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Spotlight Articles

Outstanding articles that are not necessarily linked to one particular game, but may have broad appeal to gamers.

German WWII Pocket Army in 10 / 12mm

Spotlight Article Graphic

"WWII can pass across the painting table at surprising speed compared to other periods and so it makes for a good quick project to fit in between other bigger projects...". Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, discusses a new World War II Pocket Army project he has underway: "...kampfgruppe Schmidt is ready for action..."!

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 4/4/2025


Jack Greene, 1949 – 17 March 2025

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Kevin Zucker shares some memories of his recently passed friend, designer Jack Greene.

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 3/24/2025


Wargaming Clubs of the Warring Clubs Era 1965-69

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Alan Arvold has shared a fascinating article with us, meant as "...a supplement to the History of Wargaming article..., specifically to the sidebar on Wargame Clubs. It is a listing of the known clubs." Thanks Alan!

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 3/24/2025


My Top 3 Wargames designed by… John H. Butterfield!

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"...focus on creations of one author, whom you can treat as a whole wargaming history in micro-scale." Michal, in The Boardgames Chronicle, covers his three favorite John Butterfield games. See which game has a feature that "...creates fog of war as you do not know which part of enemy forces can still act in a turn."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 3/19/2025


Wednesday War Stories ~ Iron Ships & Iron Men at the Battle of Hampton Roads

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"In some ways the game was frustrating; how could it not produce a clearly superior victor?" RockyMountainNavy, in Armchair Dragoons, has an interesting discussion of the classic "Monitor versus Merrimac" clash, and how that applies to wargaming. Check out what conclusion he reaches, reinforced by the comment: "No better description of the impact of the Battle of Hampton Roads on naval warfare exists than the response of the Royal Navy upon hearing of the battle."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 3/14/2025


The Vietnam War Miniatures Collection (video)

Spotlight Article Graphic

The Dusted Game Shelf dusts off his proud collection of miniatures suitable for table top Vietnam War battles.

Poster: Pat L.
Post Date: 3/1/2025


Rodger B. MacGowan Has Passed Away at Age 77

Spotlight Article Graphic

W. Eric Martin reports the sad news: "Artist/designer Rodger B. MacGowan passed away on February 22, 2025, and if you have been a gamer for any amount of time over the past fifty years, you have likely seen his work."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 2/26/2025


More Spotlight articles...


Gaming Conventions

Gaming Conventions

Another new feature for Grognard.com, the Gaming Convention calendar will make it a snap to keep up with all the latest gaming conventions in your area. But we need your gaming convention information, so please contribute.



Grognard News

Grognard Challenge - Expanded Room for Comments! (6/25/2023)

The Comments entry area has been resized to 512 characters.

Grognard Originals

In addition to our links to great content all around the internet, expect to see more Grognard.com "originals" in the future.

PE TANG 1900 Q&A with Marco Campari

Some Q & A between myself and Marco Campari, designer of Pe Tang 1900 from Lumaca Games.

PE TANG 1900 Strategy Tips

This is the strategy I developed after playing Pe Tang 1900 from Lumaca Games.

PE TANG 1900 Optional Line of Sight Table

Here is an optional table to make it a little more difficult to eliminate the Boxer artillery.

PE TANG 1900 Introductory War Game Review

My review for this great introductory war game concerning an obscure siege of a cathedral during the Boxer Rebellion. Use this game to recruit new war game players.

More Grognard Originals...


Grognard Challenge

Latest Challenge

Have a look at the graphics for the latest Challenge and see past solutions and contest winners.

Recommended (archives)

Wargaming - General Info

Board Wargames

Miniatures Wargames

Computer Wargames

Academic Gaming

Board Games

Internet Based/PBEM Games

Individual Wargamer Blogs

Wargaming Magazines

Asst Software/Player Aides

In Memoriam

Grognards Lost


Want to Join the Grognard Team?

Do you like surfing the web to find wargame related articles? Grognard is looking for a couple of folks who would enjoy adding posts to our homepage pointing to new and interesting wargame stuff. If volunteering a couple hours a week doing this sounds like fun, let us know by emailing Admin @ Grognard.com!


A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z '-9

Game: Black Swan



(b10115)
 
 




Publisher: VentoNuovo Games
Game Type: Board
Designer(s): Emanuele Santandrea
Search for this game with VentoNuovo Games


Description:


BLACK SWAN is the new block wargame covering WWII in Europe from 1939 to 1945, for 2-5 players with great solitaire suitability. As in all other block games, both the Fog of War and Unit strength reduction/increase by rotation drive gameplay in BLACK SWAN, as a player cannot know the identity or the strength of an enemy block until it is revealed in combat. BLACK SWAN is a historical game with some fixed starting points, but the outcome is completely unpredictable, and despite the historical result, the Axis Side (Germany and Italy) can defeat the Allied Side (France, Great Britain, US and the Soviet Union). Developed with a system of wooden blocks and cubes and played out over an astonishing 125x87 cm (49"x34") full laminated multicolor mapboard, the only paper component in the box is the rules manual. In total, more than 500 wooden/sticker components have been created by the best Italian artisinal industry. Wooden parts are painted "A buratto", a technique usually adopted for painting car parts and accessories. SCENARIOS and CAMPAIGNS With over 220 unit counters, players can enjoy hours of fun by playing the "Black Swan Campaign" from 1939 to 1945, the shorter 1941-1945 Campaign, or by playing one of the five scenarios. Each one has a different difficulty level, rated in brackets from 1 (Very Easy) to 10 (Very Hard): Scenarios - Warsaw or Nothing, Summer - Fall 1939 (2) - Operation Barbarossa, Spring - Fall 1941 (5) - The Giant's Awake, Spring - Fall 1942 (5) - Totaler Krieg, Spring - Fall 1943 (4) - Overlord, Spring - Fall 1944 (5) Campaigns - The Black Swan, Summer 1939 - Fall 1945 (10) - Lebensraum, Spring 1941 - Fall 1945 (8) Every scenario has different victory conditions and length, with a different playing time of 1 to 3 hours. The two Campaigns are much longer, up to 50 hours of fun.


Articles


Article ID
Pub Date
Article Description
Source
11
Date: 4/2/2025
Guest Poster:

Seek Out and Play


Dark Black Expansion for Black Swan

In this short video, we look at the Dark Swan Expansion for Black Swan by Vento Nuovo Games. We start with an unboxing of the components, followed by an explanation of the new rules, and the specific new units for Italy and Germany.
Web Link
10
Date: 8/17/2024
Poster: Pat L.
VASSAL Module for Black Swan

Here is a module for Black Swan courtesy of Filip Labarque and Jesse LeBreton. VASSAL is a game engine for building and playing online adaptations of board games and card games. A growing list of game Modules is available at the VASSAL web site and at web sites for some game publishers. Players can play solitaire off-line, play live on the Internet or play by email. Vassal runs on all platforms, and is free, open-source software.
Web Link
9
Date: 7/30/2023
Poster: Pat L.
Orange Swan: Rules Differences with Black Swan (video)

Seek Out and Play reviews the rules differences between Orange Swan and the earlier Black Swan from VentoNuovo Games.
Web Link
8
Date: 7/23/2023
Poster: Pat L.
Orange Swan: Global Campaigns (video)

In this video, blogger Seek Out and Play reviews the Global Campaign rules required if you want to combine Black Swan and Orange Swan into one game. The video also discusses Optional Global rules.
Web Link
7
Date: 7/1/2023
Poster: Pat L.
Live Interview with Vento Nuovo for upcoming KickStarter : Black Swan (video)

Big Board Gaming live streams a comprehensive interview with Emanuele Santandrea, war game designer.
Web Link
6
Date: 6/24/2023
Poster: Pat L.
Black Swan, Shrink & Stickering Session (video)

Big Board Gaming live streams this unusual unboxing video that includes comments from viewers and an extended sticker applying session!
Web Link
5
Date: 6/17/2023
Poster: Pat L.
Interview with Emanuele Santandrea Designer of Black Swan: Europe 1939-1945 from VentoNuovo Games Coming to Kickstarter Soon

Emanuele Santandrea traces his personal journey from map maker to war game designer and Grant Kleinhenz brings us all the details in this interview about Black Swans and how they can make things interesting. The interview includes several distinctive illustrations and a good overview of components and game mechanics.
Web Link
4
Date: 4/23/2021
Poster: Mark D.
How to Play Black Swan: Play Examples Part 2

Black Swan published by Vento Nuovo Games is a strategic level wargame of World War II. Seek Out and Play helps us learn the game by explaining and illustrating examples of play from the rulebook. The second and final video of the series which visually demonstrates play examples from the rulebook. The examples run from assaulting Gibraltar to strategic air movement to assaulting a fort and more.
Web Link
3
Date: 4/14/2021
Poster: Harvey M.
How to Play Black Swan: Play Examples Part 1

Black Swan published by Vento Nuovo Games Is a strategic level wargame of World War II. Seek Out and Play helps us learn the game by explaining and illustrating examples of play from the rulebook. This will be an ongoing series.
Web Link
2
Date: 4/7/2021
Poster: Mark D.
Black Swan - How To Play

How to Play Black Swan: Turn Sequence A short video that describes the basic turn sequence for "Black Swan" by Vento Nuovo Games. The video covers all five major phases of the game. It features short breakdowns of each of the major sections and provides for a better understanding of how the game is played. Approximately 7 minute video, produced by Seek Out and Play.
Web Link
1
Date: 1/7/2021
Poster: Mark D.
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants - A Review

Outstanding and well-illustrated review of the new VentoNuovo Games title Black Swan. Review created and shared by Cleitus the Black for BGG.
Web Link