Wargameron is a four-days board game convention held in Poland, focusing on historical, strategic and tactical wargames. It takes place annually at the end of vacations and the 2026 edition has just concluded, from 27 to 30 August, at the Hotel Kuznia Napoleonska in Paprotnia – Teresin, in central Poland, some 30 km from Warsaw. If you want to know what I was looking forward to before the event, you can still read my invitation post – and I am happy to say the convention delivered on every single promise.
It is an event created by players, for players, and its strength lies in one simple idea: everything happens under one roof. We play, sleep and eat in the same hotel, with accommodation, meals and the playing area available as one package. The restaurant and the bar are just outside the hall, with special prices for participants – the practical result being minimum logistics and maximum gaming.
The hall, the people and the guests
At the heart of the convention is a large, well-lit gaming hall with over 50 tables of various sizes – from two-player duels to the real monsters – complemented this year by additional themed rooms and a dedicated space for the biggest titles. Almost 200 participants from Poland and abroad, comfortable chairs, a sensible table layout, a matchmaking application in its brand new 2.0 version, name badges, quizzes, the integration football match and the now-traditional BBQ. And, importantly for our guests from abroad, the event is English-friendly throughout, with the vast majority of the games played in English editions.
Main stage
The guest list was, as every year, one of the highlights. Among many others, participants had the opportunity to meet Grzegorz Kurylowicz, designer of the upcoming In Fours to Heaven, Paul Hederer, designer of 1916: Romania – Prelude to Blitzkrieg, Francisco Ronco, known for Von Manstein’s Triumph, David Gomez Relloso, designer of Crusade and Revolution, as well as Stefan Ekstrom and the 3CG team presenting their newest designs.
Rows after rows of gaming tables!
I will not deny it – this is still my favorite wargaming convention in Poland. The possibility to meet great colleagues (some of them not seen for far too long), in perfect conditions and in a well-communicated location, makes it a truly special experience. But it is the games which are the main focus of this event, isn’t it? So let us talk about the titles I had a pleasure to play during those four long, exhausting and terrific days!
The Games I Played
Wargameron started for me with a big one – Baltic Empires from GMT Games, covering the Northern Wars of 1558-1721. What I like most in this design is that war is only one of the available tools: trade goods, loans, the estates and the permanent threat of state bankruptcy matter just as much as armies. By the time this photo was taken practically every province on the map carried somebody’s control marker, and the Baltic itself had become a very crowded place. A perfect opening for the convention. PS. This was one of the most often played games of convention. At one time I have seen three concurrent sessions going on!
The first day continued late into the evening with Bretwalda – a title I have been exploring on the blog for some time now, so it was a real pleasure to bring it to the table in a full group. Five players on the map (including Vikings!) of early medieval Britain, bidding for the initiative, marching, raiding and a lot of very polite backstabbing. The board fills up fast and there is simply no safe corner of England.
We closed the first day with something much lighter – The Gang, a cooperative poker game (here in the Polish edition from Galakta). You do not play against each other but against the deck: everybody gets their cards, and then the whole table has to agree, without saying a word about the actual hands, who holds the strongest one. Very simple, very loud, and exactly what you need close to midnight.
Fresh after a wonderful breakfast, the second day started with Assault: Sicily ’43 – a game we enjoyed so much last year that it came back to the table almost automatically. The landing waves are coming ashore along the beach on the right, while the defenders wait in the village, in the trenches and behind the mines on the left. The system is fast, bloody and forces the attacker to keep pushing: every turn spent on the open ground is a turn under fire.
After that we moved to Verdun by Ren Multamaki – and the line printed on the box is the best possible description of this design: a card game where every card has a price, every trick a consequence and every hand a dilemma. You win tricks to hold the sectors of the battlefield, but the strongest cards are exactly the ones covered with skulls, so every success is immediately paid for in losses. A small box which tells its story remarkably well.
And then something completely different – Wroth. If you judge a game by its colors, this one breaks every rule of our hobby: neon greens, pinks and oranges instead of the usual sepia and olive drab. Underneath the artwork there is a proper area control game with dice used as your forces, and it was a genuinely refreshing change of pace in the middle of a wargaming convention.
The football tournament is slowly becoming a Wargameron tradition – this time in the form of The World Cup Card Game. Every player draws several national teams from the slips of paper and then it is all about goals, corners, penalties and that wonderful Offside card which nullifies the opponent’s goal at the very last moment. Pure emotions, a lot of shouting, and the closer to the final the louder our table became.
Exactly as last year, the late night belonged to Charioteer from Matt Calkins. Six chariots on the track, the Emperor die watching over the race and that lovely moment when you realize you have played your best cards one lap too early. This is still the perfect closer for a convention day – light, fast, and definitely the most fun in a big group.
The third day opened with The War to End War (La Der des Ders) from Hexasim – the entire First World War on a single map, with each front reduced to a track along which the armies push each other back and forth. No hexes, no stacks of counters, and yet the whole war is there: the Russian Revolution ticking in the corner, the blockade and the U-Boote fighting over the resource track, and the Entente slowly grinding the Central Powers down. Elegant and surprisingly tense.
Then a proper classic – Wars of the Roses: Lancaster vs York, an older Z-Man title which does not appear on the tables too often nowadays. Nobles change sides, votes decide who gets the crown’s favour, and control of towns, castles and bishoprics translates directly into points. A game about a civil war where loyalty is just another resource to be traded.
Late in the evening we sailed out with Venetia, where four players take the roles of the great families of the Republic and expand along the trade routes from the Adriatic to the Levant and the Black Sea. Beautiful map, cubes spreading in every direction, and the constant question of whether to invest at home in Venice or to grab one more port before somebody else does.
The convention finished for me with Imperial 2030 from Mac Gerdts – six modern powers, the famous rondel, and the brilliant twist that you never really play a country: you play the money standing behind it. Bonds, dividends and taxes decide everything, and the moment somebody else buys a bigger share of the power you have been carefully developing is always painful. A great, thoughtful ending to four wonderful days.
Conclusions
Again, big, big thanks to the whole organizing team – Wargameron would not exist without their work, and it is worth underlining how smoothly everything ran this year: the hall, the additional rooms, the matchmaking app, the food and the BBQ. Everything was in the right place at the right time, which is exactly what you want when the only thing you plan to do for four days is play.
Twelve titles in four days, from heavy 18th century economics to a cooperative poker game at midnight – and still a long list of things I did not manage to play. That is probably the best possible recommendation for a convention. If you have never been, put the next edition in your calendar: details, as always, at www.wargameron.pl.
Thanks for this nice review. I have also enjoyed the convention. The place is excellent and the people is great. The organizers work hard to ensure everything goes well. The long journey has been worth it. I expect to visit the convention again someday.
Someday, I’ll visit Poland. Looks like it’d be best to visit in late August!
Definitely good time to be! Looking forward to your visit!
Thanks for this nice review. I have also enjoyed the convention. The place is excellent and the people is great. The organizers work hard to ensure everything goes well. The long journey has been worth it. I expect to visit the convention again someday.
Wonderful experiences David! Thanks for sharing!
Looks like a great time!
Baltic Empires looks so cool
It was a blast indeed! Hope some day – to see you in Poland!