Game of the Month | May 2026 | Board Games | Wargames | PC Games

0:00 Hi freedom is a little blitz and welcome to game of the month for May 2026. This is the video series where I look back on the previous month's gaming be it tabletop board games, tabletop war games, PC games, highlight three candidates that I think were my highlights of the month and then pick one winner for game of the month. So January and May are the two busiest months of my regular work life. So May was a lighter gaming month for me on the whole, but I do have three candidates that I'm excited to show and I have one that was the clear away winner. Let's jump right in and get started with our first candidate, La Guerre des Dames from Hexasim and designed by Arnauld Siega. Now, a number of people have been giving me a hard time by talking about the tactical emphasis the channel videos have had over the past few months. So I'm trying to get back into operational and strategic level games. This is a World War 1 strategic level game that you can play the entirety of World War 1 in under 2 hours. It's got a lot of fun technology elements. It's got good warfare. It somewhat abstractly handles all the different fronts, but for a game that has so much depth, it remains remarkably accessible and I really like the fact that you can play it in 2 hours. I played a two-player game of this about a week ago, had a grand time, been exploring it solitaire and exploring some of the gameplay. This one's really fun. I really enjoyed this one in the month of May. Our second candidate for May is a heavy big one, Politique. This is a prototype of a game. It's coming to crowdfunding in June of 2026 from Black Yeti Games.

1:29 This game is another strategic level game. It allows you to play the role of the leader of a country and you can mold your country along all sorts of different political alliances. You're building national corporations and there is a military component where you're trying to geo- geographically dominate the the landscape in front of you of this fictional world. 400 cards, more than 400 cards in the core game set, might make you feel like, "Wow, this is a game that it's too complex for me. But the cards aren't necessarily a factor of the complexity, more just the variety because in any given game, you might only see a fraction of those cards come into play. Had a ton of fun exploring this one. Each of the 400 cards is unique and they just they're almost like a little adventure in themselves. This has been a fantastic game to learn. I can't wait this is a two to six player game. I can't wait to play a game with this at a larger player count.

2:25 Ah, this has been so much fun to explore. So Politic, our second candidate for game of the month for May 2026. Our third candidate for May of 2026 is a PC game, so I don't have a box to show you. Panzer Corps 2's 16th DLC is Italy Volume 1. And now, if you know the channel, you know that I'm a big fan of the Panzer Corps and the Panzer Corps 2 series. I love the blend of tactical engagement in World War II and then also just the different RPG elements that let you develop your units and leaders. There's so much going on in the dynamic campaign that weaves its way through so many of the DLCs and through the entire game itself. There is so much gameplay here and it just checks off so many boxes for me. So I'm always excited when a new DLC comes out for the game. In particular, I like this Italian volume because this is one of the few DLCs in the series that's let that lets you play as the Allied forces. You play as both the British and the US forces in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in World War II. This is very much a meat and potatoes type of experience.

3:30 It's like going to restaurant and having drinks with an old friend, right? You just jump right back into it and you just pick up right where you left off and it's just a lot of fun. So this I've been playing this one a number of times. It's been a busy month in May, so I've been jumping in and playing as I can. I just always love exploring this series and it's always a fantastic time when a new DLC comes up. So our third candidate, Panzer Corps 2's latest DLC, Italy Volume 1. Drum roll, please. Which one is the winner for game of the month for May 2026? Super easy choice for me. Not that the other candidates weren't fun and aren't great times. Politique. This So, what why would this one stand out above the others? There are a number of times as I've been back in board gaming wargaming for the past 5 years where you stumble along a game that you can tell is truly fits the category and definition of labor of love. Uh you know, one of the first Monday in October, when I played that one, this upcoming game from Fort Circle Games, that has that same feel to it. You can feel the years in the energy in the detail in the game design. Politique has been 15 years in the making and it's it feels like it's there's that much effort in this game. Every card feels nuanced, the decisions, the balance, the strategies that you can take. It just is such a rich and fun decision-making matrix to explore. I can't I feel like this is a game you can play 50 times and you're still learning it. I And some of the videos I talked about those some videos on the channel. I mentioned it feels like kind of strategic chess or world, you know, global global chess, if

5:03 you would. And that's really the way the depth of this game. I can't wait to play this more and to get better at it and to play it longer and deeper. It's been such a fun experience over the past month exploring this one. So, this was the clear, in a way, winner for game of the month for May 2026, Politique from Black Yeti Games. If you've enjoyed this video and want to see some more detailed videos on Politique or La Grande Guerre or Panzer Corps 2, there's links down in the video description, but I'll put a couple up here. Here is one to an overview of Politique and here is one to an overview of La Grande Guerre. Thanks for watching, everybody. Have a great day.