Thanks to everyone who came out to the first-ever SDHistCon North, held at the Union Depot in Saint Paul, MN from July 11-12! We had an incredible two days of gaming and socializing with designers, content creators, and attendees. (As a quick reminder, if you’d like to be part of our next SDHistCon event, tickets for our SDHistCon Summit 2026 event, to be held Nov. 6-9 in San Diego, will go on sale Saturday, Aug. 8 at noon Pacific.) Here’s a brief recap of some of what went on at SDHistCon North 2026, with photos from SDHist’s Guy Pierson and Andrew Bucholtz, and embedded recap videos and podcasts from attendees.
Friday, July 10: Pre-convention events
While the official convention was only from July 11-12, we had some incredible pre-convention events on Friday, July 10 for locals and early arrivees.
Fort Snelling
This started with a trip to historic Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, where attendees were able to learn about the fort’s long history involving everyone from the Dakota people to Zachary Taylor to Dred Scott, examine the extensive museum of medical instruments, watch a black powder rifle demonstration, and more.
Minnesota History Center
After the trip to Fort Snelling, around 25 of our attendees were able to attend a private behind-the-scenes tour of Civil War artifacts at the Minnesota History Center organized by Ryan Schneider. A few of the many remarkable highlights there included the 28th Virginia battle flag captured by the 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg, other Civil War flags, maps provided to Union officers ahead of General Sherman’s Atlanta campaign, a sign carried to meet Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train, collections of swords and sidearms, and a regimental drum undergoing restoration.
Other items of note on public display at the history center included a Soo Line boxcar, a historic St. Paul streetcar (with notes about the Union Depot, the convention venue!), a M3 armoured car from World War II, an interactive display on indigenous peoples’ usage of the bison, the ship’s bell of the Civil War-era USS Minnesota, and more:
Pre-convention mixer
Friday night saw an official pre-convention meetup at MetroNOME Brewery, with SDHist renting out the brewery space and providing pizza. Here are some shots from that:
Saturday, July 11: Day 1 of gaming!
The first day of the convention had an incredible array of games being played! That included everything from a megagame of Cole Wehrle’s John Company to multiple-copy sessions of games like Harold Buchanan’s Liberty or Death to a special multiplayer team version of Dan Bullock’s Penitent created specifically for this event, as well as showcases for prototypes and in-production games including Mark Herman’s Lee Moves North, Wes Crawford’s The Emperor’s Voice, Liz Davidson and David Thompson’s Night Witches, Kevin and Kate Bertram’s Shakespeare’s First Folio, Sam London’s Common Sense: An American Revolution 1775-1783, and Volko Ruhnke’s 1943: Race To Rabaul. Here are a few shots of some of the many titles on the table. (The room titles and the titles of games in close-ups are visible if you click to expand the individual photos.)
Sunday, July 12: Day 2 of gaming!
The second day of the convention saw a wealth of further games, including three tables of Brian Asklev’s Baltic Empires, multiple games of William Terdoslavich and Scott Muldoon’s Cataclysm, demos of David Thompson’s Rebels against Rebellion and Cole Wehrle’s Oath: New Foundations, and the conclusion of a 20-hour game of Ian Weir’s Army of Roussillon that was played all weekend. Some of the many other games played included Yoni Goldstein’s Chicago ‘68, Mark McLaughlin’s Napoleonic Wars, Ed Beach’s Virgin Queen and Here I Stand, Mike Bertucelli’s Tank Duel, Amabel Holland’s Westphalia, Alex Berry’s High Treason: The Trial of Louis Riel, Brian Train’s O Canada, Ben Knight’s Pacific Typhoon, Matt Calkins’ Charioteer, and many more, with some games going right until the 10 p.m. event closing. Here are a few images of some of the many games played Sunday (you can again click an individual image to expand it and see more details).
Post-event recaps!
Many of those who came to SDHistCon North produced terrific recaps of their time at the convention, which we greatly appreciate! Here are links to or embeds of the ones we’ve seen, in no particular order:
“This Con Was Amazing (SDHistCon North Recap),” Liz Davidson, Beyond Solitaire (video):
“Joseph Goes to SDHistCon North 2026,” Joseph Buszek, Meeple Mountain (written report with photos).
“THE CHIT SHOW | Dan & Ardy Talk SDHistCon North!,” Gary Mengle and Dan Pancaldi, Ardwulf’s Lair (video):
“I Played 5 Historical Board Games Before They Even Released (SDHistCon North),” Scott Witebsky, The Frozen Gamer (video):
“Live Cardboard 36: SDHist North recap,” Grant Linneberg, Pushing Cardboard (video)
“Monthly Update – Wargame Complexity | SDHistCon | Wargaming & Board Games Channel Update | Aug 2026,” Mike Smart, Zilla Blitz (video)
“Episode 16 – SDHistcon North Recap,” Kevin Huls and Don Levick, Cardboard Campaigns (audio). Includes discussion of the 20-hour Army of Roussillon game Kevin played!
“An Infamous Traffic, Virgin Queen, John Company Megagame and More: Report from a Historical Game Convention,” Pete Wissinger and Cardner Babakitis, Decision Space (audio).
“Attending SDHistCon North, a historical board game convention,” Nick Dotzenrod, Talking Cardboard (video):
“56 – Shayne Logan, SDHistCon North recap,” Grant Linneberg, Pushing Cardboard (audio).
Thanks again to everyone who came to SDHistCon North 2026 and made it so amazing!