Near-Future Simulation Radar

 “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

— Benjamin Franklin

I try keeping my internet radar active searching for news about games. I comb a few news venues and numerous social media accounts to hear how people use games for learning, to find new and interesting titles reaching the market; and read about more mainstream use of serious “wargames” to explore outcomes in near-future conflicts. Games can offer abstract models of how our world works — for education, entertainment, analysis — and institutions of all kinds explore their applications. Two near-future conflicts stand out in my search for news about simulations exploring their outcomes: the upcoming American mid-term congressional elections and the looming threat of Russian action against eastern European nations. My internet radar’s picking up very little, if anything, about the former and plenty about the latter. The former perhaps reflects a lack of faith by American institutions in such exercises reaching useful conclusions and implementing strategies to respond to them. The latter seems not only driven by continued threats from Russia and its war against Ukraine but a result of decreased American influence on the world stage.

Distilling Historical Battles into Wargames

 “It’s like a bird. If he knew what he was doing, he would fall.”

— Carl Reiner

The Battle of the River Plate on the game
table; not quite as it actually happened.

Earlier on social media I shared the news I’m returning to the City of Chesapeake’s annual reenactment event for the Battle of Great Bridge Dec. 5-6, 2026. Once again I’ll bring along my terrain diorama (sectioned off into convenient board “spaces”), paper miniatures, dice, and signage asking “Can You Win the Battle of Great Bridge?” I invite event attendees to learn about the battle, survey what the area might have looked like 251 years ago, and, using extremely basic rules, play out the fight between British forces and Patriot militia. Last year 1,100-1,600 people passed through the event, and at times it seemed like many listened to my ramblings about history and tried their hand commanding miniature forces to see how they’d fare in this historical engagement. (Spoiler Alert: In most cases the Patriots gave the British a sound drubbing, much like the historical outcome, though occasionally with a few close calls.) In my social media post an old friend, gamer, and educator commented: “Do you have a process for using miniature battles to teach history? Not just tactics, but also the commander's motivation, personality and the battle's likely alternate outcomes.” And it started me thinking about how I distill historical battles into miniature wargames, especially with my focus on using games for learning and introducing wargames to young people and newcomers to the hobby.

Wingspan Pocket Just the Right Size

 “Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

I recently picked up Elizabeth Hargrave’s Wingspan Pocket edition at a regional gaming store, one of several more mainline games on my radar beyond my usual fare of roleplaying games and historical wargames. Our Thursday family game nights have long ago vanished from the calendar in the onslaught of homework, personal projects, end-of-week weariness, and general ennui toward gaming. But I’m still always looking for games with themes to tempt family members to the game table. And Wingspan Pocket fit the bill. Concise in table space, rules, and gameplay with a satisfying depth and, of course, rich avian illustrations by Natalia Rojas and Ana María Martínez for which the Wingspan line remains famous. It’s a good match for casual gamers with an interest in birds but also works well as a taste of contemporary board game play style which forces players to make decisions based on available resources and strategies for maximizing victory points.