The SoS Bunker
@TheSoSBunker
The SoS Bunker is for those who love States of Siege boardgames. Here you will find session reports, variants, strategy articles and essays. #StatesofSiege
Welcome to the Bunker! open.substack.com/pub/hitchkenne…
We Must Tell the Emperor - “Sensing an opportunity, Nimitz ordered American carrier raids. Fortunately, Yamamoto and the IJN were ready…Nimitz was handily defeated and forced to retreat ingloriously to the West Coast!” hitchkennedy.substack.com/p/the-emperor-…
An excellent summation of why wargamers can’t make games with mass market appeal. Indeed, the very idea is ‘unthinkable’. When I worked for VPG, this tension was obvious.
Disguising a wargame to lure the unwary is a good idea if your main goal in designing it is to sell games&make money. But it's not a good idea when the primary goal is to develop historical games with attractive military aesthetic, what lovers of military history in general like.
Once I gave a chance to view this, I will assess Joe’s play in the Early War Deck. My hunch is he won’t be playing aggressively. Hope I’m wrong. I hope he has the ‘expansion’ cards.
WE MUST TELL THE EMPEROR (Early War Deck) - LIVE! youtube.com/live/zFufnAgW7…
A most thoughtful review for an outstanding game. Highly recommended.
Vietnam in a Big Box - 1st Impressions of Purple Haze fm @___PHALANX via The Armchair Dragoons rockymountainnavy.com/2025/07/24/vie…
And a good morning to you all!
“I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.” -Gen. William T. Sherman [H/T to @infantrydort]
This just arrived. Another gift. I am blessed. My WWI jag continues. It looks excellent. It enriches my thinking. No doubt, the design for “Hohenzollern Twilight” will be enriched.
War Diary is a fabulous old-school wargame magazine. Excellent writing under the gentile editorial direction of Roy. Check it out! wardiarymagazine.com/collections/wa…
Couple of new things arrived today! The new edition of War Diary Magazine including the mini version of the upcoming Iwo Jima from @nevawargames as well as my digital copy of Lone Wolf: U-Boat Command Print and Play from @SoloWargame Looking forward to playing both!
I’m not one for unboxings, but this is well-done. I hear there is a solo mode of sorts. Imperial Stars Legacy is a reboot of VPG’s 2-player mini 4x game by Chris Taylor. The new publisher is Pungo. Gameplay is wild, fast and furious. I am tempted to try it.
Check out Ray's unboxing for Imperial Stars Legacy. If you like this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel: boardgamegeek.com/video/563625/i…
Consim World Expo 2025 Recap - “The purpose of the event is an opportunity for grognards to play massive multi-map wargames with thousands of counters. The main hall hums all week with dozens of such game sessions.” hitchkennedy.substack.com/p/consim-world… @djberg96
Was gifted this very game at Consim World 2025. Looking forward to getting it on the table. Playing, analyzing and writing about it on my Substack.
🏆 Best Napoleonic Game at the 2024 Charles S. Roberts Awards goes to „I, Napoleon” by Ted Raicer & GMT Games! Step into the boots of young Buonaparte in 1793 in this solo historical RPG card game. Rise to glory - or fade into obscurity. ⚔️🇫🇷 #Wargames #BoardGames #gaming
Always a fun day when you get to play on a set of pristine pieces like this...
My crew loved “Ace of Aces” back in the day. I regret losing this game. Timeless and innovative.
I am sad to announce that we have lost one of wargaming's founders. Al Leonardi, designer of the classic game Ace of Aces, left us yesterday. Ace of Aces was inducted into the GAMA Hall of fame. Al also cofounded NOVA games, which first published Larry Harris' Axis & Allies
Cautious play has its place, for instance when learning. Alas, this is endemic. It is better to play as the hunter. Recently, I discussed this in the olde Divine Right in “Bridge Over Troubled Water & the Barbarian Way.” hitchkennedy.substack.com/p/bridge-over-…
And another, important for all designers "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It’s nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It’s about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to…
Consim World 2025 - “I, Napoleon” I was unexpectedly gifted a copy of this new solitaire game. It has been on my radar for some time. I look forward to playing, analyzing and then writing about the game on my Substack: The SoS Bunker. hitchkennedy.substack.com
Consim World 2025 - “Unhappy King Charles” When bagging the components, I divided the pieces into three bags: Parliament, King, and all the pieces that start in the map. This will accelerate set-up next time.
Consim World 2025 - Illusions of Glory. The designer graciously sat me down to play his 2nd edition from GMT. For WWI aficionados, it is a fascinating take on the Eastern front, including the Balkans and Italy. You can back it on its P500 page. gmtgames.com/p-1064-illusio…
These are design notes are fascinating. Very much worth reading and pondering.
Posting the designers notes for my game "Testament", just to give you guys an insight into my game design process: Designers Notes A game about the entire Old Testament. From Genesis to the Prophets. Why didn't this exist already? This was the question I asked in late 2023 when…
Yes, Steve Carey gave a thoughtful memoriam.
Nice tribute to @RBMStudio1 Rodger MacGowan at the Consimworld Expo opening get-together. We all really miss him.
