

· ACW: Pushing Cardboard unboxed Army of the Potomac; Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials ran a 102-minute Roads to Gettysburg II rematch.

· The long haul award: Calandale, 199 minutes introducing Weimar Republic.

Blogs this week

The Players Aid - Unboxing Video: Battles in the East Volume 2: Uman Pocket and Guderian’s Final Blitzkrieg from Decision Games — 2026-08-08 - World Boardgaming Championships 2026 Mission Debrief – A Look at the Numbers — 2026-08-07 - History Behind the Cards – A Look at Checkpoint Charlie from GMT Games – Card #4: Faceoff with the Soviets — 2026-08-06 - Interview with David Thompson Codesigner of Rebels Against Rebellion from Flying Pig Games Currently on Kickstarter — 2026-08-04 - Wargame Watch – What’s New & Upcoming – August 2026 — 2026-08-03

Big Board Gaming - Jena, 14 October 1806 — Preamble — 2026-08-08 - Ukraine ’44 — After-Action Report, Part 2: Turns 6–12 — 2026-08-05 - Ukraine ’44 — After-Action Report (opposed) — 2026-08-04 - Winter War: The Game That Wins the War Finland Lost — 2026-08-04 - GD’42 Part2 — 2026-08-02

Sgt Steiner’s Wargaming Blog - Battle Command - Dresden scenario — 2026-08-08 - Colonial Twilight - a quick COIN interlude — 2026-08-08

Cardboard Commander - My First Look at War Diary Magazine — 2026-08-04 - Discord Invite Link — 2026-08-03
The current standard for best wargame magazine on the market today. I love my War Diary.

Wargaming Weekly - Wargaming Weekly #079: Is this the most important wargaming book of 2026? — 2026-08-03
We will discuss this topic at length next week. I’m reading the book -Important to whom?

PAXsims - Ground Zero: Training cyber-defenders the way we teach wargamers — 2026-08-07

A Wargamers Needful Things - Lee’s War: The War in Virginia 1861 - 1865 by Worthington Publishing — 2026-08-08

Five posts this week: - Jena, 14 October 1806 — Preamble (8 Aug) - Ukraine ’44 — AAR Part 2: Turns 6–12 (5 Aug) - Ukraine ’44 — AAR, opposed [part 1] (4 Aug) - Winter War: The Game That Wins the War Finland Lost (4 Aug) - GD’42 Part 2 (2 Aug)

Ukraine 44, is now complete a full run through opposed, and several turns solo. Will also be used to compare a recent The Third Winter play thru of the same battle space!

buymeacoffee.com/bigboard or ya know…a beer :)

Everything that dropped this week, by channel. 75 videos across 31 channels — alphabetical, no ranking.

Armchair Dragoons - #CNXONL26 Matrix games how arguments shape outcomes — 17 views · 2 min

ASL Academy - Advanced Squad Leader RSS - Episode 53 - Series Replays — 310 views · 53 min · WWII

Big Board Gaming - vive le Emperor [en] Jena. Fire combat. — 15 views · 2 min - wrap ukraine 44 solo. — 52 views · 1 min - Jena VIE system /1 intro & turn 1 — 312 views · 4 min - Ukraine ’44 comments and other stuff on table!! — 351 views · 18 min - 14vps! Fallschirmjaeger SCS. — 320 views · 2 min · WWII - Fallschirmjaeger turn 10 update /11 — 513 views · 2 min · WWII

Bill Needels (Punched) - Panzer Battles - Furball and Flight For Soviet Mobile Forces (T4A8) — 27 views · 8 min · WWII - Drive on Voronezh - Breakaway (Turn 1) — 98 views · 54 min · WWII - Sicily II - Primosole Bridge — 101 views · 16 min · WWII - Holland ’44 - A Little Short (Southern Turn 5) — 82 views · 17 min · WWII - Unboxing - Drive on Voronezh — 455 views · 21 min · WWII - Holland ’44 (Southern Turn 4) — 64 views · 13 min · WWII - Sicily II - Primosole Bridge Setup — 3,669 views · 2 min · WWII

Calandale - Weimar Republic (errors) 25 & wrap — 190 views · 70 min - Weimar Republic (errors) 23 — 196 views · 39 min - Weimar Republic (errors) 19 — 288 views · 61 min - Weimar Republic intro — 745 views · 199 min - Elric review — 538 views · 51 min - Elric Homebrew 2 & wrap — 96 views · 66 min - Elric Homebrew 1 — 153 views · 110 min

Camp Sawyer - Panzer North Africa - Battle of Gazala - Grants Graveyard - Turns 8 and 9 — 93 views · 21 min · WWII - Panzer North Africa - Battle of Gazala - Grants Graveyard - Turns 6 and 7 — 142 views · 23 min · WWII - Panzer North Africa - Battle of Gazala - Grants Graveyard - Intro and first few turns — 265 views · 30 min · WWII

Category Solo - Space Infanty Federation - Unbagging & First Look — 52 views · 10 min

Gaming with ER Bickford - Fire & Movement 66 — 16 views · 9 min - Moves Magazine 97 — 17 views · 8 min - Tobruk 1941 S&T 278 — 46 views · 19 min · WWII - Indo Pakistani Wars S&T 174 — 23 views · 21 min - Fire & Movement 64 — 22 views · 9 min - Moves Magazine 96 — 28 views · 8 min

Hexed And Countered - No More Paperwork: My Classic Traveller Solo App (Beta Version) — 42 views · 20 min - Tankschlacht: Cambrai 1917 (Revolution Games) | Gameplay Primer Part 2 — 132 views · 45 min · WWI - Tankschlacht: Cambrai 1917 (Revolution Games) | Gameplay - Coordinated Combat Phase — 426 views · 48 min · WWI - The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) | Solo Gameplay Part 2 — 304 views · 50 min

Justegarde - Cuius Regio - The Palatinate War scenario (GMT Games) — 1,485 views · 53 min

Line of Departure - WBC’s 2026: The Full Report — 50 views · 23 min - Leaving WBC’s — 54 views · 2 min

Lone Boardsman - Worthington Kickstarter | Midway Solitaire, Pacific War 1942, Tarawa 1943 | Triple Review! — 356 views · 38 min · WWII

Meandering Mike - Unboxing Falling Crescent - An Exploration and Comparison to Lawrence of Arabia — 134 views · 63 min

MMP Not Dead Yet - We’re Not Dead Yet Ep 47 - WBC Debrief! — 1,284 views · 60 min

My Own Worst Enemy - And The War Came Part 3 — 114 views · 27 min - And The War Came Part 2 — 247 views · 44 min

Nangwaya - German 12th Army Assessment — January 7th, 1915. — 24 views · 6 min

Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials - Roads to Gettysburg II - Scenario #1 - Meade Moves North - REMATCH, part 2 — 213 views · 102 min · ACW

Pushing Cardboard - 1809 Talavera Unboxing (Tactical Workshop) — 96 views · 15 min · Napoleonic - First to Fight Unboxing — 95 views · 6 min - 56 - Shayne Logan, SD Histcon North recap — 110 views · 61 min - Army of the Potomac Unboxing — 398 views · 12 min

RvT (Dickie) - 09 Let’s Play Rule the Waves 3 | Hoovering up in Biscay — 498 views · 35 min

Seek Out and Play - Is Guerilla a Hidden Gem ? — 204 views · 11 min

The Discriminating Gamer (Cody Carlson) - TDG: 1862 War in Virginia — 176 views · 7 min - TDG: Wingspan Pocket unboxing — 267 views · 13 min - TDG: Tesseract Games: Marvel Legendary 2nd Edition Dividers — 278 views · 3 min - TDG: Pacific War 1942: Solitaire (2nd Edition) unboxing with Ray — 334 views · 6 min · WWII - TDG: Camp Grizzly: Second Edition — 3,121 views · 12 min - TDG: Old School Tactical: Volume 5 - Battle for France 1940 unboxing with Ray — 558 views · 16 min · WWII - TDG: Wilderness: May 5-6, 1864 unboxing with Ray — 334 views · 11 min · ACW - TDG: Invincible: The Hero-Building Game, Season 2 — 529 views · 7 min

the2halfsquads - T2HS 390: Ghost Rider Fire and Art du Pont — 66 views · 59 min

Tony’s Board Life - Fields of Fire 2 Peleliu Mission 1 Part 3 — 77 views · 39 min

WARdROBE - Baptism By Fire Kasserine BCS end of turn 4 — 21 views · 3 min · WWII

Wayne Hansen - Let’s Play! Crusaders: The Siege of Acre 1291 | SOLO PLAYTHROUGH — 766 views · 44 min · Medieval

Wiseguy History - John Tiller’s ‘Battleground Gettysburg’ - 1 July, 1863. — 145 views · 143 min · ACW

WARNO #4 Weekly

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