Blog Report 26-01 ~ “Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.”

It has been nearly two weeks since my last post. An explanation for myself is in order.

I have been busy.

Yes, we all are. The impact, however, of my busyness has been less time to gaming.

Family, of course, comes first.

• This past summer RMN Jr. graduated, moved into a new home (about 1.5 hours from Case de Rocky), and started work; that meant several weekends were dedicated to travel to support him.
• RockyMountainNavy A came back from overseas and transferred to his next CONUS duty station; that meant time needed to reacclimatize him to stateside living and prep him for moving cross country.
• RockyMountainNavy T is in the process of applying and interviewing for new job positions that would lead to better pay but more responsibility; getting him ready to apply and interview is time well spent away from gaming.

My job moved to a different work site meaning I now drive myself to work unlike the past where I took public transit. That 45 minutes spent each way that previously was a good time to read or contemplate gaming is now lost. My extra working hours also grew by 10-20%.

Finally, over 30 years since I got my Master’s Degree, I am going back to school for a Graduate Certificate. I am taking six credits this semester that are delivered virtually with synchronous classes Monday and Wednesday nights.

All of which is not to say that I have totally foregone gaming. It is just becoming a bit more difficult to fit into the schedule.

• For The Armchair Dragoons I have two articles written: a card game comparison of Combat Commander: Mediterranean (GMT Games 3rd Printing) and Combat Commander: Resistance! (GMT Games, 2nd Printing) as well as Point Blank: V is for Victory (Lock ’n Load Publishing, 2022). Awaiting glamor shots.
• Also for The Armchair Dragoons I wrote an article on Hunt for Blackbeard (Volko Ruhnke, Fort Circle Games, 2026) and Coast Watchers (Volko Ruhnke, GMT Games, 2026). Also awaiting glamor shots.
• I owe Yasushi Nakagoro of Bonsai Games an article on Battle of Kirovograd found in Banzai Nr. 29; good thing I am getting very good at translating rules from Japanese to English using Google Notebook which means this game is “next in the chute.”

 That still leaves Shelves of Shame that are severely sagging. Games sitting on those shelves include:

• Root: The Homeland Expansion (Leder Games, 2026)
  • Root: Homeland Hirelings Pack
  • Root: The Squires and Disciples Deck
• Sixth Fleet (Decision Games, 2026)
• Air & Armor V Corps (Compass Games, 2026)
• Serious Modern Wargaming Collection
  • BattleGroup Clash: Baltics (Sapper Studio, 2026)
  • Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition (Dietz Foundation, 2026)
  • Littoral Commander – Australia (Dietz Foundation, 2026)
  • Next War Series Supplement #4 (GMT Games, 2026)
• Model’s Counterattack (Dissimula Edizioni, 2025)
• The Battle of Midway (COBI, 2022)
• Kriegsspiel (Catastrophe Games, 2026)
• Breach & Clear (Million Games, 2026)
• Haywire Modern Quickstart (Modiphius, 2026)
• Strife: The Scaleable Wargame (Shane Aguero, 2026) – For ACD
• Duel of Meloch (Stonemaier Games, 2026)
• BattleTech Collection
  • This is a HUGE lift as it includes review copies of Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set and BattleTech: Essentials from The Armchair Dragoons and a recent Bundle of Holding purchase with 20 digital BattleTech products.

The above list is my Shelves of Shame for board- and wargaming. There is another (albeit a bit shorter) list for roleplaying games. My backlog of books to read also grows.

So…while my production here may have slowed down, I am keeping very busy. I still want this blog to be an outlet for my thoughts and comments on gaming. This blog will, like so many other items in my life these days, get in line for attention when the time is right.

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