FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The Board of Governors is proud to announce the nominees for the 2021 Charles S. Roberts Awards for Excellence in Conflict Simulation Games (“CSR Awards”). The final public ballot to determine the winners of the 2021 Charles S. Roberts Awards is now available, and will remain open through 10 December, 2022. Please vote only once, and get your votes in quickly!

The wargaming public voted upon these nominees during May and June of 2022. The ballots were then tabulated by representatives of the Charles S. Roberts Awards Board of governors. This process has indeed taken longer than anticipated, and was fraught with more perils than had been foreseen. Nevertheless, and with our apologies, the Board is proud to announce our 2021 nominees for excellence in conflict simulation.

Milieu Awards

Best Ancients to Medieval Era Board Wargame

For wargames set from before Antiquity to the Middle Ages through 1453.

Cradle of Civilization
Compass Games, designers Sean Chick & Daniel Chick
Dawn of Battle
Worthington Publishing, designer Mike Nagel
Mediterranean Empires
Decision Games, designer Javier Romero
Rome, Inc.
Against the Odds, designer Phillip Jelley
The Grass Crown
Hollandspiele, designer Amabel Holland

Best Early Gunpowder Board Wargame 1453-1793 AD

For wargames set between 1453 and 1793, explicitly including the Renaissance and Sengoku Jidai.

Bayonets & Tomahawks
GMT Games, designer Marc Rodrigue
Commands and Colors: Samurai Battles
GMT Games, designer Richard Borg
Granada: Last Stand of the Moors
Compass Games, designer Jose Antonio Rivero
Lepanto 1571: A Sea Turned Red by Blood
Acies Edizioni, designer Enrico Acerbi

Best Late Gunpowder to Pre-World War I Board Wargame, excluding American Civil War and Napoleonic Topics

For wargames set after 1793, up to World War I , excluding the American Civil War and the Napoleonic Wars involving Napoleon or one of his Marshals

First Blood in the Crimea: Battle of the Alma
Compass Games, designer Ty Bomba
Nachod and Skalitz 1866
Vae Victis, designers Arnold Giraud-Moser, Luc Olivier
Red Flag Over Paris
GMT Games, designer Fred Serval
War of the Triple Alliance
NAC Wargames, designer Pedro Iñaki Martínez

Best Napoleonic Board Wargame

For wargames set in the Napoleonic Wars era between 1793 and 1815 and involving Napoleon or one of his Marshals.

Coalition: The Napoleonic Wars
Compass Games, designer Javier Garcia de Gabiola
La Bataille de Berlin
Marshal Enterprises, designers James Soto & Dennis A. Spors
La Bataille de Hanau
Legion Wargames, designer Didier Rouy
Napoleon Invades Spain
Operational Studies Group, designer Kevin Zucker
Trois Jours de Gloire 1805
Vae Victis, designer Frédéric Bey

Best American Civil War Board Wargame

For wargames set during the American Civil War 1861-1865, or dealing with the foundations or aftermath of that conflict.

Atlanta Campaign: The Death of Dixie
Lock 'n Load Publishing, designer Don Lowry
The Day Was Ours
Revolution Games, designer Matt Ward
Hood Strikes North
Multi-Man Publishing, designers Joseph M. Balkoski, Ed Beach & Chris Withers
Our God Was My Shield
Hollandspiele, designer John Theissen
Thunder at Dawn
Revolution Games, designer Claude Whalen

Best World War I Era Board Wargame

For wargames set between 1914 and before the Spanish Civil War.

1914: Fureur à l'Est
Vae Victis, designer Laurent Martin
Decisive Victory 1918: Soissons
Legion Wargames, designers Serge Bettencourt, Tim Gale
Empire at Sunrise
Hollandspiele, designer John Gorkowski
MacGowan & Lombardy's The Great War
RBM Studios, designer Dana Lombardy
Trench Club
PKB Games, designer Philipp K. Berger

Best World War II Era Board Wargame

For wargames set in the period of World War II.

Atlantic Chase
GMT Games, designer Jeremy White
Panzers Last Stand
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Carl Fung
The Third Winter
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Antony Birkett
Absolute War!
GMT Games, designer Carl Paradis
Conquest & Consequence
GMT Games, designer Craig Besinque
Zero Leader
Dan Verssen Games, designer Chuck Seegert

Best Modern Era Board Wargame

For wargames set after World War II, during the Cold War, or hypothetical conflicts after World War 2.

1985: Sacred Oil
Thin Red Line Games, designer Fabrizio Vianello
Indian Ocean Region
Compass Games, designer John Gorkowski
NATO: The Cold War Goes Hot
Compass Games, designer Bruce Maxwell
The Dogs of War
Thin Red Line Games, designer Fabrizio Vianello

Best Science-Fiction or Fantasy Board Wargame

For wargames set in a science fiction or fantasy setting.

A Billion Suns: Interstellar Fleet Battles
Osprey Games, designer Mike Hutchinson
Five Parsecs from Home
Modiphius Entertainment, designer Ivan Sorensen
Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile
Leder Games, designer Cole Wehrle
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Z-Man Games, designers Justin Kemppainen, Todd Michlitsch, Alexandar Ortloff & Michael Sanfilippo

Format Awards

Best Solitaire or Cooperative Board Wargame

For wargames designed to be played by one or more players in a cooperative mode, or with a dedicated solitaire experience.

Atlantic Chase
GMT Games, designer Jeremy White
Rome, Inc.
Against the Odds, designer Phillip Jelley
Soldiers in Postmen's Uniforms
Dan Verssen Games, designer David Thompson
Tarawa 1943
Worthington Publishing, designers Grant Wylie, Mike Wylie
Zero Leader
Dan Verssen Games, designer Chuck Seegert

Best Magazine Board Wargame

For wargames published or distributed with a wargaming magazine.

Hannut: France 1940
Decision Games, designer Joe Youst
Mediterranean Empires
Decision Games, designer Javier Romero
Monty's D-Day
Against the Odds, designer John Prados
Rome, Inc.
Against the Odds, designer Phillip Jelley
World War Africa
Decision Games, designer Javier Romero

Best Expansion or Supplement for an Existing Board Wargame

For a supplement to an existing wargame and not a stand-alone game on its own, and which requires the base game.

Panzer Grenadier: Black Panthers
Avalanche Press, designer Michael Bennighof
SpaceCorp: Ventures
GMT Games, designer John H. Butterfield
Tank Duel: Expansion #1 – North Africa
GMT Games, designer Mike Bertucelli
Undaunted: Reinforcements
Osprey Games, designer David Thompson
Wing Leader: Legends 1937-1945
GMT Games, designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood

Best Board Wargame Playing Components

For the graphical, physical presentation and visual interface of a wargame’s playing components and player aids, excepting the map or playing surface, and the rules.

Atlantic Chase
GMT Games, designer Jeremy White
Bayonets & Tomahawks
GMT Games, designer Marc Rodrigue
Commands and Colors: Samurai Battles
GMT Games, designer Richard Borg
NATO: The Cold War Goes Hot
Compass Games, designer Bruce Maxwell
Panzers Last Stand
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Carl Fung

Best Board Wargame Map Graphics

For the graphical and physical presentation of a wargame’s playing surface or board.

Bayonets & Tomahawks
GMT Games, designer Marc Rodrigue
The Deadly Woods
Revolution Games, designer Ted Raicer
Hood Strikes North
Multi-Man Publishing, designers Joseph M. Balkoski, Ed Beach, Chris Withers
NATO: The Cold War Goes Hot
Compass Games, designer Bruce Maxwell
Panzers Last Stand
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Carlos Diaz Narvaez

Best Board Wargame Rules

For the complete presentation of a wargame’s rules.

Atlantic Chase
GMT Games, designer Jeremy White
Decisive Victory 1918: Soissons
Legion Wargames, designers Serge Bettencourt, Tim Gale
NATO: The Cold War Goes Hot
Compass Games, designer Bruce Maxwell
Panzers Last Stand
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Carl Fung
The Third Winter
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Antony Birkett

Best Cover Art

For artwork of a wargame’s front and back exterior packaging.

303 Squadron
Draco Ideas, designer Michał Kohmann
Panzers Last Stand
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Carl Fung
Storm Above the Reich
GMT Games, designers Mark Aasted, Jeremy White
The Third Winter
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Antony Birkett

Computer Game Award

Best Computer Wargame

For wargames played primarily on a computer.

Combat Mission Cold War
Slitherine, Ltd.
Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnaught
Game-Labs
War in the East 2, Slitherine
Slitherine, Ltd.

Publication and Broadcast Awards

Best Wargame Magazine

For a wargame magazine, published regularly, either in print or electronically.

Against the Odds
LPS, Inc.
C3i
RBM Studios
Paper Wars
Compass Games
Strategy & Tactics
Decision Games

Best Game Review or Analysis Website, Webcast, or Podcast

For a wargame review or analysis website, webcast, or podcast. Not for a single episode, but for the outlet as a whole.

Big Board Gaming
(Blog & YouTube)
KilroyWasHere
(YouTube)
Moe's Game Table
(YouTube)
The Player's Aid
(Blog & YouTube)

Best Individual Historical, Scenario Analysis, or Book

For a specific article or series of articles analyzing the history within a wargame, interview, or a new scenario for an existing wargame in print or web format.

Mike Bennighof, "Race in America", Parts 1-9
(http://www.avalanchepress.com/CriticalRace1.php)
Robert Carroll, "Kilroy's Deep Dive: Wargame Scale"
(https://youtu.be/NyZ-DwelmwU)
Wayne Hansen, "Let's Play! Devil Boats: PT Boats in the Solomons Overview & Review"
(https://youtu.be/7oS9ub-bQsM)

Individual Awards

Wargame of the Year

For the best wargame of the year, excluding reprints and reissues.

Atlantic Chase
GMT Games, designer Jeremy White
Bayonets & Tomahawks
GMT Games, designer Marc Rodrigue
NATO: The Cold War Goes Hot
Compass Games, designer Bruce Maxwell
Panzers Last Stand
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Carl Fung
The Third Winter
Multi-Man Publishing, designer Antony Birkett

James F. Dunnigan
Design Elegance Award

For the wargame or person that has made the most impact in the past year.

Carl Fung
David Thompson
Jeremy White

Clausewitz Award
Hall of Fame

For an individual who has made significant contributions to the wargame industry, who has not been previously awarded.

Chad Jensen
William H. Keith, Jr.
Michael Rinella
Volko Ruhnke

Charles S. Roberts
Best New Designer Award

For a designer or team of designers whose first or second published wargame design was released during the year.

Serge Bettencourt
Antony Birkett
Marc Rodrigue
Chuck Seegert

2021 Charles S. Roberts Awards Nominees & Final Ballot