Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 136: Under the Dice Fest 2026

In this special episode, we interview people who attended Under the Dice Fest 2026, a Massachusetts festival celebrating miniature-based tabletop wargaming. The festival was designed to appeal to those who shy away from the mainstream iterations of the miniature wargaming hobby, focusing on those who want to play the games on their terms, sometimes outside of the scope of the game rules as written, or those who want to play old games that their publishers no longer support. It highlights those more concerned with telling a story with the miniatures they build than with creating something optimal for a game’s rule system. A punk rock approach to the miniature wargaming hobby, if you will.

UnionCon' 2026

UnionCon 2026 was an event to remember!

Earlier in October, I was fortunate to be able to attend the third annual UnionCon 2026 gaming event hosted by the Union Gang Wargaming Club. The event lasted two days and had a variety of hosted wargames including historical, fantasy, and science fiction. Some of the games being demoed included Arena Rex, Space Gits, Omentide, and Netjammer. The event had a very friendly atmosphere and was the perfect place to meet new gaming friends and learn a new game or two. I foolishly did not sign up for any of the hosted events before arriving, but still managed to get involved and play a few games.

Plastic Ork Warboss: First Impressions

Games Workshop has finally succeeded in making a cool plastic ork warboss model.

Over the last few months on Dragged into Turbolasers, we have been talking about the new Warhammer 40k Ork models, starting with their first reveals for the new edition. The models are finally available in stores, so we decided to purchase some to assess their quality firsthand. The warboss model was one of our favorites from the released photographs, so we thought it would be a good one to put together!

Games with Brad: Flames of Orion

Crimson Spectre advances through the blackened wasteland under the light of a full moon.

Brad and I recently played a game of Flames of Orion, a mech combat game designed by Steve (sovthofheaven) of Under the Dice/Hive Scum. For this particular game we decided to play a modified version of the scenario Hold the Line. The defining characteristic of this scenario is that each player only deploys one mech at a time. Once one is destroyed, the next mech is deployed until there is only mech standing, the winner of the scenario. Additionally, the scenario is set around one player defending a dropship, which we promptly ignored. For the game, I used a random collection of models to stand in as mechs and Dark Spirit. Brad used some 3d printed mech models designed by bigbossredskullz.