diff --git a/scripts/deploy-blue-green.sh b/scripts/deploy-blue-green.sh
index 2b59bd5124..aecd5fb90f 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-blue-green.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-blue-green.sh
@@ -241,6 +241,8 @@ main() {
     if [ -x "${WARMUP_SCRIPT}" ]; then
         if ! "${WARMUP_SCRIPT}" "localhost:${staging_port}"; then
             log_error "Warmup/smoke test failed, aborting deployment"
+            log_error "Recent eagle-${staging} logs:"
+            docker logs "eagle-${staging}" --tail 200 2>&1 || true
             docker compose -f "${COMPOSE_FILE}" stop "eagle-${staging}"
             cleanup_markers_on_failure "eagle-${active}"
             exit 1
diff --git a/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/Main.scala b/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/Main.scala
index f834612fe5..f70f331d62 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/Main.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/Main.scala
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ object Main {
 
     SimpleTimedLogger.printLogger.logLine("Starting!")
 
+    HistoryBackendStartupValidation.validate()
+
     // Register shutdown hook to turn pending SQLite upload requests into bytes before flushing pending S3 saves.
     Runtime.getRuntime.addShutdownHook(new Thread(new Runnable {
       override def run(): Unit = {
diff --git a/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/BUILD.bazel b/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/BUILD.bazel
index 6123afb038..6f184dfc11 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/BUILD.bazel
@@ -636,6 +636,7 @@ scala_library(
     srcs = [
         "GameHistoryFactory.scala",
         "HistoryBackendConfig.scala",
+        "HistoryBackendStartupValidation.scala",
         "PostgresHistory.scala",
         "SqliteHistory.scala",
     ],
diff --git a/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/HistoryBackendStartupValidation.scala b/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/HistoryBackendStartupValidation.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..483430fd22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/HistoryBackendStartupValidation.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package net.eagle0.eagle.service
+
+object HistoryBackendStartupValidation {
+  def validate(): Unit =
+    if HistoryBackendConfig.usePostgres then PostgresHistory.requireConfigured()
+}
diff --git a/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/BUILD.bazel b/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/BUILD.bazel
index a6931ea6db..382c6e0c8f 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/BUILD.bazel
@@ -21,8 +21,13 @@ scala_test(
         "//src/main/resources/net/eagle0/eagle:game_parameters",
         "//src/main/resources/net/eagle0/eagle:heroes",
         "//src/main/resources/net/eagle0/eagle:province_map",
+        "//src/main/resources/net/eagle0/shardok:battalion_types",
     ],
     deps = [
+        "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library:engine",
+        "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/settings:history_backend",
+        "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/library/settings/loaders:battalion_type_loader",
+        "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation",
         "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation:game_parameters_utils",
         "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation:great_person",
         "//src/main/scala/net/eagle0/util/hero_generation:loaded_hero",
diff --git a/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/FixedNewGameCreationTest.scala b/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/FixedNewGameCreationTest.scala
index 89fe391e99..d69f634065 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/FixedNewGameCreationTest.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/net/eagle0/eagle/service/new_game_creation/FixedNewGameCreationTest.scala
@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
 package net.eagle0.eagle.service.new_game_creation
 
+import java.nio.file.Files
+
+import net.eagle0.eagle.library.settings.loaders.BattalionTypeLoader
+import net.eagle0.eagle.library.settings.HistoryBackend
 import org.scalatest.flatspec.AnyFlatSpec
 import org.scalatest.matchers.should.Matchers
 
 class FixedNewGameCreationTest extends AnyFlatSpec with Matchers {
+  System.setProperty("eagle.save.dir", Files.createTempDirectory("fixed_new_game_creation_test").toString)
+
+  private lazy val battalionTypes =
+    BattalionTypeLoader.loadBattalionTypes(getClass.getResource("/net/eagle0/shardok/battalionTypes.tsv")).get
 
   "ExpandedGameParameters" should "have no duplicate heroes between setFactionHeads and greatPeople" in {
     val params = GameParametersUtils.defaultExpandedGameParameters
@@ -93,4 +101,23 @@ class FixedNewGameCreationTest extends AnyFlatSpec with Matchers {
       overlap.shouldBe(empty)
     }
   }
+
+  "FixedNewGameCreation" should "create the warmup-sized default game" in {
+    val params = GameParametersUtils.defaultExpandedGameParameters
+
+    val previousHistoryBackend = HistoryBackend.stringValue
+    HistoryBackend.setStringValue("sqlite")
+    try {
+      val engineAndResults = FixedNewGameCreation.createGame(
+        expandedGameParameters = params,
+        gameId = 0xfeedfaceL,
+        persister = None,
+        humanPlayerFactionLeaderNameTextIds = Vector(params.greatPeople.head.greatPerson.hero.nameTextId),
+        playerCount = 2,
+        allBattalionTypes = battalionTypes
+      )
+
+      (engineAndResults.engine.currentState.factions.size >= 2).shouldBe(true)
+    } finally HistoryBackend.setStringValue(previousHistoryBackend)
+  }
 }