Evan D'Alessandro
@evandalessandro.bsky.social
Wargamer + wargame designer. PhD student at KCL War Studies studying Immersion in Wargaming. Interested in the future of conflict, China, USN, and undersea cables. Wargame Portfolio: evandalessandro.com
Pinned
Jaws of the Dragon
Jaws of the Dragon is a brigade level wargame of a US-China war happening tomorrow.
evandalessandro.com
If you ever wanted to fight the opening month of a war between the US and China between you and a friend or for 200 people you can do so! Jaws of the Dragon is freely available for download, and I keep it periodically updated as forces change and I read more.
evandalessandro.com/jaws-of-the-...
evandalessandro.com/jaws-of-the-...
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
"Using a microethnographic approach, we analyze a set of video-recorded post-wargaming debriefing sessions. In the examination of the practical reasoning present in the discussions, we find that participants engage with the concept of tactics in three main ways"
December 8, 2025 at 11:36 AM
"Using a microethnographic approach, we analyze a set of video-recorded post-wargaming debriefing sessions. In the examination of the practical reasoning present in the discussions, we find that participants engage with the concept of tactics in three main ways"
I got to play this at Connections this year, and I second this assessment. It's a good game for an introduction to modern air combat having the right level of abstraction to be both representative enough, playable, and to leave enough room for a good discussion.
"IADS: The Game" is one of the games I enjoyed learning this year. It is #wargame designed to be fast-paced and easy to learn for professional military education. It is a reminder that games don't have to be complex to be good. #wargaming 🎲
December 8, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I got to play this at Connections this year, and I second this assessment. It's a good game for an introduction to modern air combat having the right level of abstraction to be both representative enough, playable, and to leave enough room for a good discussion.
Samurai skirmishing today. The most bloody run of these rules I've ever seen, with an almost complete inability of our opponents to roll poorly (and my inability roll above a 5) made this a brutal slog. Our clan is badly short of key members and retainers after this.
December 7, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Samurai skirmishing today. The most bloody run of these rules I've ever seen, with an almost complete inability of our opponents to roll poorly (and my inability roll above a 5) made this a brutal slog. Our clan is badly short of key members and retainers after this.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
good pod episode even though evan lists all the controls for that one run of jaws except for me… evan hates cyber confirmed
I was on the 20 Sided Gamified Podcast discussing a pile of topics: how I got into wargaming, the mystique and practice of professional wargaming, what it's like running a megagame, and my research on what dice represent in combat resolution, plus more. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2...
20 Sided Gamified Podcast
Education Podcast · Updated Monthly · The 20 Sided Gamified Podcast is hosted by Jared Fishman, whose professional career includes a nearly 20+ year tenure teaching history in independent schools, and...
podcasts.apple.com
December 6, 2025 at 7:07 PM
good pod episode even though evan lists all the controls for that one run of jaws except for me… evan hates cyber confirmed
I was on the 20 Sided Gamified Podcast discussing a pile of topics: how I got into wargaming, the mystique and practice of professional wargaming, what it's like running a megagame, and my research on what dice represent in combat resolution, plus more. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2...
20 Sided Gamified Podcast
Education Podcast · Updated Monthly · The 20 Sided Gamified Podcast is hosted by Jared Fishman, whose professional career includes a nearly 20+ year tenure teaching history in independent schools, and...
podcasts.apple.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I was on the 20 Sided Gamified Podcast discussing a pile of topics: how I got into wargaming, the mystique and practice of professional wargaming, what it's like running a megagame, and my research on what dice represent in combat resolution, plus more. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2...
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
The Avalon Hill International Kriegspiel Society was founded to provide a forum within which an internationally useable play by mail system could be utilized, encourage the spread of wargaming outside the USA, and provide members with mature opponents who would complete games promptly & fairly.
History of AHIKS – AHIKS
ahiks.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:30 AM
The Avalon Hill International Kriegspiel Society was founded to provide a forum within which an internationally useable play by mail system could be utilized, encourage the spread of wargaming outside the USA, and provide members with mature opponents who would complete games promptly & fairly.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
Frühkindliche Militarisierung aka Kekse backen mit den kleinen Geschwistern, wir gehen rein.
December 6, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Frühkindliche Militarisierung aka Kekse backen mit den kleinen Geschwistern, wir gehen rein.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
TODAY. Watch this space for updates.
December 4, 2025 at 7:33 AM
TODAY. Watch this space for updates.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
We are delighted to announce the 2026 Annual King's College London Wargaming Conference will take place 12-14 May 2026 at our Strand Campus, London.
Full details, such as schedule and sign up, to follow in the near future.
Full details, such as schedule and sign up, to follow in the near future.
December 1, 2025 at 3:38 PM
We are delighted to announce the 2026 Annual King's College London Wargaming Conference will take place 12-14 May 2026 at our Strand Campus, London.
Full details, such as schedule and sign up, to follow in the near future.
Full details, such as schedule and sign up, to follow in the near future.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
"I do think the way wargaming is practiced is fundamentally in the right direction. So this is a story about how we can create more precision, more defensible work, and have a better sense of what wargames are actually doing best..."
youtu.be/qKHvLWksBBc?...
youtu.be/qKHvLWksBBc?...
Connections UK 2025 Keynote - Dr David Banks
YouTube video by Colonel Killgore
youtu.be
November 30, 2025 at 10:55 AM
"I do think the way wargaming is practiced is fundamentally in the right direction. So this is a story about how we can create more precision, more defensible work, and have a better sense of what wargames are actually doing best..."
youtu.be/qKHvLWksBBc?...
youtu.be/qKHvLWksBBc?...
NATO WIN was interesting this year. Got to get Brigade Commander out, see some really cool games (Black Sky makes me want to get back to finalize my own space wargame), hear some new stuff about wargaming in different nations (interesting to compare), and see a bit of Italy for the first time.
November 27, 2025 at 8:54 PM
NATO WIN was interesting this year. Got to get Brigade Commander out, see some really cool games (Black Sky makes me want to get back to finalize my own space wargame), hear some new stuff about wargaming in different nations (interesting to compare), and see a bit of Italy for the first time.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
At 0300 our patrol made hard contact with the historians
November 14, 2025 at 6:46 PM
At 0300 our patrol made hard contact with the historians
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
There’s this one postdoc open to “political science or allied disciplines“, implying the existence of “enemy disciplines“.
November 14, 2025 at 5:55 PM
There’s this one postdoc open to “political science or allied disciplines“, implying the existence of “enemy disciplines“.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
About to try "The Shadow Lines" designed by Viltė Radzytė (for her Bachelor's thesis) 🎲
A 2-player wargame about the tense relationship between the U.S. & Iran, and how Iran adapts to U.S. sanctions 🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷
🔗 Download here (please sign & send the consent form first): drive.google.com/drive/folder...
A 2-player wargame about the tense relationship between the U.S. & Iran, and how Iran adapts to U.S. sanctions 🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷
🔗 Download here (please sign & send the consent form first): drive.google.com/drive/folder...
November 12, 2025 at 7:57 AM
About to try "The Shadow Lines" designed by Viltė Radzytė (for her Bachelor's thesis) 🎲
A 2-player wargame about the tense relationship between the U.S. & Iran, and how Iran adapts to U.S. sanctions 🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷
🔗 Download here (please sign & send the consent form first): drive.google.com/drive/folder...
A 2-player wargame about the tense relationship between the U.S. & Iran, and how Iran adapts to U.S. sanctions 🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷
🔗 Download here (please sign & send the consent form first): drive.google.com/drive/folder...
I'll be presenting at 8:00 am (UK Time) at Connections Oz tomorrow on modular approaches to wargaming Taiwan using Jaws of the Dragon as an example. If 8 is too early in the morning, they usually record them and post them later...
November 11, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I'll be presenting at 8:00 am (UK Time) at Connections Oz tomorrow on modular approaches to wargaming Taiwan using Jaws of the Dragon as an example. If 8 is too early in the morning, they usually record them and post them later...
Working on mapping a (mostly real) Suwalki gap. Last thing to add is rail lines and national boundaries and then to play with colors/textures/shadows/glow/outlines to provide a bit more separation between terrain types.
November 8, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Working on mapping a (mostly real) Suwalki gap. Last thing to add is rail lines and national boundaries and then to play with colors/textures/shadows/glow/outlines to provide a bit more separation between terrain types.
Interesting attempt to attempt to examine how adaptable/representative a game systems is by comparing it to ongoing combat in Ukraine.
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 3:07 PM
Interesting attempt to attempt to examine how adaptable/representative a game systems is by comparing it to ongoing combat in Ukraine.
Very good session today, had a few great chats with people and hopefully a few interesting games coming in the future!
October 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Very good session today, had a few great chats with people and hopefully a few interesting games coming in the future!
I'll be helping @sophiedebolle.bsky.social run this Microgame session for the Women's Wargaming Network tomorrow. You can still sign up if you are interested!
October 24, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I'll be helping @sophiedebolle.bsky.social run this Microgame session for the Women's Wargaming Network tomorrow. You can still sign up if you are interested!
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
wow. cables truly mainstream. @evandalessandro.bsky.social pop the champagne
Submarine cables are Europe's digital lifelines.
The recent attacks on Baltic Sea cables demand action to secure them.
Today in Riga, we presented new EU funding worth €20 million to strengthen the security and resilience of Europe’s undersea cable infrastructure ↓
link.europa.eu/3NpWvn
The recent attacks on Baltic Sea cables demand action to secure them.
Today in Riga, we presented new EU funding worth €20 million to strengthen the security and resilience of Europe’s undersea cable infrastructure ↓
link.europa.eu/3NpWvn
October 23, 2025 at 2:08 PM
wow. cables truly mainstream. @evandalessandro.bsky.social pop the champagne
I'll also be there and presenting on the PhD research panel!
Wargame Development's Autumn Virtual Gathering on-line conference is Sat 25th October. Details in the flyer. I'll be presenting ... twice!
October 16, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I'll also be there and presenting on the PhD research panel!
Quick shot from the Intro to Wargaming Event I ran again for the KCL Crisis Sim. The game works and I should finish the megagame when I have time. With 50+ people showing up though the Crisis Sim is beginning to suffer from success though and I had to make up 7 roles on the spot.
October 12, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Quick shot from the Intro to Wargaming Event I ran again for the KCL Crisis Sim. The game works and I should finish the megagame when I have time. With 50+ people showing up though the Crisis Sim is beginning to suffer from success though and I had to make up 7 roles on the spot.
After god knows how many attempts at a modern brigade game, I think I may have finally hit upon a model I like enough to make it work and keep the game fast. This is a full brigade in card form, plus the (tbd) capability cards. Hopefully I'll be able to start playtesting soon to see if it works!
October 6, 2025 at 4:23 PM
After god knows how many attempts at a modern brigade game, I think I may have finally hit upon a model I like enough to make it work and keep the game fast. This is a full brigade in card form, plus the (tbd) capability cards. Hopefully I'll be able to start playtesting soon to see if it works!
I've been having a very similar broad thought that a lot of newer Sci-Fi/fantasy is a baudrillardian(ish) simulacra of other Sci-Fi/fantasy, and this is compounded in wargames were some games are editions and editions deep, and the players (and thus designers) more siloed in what wargames they play.
I think more broadly what we’re seeing in a lot of fantasy/sci-fi gaming is that the old guard had a grounding in history and historical wargaming the new guard kinda lacks in general.
Basically all the attempts at doing so now are totally halfassed and have a tendency to just end in "bloodplague/tyranids ate everyone" after nine months.
October 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I've been having a very similar broad thought that a lot of newer Sci-Fi/fantasy is a baudrillardian(ish) simulacra of other Sci-Fi/fantasy, and this is compounded in wargames were some games are editions and editions deep, and the players (and thus designers) more siloed in what wargames they play.
Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro
Last year, I made a #wargame for @sebastianbae.bsky.social Indopacific microgames kit, Ambush from the Depths. I have now made a digital version of that game with @godotengine.org. I discovered unanticipated difficulties in turning board games into computer games, but learned from the experience.1/3
September 27, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Last year, I made a #wargame for @sebastianbae.bsky.social Indopacific microgames kit, Ambush from the Depths. I have now made a digital version of that game with @godotengine.org. I discovered unanticipated difficulties in turning board games into computer games, but learned from the experience.1/3