Real LifeTM harshly imposed itself on me in the past few weeks meaning I played absolutely no games—wargames, roleplaying games, or boardgames—during that time. The forecast ahead is as gloomy as the cloudy weekend skies outside with every weekend between now an late May committed away. All of which means the Shelf of Shame keeps building as the inbound books and wargames keep trickling in.
Battlegroup Clash: Baltics
From Sapper Studios:
Battlegroup Clash: Baltics is a two-to six-player tactical land warfare game that plays in two to three hours. It is a commercially-adapted version of a game recently developed for the British Army to help train its junior officers. It is easy to learn and quick to play, and will appeal both to professional and hobby gamers looking to better understand combat on the modern battlefield.
Chain Reaction 2026
FREE on WargameVault:
Chain Reaction 2026 is a set of man-to-man combat rules that can be played in a variety of periods and with any figures you may already have. Don’t have figures and terrain? We’re tossing in Counters and a Battle Board to play on. Modern, WW2, Medieval, Sci-fi, and yes, even Fantasy.
Chain Reaction 2026 is an introduction to all Two Hour Wargames games. Games are very fast, just like real gunfights, and multiple games can be finished in two hours or less.
Chain Reaction 2026, like all THW games, is designed to be played solo, cooperatively – all players on the same side – or competitively – head-to-head.
Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943
From MultiMan Publishing (MMP):
Battalion S3: Operations and Training is a magazine dedicated to the Battalion Combat Series. It includes the game Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943, ideal for introducing BCS to new players while still offering a great experience for veteran players. The magazine is full of articles centered around Danger Forward to help players better understand aspects like activations, combat, and logistics.
I also picked up the free pdf version of BCS Danger Forward HQ Cards off WargameVault to assist in play.
I really enjoyed my play of Inflection Point and am looking forward to playing more titles in the Battalion Combat Series.
Scrapjacks Quick Start Guide
BoardGameGeek unfortunately files Scrapjacks under “wargames” but it really is a cooperative adventure game where combat is a possibility but not the exclusive focus of the game.
Scrapjacks is a cooperative, tabletop adventure game for one to five players who will explore, salvage, and fight their way through the labyrinthine levels of derelict spaceships, abandoned exo-planet facilities, and decommissioned orbital platforms.
The crew’s job is to recover valuable material and equipment.
Their dream is to strike it rich.
Their task is to stay alive.
Inside this Quick Start Guide you’ll find core rules, pre-generated crews, printable tokens, and a guided tutorial mission designed to train new teams for recovery work.
Follow the procedures, watch your resources, and know when to get out. The wreck doesn’t forgive mistakes.
Sun Tzu in Space
Subtitled “What International Relations, History, and Science Fiction Teach Us About Our Future.” By Gregory D. Miller (Naval Institute Press, 2023). Having read how Corbett is useful for studying space I decided to try some Sun Tzu.
From the Amazon sales blurb:
Sun Tzu in Space provides a novel way of thinking about the future, connecting international relations, history, and science fiction to better understand some of the various paths for future human activities in space. Simultaneously, it provides a way to use science fiction to help students and the public learn about international relations and the cyclical nature of history. Author Gregory D. Miller uses case studies, history, and foundational international relations concepts to draw big, or at least possible, conclusions about humanity‘s future in space. By combining the lessons of science fiction, and the facts of the past, Miller presents possible outcomes with a goal of illuminating where things could go wrong, or wonderfully right, as humans venture forth into space in greater numbers in the in the decades to come.
You Must Take Part in the Revolution
A graphic novel by Melissa Chan, illustrated by Badiucao (Street Noise Books, 2025). This one somehow was recommended to me so I took a chance.
From the Amazon sales blurb:
From Emmy-nominated journalist Melissa Chan and esteemed activist artist Badiucao comes a near-future dystopian graphic novel about technology, authoritarian government, and the lengths that one will go to in the fight for freedom.
It’s 2035. The US and China are at war. America is a proto-fascist state. Taiwan is divided into two. As conflict escalates between nuclear powers, three idealistic youths who first met in Hong Kong develop diverging beliefs about how best to navigate this techno-authoritarian landscape. Andy, Maggie, and Olivia travel different paths toward transformative change, each confronting to what extent they will fight for freedom, and who they will become in doing so.
A powerful and important book about global totalitarian futures, and the costs of resistance.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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