How to Win as the Protestants in Here I Stand (Three Basic Tips, #10)

Haven’t done a strategy post in over a year! But I know you like them, so there will be more of them over the next months.

Today, we’re returning to a mainstay: Here I Stand (Ed Beach, GMT Games) is one of my favorite games ever – if not my favorite game of all. (I should really do one of those Top X games of all times posts!) So far, we’ve had three strategy articles for it already:

• How to Win as the Hapsburgs in Here I Stand
• How to Win as the Papacy in Here I Stand
• How to Win as England in Here I Stand

All of them have been in the tried-and-true fashion of giving three basic tips which new and intermediate players can easily remember. Today, we’re doing that with the faction whose emergence started the whole scenario for Here I Stand: The Protestants! They play a bit differently than most of the other factions. Here’s how to make the most of the explosive potential of this faction, to avoid the most dangerous trap for it, and to push yourself over the finish line once you have come out as a fully-fledged contender.

BochumCon 2024

I had the special pleasure of attending BochumCon on the first January weekend! BochumCon is a small invite-only convention held in Bochum, Germany focusing on longer, more complex games (often with a historical theme) organized by designer Matthias Cramer (of Weimar and Watergate fame). Here’s how it went.

Brazil’s Long Way to Independence

Brazil is many things. One of the largest and most populous countries in the world. Home to an unrivalled biodiversity. A melting-pot of indigenous, European, and African culture. All of these aspects have shaped the history of this fascinating place, and it is almost criminal that in five years of blogging I have never written about Brazilian history before. I will make amends for that amidst the preparations for the bicentenary of Brazilian independence. This article aims to shed light on this atypical, and, in many ways incomplete decolonization process. As I assume most of my readership is unfamiliar with Brazilian history, I’ll give a quick rundown of Brazil’s colonial history and the dramatic events of the Napoleonic period which acted as catalyst for Brazil’s independence before going into the independence process itself. As you rightly expect, board games will feature on the way – yet I have to warn you that there are way too few which are published so far.

Half-Year Gaming Report, 2022

Another year is already half-way over! Can you believe it? …I guess with everything that’s happened since January 1 (Pandemic! War! Inflation! Supreme Court!) I should be surprised we haven’t filled the history books for three years yet. In these historic times, it’s nice to take on different perspectives, learn from the past or at least get away from the present with the tried-and-true method of (historical) board gaming. Here’s what I did so far this year – the numbers, the games I played most often or were otherwise remarkable, and how I stand in relation to my board gaming goals for 2022.

Barbarossa, the Legend (The Life & Games of Frederick Barbarossa, #3)

Welcome back to the third and last part of the Barbarossa miniseries! Now that we’ve looked at Barbarossa’s earlier and later life until his death, one would think we’re done with him. Far from it! Barbarossa had an active afterlife in the memory and myth of those who lived after him.

Four Princes / Here I Stand (Book & Game, #2)

Back to the book & game pairings to educate and entertain about a certain historical topic! After our kickoff with the Eastern Front of World War II, we’ll go a little bit further back in time, landing in the early 16^th century: The Reformation is shaking up Europe, and powerful rulers try to make the most of these turbulent times… both in Four Princes (John Julius Norwich) and Here I Stand (Ed Beach, GMT Games).

Farewell 2021 – Historical Board Games!

Finally, we come to our noblest category in the annual farewell posts – historical board games! Here are the three I enjoyed most this year.

You can find the other posts in the Farewell 2021 series here:

• New-to-Me Games
• Historical Non-Fiction
• Non-Historical Games
• Historical Fiction
• The Best on the Blog

Board Game Geek War Game Top 60, #10-1

We’ve made it! We’ve reached the very top. These are the games the Board Game Geek users deemed the best war games out there (at least they did so in August last year, when I took the snapshot of the top 60 that has been the basis for this series). You know the drill from the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth part – I give a few thoughts on each of the games, and then you add yours in the comments. Let’s go straight at it!

Board Game Geek War Game Top 60: #30-21

Welcome back to the fourth part of the series on the top 60 games in BoardGameGeek’s war game list! We enter the upper half of the top 60 games, and there are some excellent games in today’s package. You know the drill from the first, second, and third part – I give a few thoughts on each of the games, and then you add yours in the comments. Without further ado, here are games #30-21 of the list.

Farewell 2020 – Historical Board Games

The year is almost over, and once more, it has come with quite a few excellent historical board games played. These are the three I enjoyed most this year: