I did a terrible job at predicting what games would come out in 2025. In my defense, I didn’t see the tariffs and trade war between the US and China coming, which caused massive disruption to the tabletop games industry and delayed lots of games. Of the 11 games on my list last year, only 4 actually came out in 2025. Of those four, I own two of them and have played zero (but I set up one of them on my table!). That’s pretty embarrassing, but the silver lining is that it should make it easy for me to do better next year.
Last year I recapped, in brief, the games from my list that I had played, but since this year I played literally none of them there’s no point in doing so!
This year I am returning to a traditional Top 10, rather than my previous Top 11, assuming I haven’t forgotten one (like I did two years ago, triggering the Top 11 in the first place). These games are ranked in approximately how confident I am that they will come out in 2026, rather than in hierarchy of how excited I am about them. So, please don’t read too much into the order.
That’s enough caveats, let’s get to the list!
My Most Anticipated Games of 2026:
Purgatorio: Men of Iron Vol. 6 by Ralph Shelton (GMT Games)
I’m a card carrying Men of Iron super fan, so obviously I’m excited about the latest entry in the series coming out this year. While Norman Conquests was not my favorite, a title still held by Arquebus, I still enjoyed it and I will never refuse more Men of Iron. Here’s hoping that Purgatorio is another great entry in the series.
Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare by Jeremy White (GMT Games)
I have, to my shame, never played a Jeremy White game despite hearing their praises sung on many occasions. I have also dabbled some in Civil War solitaire games, so the combination of White and ACW should be enough to finally push me over the edge. I’m not sure what to expect from this one, if I’m honest, but I’m certainly intrigued.
Baltic Empires: The Northern Wars of 1558-1721 by Brian Berg Asklev Hanson (GMT Games)
I can’t say no to Nils Johansson art, and Brian Berg Asklev has done some great designs, most recently 1812: Napoleon’s Fateful March. The buzz I’ve heard about Baltic Empires from people who have played near-final versions has been positive, and I love a big multiplayer game. I can’t wait to fight over fish with other nerds in Northern Europe.
Just look at Nils’ work on this. My god.
The Guerilla Generation by Stephen Ranganzas (GMT Games)
Stephen Ranganzas’ The British Way is probably the most impressive COIN game I’ve played, and maybe top of my list of games I’m embarrassed to have not written a review of yet. I’m obviously very excited for his next take on COIN, which promises to be a fascinating companion to The British Way, and probably full of interesting discussion about the nature of guerilla warfare. The way he combines a specific scholarly argument with these multipacks of games is some of the best wargame design going, if you ask me.
Queen of Spies by Liz Davidson and David Thompson (Salt and Pepper Games)
While I’m not the most dedicated solitaire gamer, I like Liz Davidson and David Thompson and I’m curious to try out their first (published) co-design. I’m also a fan of espionage as a topic, and Salt and Pepper Games’ small box form factors suit my tiny apartment perfectly. It’s honestly a little embarrassing that I haven’t played any of their games yet. I backed this one on Gamefound (a rarity for me, I’m a habitual non-backer), and I’m looking forward to inevitably getting my spies killed due to my incompetence.
Cuius Regio by Francisco Gradaille (GMT Games)
The Thirty Years War seems to be having a bit of a moment - GMT, Vuca, and NAC all have games on it in the works. I was hugely impressed by Francisco Gradaille’s Plantagenet and my playtest of the introductory scenario of Cuius Regio was very promising, so it sits top of the pile for me at the moment. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get this to the table next year, it looks pretty hefty as gaming experiences go, but my initial impression is that this will be an interesting and gorgeous take on the Thirty Years War.
Seriously, look at this map!
Brandywine, 1777 – A Time for Heroes by Yves Roig (Les 3 Zuaves)
Maurice Suckling’s Chancellorsville, 1863 is a game I have long wanted to play and for some reason it just has never happened. I was also interested in the follow up, Gettysburg: A Time for Heroes, which uses the same system but is by different designers. Brandywine, 1777 is a new game from one of Gettysburg’s designers, from a different publisher, but using that same core system. While I would say that the American Civil War is probably more to my interest than the American Revolution, this looks like a great production and might finally be the one I manage to play, if for no other reason than it looks like I might be able to play it on Vassal.
Tankschlacht: The Battle of Cambrai, 1917 by Kerry Anderson (Revolution Games)
I’m generally impressed by Revolution Games, they make nice games that aren’t too big and have clearly been tested and developed (not a guarantee in this hobby). I don’t know much about World War I, but I am interested in learning more, and a small hex and counter game from Revolution feels like a great place to start. Also, I love tanks, and especially love early, clunky, weird tanks.
Battles of Napoleon: Volume II – Quatre Bras 1815 by Uwe Walentin (Sound of Drums)
While I can see the appeal in the promise of Sound of Drums’ Eylau as a playable monster game, I’m not much for Napoleonics and that just looked way too big even for me. However, I’ve heard good things about the game (after the rulebook got fixed), and volume II looks to be a much smaller experience so I’m curious to see what all the fuss is about in a more playable form. Probably I’ll do what I always do with Napoleonic games: think really hard about it but then never play. But maybe this one will be different and I’ll actually play it. Who knows.
The Halls of Montezuma by Kevin Bertram and Gilberto Lopez (Fort Circle Games)
I love Kevin Bertram’s Shores of Tripoli, it was the first game I ever reviewed (and I wish I’d done a better job), and it’s one I’ve played just so many times. This sequel to the system on a subject that doesn’t get enough coverage in games (or in American history in general) looks rad. I’m really hoping that 2026 is the year that Fort Circle’s production and shipping woes finally end and we get a string of great games from them.
Top 5 Most Anticipated games I already own
It is important to resist becoming too drawn into the Cult of the New. On my shelves are many excellent games that I have not yet played, and I should be ashamed of that. As a form of accountability, and also to encourage us all to revisit our current collections even as we obsess about the upcoming releases, every year I pick five games that I own and have never played that I am excited to (hopefully) play for the first time this year.
Last year I managed to play 3 out of the 5 games on my list. I played A Greater Victory early in the year and really enjoyed it. I am, as of writing, still playing Give Us Victories (finally) on Vassal and really enjoying it – look for future coverage of that game on this website. Rally the Troops bailed me out on one of my picks by adding Verdun 1916: Steel Inferno, which meant that I managed to get quite a few games of it in before the end of the year. Sadly, I was unable to play Joe Balkoski’s The Korean War, because I got a little too caught up in playing OCS Korea, and I also failed to table Joe Miranda’s Bulge 20 (I’ll blame that one on the fact that I own the Japanese edition).
This year’s games are:
Damn, that’s a good pile of games
The Korean War: June 1950-May 1951 by Joe Balkoski (Victory Games)
I am probably leaving Korea in 2026, and I want to have played all of my (current) Korean War games before I go. That gives me a hard deadline to motivate me. It also means that Balkoski’s game goes back on the list again this year!
Korea: The Fight Across the 38th by Trevor Bender (RBM Studios)
Another Korean War game! This one only came into my possession in December, 2025 so it’s less shameful that I haven’t played it, but I’m still hoping to get it to the table before I leave Korea in mid-2026.
Fighting Formations: US 29th Infantry Division by Chad Jensen (GMT Games)
I have never played a Chad Jensen game (shameful, I know), and some friends of mine insist that Fighting Formations is an underappreciated entry in his design catalog. I have the latest entry punched, sorted, and clipped and I want to finally get it to the table (either physically or virtually). It looks very cool!
Le Dauphin & l’Épée by Frédéric Bey (Ludifolie Editions)
I’m a huge medieval nerd, and I have played so, so much Men of Iron, but I also want to explore other takes on medieval warfare. As a result, I have long had an interest in arguably the other big medieval wargaming system: Frédéric Bey’s Au Fil de l'Épée. I own Le Dauphin & l’Epée and Swords of Sovereignty, so if I get either to the table I will count this as a win. I just want to learn and try this system and see how it compares to my medieval fave.
Warriors of England by Yasutaka Ikeda (Multi-Man Publishing)
My other favorite medieval game is Warriors of God, and back in 2024 MMP released a War of the Roses sequel to that game. I even wrote a historical introduction for the magazine it came in. However, my copy was stuck at my parent’s house due to some shipping issues, and I was only reunited with it this summer right before my job took away all my free time. So 2026 will be the year I finally play it.
What games are you looking forward to in 2026? What games from your shelf are you finally hoping to play? Let me know!
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