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Half-Year Gaming Report, 2026
2026, what a year. Here’s what my board gaming looked like in the first half of it.
Let’s start with a statistical overview (as of June 30):
- I’ve played 20 different games (slightly down compared to last year at this point).
- Only 3 of them were new to me (massively down compared to last year’s 9).
- These 23 games resulted in a total of 57 plays (slightly up compared to last year)
- The month in which I played most games was June (with 16 plays), the months with the fewest plays April and May (5 each).
- Of the 23 different games, 8 are historical. These account for 29 of the plays (half the games, around three quarters of the plays compared to last year).
- 7 of the plays were solo (up from last year’s single play).
- 31 of the 57 plays were digital, continuing the strong digital bent of 2025.
The changes are partially due to a changed event schedule – I did not attend any conventions this year, so I played fewer new and fewer historical games.
Here are some of the games I enjoyed most this year so far:
Pax Pamir (Cole Wehrle, Wehrlegig Games)
As said, I didn’t play a lot of new games this year. But among them, Pax Pamir is the absolute standout. Cole Wehrle’s first design is a thoughtful exploration of the roles of small power brokers having to deal with big ones, skillfully seizing opportunities and avoiding pitfalls, using loyalty and betrayal as necessary tools in their struggle for security and power. It is also an incredibly clever game blending planning, chaos, and negotiation into a tight, low-scoring affair which usually sees several players reaching for victory until the very end.
At eight plays, Pax Pamir is my most-played game so far this year. I predict a few more plays will follow – facilitated by the excellent digital implementation at Rally the Troops!
Imperial Struggle (Ananda Gupta/Jason Matthews, GMT Games)
New discoveries are great. So are re-discoveries. I was enamored with Imperial Struggle in 2022, getting it to the table (and to Vassal) a few times. Since then, however, I hadn’t played it a single time… until it came to Rally the Troops! this year.
With that, I got in no fewer than seven plays. I delight in the diplomatic, economic, and military opportunities all over the globe and despair when my opponent snatches a key advantage. I carefully plan out the investment tile selection, but sometimes I go with my intuition about what’s the area of contest in which my play will have the biggest impact. And I love both the sheer might of the French juggernaut and the plucky resilience of the British underdog.
If you have also started (or re-started) playing Imperial Struggle and need some strategic pointers, have a look at my strategy post! And if you need the right music to play in the background, here’s my immersive playlist of period tunes.
Julius Caesar (Grant Dalgliesh/Justin Thompson, Columbia Games)
A game which I had only played online (also on Rally the Troops!) before… but finally, I had the chance to break out my physical copy! I must say, it is a very different experience – the perfect documentation of the digital implementation allows for a lot more analytic play. On the board, you need to rely on your memory – and on your intuition, which suits the bluffing-heavy style of the game anyway.
In our game, I led the Caesarian forces against the Pompeians of a newcomer. Antony and Pompey clashed aggressively in Italia; Scipio and Caesar in Asia. All four leaders barely survived their initial battles. After Antony had chased Pompey out of Italia, he rested on his laurels… but old Pompey still had some fight in him and returned with a fresh legion and some elephants to retake Rome! When the Caesarian advance in Hispania was turned into a rout by Jupiter’s divine intervention, Pompey won after only three years of civil war – also proving how accessible the game is to new players who are not burdened with too much rules overhead and can just focus on their schemes and ruses!
The Legends of Andor: The Eternal Frost (Michael Menzel, KOSMOS)
Games are fundamentally about people. Legends of Andor is a great series of cooperative games, but I am under no illusions that its main staying power for me comes from with whom I’ve been playing it: My good friends F. and M. started the Andor base game with me in 2014, and since then, it has become one of the mainstays for the three of us – and, since F. died in 2020, for M. and me. We have been steadily playing through the main series and have just finished the fourth big box instalment The Eternal Frost – the first one which M. and I played entirely without F. Legends of Andor is a game, but it is also a celebration and commemoration of our friendship. I can’t wait to start the next instalment: Legenden von Andor: Das ferne Land (The Distant Land – as far as I know, there won’t be an English edition).
What was remarkable about your 2026 gaming so far? Let me know in the comments!
