Most Wanted Board Wargames - 2026 | Part 1 | Historical Board Games | Upcoming Wargames | #30-#16

0:00 Hi everybody, I'm Sab Bliss and welcome. In this video, I'm going to begin to walk through my most wanted, my most anticipated board war games for 2026. Now, I've been up here at this cabin in the woods for the past 2, three days, pondering my choices and trying to get my list down to 15 or fewer games. It's absolutely impossible. There are so many good games coming out in the next year or so. Finally, I decided whatever. I'm going to make it two videos and do my top 30 most wanted and most anticipated war games for 2026. And so this is video one and we're going to start with number 30. Before we start with number 30 though, we have to talk about the elephant in the room. So the elephant in the room in 2024, my most anticipated war game was Away Team. In 2025, my most anticipated war game number one on my list was Away Team. I cannot put this game here three years in a row, especially since I just saw the latest GMT update that says quarter 3 or later for Away Team for 2026. So it's a given.

0:58 I really can't wait until I play this game. And if you're not familiar with it, uh it is a sci-fi adventure and war game might be a little bit of a stretch, but it's designed by John Butterfield and GMT makes it and there is conflict and combat and resource and squad management, team management in it. So, a lot of aspects of wargaming in it. But you take over the voyage, this uh Starcraft, the Pandora, and you go out into space exploring planets and having all sorts of adventures and leveling up your crews. It's kind of a Star Trek adventure war game exploration game all rolled into one and it looks absolutely magnificent. Plus, it's designed by John Butterfield, who is one of my favorite designers. So, yes, this is absolutely a game I can't wait to get my hands on, but I just can't put it at number one on my list for three years in a row. With that being said, now let's move on to number 30 on my list for 2026 most wanted board game.

1:56 This is a game that I stumbled onto just a little while ago. Eastern Front Tank Leader. So, this is Tactical Combat in the East Front. This is a remake of a 1986 game, and Compass Games is doing this classics reborn edition of it. Now, why is this on my list? Well, I like Tactical Combat. East Front Tactical Combat is good, but take a look at these counters and the map here. If we go into our pictures here, let's zoom in a little bit. Cover looks great, but that's not what I'm looking at. Here is the back of the box. Can you guess the vibe I'm getting here? It's card driven, too, where you're going to be pulling formation cards to activate them. Map looks pretty good. Looks fantastic. But take a look at these counters. Are you seeing the same thing that I'm seeing? I'm seeing Panzer Blitz coming back to life. I mean, these armor counters look great. I mean, to reinvision this 1986 edition looks like it's going to be beautiful. If we look at the Russian counters, the same thing. This looks very, very enticing indeed. A lot of markers here for bridges, hull down, moving, firing. So, a an armor centered World War II Eastfront tactical combat game, a reinvisioning of the 1986 classic. Yeah, Eastern Front. Number 30 on my list of most anticipated war games.

3:09 Game number 29 on my list is Halls of Montazuma from Fort Circle Games. This game is also making a repeat appearance on my most wanted, most anticipated war games videos. This game simulates the 1846 to 1848 Mexican-American War, but much more so than just a military game. This game infuses itself with the politics of both sides that sat behind the conflict. Uh the game has a lot of a the shores of Tripoli vibe. We can see the card play, the design, the elegance, and Fort Circle Games does a a marvelous job of infusing the backdrop of history behind all of its games. This game is no exception. And I did get a chance to play a prototype of this game a few years ago at SD Histcon in San Diego. Very much looking forward to the final edition. And my understanding is that it is finally almost here. So, Halls of Monteum from Fort Circle Games, game number 29 on my most anticipated war games.

4:05 Game number 28 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026 is a game that I just stumbled into as I was doing some research for this video. Guadal Canal Diary from Compass Games. Now, this is intriguing for a number of reasons, and obviously, you know, Guadal Canal takes us to World War II, Pacific theater, US versus Japanese forces. But check this out as we dig into the screenshots here. And here is the back of the box. At the very bottom, it says, "Tactical combat on the ground can be combined with operational level combat in the air and on the seas to make a comprehensive simulation of the Guadal Canal campaign. The idea here, this is a two-player game, but it does look like it has a good suitability for solitire. But this idea of playing the entire Guadal Canal campaign from all different aspects of the conflict is very, very intriguing to me. And if we take a look here, you know, we've got the ground maps here.

4:58 So, we can see jungles and beaches and then some of the higher ground. Henderson Field here is off on the left on this map. Again, more jungles and beach and water and swamps. And then check this out. This looks just fascinating. the Guadal Canal Diary area map. So we've got the the nearby islands, the Solomons, Rabbal, Papa New Guinea. So air forces and naval forces must be navigating this terrain to try to outsmart and outmaneuver your opponent. And indeed, if we start to dig into the counters, we can see ships and aircraft fatigue and then lots of ground counters here. So infantry and ground forces galore. I'm assuming these are the Japanese, the orange, but a great naval presence. More air presence. Um, yeah, this looks really, really intriguing. A lot of markers here. So, number 20, I know my number 28 on my list, Guadal Canal Diary, a comprehensive campaign game of the Guadal Canal operation. This looks really good.

5:56 Game number 27 is a game I got a chance to explore in its prototype form, Lords of Heaven. This game simulates the first crusades and you play one of four factions. Either the Christian crusaders, the Orthodox Byzantine Empire, the Shia Fatimid Caliphate or the Sunny Seljuks. And this game is I mean and really fun. I I like this game already having played it, having had a chance to look at the prototype. But it looks like the components have really taken a step up since I've been playing around with the prototype as well. My understanding is this in production now and you can still back it through this campaign page. The links to all these games, by the way, are down below. but fantastic components. The gameplay was really solid. I think it's going to in particular shine as a four-player game, ton of stuff in the box, and a lot of interesting gameplay. So, if you like the history of the Crusades and are interested in that element of history, this is a great game to explore it. Very much looking forward to this one.

6:50 Game number 26 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026 is another game that has just ended its crowdfunding campaign, Battle Commander from Sound of Drums. Now, this game simulates four battles in Napoleon's campaigns in Italy. But what really gets me excited about this is two things. One, the quality of the components where here's a picture of this lot of wood pieces. They look just absolutely fantastically produced. Card enhanced gameplay which is going to have a minimal counter set on the map. So this looks like a Napoleonic game that's very much going to focus on gameplay and accessibility. And at the same time, the design here just looks spectacular. I mean, look at these cards. This is as much as I knew about it, but as soon as I saw this, I mean, I love the design of the box as well. Components look great. Looks like a lot of wood elements in here. I mean, it just exudes Napoleonic combat in its current form. So, Battle Commander, uh, Napoleon's Italian campaigns from Sound of Drums. Game number 26 on my most wanted war games for 2026.

7:56 Game number 25 on our list takes us back to the Pacific Theater for carrier combat between US and Japanese forces. Shattered Swords from Compass Games. There's a number of things that intrigue me about this game. First of all, I like carrier combat in World War II, as many of you know that have seen some of my videos. We've got four of the battles here. Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomon's, and Santa Cruz. But you can also link these together into a campaign game. And there is also a free-for-all type of scenario that's mentioned as well. Now, if we look in here too at the screenshots of the game and some of the images of the game, the complexity here says low to medium, and it also says medium for solitire. So, I'm very curious to see how they handle fog of war in these carrier combat campaigns here. Very interested in the campaign theater as well. But graphics here look really sharp. Looks like it's going to be a very creative entry into uh World War II carrier combat games. And we're getting we have there are quite a few of these, but low complexity that plays fast that captures that same essence of carrier combat. This one looks like it could be quite good. Shattered Swords from Compass Games.

9:05 Game number 24 takes us to Danver and Games for Huey Leader, the newest installment in the Leader series. This game takes us to Choppers and Helicopters in Vietnam. You can control a variety of US helicopters as well as ground forces leading them on as you know the hallmark of the leader series or the combined campaigns where you level up your forces and their skills. And you've got what? We got Huey's Cobras and other helicopters in war torn skies over Vietnam. You're going to be going on offensive missions and defensive missions. We've got battalions, pilot skills, all of the traditional hallmark features of the very, very popular leader games, except within this entirely new environment of Vietnam helicopter combat. So, if you like the leader series, this might be another one that you want to check out.

9:54 I am looking forward to this. Looks like a pretty new twist on the leader combat series. So, Huey Leader from Danver Games. Game number 24 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026. Game number 23 is Castle Novo 1539 from Draco Games. This also was a crowdfunding campaign that you can late pledge. And I did get a chance, there are some videos about this game on the channel. I got a chance to play a prototype of this game. two-player game where one player controls the Spanish forces and one player controls the Ottoman forces to recreate the famous battle of Castle Novo in 1539. What is this battle? The Spanish forces are completely outnumbered and surrounded in the town of Castle Novo. The Ottoman forces are closing in and going to wipe them out to the last man. The question is, how long can you defend and how well can you go as the Spanish and how quickly as the Ottomans you can take the the the town of Castle Novo? This is a very it's a blockbased game with hidden information, a lot of different choices, but I really like how they recreated siege combat using a block-based formula. I mean, you've got blocks for the walls and for your units, and you've got artillery. Tons of very interesting cardplay here. This is a good game. I can't wait for it to come to the light of day. Components are outstanding as well and Draco Ideas always does a good job with their production values. So, as we look through some of the units here, we've got Castle Novo 1539 from Draco Ideas to recreate the historic siege of Castle Novo by the Ottomans way back in

11:26 medieval times. This is going to be a good one. Game number 22 on my most wanted list of war games in 2026 is another game that's just recently finished its crowdfunding campaign. Hood: Troubles and Sherwood from Fallank. As you can guess from the title, this game is set back in the era of Robin Hood. You're going to play one of four factions, and this game I think shines best as a four-player game. You're either going to play Robin Hood, the [clears throat] Sheriff of Nodingham, the Bishop, or the French nobles vying for control and dominance in Sherwood. As you can see by the art here, it's got a very colorful vibe to it. It reminds me many in ter many ways in its flare and its flavor to the game root, but it's a very accessible four-player game that plays in 2 hours or less. You each faction has a number of different strategies, but you're always going to have to be keeping your eyes on the other factions to see how they're playing and what they're doing.

12:18 Um, the campaign here adds a bunch of expansions that can expand gameplay. So, look it over if you think you're interested in this. I really enjoyed my time with this one. This is a fun, accessible, quality four-player game with a lot of different interesting asymmetrical faction elements. So, Hood: Troubles and Sherwood, game number 22 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026. Game number 21 on my list of most wanted war games is a game that I originally had further down the list, but then as I was reading all the description and looking at all the counters, I ended up moving it up quite a bit. Knights over Stalenrad from Legion War Games, a solitire game game where you play the German forces in an air battle over the German sixth army at Stalenrad. This game looks really interesting. The unit scale is an individual aircraft. And if we look here at the map, one of the things that really intrigues me here is you've got a campaign map down right behind me. You can see that top half of it there. You're going to have a 10 mission campaign or a 15 mission campaign or you can play the entire more than one month-long campaign in a massive encounter. But if we look here at the counters, I love the look of these counters. Um, again, each, uh, counter is an individual aircraft. And if we look farther here at the cards, um, there are a lot of mission cards that you're going to be drawing. And we can see all the cards here for the different aces that are in the game. So, it looks like you're going to try to deploy your forces, kind of combine your squadrons together, keep them together on these various missions, and fight over Stalenradam, which would should be a very fascinating campaign. I love the

13:49 historical flare here on the different aces. Um, so Soliter Air Combat over Stalingrad in World War II. This one looks really sharp. Um, it's currently on its uh pre-order page on Legion War Games, so you can check it out there if you're interested in it. Game number 21 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026. Game number 20 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026, Army of the PTOAC from G&T Games and designed by Mark Herman. This is game two in the Civil War Heritage series to follow on the extremely popular Rebel Fury. More of goodness like Rebel Fury in this one. A lot of scenarios. If we look at the Army of PTOIC scenario list, it's Spania 2, North Anna Harbor, Cold Harbor, the entire Seven Days battle, Mlullen versus Lee, including the prelude Seven Pines.

14:40 If you haven't played Rebel Fury yet, this is an extremely playable Civil War series with deep historical roots. Of course, Mark Kerman, an esteemed and unbelievably good designer, bringing his expertise of the Civil War to this series. It is a can'tmiss series, so excited for the continuing elements of this in this in this second version of it with just a ton of gameplay in it. Now, it is at its heart two-player. Uh, solitaer, it works very well if you're playing both sides. So, solitire players and two-player gamers, I think, will really enjoy the extension of this series. Army of the PTOIC from GMT Games. Game number 19 on my list of most wanted war games, Ace of Aces, the powerhouse series from Mr. B Game. This game is the Kickstarter page we're looking at. Late pledges are still available. You have This one takes us back in time. This is an updated version of the old Aces of Aces flip books working on that same type of system. And if you're not familiar with that, each each player had a book and you would pick an a certain maneuver and then you would both reference a new book and that would tell you what happened. So you're dog fighting plane versus plane. In world one, World War One, all kinds of things can happen depending upon how you choose and what actions you go about. Each page has its own unique picture and you're trying to outthink your opponent and pick a page and pick maneuvers that are going to best your opponent. So, it's essentially plane versus plane dog fighting World War II done in an incredibly innovative for its time flip book. This aces of aces updates all of

16:10 that and adds a bunch of new Kickstarter goals and extras that go along with it. There's some dice elements in here. This is going to be really fun. I've never played the original. I've always wanted to play it. I can't believe we're finally getting a reprint like this that's bringing the series up to date to bring back this classic World War I dog fighting goodness. Ace of Aces, the Powerhouse series. Game number 18 on my list of most wanted war games for 2026. This might be 2027. I'm not sure. Steel Wolves and German Fleet Boats, the Deluxe Edition. So, if you are familiar with Silent War, this is basically an operational level game of submarine combat in the World War II Pacific Theater. Talking about Silent War, why am I excited about this one? Steel Wolves takes the Silent War system and brings it to World War II. uh in the Atlantic theaters. So we can see here, this is the Atlantic theater map. You're controlling the German yubot fleet trying to run at an operational level campaign. All of your yubot as they raid allied shipping. Uh this looks like just an amazing game. Now in the Pacific the Silent War, you have every submarine pretty much that was in the entire campaign there. I imagine that this game will do the same thing. So you if you are a fan of submarinebased games, I think this is a can't miss. And it's solitary as well. I should mention that too. So you're controlling Eubot fleets against British and Allied shipping. Oh, this looks so good. So yes, Silent Steel

17:42 Wolves, my number 18 game on most wanted war games for 2026. Sticking with Compass Games, game number 17 on my most wanted list, Combat: The Eastern Front. So, if you're not familiar with the combat series, let me show some images as we talk about it here. This is a soliter game of World War II combat where each counter is an individ individual soldier. Now, there are three versions of the game, three editions of the game out originally, one and two, which combined together and two provides a campaign game, and then three focuses the action on Arnham. This volume four takes us to the east front with the same system of solitire combat. It is fantastic to see this game getting updated and pushed along and seeing it growing. And what I'm very much excited about, they're going to do a a new rules edition with this one that's going to bring all the rules together into a series rule book. So, uh, combat I think is, you know, if you think back to the old Ambush games, combat is really aiming, I think, to be a modern version of that. A very popular series. So many people say it is one of their favorite solitire games. and man-to-man combat in World War II. Such a compelling theme.

18:52 Combat Eastern Front, it's great to see the growth of this series. Game number 16 on my list of most wanted war games for 2024. Rising Dragon from Flying Pig Games. This game just completed a very successful Kickstarter. Late pledges are open now. Links are down below to this. Um, if you're familiar with Armageddon War from Flying Pig Games, which is a very popular modern combat game that has a very devoted following. People mention how good and how much they like the gameplay. Rising Dragon is the second game in that family. Takes us to the year 2034 for combat between Chinese and Taiwanese forces in Taiwan. So, uh, it tactical level combat, modern combat, but because it's set in 2034, there's also a sci-fi futuristic edge to it. So, we've got some robots, we've got some got drones, just a ton of modern combat elements in here. Uh, this is a fairly complex tactical game, but I've heard great things about Armageddon War, and I am bringing some gameplay to this. I have a prototype of this now, so I'm going to be bringing some gameplay of this to the channel in a couple of weeks. I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far for an accessible modern combat system that also adds in some sci-fi elements. Got a great theme in China versus Taiwan. This looks spectacular.

20:06 Very much excited for this one at game number 16 on my most wanted list of war games for 2026. Halfway done with our adventure for most wanted war games for 2026. I'll be back with volume two as soon as it's ready and I'll put a link to it right up there. Thanks for watching everybody. Have a great day.