Stuart Ellis-Gorman
@drcrossbows.bsky.social
Medieval historian, crossbows and the Hundred Years War. Author of The Medieval Crossbow (2022) and Castillon (2025).
Freelance writer/editor/proofreader, occasional game designer. Reviewer of books and games.
Website: www.stuartellisgorman.com
Freelance writer/editor/proofreader, occasional game designer. Reviewer of books and games.
Website: www.stuartellisgorman.com
Pinned
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Castillon, the final battle of the Hundred Years War. Fought outside the city of Castillon a day or so's march east of Bordeaux in Gascony/Aquitaine, it saw the combined Anglo-Gascon army led by John Talbot be utterly annihilated by the French.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Update on Dandies & Dandyzettes: hardcover test! www.kickstarter.com/projects/204...
Update 32: Hardcover! · Dandies & Dandyzettes
Okay! I've gotten back the test copy of the hardcover, and I'm very pleased.Initially, my plan was to use this cover design for both hardcover and paperback, but I kind of like the idea of doing the p...
www.kickstarter.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Update on Dandies & Dandyzettes: hardcover test! www.kickstarter.com/projects/204...
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Time for a ✨ Holiday Special Giveaway ✨ (also to celebrate 6k followers!). Includes a Tamashii Nations 2025 Exclusive Gundam Mk-II figure, and lots more!
To enter: Follow + Like + Repost. 🍀
Winner will be picked at random next Friday 28th November, international post all ok! Good luck 🎉
To enter: Follow + Like + Repost. 🍀
Winner will be picked at random next Friday 28th November, international post all ok! Good luck 🎉
November 23, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Time for a ✨ Holiday Special Giveaway ✨ (also to celebrate 6k followers!). Includes a Tamashii Nations 2025 Exclusive Gundam Mk-II figure, and lots more!
To enter: Follow + Like + Repost. 🍀
Winner will be picked at random next Friday 28th November, international post all ok! Good luck 🎉
To enter: Follow + Like + Repost. 🍀
Winner will be picked at random next Friday 28th November, international post all ok! Good luck 🎉
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Come watch Pierre and I chat to @seedlinggames.bsky.social and @lukegearing.bsky.social about @samsorensen.bsky.social's ridiculously ambitious massively multiplayer rpg(?)-wargame(?) hybrid!
Tomorrow at 5pm GMT, @joedewhurst.bsky.social @pierrevj.bsky.social will be discussing their recent mega campaign of Prospero’s Dream Mothership module (I think...), with 1600 players with guests @lukegearing.bsky.social and @seedlinggames.bsky.social - Sounds insane
www.youtube.com/live/2DpZ_ks...
www.youtube.com/live/2DpZ_ks...
O/U Discussion with Pierre, Joe, Luke Gearing and Seedling
Joe Dewhurst and I recently took part in a massive, month-long, real-time play-by-post, multi-faction sci-fi roleplaying game called OVER/UNDER, based on the Prospero’s Dream Mothership module, which ...
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Come watch Pierre and I chat to @seedlinggames.bsky.social and @lukegearing.bsky.social about @samsorensen.bsky.social's ridiculously ambitious massively multiplayer rpg(?)-wargame(?) hybrid!
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
oh it's Trans Awareness Month? well, are you um aware that my weird boutique board game company Hollandspiele is having a sale until this Sunday with $5 off all boxed games, 10% off orders of $100+, & a free card game if you buy 2+ games?
support a cool trans woman (me)
hollandspiele.com
support a cool trans woman (me)
hollandspiele.com
Hollandspiele
European and UK customers: our games are available exclusively at Second Chance Games. We no longer sell to Europe through our own site.
We are a small weird publisher that specializes in small weird ...
hollandspiele.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:25 AM
oh it's Trans Awareness Month? well, are you um aware that my weird boutique board game company Hollandspiele is having a sale until this Sunday with $5 off all boxed games, 10% off orders of $100+, & a free card game if you buy 2+ games?
support a cool trans woman (me)
hollandspiele.com
support a cool trans woman (me)
hollandspiele.com
Ugh, so hard to choose. First ones that come to mind:
Castles of Burgundy
Here I Stand
El Grande
Nevsky
Arquebus
Memoir '44
Korea: The Forgotten War
Pueblo
Love Letter
Mage Knight
Would be a different list tomorrow, if not later today.
Castles of Burgundy
Here I Stand
El Grande
Nevsky
Arquebus
Memoir '44
Korea: The Forgotten War
Pueblo
Love Letter
Mage Knight
Would be a different list tomorrow, if not later today.
board game enthusiasts of bluesky, what are your top 10 board games of all time
November 16, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Ugh, so hard to choose. First ones that come to mind:
Castles of Burgundy
Here I Stand
El Grande
Nevsky
Arquebus
Memoir '44
Korea: The Forgotten War
Pueblo
Love Letter
Mage Knight
Would be a different list tomorrow, if not later today.
Castles of Burgundy
Here I Stand
El Grande
Nevsky
Arquebus
Memoir '44
Korea: The Forgotten War
Pueblo
Love Letter
Mage Knight
Would be a different list tomorrow, if not later today.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
This week on the blog: Hoplites! We're taking a crack at explaining the long-running debate over the nature and significance of the ancient Greek heavy infantryman, the hoplite, and the phalanx in which he (mostly) fought.
acoup.blog/2025/11/14/c...
acoup.blog/2025/11/14/c...
Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part I: The Othismos over Othismos
This week (and next) we’re looking at hoplites, the heavy infantry of the ancient Greek poleis in the (early? mid? late?) Archaic and Classical periods, into the Hellenistic. In particular, I…
acoup.blog
November 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
This week on the blog: Hoplites! We're taking a crack at explaining the long-running debate over the nature and significance of the ancient Greek heavy infantryman, the hoplite, and the phalanx in which he (mostly) fought.
acoup.blog/2025/11/14/c...
acoup.blog/2025/11/14/c...
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Been thinking about this overnight and I have come to the horrible realisation that I do in fact very much want a lavish in depth book detailing every single ridiculous Dungeons & Dragons toy, colouring book, back of cereal packet hologram, view finder etc
God help me.
God help me.
November 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Been thinking about this overnight and I have come to the horrible realisation that I do in fact very much want a lavish in depth book detailing every single ridiculous Dungeons & Dragons toy, colouring book, back of cereal packet hologram, view finder etc
God help me.
God help me.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
This is the same administration that has ordered the return of a Confederate monument to Arlington National Cemetery--one which celebrates the "loyal slave" narrative as represented by the images of the "faithful mammy" and a body servant (slave) in Confederate uniform. 🗃️
www.cnn.com/2025/11/13/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/13/p...
Display about Black soldiers in World War II removed from US military cemetery | CNN Politics
Decades ago, as some of the bloodiest fighting in World War II ramped up in Europe, 19-year-old 1st Lt. Jeffersons Wiggins, along with hundreds of other Black soldiers in, were tasked with burying the...
www.cnn.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:20 PM
This is the same administration that has ordered the return of a Confederate monument to Arlington National Cemetery--one which celebrates the "loyal slave" narrative as represented by the images of the "faithful mammy" and a body servant (slave) in Confederate uniform. 🗃️
www.cnn.com/2025/11/13/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/13/p...
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
My partner and I have watched over 50 Film Noirs in the past two months. We're keeping a spreadsheet of them all, with a single sentence for each to remind us of what happens in it. These are presented for you without their attached film titles, hopefully for your amusement.
November 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
My partner and I have watched over 50 Film Noirs in the past two months. We're keeping a spreadsheet of them all, with a single sentence for each to remind us of what happens in it. These are presented for you without their attached film titles, hopefully for your amusement.
Basically every professional evaluation I've had, a cycle:
Me: I know the previous feedback, & my weak areas, so I expect they will focus on X, Y, or Z.
Feedback: No mention of previous criteria, here's some out of left-field random critiques that probably aren't even in the evaluation document.
Me: I know the previous feedback, & my weak areas, so I expect they will focus on X, Y, or Z.
Feedback: No mention of previous criteria, here's some out of left-field random critiques that probably aren't even in the evaluation document.
November 13, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Basically every professional evaluation I've had, a cycle:
Me: I know the previous feedback, & my weak areas, so I expect they will focus on X, Y, or Z.
Feedback: No mention of previous criteria, here's some out of left-field random critiques that probably aren't even in the evaluation document.
Me: I know the previous feedback, & my weak areas, so I expect they will focus on X, Y, or Z.
Feedback: No mention of previous criteria, here's some out of left-field random critiques that probably aren't even in the evaluation document.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
I may have been working on other things recently, but if I see somebody talking about crossbows (especially ones I quite admire, like those in the Met) I cannot help but watch. In that vein, I really enjoyed @tested.com's latest video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
Adam Savage Tours Medieval Crossbows (at @metmuseum)
YouTube video by Adam Savage’s Tested
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:34 AM
I may have been working on other things recently, but if I see somebody talking about crossbows (especially ones I quite admire, like those in the Met) I cannot help but watch. In that vein, I really enjoyed @tested.com's latest video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
I may have been working on other things recently, but if I see somebody talking about crossbows (especially ones I quite admire, like those in the Met) I cannot help but watch. In that vein, I really enjoyed @tested.com's latest video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
Adam Savage Tours Medieval Crossbows (at @metmuseum)
YouTube video by Adam Savage’s Tested
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:34 AM
I may have been working on other things recently, but if I see somebody talking about crossbows (especially ones I quite admire, like those in the Met) I cannot help but watch. In that vein, I really enjoyed @tested.com's latest video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zret...
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
SDHist is proud to announce War Story: Occupied France as the recipient of the fourth annual Summit Award: sdhist.com/war-story-oc.... Congrats to designers Dave Neale and @djackthompson.bsky.social and publisher @ospreygames.bsky.social!
November 8, 2025 at 3:33 PM
SDHist is proud to announce War Story: Occupied France as the recipient of the fourth annual Summit Award: sdhist.com/war-story-oc.... Congrats to designers Dave Neale and @djackthompson.bsky.social and publisher @ospreygames.bsky.social!
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
We're thrilled to announce @amabel.bsky.social's video essay “Vonnegut’s Board Game: Preservation, Annotation, Context” as the recipient of the 2025 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award. More info on the award here: sdhist.com/amabel-holla.... Check out the essay here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xXy...
Vonnegut’s Board Game: Preservation, Annotation, Context
YouTube video by Hollandspiele
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:09 PM
We're thrilled to announce @amabel.bsky.social's video essay “Vonnegut’s Board Game: Preservation, Annotation, Context” as the recipient of the 2025 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award. More info on the award here: sdhist.com/amabel-holla.... Check out the essay here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xXy...
My partner and I have watched over 50 Film Noirs in the past two months. We're keeping a spreadsheet of them all, with a single sentence for each to remind us of what happens in it. These are presented for you without their attached film titles, hopefully for your amusement.
November 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
My partner and I have watched over 50 Film Noirs in the past two months. We're keeping a spreadsheet of them all, with a single sentence for each to remind us of what happens in it. These are presented for you without their attached film titles, hopefully for your amusement.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
The first photo of my new book, courtesy of my editor... "The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age" comes out in early December! Feel free to pre-order it today! www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
November 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM
The first photo of my new book, courtesy of my editor... "The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age" comes out in early December! Feel free to pre-order it today! www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Can not overstate how important this is
Your friendly semi-regular reminder that the single greatest way to help your favorite authors is to rate and review the books you've read. Goodreads, Itch, Kindle, they all give you the opportunity to rate/review and it REALLY helps us get visibility!
November 6, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Can not overstate how important this is
Really reaping what I sowed as I mark all these exams. Assign essay questions I thought, it'll be easy, you definitely wont regret reading over a hundred exams later.
November 5, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Really reaping what I sowed as I mark all these exams. Assign essay questions I thought, it'll be easy, you definitely wont regret reading over a hundred exams later.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Reach out to creators and tell them you like their stuff! Sometimes it can feel like you spend time making something and it just vanishes into the void...
OMG - Just got my 1st email from someone who has actually been playing De Agricultura I (as opposed to the not even prototyped yet De Agricultura II) w/ their game group online. Made my freakin' week! The idea that some interested history gamers could voluntarily play 1 of my protos -- so neat! 1/
Jeremiah’s History Game Prototypes
I’m going to start collecting my prototype files here for interested people to see. Some are useful in class already, others not yet, etc. Please, please, please give me constructive feedback…
gamingthepast.net
November 1, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reach out to creators and tell them you like their stuff! Sometimes it can feel like you spend time making something and it just vanishes into the void...
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
There is this idea that history is just a matter of taking an angle and then finding evidence to support it. Anyone can do that. But that is not what historians do.
November 1, 2025 at 8:09 AM
There is this idea that history is just a matter of taking an angle and then finding evidence to support it. Anyone can do that. But that is not what historians do.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
My perhaps controversial assessment is that when you share the propaganda of your enemies to call it out or to mock it… you’re still spreading their propaganda and maybe doing exactly what they hope you’ll do.
November 1, 2025 at 11:52 AM
My perhaps controversial assessment is that when you share the propaganda of your enemies to call it out or to mock it… you’re still spreading their propaganda and maybe doing exactly what they hope you’ll do.
Reposted by Stuart Ellis-Gorman
Important counterblast to Steve Coogan's defence of The Lost King.
Updated thread on The Lost King film:
I’m digging over old ground but I have to challenge Steve Coogan's line. He claims it’s all true (as has Philippa Langley): Langley will be celebrated for her achievement, Richard Taylor & his personal gripes will be forgotten
So what’s the real story? 1/15
I’m digging over old ground but I have to challenge Steve Coogan's line. He claims it’s all true (as has Philippa Langley): Langley will be celebrated for her achievement, Richard Taylor & his personal gripes will be forgotten
So what’s the real story? 1/15
October 31, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Important counterblast to Steve Coogan's defence of The Lost King.