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Nicola S

@6xwa.bsky.social

440 followers 280 following 280 posts

Wargames. Playing, collecting, designing and discussing about them with an eye to the less trodden titles. And everything else around them. At my discretion. Designer of Operation Bøllebank, Nothing Left to Bomb, By Stealth and Sea and a few others.

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · 15d

There is also this. It uses the same system as FITNA, but apparently it works much better here. I cannot comment as I own Bloody Dawns but have yet to play it and I have never played FITNA.

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · 15d

While canon could suggest gatekeeping of some sort, I really enjoyed the episode and the spirit of the participants (including the banter!). The list is pretty exhaustive already, but the thing that surprised me the most was hearing that Brant likes SPI City Fight probably as much as me!
One day…

Armchair Dragoons @armchairdragoons.bsky.social · 17d

We're baaaa-aaack!

Mentioned In Dispatches S15 E1 – The Wargaming “Canon”

Our first episode brings together a distinguished panel to try to figure out all the games you ought to play to truly earn your Grognard Merit Badge

armchairdragoons.com...

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · 17d

Welcome back!!!
You have been missed!

(Well, at least by me!)

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Sep 1

Yes, they will!!!!!

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 31

Wargaming weekend part 2: Battle of Hoth is a hit with the boys (they are now on mission 7).
Will it prove at least as good as its distant godfather?
If all goes wrong, we’ll use the minis for the older game!

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 31

Wargaming weekend part 1: studying the rules to Compass’ Grant: The Western Campaign 1862, and putting @catastrophegames.bsky.social Campaign: Fall Blau to the table

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 23

Really salivating over the whole series! When is the first volume (Divine Wind, right?) coming out?

Reposted by Nicola S

amy brown @amybrown.xyz · Aug 22

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me?
Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 21

Oh 😲
Ok 😃
Thanks!!

SDHistCon @sdhistcon.bsky.social · Aug 20

We're proud to announce the 2025 Summit Award finalists: Operation Bøllebank, GHQ, War Story: Occupied France, and Vijayanagara: The Deccan Empires of Medieval India, 1290-1398. More details, and honorable mentions, here: sdhist.com/2025-summit-...

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 13

Proud owner of the first edition, but this looks too good to pass!
And congratulations!

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 5

It’s a great game while managing to stay true to the IP. My kids loved it (one still does), even when just playing the second act by itself.

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 4

In memory of my gaming friend Giuliano that eventually sold me his unpunched copy of the game, I am about to dive into the Great Pacific War, 1941-1945!
We Must Tell the Emperor, Victory Point Games.

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

Very nice!👍🏻

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

Thanks! Please report back 😊

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

It’s been a while since I had last played it, but it remains a nice solitaire game and very original in its application of wargame mechanics to a topic that is not actually about a literal meaning of the word “war”.

Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

I was eventually saved by the roads (hard to pass for the fire) as well as the increase in MC thanks to the dusk and evening.
Fire is contained, but as each hex with smoldering fire (gray) is an additional 1k$ on the budget, the price paid to contain the fire will cost me the job

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

The fire became huge and eventually I had to evacuate three of my crews out of five…

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

The third game was more challenging. The WS picked up while the MC grew lower thanks to the afternoon heat.

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

The second game was nice and easy. Mainly I was lucky that the fire started next to more difficult terrain (see the different colored hexes) and it failed to spread even in the first turn.

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

Here is the situation when I called it a day. You can see how I failed to contain the fire in the north and due to the WS it moved around the lines I had built…

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

The first game ended in a disaster because I was not able to properly contain the fire (the change in the wind direction did not help!).

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

You can choose between six scenarios and 4 maps. I picked the woodlands map and the “average day” for my first games to relearn the ropes

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

After you determine how the fire spreads each turn, time to get your assets to work in order to try and contain it and ultimately extinguish it. Your assets have a cost to raise and some have a cost to use each turn (hour). Yes, you have a budget to respect!

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

Two elements dictate how the fire spreads: wind speed (WS) and moisture content (MC), using a table to determine head/flank/rear MPs of the fire. These can vary each turn depending on a die-roll (situation=scenario) and also deterministically based on the turn number.

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Nicola S @6xwa.bsky.social · Aug 3

Inspired by a recent review @armchairdragoons.bsky.social by RMN, I pulled out my copy of Smokejumpers by Kerry Anderson.
He was involved in wildfire modeling and the game reflects his long experience.
It is solitaire and the “bot” is driving the spread of the fire.

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