Morgane Gouyon-Rety
@morganegr
French woman, player and designer of historical conflict simulations, living in Paris with my wife and two children
I absolutely love the cover art, so evocative and beautiful. Looks like Tomasz Jedruszek’s work to me…?
Well, the odds were well and truly beaten, as the final and biggest Arrivage du Jour did make it to my door right before we went on leave, allowing me just enough time to admire it and store it nicely pending our return. Though I uploaded all the rules on my phone to be studied on the beach 😉
As for DG Red Dragon Green Crescent (another Deluxe Ed…), I have hesitated for years because of what I read about the unrealistic activation system, but I finally went for it because it seems just too rich and too fun to ignore. Beautiful package, hopefully more mature than your typical DG game…
I had heard a lot of good things about the Deluxe-ification of Arnauld Della Siega’s elegant WW1 simulation by Hexasim (the game was originally released as a magazine game in Vae Victis), but nothing prepared me for the dual-layer player aids! Wow! Another game that begs to be played!
Second Arrivage du Jour of the week, with a well filled box from Hexasim! In it, the long awaited restock of the Deluxe version of La Der des Der, and a game for which I finally jumped off the fence, Red Dragon Green Crescent…
I’m expecting several game deliveries these days, and the first one looks absolutely fantastic! @gmtgames.bsky.social Cuius Regio. Congratulations @fgradaille.bsky.social Can’t wait to dive in (though that probably will have to wait until we’re back from vacation…
I was also lucky to discover a beautiful, innovative new game by a father-son team of French rookie designers, who are going by « Sapper & Vet ». This game, « Marches & Batailles » covers an oft-covered subject, the 1815 campaign of Waterloo, but in a new operational approach. Check it on Gamefound
Last (long) weekend was the 5th edition of the Asynconv near Tours, France, masterfully organized by Olivier Chanry. Over 5 intense days, I played Bretwalda (twice), Battle for Rokugan, Pax Pamir, Europa Universalis and Imperial Elegy. Great games, great players, great fun!
Great game of @gmtgames.bsky.social Hubris - Twilight of the Hellenistic World with French star designer Frédéric Bey and my son Riwal, the young one edging the two veterans with the Ptolemies (250 BCE scenario of the upcoming prequel expansion, some playtest material mixed with released material)
Fully agreed, and the publisher had the same stellar commitment for my Ancients game, with similarly stunning results IMO
All in all, I think the expansion is shaping very nicely, and will provide plenty of additional fun to Hubris players, including some experience of Macedonian might…
Closing out 2025 with a test game of the upcoming prequel expansion for @gmtgames.bsky.social Hubris… Antigonos Gonatas, Ptolemaios III and Seleukos II wish you a very Happy New Year 226 BCE! 🍾🎇
Splurged a little bit and purchased the @cube4me.bsky.social set for my own @gmtgames.bsky.social Hubris: everything fits in very nicely and neatly 😊
Took me a couple tries, but I finally managed to win @snafustore.bsky.social Operation Bøllebank by getting tank BQ in Tango 2 on the very last turn, despite the 1st tank being slowed down by Hull dmg, achieving both Operational, Strategic & Political victories! Very interesting little game indeed!
Atypical « arrivage du jour » today with my designer’s lot of @gmtgames.bsky.social Hubris copies 😊🙏
Arrivage du jour: Imperial Elegy, a very heavy and interesting box from @vucasimulations.bsky.social I’m typically weary of 6-players CDGs to play at home, but the game’s subject is so enticing, and I trust the great people at VUCA to deliver on their 1-6 players promise…
As a (substantial) bonus, my wife and I got to visit the famed city of Saragossa, full of traces of its Roman, Muslim and Aragonese history 😍
Funnily enough, we were no less than four French designers in attendance, with such luminaries as Walter Vejdovsky, Philippe Hardy and Philippe Thibault, which was the opportunity for great conversations and sharing of ideas!
Also got to spend time with @snafustore.bsky.social Oscar who, besides his sterling French, is a fantastic person, with whom I share much of my design philosophy. And I even got gifted a copy of their highly acclaimed and very intriguing Operation Bøllebank, signed by the designer @6xwa.bsky.social!
At the invitation of the organization team (which includes one of my star beta testers, @davidyllanes.bsky.social, I got to present my new game @gmtgames.bsky.social Hubris - Twilight of the Hellenistic World, which was a ton of fun for the players and myself!
Back home tired but delighted after a wonderful 4-days trip to Zaragoza to attend the top notch Batalladores 2025 convention masterfully organized by @clubbatallador.bsky.social So impressed, and not a little jealous, by the super dynamic ConSim community in Spain.
Arrivage du jour: back to games, and two beautiful games it is! Mark McLaughlin’s 7th edition of War and Peace, and @fredserval.bsky.social A Gest of Robin Hood @gmtgames.bsky.social 2nd printing
Arrivage du jour… Books, not games, though some, if not all of them will be as much pleasure as study…
Obviously, I came back with a decent haul of games, with a number of games from @vucasimulations.bsky.social who were present with Patrick Gebhardt and a couple others, as well as Arnaud’s La Guerre de Cent Ans (The Hundred Years’ War), a very interesting derivation of the Birth of America system