We’re starting to pull together the events schedule for our next online convention, SDHistCon Winter Quarters 2025. The convention will run from morning Central European Time until evening Pacific Time, and we already have 21 events on the schedule, with many more to come! You can check out the full events schedule here; this is preliminary, so some event times may still change, and many more events are set to be added in the coming weeks. (Attendees can also submit events after buying a convention badge, available for $10 here.) Tickets for individual events are free, and will be made available at noon Eastern/9 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 1, a week before the convention.
Our events will cover a wide swathe of historical gaming, from game demos through seminars and interviews through full games. Here are five of the events we have so far (again, times may change):
Order & Opportunity: Making of the Post-Cold War World Order: One of our first events, set for 10 a.m. CET/4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT, this will see designer VPJ Arponen hosting a two-hour demo of his upcoming Order & Opportunity design (which has made the cut on the GMT P500, and is available to preorder here), a 1-4 player game on the making of the post-Cold War world order.
Designer Talk: Littoral Commander: At 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT, designer Sebastian Bae will discuss his Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific title (in its third printing from The Dietz Foundation, available now here), a 2-6 player grand tactical design exploring the future of warfare. Bae will also talk about the upcoming Littoral Commander: Baltic expansion and other planned expansions, and will take questions from the audience.
Queen of Spies: Designers Liz Davidson (winner of our 2024 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award for her Beyond Solitaire podcast interview series) and David Thompson will demo their new game design, Queen of Spies, at 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT. This is a solitaire game in which players run a resistance and intelligence gathering group in a small town in occupied Belgium during the First World War.
The Summit Award – Celebrating Our Community: This panel, set for 8 p.m. CET/2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, will feature the first three winners of our Summit Award: Fred Serval (for Red Flag Over Paris from GMT Games), Tory Brown (for Votes For Women from Fort Circle Games), and Alex Knight (for Land and Freedom from Blue Panther LLC). They’ll discuss their experiences designing these games and bringing them to life.
An Introduction to Fighting Formations: Our latest event on the schedule so far, this will see Kai Jensen (developer of the Fighting Formations games) show Patrick Pence (of Patrick’s Tactics and Tutorials) and the audience this Second World War tactical-combined arms system, using the upcoming Volume II of the series on the U.S. 29th Infantry Division. That game is available for preorder from GMT here.
Stay tuned for more events as we get closer to the convention!