While living & working in France I tried to do a couple things with this podcast. One was to focus on topics that were most relevant to my new surroundings. The other was to post smaller shows every month. Well, I succeeded at one of those goals. This episode is long overdue, but it's most assuredly about a French topic: the Hundred Years War fought across much of the country against the Kingdom of England during the years 1337-1453. Over two months ago my assignment in France came to an end...
Jul 18, 2017•2 hr 4 min
Episode geeklist Javier Romero David Gómez Relloso I've been trying to get these episodes out every month, knowing that it's a bit too much for me. Finally the dam burst in January, making this episode a bit late. I'm still going to keep pushing, in order to fit in as many topics as I can while temporarily living in France. But this may happen again. Originally the topic for January was going to be something else, a location I thought I'd visit around the Christmas holidays. That fell through, w...
Feb 21, 2017•2 hr 9 min
M10 Tank Destroyer at Bastogne's Mardasson Memorial John Butterfield When it comes to this podcast, December means two things: a desire to replay the Bulge, and holiday busy-ness. It happens every year. This time, in 2016, I'm just as busy as ever, but the podcast commitment meant I pushed forward to play some Bulge games. Not as many as I would've liked, but enough for the episode. Besides, you've heard how the real focus of my podcasts nowadays are the interviews. I'm learning that the fast, o...
Dec 22, 2016•1 hr 57 min
Another month, another podcast! More important, another famous subject of military history. I'm planning to get through one topic per month to maximize my subjects to study & visit during my year in Europe. I have to say, though--this month illustrated that it doesn't me dive in as deeply as I'd like. As with most of you, I don't have a ton of time to get wargames on the table, especially during the week. Even with my focus on the small titles, they still take time. Especially if they requir...
Nov 29, 2016•1 hr 57 min
Hermann Luttman Mark at Dunkirk I'm sticking to my guns, getting a single-episode podcast out within a month. No more topics that span multiple months and several episodes, at least not while I'm living in Europe. I very much want to work in MORE topics in my remaining months. As someone once said, quantity has a quality all its own... Dunkirk is a more limited topic than most or all of my previous episodes. I decided to cover it--despite my desire to get away from WW2--because it was a place I ...
Oct 26, 2016•1 hr 23 min
Lee Brimmicombe-Wood As much as I've enjoyed diving in deeply to the Battle of Britain as a topic--and I certainly have--I need to wrap it up and move on. This episode closes the series out with a bang, featuring two great interviews and my final thoughts about some games & films. Lee Brimmicombe-Wood is probably the top wargame designer today who focuses on air combat games, and you'd better believe he's thought about the Battle of Britain. We talk about his Burning Blue, Wing Leader, and h...
Sep 30, 2016•2 hr 33 min
I'm not sure why I called this episode Adlertag. I guess it's to bookend my discussion & exploration of the Battle of Britain. Last time was just the intro, but by now I've started. Hence, the Eagle Day reference. You can bet that episode 7.3 will be The Hardest Day, and that will be that. It took me so long to get to this one because I've been distracted. I played games, read books, watched movies, and recorded two great interviews that you'll hear. (Plus a third interview I'm saving for 7....
Aug 12, 2016•1 hr 58 min
Time for a new series! I've already started into several games, movies, and books about the Battle of Britain, and this intro podcast will catch you up with my plans. It's an audio version of the discussion thread and geeklist detailing the explorations I'm doing with this topic. Also, up front I wanted to point out that I'll be heading to GMT's warehouse weekend event in a few days. If you'll also be there and listen to my podcast, look me up! At least say high and get yourself a podcast listen...
Apr 19, 2016•1 hr 6 min
With this episode, I'm wrapping up my exploration of the opening of WW2 in the Pacific. What started with Pearl Harbor and a vacation to Hawaii expanded into an education via games, films, and books about the many offensives launched by Imperial Japan on that fateful day. It opens with my interview of friend & wargame designer/developer, Steve Carey. Steve won the Charles S. Roberts award for We Must Tell The Emperor, his small-format solo game about the entire Pacific war--which I discussed...
Feb 29, 2016•1 hr 37 min
Even though this podcast series is covering ALL the offensives Imperial Japan launched in December 1941, most of first think of the raid on Pearl Harbor. It was the impetus for me to start learning about all of these other offensives, too. In this "chapter" episode, I'll cover my own visit to Pearl Harbor, books & films that relate to the infamous event, and a few games, too.
Dec 09, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Continuing with my new idea of releasing incremental episodes of my podcast that all deal with the same subject, here's the second one about the events of December 1941 in the Pacific. The main feature is my interview with game designer Mark Herman. At the end I decided to record my reply to the recent Bonding with Board Games/HAMTAG episode "Top 5 Wargames That Made Me the Grog I Am Today." Ogre/GEV Air Force Up Front Strategy & Tactics magazine Panzerschreck magazine Remember to follow alo...
Nov 10, 2015•1 hr 43 min
Here's that new idea I was talking about--the first of smaller episodes that get released as I go on my exploration of a topic. Not much in the way of links & notes, as you can find those in the discussion thread and geeklist , above. I'm still figuring out how, exactly, I want to do this new format. Feedback is always welcome. -Mark...
Oct 10, 2015•23 min
Hey! I'll be at BGG.con . Look me up at the Wargamer Meet & Greet on Wednesday night . Or join me in a game of Waterloo 200 on Friday morning ! Timestamps (approximate) 12:09 - Andrew Hobley interview (Bicentennial Waterloo gaming) 38:25 - Pete Belli interview (One-Minute Waterloo) 1:02:45 - Books & Films 1:19:45 - Paul Comben interview (Waterloo wargaming) 1:59:30 - Games I played Maybe now I'm getting the hang of this, not biting off more than I can chew for the the next episode. Might...
Sep 24, 2015•2 hr 38 min
Timestamps (approximate) 8:37 - Ted Raicer interview 59:18 - Books & Films 1:12:30 - Games 1:32:11 - Visiting the battlefields I sort of did it to myself again, aspiring to play more games and learn more about the subject matter of this episode. I swear I'm getting calibrated on myself, though, and have big plans to think smaller next time. :) Historic anniversaries in wargaming are appealing to me, because the occasion often leads to the some of hobby community focusing on the same topic. I...
Jun 30, 2015•1 hr 48 min
This is a long episode. If you want to skip ahead, here are some approximate timestamps within the recording you can jump to: 0:00 - My intro, poll results, BGG.con attendance, etc. 0:15 - Vasey interview pt 1 (background, his games) 0:51 - Vasey interview pt 1 (ECW) 1:51 - Cruel Necessity report 1:58 - Unhappy King Charles report 2:06 - Winceby report 2:13 - Langport & Naseby report (TCS series) 2:28 - Cromwell's Victory report 2:33 - Roberto Chiavini interview 2:49 - Other wargaming recaps...
Oct 27, 2014•3 hr 29 min
Well, shoot, that was a longer interval than I'd planned. But here, finally, is the second episode of my wargame podcast. As before, the episode features me talking about broader topics in the first half, then transitioning to discussion about individual titles in the second. In between I've got an interview with wargame designer Darin Leviloff, too. The focus of the episode are the [url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/3245/victory-point-games-states-of-siege-series]States of Siege[/url...
Jan 31, 2014•1 hr 23 min
The first episode of my first podcast about smaller wargames, I spend some time introducing myself and my wargame interests, then proceed to cover three different games about the battle of Gettysburg.
Oct 02, 2013•1 hr 4 min
