James Buckley
@jsbuckley.bsky.social
Founder of Sapper Studio - a tabletop game design and development studio. https://www.sapperstudio.com/
Interested in all things wargamey - both professional and hobby fields.
Interested in all things wargamey - both professional and hobby fields.
In early 2023 @fredserval.bsky.social made a game we could give away at PunchedCON. I enjoyed the game, and @domhnallh.bsky.social art so much, I convinced @phalanxgames.bsky.social to publish it. And here it is. Excellent production by PHALANX as always. Can't wait to play it again!
November 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
In early 2023 @fredserval.bsky.social made a game we could give away at PunchedCON. I enjoyed the game, and @domhnallh.bsky.social art so much, I convinced @phalanxgames.bsky.social to publish it. And here it is. Excellent production by PHALANX as always. Can't wait to play it again!
Reposted by James Buckley
October 2025 Monthly Update! Get all the details here.
https://nevawargames.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
¡Actualización de octubre de 2025! Obtén todos los detalles aquí.
https://nevawargames.com/es/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
https://nevawargames.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
¡Actualización de octubre de 2025! Obtén todos los detalles aquí.
https://nevawargames.com/es/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
October 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM
October 2025 Monthly Update! Get all the details here.
https://nevawargames.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
¡Actualización de octubre de 2025! Obtén todos los detalles aquí.
https://nevawargames.com/es/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
https://nevawargames.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
¡Actualización de octubre de 2025! Obtén todos los detalles aquí.
https://nevawargames.com/es/2025/10/29/october-2025-monthly-update/
Battlegroup Clash: Baltics can be used to model new tactical doctrines, as highlighted here. As discussed @leebwood.bsky.social
RUSI just released an excellent paper on ‘Emergent Approaches to Combined Arms Manoeuvre in Ukraine’. I wanted to test if Battlegroup Clash: Baltics could model the new approach. The answer was a conditional yes. Read about it here: www.sapperstudio.com/post/testing...
October 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Battlegroup Clash: Baltics can be used to model new tactical doctrines, as highlighted here. As discussed @leebwood.bsky.social
Reposted by James Buckley
Essen Spiel begins! The Nuts! Publishing space is set up, and the team are all set to go.
On the agenda: The Council (Mini Rogue), Spell, Rolling Seas, Guerre Éclair, and Diluvium.
Please pop by to say hi if you are going. 👉Booth 3U210.
On the agenda: The Council (Mini Rogue), Spell, Rolling Seas, Guerre Éclair, and Diluvium.
Please pop by to say hi if you are going. 👉Booth 3U210.
October 23, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Essen Spiel begins! The Nuts! Publishing space is set up, and the team are all set to go.
On the agenda: The Council (Mini Rogue), Spell, Rolling Seas, Guerre Éclair, and Diluvium.
Please pop by to say hi if you are going. 👉Booth 3U210.
On the agenda: The Council (Mini Rogue), Spell, Rolling Seas, Guerre Éclair, and Diluvium.
Please pop by to say hi if you are going. 👉Booth 3U210.
Bell of Treason by @gmtgames.bsky.social at CzechConSimCon. It's less expansive, there's less 'to do', than Red Flag Over Paris. It's more set piece. But that's not a criticism. Rather you feel the pressure placed on the president, and the whim and nefarious impact of outside powers. Very tight.
October 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Bell of Treason by @gmtgames.bsky.social at CzechConSimCon. It's less expansive, there's less 'to do', than Red Flag Over Paris. It's more set piece. But that's not a criticism. Rather you feel the pressure placed on the president, and the whim and nefarious impact of outside powers. Very tight.
I've agreed with Avalon Digital to design a new digital wargame for them with the working title of Estonia 2028. It will use their SGS system, and I'm going to go big on multi domain effects.
In the meantime I can recommend another SGS game I've been enjoying: Winter War share.google/bR5dazTVXGMk...
In the meantime I can recommend another SGS game I've been enjoying: Winter War share.google/bR5dazTVXGMk...
SGS Winter War on Steam
Winter War is the story of the Soviet onslaught on tiny Finland from November 1939 to March 1940, at the beginning of WW2. Can the Finns hold beyond the reasonable and receive the long awaited Allied ...
share.google
October 15, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I've agreed with Avalon Digital to design a new digital wargame for them with the working title of Estonia 2028. It will use their SGS system, and I'm going to go big on multi domain effects.
In the meantime I can recommend another SGS game I've been enjoying: Winter War share.google/bR5dazTVXGMk...
In the meantime I can recommend another SGS game I've been enjoying: Winter War share.google/bR5dazTVXGMk...
Enthused by Andor I now want to buy a Star Wars RPG to add to my collection of RPGs that I'll never play 😅
What do people recommend?!
What do people recommend?!
peter griffin is wearing headphones and holding a cup of coffee while sitting in front of a record player
ALT: peter griffin is wearing headphones and holding a cup of coffee while sitting in front of a record player
media.tenor.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Enthused by Andor I now want to buy a Star Wars RPG to add to my collection of RPGs that I'll never play 😅
What do people recommend?!
What do people recommend?!
Take a bow @domhnallh.bsky.social 👏
The Rococo of Unhappy King Charles
The exuberant beauty of the design for Unhappy King Charles is an aesthetic triumph
UKC succeeds brilliantly as a marriage of game design and artistry that is rare in the world of boardgaming. Frankly, I am at a loss to think of any peers
wp.me/pae4WL-cSV
The exuberant beauty of the design for Unhappy King Charles is an aesthetic triumph
UKC succeeds brilliantly as a marriage of game design and artistry that is rare in the world of boardgaming. Frankly, I am at a loss to think of any peers
wp.me/pae4WL-cSV
October 10, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Take a bow @domhnallh.bsky.social 👏
I'm trying to see if/how I can use an LLM to reduce time lost on mundane aspects of development. Today, I'm looking for a quicker way to create and upload prototype counters for TTS mods. I've tried using Claude but it's failed. Is there an LLM which is particularly good at visual stuff like this?
October 8, 2025 at 9:36 AM
I'm trying to see if/how I can use an LLM to reduce time lost on mundane aspects of development. Today, I'm looking for a quicker way to create and upload prototype counters for TTS mods. I've tried using Claude but it's failed. Is there an LLM which is particularly good at visual stuff like this?
Reposted by James Buckley
Heading to Essen SPIEL later this month? Come to booth 3U210 to demo some of our new games:
* The Council (Mini Rogue)
* Spell
* Rolling Seas
* Guerre Éclair
* Diluvium
We'll also be running demos of Paolo Mori's acclaimed new game - Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars.
So pop by and say hi!
* The Council (Mini Rogue)
* Spell
* Rolling Seas
* Guerre Éclair
* Diluvium
We'll also be running demos of Paolo Mori's acclaimed new game - Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars.
So pop by and say hi!
October 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Heading to Essen SPIEL later this month? Come to booth 3U210 to demo some of our new games:
* The Council (Mini Rogue)
* Spell
* Rolling Seas
* Guerre Éclair
* Diluvium
We'll also be running demos of Paolo Mori's acclaimed new game - Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars.
So pop by and say hi!
* The Council (Mini Rogue)
* Spell
* Rolling Seas
* Guerre Éclair
* Diluvium
We'll also be running demos of Paolo Mori's acclaimed new game - Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars.
So pop by and say hi!
Check it out!!
New video is up about Battlegroup Clash: Baltics where I chat and play with designer @jsbuckley.bsky.social - a very interesting professional/hobby hybrid wargame currently on pre-order (poke @etagereslivres.bsky.social et @abrgll.bsky.social - petite ref à Duel Tactique)
youtu.be/Ox1Lj9tRR2A
youtu.be/Ox1Lj9tRR2A
Battlegroup Clash Baltics - Interview and Game Preview with designer James Buckley
YouTube video by Homo Ludens
youtu.be
October 4, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Check it out!!
Reposted by James Buckley
50% SOLD OUT! ⏳
Limited copies of Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth & Sea & Steel: Columbus's Voyages are almost halfway gone. Production is nearly finished.
Don't miss out—pre-order now! https://f.mtr.cool/ywijvzfyus
Limited copies of Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth & Sea & Steel: Columbus's Voyages are almost halfway gone. Production is nearly finished.
Don't miss out—pre-order now! https://f.mtr.cool/ywijvzfyus
October 1, 2025 at 4:28 PM
50% SOLD OUT! ⏳
Limited copies of Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth & Sea & Steel: Columbus's Voyages are almost halfway gone. Production is nearly finished.
Don't miss out—pre-order now! https://f.mtr.cool/ywijvzfyus
Limited copies of Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth & Sea & Steel: Columbus's Voyages are almost halfway gone. Production is nearly finished.
Don't miss out—pre-order now! https://f.mtr.cool/ywijvzfyus
Playing a first game of Air & Armor Wurzburg. Very impressed.
October 1, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Playing a first game of Air & Armor Wurzburg. Very impressed.
This looks a very cool euro-historic hybrid game that I'm happy to have just backed. Check it out! www.kickstarter.com/projects/csq...
Iberia: Kings and Emirs
The frontiers of faith and politics
www.kickstarter.com
September 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
This looks a very cool euro-historic hybrid game that I'm happy to have just backed. Check it out! www.kickstarter.com/projects/csq...
Exciting news coming out of France!
September 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Exciting news coming out of France!
Reposted by James Buckley
The Kaliningrad array is a potent reminder that electronic warfare is not a futuristic concept, but a present-day reality.
Don't just observe the future of warfare… command it! Pre-order Battlegroup Clash: Baltics today www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr (4/4)
Don't just observe the future of warfare… command it! Pre-order Battlegroup Clash: Baltics today www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr (4/4)
Games | Sapper Studio
www.sapperstudio.com
September 30, 2025 at 6:40 AM
The Kaliningrad array is a potent reminder that electronic warfare is not a futuristic concept, but a present-day reality.
Don't just observe the future of warfare… command it! Pre-order Battlegroup Clash: Baltics today www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr (4/4)
Don't just observe the future of warfare… command it! Pre-order Battlegroup Clash: Baltics today www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr (4/4)
Reposted by James Buckley
This real-world escalation of electronic warfare (EW) capabilities underscores why it is a critical feature of Battlegroup Clash: Baltics (3/4)
September 30, 2025 at 6:39 AM
This real-world escalation of electronic warfare (EW) capabilities underscores why it is a critical feature of Battlegroup Clash: Baltics (3/4)
Reposted by James Buckley
Satellite imagery has revealed the construction of what may be one of the largest electronic surveillance installations built since the Cold War (2/4)
September 30, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Satellite imagery has revealed the construction of what may be one of the largest electronic surveillance installations built since the Cold War (2/4)
Reposted by James Buckley
How worried should we be about Russia's escalating electronic warfare (EW) threat on NATO's doorstep? 🧵 (1/4)
September 30, 2025 at 6:37 AM
How worried should we be about Russia's escalating electronic warfare (EW) threat on NATO's doorstep? 🧵 (1/4)
Reposted by James Buckley
Will you dominate the skies and secure your victory? Take command of the aerial battlefield! Pre-order Battlegroup Clash: Baltics today www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr and prepare to deploy your drones against your opponents in the deadly dance of modern warfare! (15/15)
Games | Sapper Studio
www.sapperstudio.com
September 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Will you dominate the skies and secure your victory? Take command of the aerial battlefield! Pre-order Battlegroup Clash: Baltics today www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr and prepare to deploy your drones against your opponents in the deadly dance of modern warfare! (15/15)
Drones are changing the game in Ukraine. Learn how Battlegroup Clash: Baltics models drone warfare in this reel.
Why are Russians in thermal insulating ponchos still failing to hide from Ukrainian FPV drones? 🧵 (1/15)
September 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Drones are changing the game in Ukraine. Learn how Battlegroup Clash: Baltics models drone warfare in this reel.
Reposted by James Buckley
Ready to help us finish Spartacus: Rome under Threat?
The game is nearly complete, and we need playtesters to provide crucial feedback on this game. Help us to get it to your table sooner!
https://nevawargames.com/2025/09/23/spartacus-rome-under-threat-final-playtesting-and-proofreading/
The game is nearly complete, and we need playtesters to provide crucial feedback on this game. Help us to get it to your table sooner!
https://nevawargames.com/2025/09/23/spartacus-rome-under-threat-final-playtesting-and-proofreading/
September 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Ready to help us finish Spartacus: Rome under Threat?
The game is nearly complete, and we need playtesters to provide crucial feedback on this game. Help us to get it to your table sooner!
https://nevawargames.com/2025/09/23/spartacus-rome-under-threat-final-playtesting-and-proofreading/
The game is nearly complete, and we need playtesters to provide crucial feedback on this game. Help us to get it to your table sooner!
https://nevawargames.com/2025/09/23/spartacus-rome-under-threat-final-playtesting-and-proofreading/
Reposted by James Buckley
I just saw James at Connections UK and his talk was immensely helpful with some projects I’ve got going at work- he’s the real deal so buy his game!
I've set up a dedicated account for Sapper Studio.
Please share and follow for updates on Battlegroup Clash and more (there's exciting stuff planned).
I'll just use this account for my personal musings.
Now here's a joke:
I know a friend who keeps stealing board games...
He’s such a Risk taker!
Please share and follow for updates on Battlegroup Clash and more (there's exciting stuff planned).
I'll just use this account for my personal musings.
Now here's a joke:
I know a friend who keeps stealing board games...
He’s such a Risk taker!
What's up Bluesky!
Sapper Studio now has a dedicated account.
Some special news to accompany this first post - Battlegroup Clash: Baltics is at the printers! Delivery in about 12 weeks.
Pre-order at a 20% discount while you still can: www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr
And stay tuned for more from us!
Sapper Studio now has a dedicated account.
Some special news to accompany this first post - Battlegroup Clash: Baltics is at the printers! Delivery in about 12 weeks.
Pre-order at a 20% discount while you still can: www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr
And stay tuned for more from us!
September 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I just saw James at Connections UK and his talk was immensely helpful with some projects I’ve got going at work- he’s the real deal so buy his game!
I've set up a dedicated account for Sapper Studio.
Please share and follow for updates on Battlegroup Clash and more (there's exciting stuff planned).
I'll just use this account for my personal musings.
Now here's a joke:
I know a friend who keeps stealing board games...
He’s such a Risk taker!
Please share and follow for updates on Battlegroup Clash and more (there's exciting stuff planned).
I'll just use this account for my personal musings.
Now here's a joke:
I know a friend who keeps stealing board games...
He’s such a Risk taker!
What's up Bluesky!
Sapper Studio now has a dedicated account.
Some special news to accompany this first post - Battlegroup Clash: Baltics is at the printers! Delivery in about 12 weeks.
Pre-order at a 20% discount while you still can: www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr
And stay tuned for more from us!
Sapper Studio now has a dedicated account.
Some special news to accompany this first post - Battlegroup Clash: Baltics is at the printers! Delivery in about 12 weeks.
Pre-order at a 20% discount while you still can: www.sapperstudio.com/battlegr
And stay tuned for more from us!
a black and white photo of a machine that says a on it
ALT: a black and white photo of a machine that says a on it
media.tenor.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I've set up a dedicated account for Sapper Studio.
Please share and follow for updates on Battlegroup Clash and more (there's exciting stuff planned).
I'll just use this account for my personal musings.
Now here's a joke:
I know a friend who keeps stealing board games...
He’s such a Risk taker!
Please share and follow for updates on Battlegroup Clash and more (there's exciting stuff planned).
I'll just use this account for my personal musings.
Now here's a joke:
I know a friend who keeps stealing board games...
He’s such a Risk taker!
I'm helping out a bit with the development of this one. The subject matter is the Boxer Rebellion and the siege of Peking. Mechanically it's a combination of sieging, juggling supply and morale, hand management, and a bit of deck-building. In short: interesting.
Peking: 55 Days of Fury - Coming soon!
https://f.mtr.cool/wgzsdveshp
https://f.mtr.cool/wgzsdveshp
September 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
I'm helping out a bit with the development of this one. The subject matter is the Boxer Rebellion and the siege of Peking. Mechanically it's a combination of sieging, juggling supply and morale, hand management, and a bit of deck-building. In short: interesting.