Beim Miniaturenmalen gilt schon immer, dass gute Pinsel aus Kolinsky-Haaren gefertigt sein müssen. Pinsel aus Synthetik-Haaren haben den Ruf, nur eine günstige Alternative für Anfänger*innen oder für Arbeiten, unter denen die Pinsel leiden, zu sein. Seit einiger Zeit gibt es ein Umdenken und Wölfer & Braun stoßen in diese Lücke.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Dennis Rexin geschrieben
Die Welt liegt in Trümmern. Der Zweite Weltkrieg dauert nun schon acht Jahre an und ein Ende ist nicht in Sicht. Die Kriegsparteien entwickeln immer neue und noch zerstörerischere Waffen und die Entdeckung der Rift-Technologie macht die Sache auch nicht besser. Willkommen in der Welt von Konflikt 47.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Dennis Rexin geschrieben
Im fünften Teil unserer Reihe nehmen wir erneut eine zentrale Einheit aus jedem Bündnis genauer unter die Lupe. Welche Taktiken entfalten ihr volles Potenzial? Wo liegen die besonderen Stärken und welche Schwachstellen sollten nicht außer Acht gelassen werden? Wie fügen sie sich in die Tabelle der bisherigen Speerspitzen ein?
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Christian Kallweit geschrieben
Auf Armageddon entfaltet sich der Konflikt zwischen dem Imperium und den Orks. Dies nutzt Games Workshop für die Veröffentlichung der 11. Edition. Mit der neuen Edition sollen teilwei-se gravierende Änderungen kommen und gewisse Regeln klarer oder einfacher definiert wer-den. Doch wie gelungen ist die Umsetzung?
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Robert Wolfes geschrieben
In der menschlichen Sphäre des Infinity-Universums ist die künstliche Intelligenz ALEPH der Kit, der alles zusammenhält. Doch nicht alle sind glücklich mit diesem System und so hat sich mit den Nomads eine Fraktion gebildet, die ihre eigene künstliche Intelligenz verwendet. Dies birgt natürlich Konfliktpotenzial.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Dennis Rexin geschrieben
Mit der Feldherr MINI PLUS Tasche soll die eigene Armee sicher zum nächsten Abenteuer reisen. Ob Spieleabend, Turnier oder spontaner Transport – kompakte Maße, robuste Materialien und ein magnetisches Transportsystem versprechen Schutz für empfindliche Miniaturen. Wir haben geprüft, wie sich die Tasche im Hobbyalltag schlägt.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Christian Kallweit geschrieben
Seit einigen Jahren sind im Figurenbereich Kontrastfarben verfügbar, die das schnelle Bemalen von vielen Figuren merkbar vereinfacht haben. Um gut zu wirken, sind Vorüberlegungen über die Grundierung notwendig - gibt es die eine, beste Grundierung? Wir haben für euch unterschiedliche Möglichkeiten getestet.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Dominic Niederhoff geschrieben
Hybrid physical and digital game console maker Board has raised another $20m in venture capital amid plans to launch an AI-powered game design platform.
The new funding round, which was led by Union Square Ventures, means Board has now raised $35m in external funding since the touchscreen device was launched in October last year.
That launch was accompanied by a suite of 12 initial games, including Omakase from veteran board game creator Bruno Cathala, which make use of physical pieces that interact with the digital board.
The company claims thousands of developers are starting to create games for Board using its software development kit, although it is yet to publicly announce any tie-ups with existing board game publishers or other designers.
Alongside the funding announcement Board said it would unveil an AI platform later this year which will allow users to build their own games using natural language prompts, saying taking a game from idea to playable prototype can be done in less than an hour.
Michael Mignano, general partner at Board investor Union Square Ventures, cited Roblox as a successful example of that model – although that platform has faced repeated criticism in recent years for financially exploiting young developers and putting pressure on children to spend money via its virtual currency.
Mignano said, “I grew up playing Nintendo and Super Nintendo, huddled around my living room CRT television with my sister, parents, friends. As I grew older, and the technology changed, so did my habits, and my gaming turned inward. I transitioned to Warcraft on my PC, and eventually to casual games and The Battle of Polytopia on my iPhone.
“But now I’m looking for reasons to put away my phone and be present with others. I’m attending more live sporting events and concerts than I have in my entire life. And instead of playing a console game by myself on a late Saturday night, my family and I are playing board games and card games around the dining room table.
“It’s not just me: both live events and board games are on pace for record years in 2026, with each market continuing a multi-year climb to all-time highs. This is the shift we keep coming back to at USV: even though we’re still addicted to our algorithms and group chats, people want ways to have fun with their friends in person.”
Board was founded last year by Brynn Putnam, who previously built smart fitness device company Mirror before its $500m acquisition by Lululemon in 2020.
Previous attempts to make a hybrid digital and physical board game console include The Last Gameboard, which raised more than $185,000 through a Kickstarter campaign in 2020, and followed that up with $6m in venture capital funding.
That business shuttered in 2024, however, with CEO and co-founder Shail Mehta saying the company never managed to overcome the lag and inconsistency in its touchscreen tech to allow for a mass consumer release.
Games in that device’s library included Terraforming Mars, Viticulture, Downforce and Steve Jackson’s 1977 debut game Ogre.
Update 22/6/26 – this article originally referred to Bruno Faidutti as a designer of Board’s first suite of games, when it should have read Bruno Cathala. Sorry Bruno(s)!
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Die Cities of Sigmar erhalten nicht nur neue Modelle, sondern zusätzliche Werkzeuge für ihre Kriegsführung. Zwischen neuen Held*innen, Magier*innen und gewaltigen Zahnradkastellen wächst die Kastelitenformation weiter über die klassische Feuerlinie hinaus. Doch welche Veröffentlichungen bringen taktisch echten Mehrwert und welche überzeugen vor allem als Hobbyprojekt?
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Geoffrey Förste geschrieben
Die meisten Bilder der Horus-Häresie zeigen Servorüstungen, die sich im Nahkampf bekämpfen. Doch was ist mit den schweren Unterstützungsauswahlen der Armeen? Games Workshop bringt hierfür neue Regeln und Plastikmodelle für die Fraktionen der Space Marines und der Solar Auxilia in der dritten Edition von Warhammer 30.000 heraus.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Robert Wolfes geschrieben
Mit dem neuen Kriegsbuch präsentieren sich die Cities of Sigmar stärker fokussiert denn je. Neue Einheiten, beeindruckende Cogforts und überarbeitete Mechaniken rücken die militärischen Befehlsstrukturen der Armee in den Mittelpunkt. Zwischen Schwarzpulver, Glauben und wandelnden Festungen entsteht so eine Fraktion, die sich auf dem Spielfeld überraschend vielseitig präsentiert.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Geoffrey Förste geschrieben
Editor’s note: GAMA is one of the sponsors of the BoardGameWire newsletter
Newly-elected GAMA president Meredith Placko says the tabletop trade organisation must stop being reactionary, improve how it communicates with members, and focus on collecting meaningful industry data as it continues to navigate a turbulent couple of years.
GAMA has experienced explosive growth since the pandemic, with surging attendances at its annual GAMA Expo trade show and a broadening of its membership to include designers, manufacturers, media and events organisers, in addition to its long-time core of publishers, retailers and wholesalers.
But the organisation has been dealing with challenges too, including losing long-serving executive director John Stacy last October – just three weeks after unveiling ambitious plans to become the “epicenter” of the global tabletop gaming industry.
GAMA has also recently faced budgetary issues, had to contend with the fallout from Donald Trump’s volatile tariff policy, and has fallen foul of a series of gaffes and other incidents which have caused dents to its reputation.
Last month GAMA‘s board of directors had to apologise for some of its elected leaders being “rude and disrespectful” during a “heated” annual general meeting.
That apology came just a few days after GAMA unveiled its latest slate of 120 nominees for its annual Origins Awards prize – and immediately came under fire for failing to mention any of the games’ designers for the third year in a row.
Speaking to BoardGameWire in her first long-form interview since being elected last month, Placko said putting proactive structures in place to keep GAMA from “stepping in the mud all the time” was one of her priorities.
She said, “We need to stop being reactionary. We need to start looking ahead, we need to think before we speak.
“…it’s easy, avoidable issues that if we just put a bit more forethought into it, we can overcome them and they won’t even become an issue. And I think a lot of that has to do with making sure you have the right people in the right places to communicate better.
“I will say this: GAMA’s not done a great job of communicating to its membership. And I really want to appreciate the work that has been done in the last year on the GAMA staff side, where they’ve retooled the newsletter, and they’re trying to get ahead of everything.
“I think that’s great, And I think the conversations that we’re having behind the scenes between board members and with our acting executive director is being on top of that communication.
“And that’s going to be really key because it’ll kind of keep us from stepping in the mud all the time or being late to the game, like with the tariff news last year.”
Part of that looking ahead involves GAMA’s first-ever ten-year plan, which was unveiled to much fanfare last October by former executive director John Stacy and Placko’s predecessor as president, Nicole Brady.
That array of plans included boosting GAMA’s membership within both hobby games and the mass market, expanding itself from being US-centric into a true global organisation, shifting its finances away from the current heavy reliance on the annual GAMA Expo and Origins shows, and leading the conversation on sustainability within the industry.
Advocacy and brand protection were also one of its near-term priorities – underscored by the organisation’s recent intensive lobbying and awareness efforts around the impact on the industry of US tariffs.
But with the figureheads of that plan both gone from their positions, where does the future lie for GAMA’s Vision 2035?
Placko told BoardGameWire, “I think most of it is there, it’s going to stay – I think it’s just going to be the order of which we tackle things.
“…we need to not be reactionary as an organization. We need to stop waiting for something to happen to then react to it. So we need to kind of maybe do a little bit more forward thinking about what are going to be the pressing matters.
“So advocacy, which was on the later half of that ten-year plan, that’s actually should be something that we start building into the core of our organization sooner.”
She added, “I’m going to be starting an advocacy committee for us to start looking at how to educate our members on being advocates for themselves and looking at opportunities that we can maybe work alongside other trade organizations or industry and other impact groups to do more lobbying efforts and have a say.
“Because really, as we saw this last year, tariffs decimated so many of our members. And that is something that we need to be on the forefront of… I know some people are like, ‘Oh, what can GAMA do? You guys are small potatoes’, but it’s having that voice, it’s having the impact.
“It’s at least having the information ready for people, so they know what’s going on and can make informed decisions.”
Tariffs have impacted GAMA as an institution beyond just the need to lobby on behalf of its membership. Placko told BoardGameWire that the organisation had seen an uptick in turnover of members over the last year, and said she believed tariffs and wider economic instability were to blame.
But she added, “One of the things that I want to see is more hard data on member retention, like: who is staying, who is going, why are they leaving? Unfortunately in the last year, due to tariffs levied in America, companies are having to close down.
“People are going to have to make these harder decisions. You know, can they afford to be part of a trade organization? Are they even around to still be part of that trade organization?
“I will say: membership numbers are up, which is great all around. All membership groups saw a nice bump this year for membership, but we did lose people. And actually one of the big things I want to work with the whole board, the membership, the GAMA staff is: why are those people leaving? Where are they going? What’s happening to them?
“Because one of my core beliefs of a trade organization is that we need to be more involved in sort of this data gathering and sharing.
“I’ve been involved in [other] trade organizations and it’s very key to me that the trade organization is able to provide me with actionable accurate data that can help make informed decisions as businesses move forward.
“And I think a key part of that is just knowing: what is the state of our industry? What is going on with people? What is going on with companies? Where can we as a trade organization also step up and help them, like with advocacy?”
Despite membership numbers continuing to grow, GAMA has also faced headwinds for its finances over the last couple of years – a situation that has delayed its hiring of a new permanent executive director to replace John Stacy.
Tax data provided to BoardGameWire by the organisation showed net revenues of just $17,500 on a total revenue of about $1.4m in 2024 – well down on the almost $409,000 net revenue recorded the prior year, on overall revenues of almost $1.5m.
The documents show salaries rose about $782,000 in 2023 to almost $960,000 the following year, while ‘other expenses’ was up from $302,000 to about $426,000 in the same period.
Placko said, “Our finances have been… not in the best place. And back in the fall, John Stacy hired this amazing operations officer, Melinda Prickett, and she has been taking a look at our finances and how GAMA runs everything, and just laying out a plan, working on stabilizing us and getting us to a point that when we bring in an executive director, they won’t be walking into a messy situation.”
She added, “Some of the things were just, like, tracking spending and where that money was going. And I’ll say this: as an organization, we haven’t raised fees, we haven’t raised booth costs in a while.
“And while everything else is getting more expensive, what we were taking in was not covering everything that we were doing. So there were a lot of hard conversations about where cuts needed to be made.
“We’re currently spinning up conversations. We have a membership dues committee that started, that’s going to be looking at if we need to raise dues and how much.”
She continued, It’s great that we’re able to offer what we can for the limited amount of buy-in from memberships. But, you know, if that money is not covering everything, we have to make hard decisions.
“But it’s improved. I’ll say that… there are just changes we’ve made, and things aren’t bad or scary.”
Speaking of her decision to run for GAMA president, Placko said, “I’ve been vice president. I’ve been on the board for only a year. It was interesting for someone new to the governance side of the organization to even make a play for an officer role like I did when I started.
“But it’s not like I’m lacking experience on non-profits and for-profit boards, and the reason I ran for [the GAMA board] to begin with is that there were just some core governance changes that I wanted to see.
“I quickly learned – and I think a lot of people don’t realize – that our board is governance and not operational. And what I saw was, from the outside, it looked like the board was maybe very involved in the day-to-day operations of GAMA, where it shouldn’t be.”
She added, “Nicole Brady did a fantastic job the last two years, bringing GAMA out of a really messy place and into a more stable place.
“But what I wanted to see, and what I kind of pitched to my fellow board members, was that I really believe that we need to be more of a working board where we’re all working together, that not one single person or a handful of individuals are leading things.
“And sometimes maybe the perception was that way. I want to be very clear: I’m not saying it was that way, just the perception. And communication is key.”
“…I think that the board deserves to know a lot more of what’s going on, and have more of a say in what is being said to the executive director. And I don’t want to be like, ‘oh, I ran on transparency’ – but I really did. I ran on that. I felt that us as a board needed to have more open communication with the executive director… and be able to have a more open working relationship.”
Placko continued, “I think there’s been a misconception that the president of the board leads the vision of GAMA and the board, and that shouldn’t be the case.
“As a board, we are 12 individuals who need to come together and have a shared vision. I kind of see my role as president as maybe the person who helps conduct those conversations, keep them on track, and help silo them to where we’re all on the same page by making compromises and such.
“But that doesn’t mean that I myself don’t have personal things that I think we need to update and change.”
The post “We need to stop being reactionary”: New GAMA president Meredith Placko on being data driven, improving communication and turning its ten-year plan into a reality first appeared on .
Der Zweite Weltkrieg wurde für Tabletop-Systeme vielfach als Thema genutzt. Wem das Nachstellen historischer Ereignisse aber nicht reicht, kann auch auf alternative Zeitlinien zurückgreifen. Konflikt 47 behandelt eine Welt, in der der Zweite Weltkrieg eine andere Wendung genommen hat, und fügt viele neue Technologien und Eigenarten hinzu.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Dennis Rexin geschrieben
Gamebreakers entführt uns mit dem Skirmisher Shroudfall in eine neue Welt. Der Shroud wurde durchbrochen und böse Kräfte bedrohen den Frieden. Gleich vier verschiedene Fraktionen kämpfen um die Vorherrschaft. Wir haben uns die Chosen of the Spirit Tree mal etwas genauer angeguckt.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Nina Horbelt geschrieben
Mit Kill Team: Schrecken auf Devlan kehrt der berüchtigte Rote Schrecken als Miniatur zurück auf die Schlachtfelder. Statt eines klassischen PvP-Duells erwartet Spieler*innen dieses Mal eine Kampagnenbox, in der ein imperialer Schemen-Trupp gegen eine Tyranidenbestie und weitere Schwarmwesen ums Überleben kämpft.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Geoffrey Förste geschrieben
Eine Welt voller Feinde des Imperiums, stets am schmalen Grat zur Zerstörung. In solchen Zeiten werden die besten Jäger der Menschheit gefordert: Elitekrieger der Deathwatch, erfahrene Veteranen, die kein Schlachtfeld scheuen und jeden Feind das Fürchten lehren. Mit Bolter und Kettenschwert gehen sie gnadenlos den Xenos an den Kragen.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Gastautor*in geschrieben
Enge Korridore, verschlossene Schotten und wenig Platz zum Ausweichen: Science-Fiction-Systeme kennen ihre ganz eigene Form von Dungeons. Mit dem Imperial KT Corridors-Set liefert der polnische Hersteller Micro Art Studio ein modulares Geländeset, das genau diese Gefechte auf den Spieltisch bringen will.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Geoffrey Förste geschrieben
Nicht jede Schlacht wird zu Fuß geführt, in der Tat führen viele Armeen Fahrzeuge mit sich. Doch was ist, wenn diese vermehrt auftreten. Mit Gepanzerte Macht bietet Games Workshop einen neuen Kampagnenmodus, in dem ein Fokus auf gepanzerte Figuren gelegt wird.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Robert Wolfes geschrieben
Armageddon, eine ganze Welt im Krieg. Für andere ein Albtraum, für Orks ein Versprechen von endlosen Schlachten, donnernde Kanonen und pure Zerstörung. Wo Chaos herrscht, finden sie ihr Paradies. Für sie ist es kein Krieg, sondern ein gewaltiger Abenteuerspielplatz. Und sie sind zurück, hungrig nach mehr.
Dieser Beitrag wurde von Christian Kallweit geschrieben
Arcs, the hybrid trick-taking wargame from Root and Oath designer Cole Wehrle, has won game of the year in the ioGioco Awards, which were created in 2021 to celebrate Italian-language board games and their designers.
Paolo Mori was named game designer of the year after demonstrating his huge range through designs including Toy Battle, Altay: Dawn of Civilization, Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars and the second edition of Blitzkreig.
Bryan Bornmueller’s The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game triumphed in the light and family games category, the new edition of Richard Borg’s Memoir ’44 won best wargame, while children’s game of the year went to Marc and Catherine André’s design Splendor Kids.
This year’s award for best aesthetic and production quality went to Michele Morosini’s The Breach, published by Ludus Magnus Studio, while best two-player game went to Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini’s design Toy Battle.
Nominees are picked by the editorial staff at Italian tabletop gaming magazine ioGioco from all of the titles published in Italy in the previous year, with the winners decided by public vote via the magazine’s website.
ioGioco said the tabletop gaming sector continues to prove “particularly vibrant”, with the market in Italy seeing a 27% rise in value last year compared to 2024 according to data from research company Circana.
Trading card games were a huge driver of that figure, the research shows, with sales of tabletop games outside of that category growing 3% year-on-year. More than new 800 titles were released in the country last year, ioGioco added.
Last year’s ioGioco game of the year award was won by fantasy deckbuilding and strategy game Black Rose Wars: Rebirth, which was designed by Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca and Marco Montanaro.
ioGioco Awards 2025 – full results
BOARD GAME
Winner: Arcs, designed by Cole Wehrle – published in Italy by MS Edizioni
Ants, Renato Ciervo, Andrea Robbiani
Bomb Busters, Hisashi Hayashi
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, Matt Leacock
Star Wars – Battle of Hoth, Richard Borg, Adrien Martinot
GAME DESIGNER
Winner: Paolo Mori
Gregory Grard
Hisashi Hayashi
Reiner Knizia
Matt Leacock
LIGHT & FAMILY GAME
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game, Bryan Bornmueller – Asmodee Italia
Bomb Busters, Hisashi Hayashi
Castle Combo, Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel
Cities, Steve Finn, Phil Walker-Harding
Flip 7, Eric Olsen
WARGAME
Winner: Memoir’ 44 (New Edition), Richard Borg – Asmodee Italia
Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, Paolo Mori, Alessandro Zucchini
Pocket Air War: Definitive Edition, Carlo Amaddeo
An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834-1838, David Gómez Relloso
Wunderwaffen, Walter Obert)
CHILDREN’S GAME
Winner: Splendor Kids, Marc André, Catherine André – Asmodee Italia
Jurassic Valley, Davide Panizza
My Puzzle Adventure: Ochre Land, Antonin Boccara, Romaric Galonnier, Fabrice Lamouille, Mathilde Malburet
Redwoods, Gary Kim, Yohan Goh, Hope S Hwang
Opération Noisettes, Emilie Soleil, Jérôme Soleil
AESTHETIC AND PRODUCTION QUALITY
Winner: The Breach, Michele Morosini – Ludus Magnus Studio
Cyclades: Legendary Edition, Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc
Galactic Cruise, TK King, Dennis Northcott, Koltin Thompson
Koi, Rosaria Battiato, Massimo Borzì, Martino Chiacchiera
Runar, Diego Fonseca)
AESTHETIC AND PRODUCTION QUALITY – ROLE-PLAYING GAME
Winner: Mörk Borg, Pelle Nilsson, J Yamil – Need Games
Daggerheart
Elder Mythos, Laura Fontanella, Marta Palvarini
Magus et Oraculum – New Edition, Momatoes, Oscar Biffi
Pilgrims of the Murk Dome, Pelle Nilsson, J Yamil
SOLITAIRE GAME
Winner: Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs, Joe Klipfel, Nikki Valens – Asmodee Italia
Final Girl Season 2, Evan Derrick, AJ Porfirio
Hispania, Miguel Marqués
Too Many Bones, Josh J Carlson, Adam Carlson
Voidfall, Nigel Buckle, Dávid Turczi
TWO-PLAYER GAME
Winner: Toy Battle, Paolo Mori, Alessandro Zucchini – Asmodee Italia
Duel for Cardia, Faouzi Boughida, Mathieu Rivero
Agent Avenue, Christian Kudahl, Laura Kudahl
Memoir’ 44 – New Edition, Richard Borg
Zenith, Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel
BOARD GAME EXPANSION
Winner: The White Castle – Matcha, Sheila Santos, Israel Cendrero – Devir
Dune: Imperium – Bloodlines, Phil Amylon, Andy Clautice, Paul Dennen, Caleb Vance
Food Chain Magnate: The Ketchup Mechanism & Other Ideas, Jeroen Doumen, Joris Wiersinga
Talisman: Nemesis – Call of the Hunt, Craig Van Ness
Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition – Thunder’s Edge, Dane Beltrami, James Kniffen
ROLE-PLAYING GAME
Winner: Daggerheart – Acheron Games
DIE: The Roleplaying Game, Kieron Gillen
Marvel Multiverse Roleplaying Game, Matt Forbeck, Marty Forbeck
Triangle Agency, Caleb Zane Huett, Sean Ireland
Wilderfeast, Federico Corbetta Caci, KC Shi
ROLE-PLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT
Winner: The One Ring: Realms of the Three Rings, Michele Garbuggio, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello, Gabriele Quaglia – Need Games
Dolmenwood Campaign Book
Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e: Dungeon Master’s Guide
Outgunned Adventure, Simone Formicola, Riccardo Sirignano
Tal’Dorei Reborn, James JHaeck, Matthew Mercer, Hannah Rose
GAMEBOOK
Winner: Un altro passo nella neve, Manuele Giuliano – Ingenioso Hidalgo
15 Mondi da Cana, Stefano Tartarotti
Chi è stato? 1 – La Casa degli Automi, Michele Buonanno
Fiabe Oscure 2 – Aurora, Valentina Ceciliato
The Freedom Finders – Beak Your Chains, Emily Conolan
The post Arcs named game of the year by Italian tabletop magazine ioGioco, Paolo Mori named best designer first appeared on .
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