One of the newest wargames to arrive is The Battle of Khalkhin Gol: July – August 1939 by Vukašin Nišavić and Janko Nišavić from Princeps Games (2024). The game is visually excellent with outstanding components and low-moderate rules complexity; play goes fairly quickly.
I am working my way through my game-of-the-week routine and am writing up a “Wargame to History” article discussing playing both The Battle of Khalkhin Gol and reading Nonomhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II by Stuart D. Goldman (Naval Institute Press, 2012). The process has raised a few questions, some of which I do not usually encounter in my Wargame to History research. Amongst the questions raised:
- Related to the order of battle, what was the balance of forces present at the start of the battle and how is this reflected in the wargame?
- Related to Sequence of Play, as compared to history who attacked first?
My questions about the wargame The Battle of Khalkhin Gol—as informed by my reading of Nomonhan, 1939—ultimately revolve around the question of game balance versus historical “accuracy.” The famous saying from George E.P. Box goes “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” Many factors go into model development, and as a wargame factors such as player engagement and playability compete with other factors like historical accuracy. From my play and exploration of the game this week, I was frankly surprised where on the spectrum of balance and historical accuracy the game landed. It brings to mind another George E. P. Box quote, “Remember that all models are wrong; the practical question is how wrong do they have to be to not be useful.”
I will have my more complete thoughts on Armchair Dragoons once I finish my book reading, wargame play, further research, and writing. Suffice it to say that, at the moment, it is taking me a bit more time to process my thoughts on the game because there is much to like, but a few notes of (maybe?) caution I need to noodle through.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Envy you 🙂 Waiting for my copy!