I have already presented My top anticipated wargames of 2023 so the time has come to elaborate now more on general boardgames wish-list. Coincidentally the list will contain some of the violent titles, with RPG and EURO games twist. Seems this is essential element for me, even in non-wargames titles! These are of course my choices and I am sure some of you would add different positions to those list – feel free to do it in comments section!

Summary of 2022 and look into the 2023:
The Boardgames Chronicle most often played games of 2022
The Boardgames Chronicle in 2022 – analysis
New to me – 2022
My top anticipated wargames of 2023

1. Red Dust Rebellion from GMT Games

It is 2250 and the bicentennial celebrations of the first human colony on Mars are about to begin. 200 years of human achievement, but also 200 years of hardship. Mars is an unforgiving world, a barren wasteland on the surface, therefore the people live in vast underground cities known as labyrinths.

Over the years, the people of Mars have formed their own culture and identity and want more say in their own rule. To many, Earth is a remote world with too much control over Martian affairs. Furthermore, Earth’s corporations have too much power over life and death. Some long for a green Mars, covered in oceans and life. While others recoil at the idea that humanity will destroy the climate of another planet.

Red Dust Rebellion is volume XIII of GMT’s acclaimed COIN Series, and tells the story of the Martian revolts of the 2250’s and the rise of Martian nationalism.

Publishers Page

I hesitated whether to include this game in Wargames list, but in the end decided that while it is conflict drive, it is far from classic chits & hexes titles. So it lands in my broad group of general titles I am waiting for.

And what a great title it will be! First and foremost system – COunter INsurgency, a concept devised by Volko Ruhnke and developed to its maximum, now is being further used by broad group of talented designers. Secondly, the theme – colonized Mars where tensions and resentment grows to the Earth. Third – the graphics – GMT publishes almost every month new pictures and they look fabulous! The only ask – as with other titles above – is: please, publish it this year!

More on the title:

2. Frosthaven from Cephalofair Games

[UPDATE: when scheduling the post, the box was not yet with us; but it finally landed and we started the campaign!]

Frosthaven is the story of a small outpost far to the north of the capital city of White Oak, an outpost barely surviving the harsh weather as well as invasions from forces both known and unknown. There, a group of mercenaries at the end of their rope will help bring back this settlement from the edge of destruction.

Frosthaven is a standalone adventure from the designer and publisher of Gloomhaven that features sixteen new characters, three new races, more than twenty new enemies, more than one hundred new items, and a new, 100-scenario campaign.

In addition to having the well-known combat mechanisms of Gloomhaven, Frosthaven will feature much more to do outside of combat, such as numerous mysteries to solve, a seasonal event system to live through, and player control over how this ramshackle village expands, with each new building offering new ways to progress.

From publisher page

Out group hoped to play this game as early as 2021 – which was the initial plan of publisher. Unfortunately, due to all the COVID related supply chain issues it was significantly delayed. As you can see form my blog, me, Jakub G and Jakub J are great fans of the Gloomhaven. We have played already over 50 scenarios, which resulted in multiple strategy related articles and monster analysis essays. So we were very eagerly awaiting its continuation, Frosthaven. We truly hope our wish will be fulfilled and Frost becoming one of the most played titles of 2023!

More on the title:

3. Darwin’s Journey from ThunderGryph Games

Darwin’s Journey is a worker-placement Eurogame in which players recall Charles Darwin’s memories of his adventure through the Galapagos islands, which contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.

With the game’s innovative worker progression system, each worker will have to study the disciplines that are a prerequisite to perform several actions in the game, such as exploration, correspondence, gathering, and dispatch of repertoires found on the island to museums in order to contribute to the human knowledge of biology. The game lasts five rounds, and thanks to several short- and long-term objectives, every action you take will grant victory points in different ways.

Publishers page

A good, old-fashioned EURO game with some new twists and tricks and beautiful components – that how I see Darwin’s Journey and can’t wait to finally get it. There were hopes it will be shipped in 2022 but unfortunately – again due to supply chain issues – that did not happen.

Studying the game in more details I can definitely see it has potential to bring some new, fresh ideas and mechanics to such a popular genre like Worker-Placement-Games. Not every action immediately accessible, workers being trained and more efficient with time, multiple objectives – both short and long term, each of them granting points. And all of this in beautiful graphical form. The only hope is to get the game this year – which seems to be very possible!

More on the title:

4. Age of Rome

Become the new emperor of Rome in this strategic worker placement game set in 44 BC, Rome. Each turn, you will build structures in different provinces assigned to you through a rotating board. Balance war, politics, trade, and religion while scheming against your rival players.

In Age of Rome, each player is assigned a hero with their respective player board, then are given secret quests and starting resources of Denarii, Followers, Scheme tokens, Legions, and Votes. Then they spend nine rounds competing on a rotating board to earn Glory Points.

Each round consists of four phases:

  • Scheme phase: An Event card is revealed and turn order is determined; players activate Schemes in turn order.
  • Building phase: Players build structures in turn order.
  • Action phase: Players take actions by placing Followers in turn order.
  • Income phase: Players receive Income and the Provinces board is adjusted.

Players can earn Glory Points in various ways. They may build structures, place Followers to vote and win a majority, send Legions to conquer regions, trade or collect items, or even build a Pantheon. Completed secret quests also earn Glory Points. After the 9th round, the game ends. The final score is determined and the player with the most Glory Points is declared the new Emperor of Rome.

Publishers Page

You know my weakness for Ancient Rome 🙂 I love theme in many settings and Age of Rome campaign quickly got my attention. After reading through numerous materials, rulebook, etc. I decided it has enough “freshness” to justify valid addition to my collection. Or maybe I simply succumbed to temptation of getting yet one more Rome-themed title? Well, the future will tell – you can as always count on my impressions shared on this blog!

More on the title:

5. Lumeria

It is known that Gods are as strong as their followers’ faith. But time passes by, people die, civilizations vanish, and so does faith. Afraid of being weak and forgotten, gods – one by one – turn their heads towards Lumeria, where new acolytes await…

Lumeria: War of the Gods is an asymmetrical battle-card game where players take on a roles of Gods leading their followers and fight others on the field of battle.

During the game, players will deploy and control units and powerful mythical creatures. Using a variety of different skills and actions, they will try to lead their armies in the best possible way. Everything in order to score more scenario points than the opponent.

Fast pacing, limited randomness, smart balancing mechanisms and a variety of factions, tactics and strategies will result in different, exciting experience every time you play.

Publishers Page

This time you may say some “patriotic choice”. Lumeria is being published by Poland-based company; it has first launch couple of years ago but now we are getting completely new, revamped master set. Lumeria’s Master Set will contain a huge box designed to store the entire collection of faction decks which will likely grow further during the campaign. Creators promise an interesting system in which backers will be able to fully customize their boxes.

I really like tactical, fast-played, asymmetric conflict games and here we are getting one. And if it includes Slavic beliefs and gods, well, even better for me!

More on the title:

Summary

Well, this is self-explanatory but I think I need to repeat myself – as with Wargames, this is just scratching the surface – each year so many titles go out that you are not able to get to know all of them, not to mention play / get them all. Still, those couple presented above would definitely make me happy should I get them somewhere in 2023! And what are your awaited general boardgames for the current year?