Harold on Games

Mark and I discuss what he working on and what he is bringing to SD Hist events in 2024. He discussed Rebel Fury, Army of the Potomac and the associated system. In addition, he is talking about his upcoming game Defiance ion the opening days for the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

This is the second of the three podcasts including discussions with Museum Currator Rob Doane, Designer of GMT Games Battle of the American Revolution - Mark Miklos, Designer Volko Ruhnke and YouTuber Mike "Zilla Blitz" Smart. We have produced for your enjoyment a three-part series of discussions on the August 2023 Event by San Diego Historical Games Convention at the US Naval War College Museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The event was three days of historical tours and gaming including tours of the Battleship USS Massachusetts, various sites that were part of the Battle of Rhode Island, Tours of the Museum at the Navy War College and Tours of the Navy War College itself. The tours were conducted by historians, game designers and professional wargamers to add to the color and background. Gaming at the Museum was incredible as we played, flanked by torpedoes, models, historical documents and displays of items of historical significance to the US Navy. The convention was attended by a host of designers, professional gamers, hobby gamers and other interested parties. Of course, the museum is on base but our evenings and lunches were spent in the picturesque and historical town of Newport Rhode Island. We had such a great time; we are planning our return in 2024.

This is the first of the three podcasts including discussions with Peter Pellegrino of the US Navy war College as well as an interview with Mark Herman. We start with Peter Pellegrino who is participating in one of our 8 pre-convention meetings where we discuss people and topics that will enhance our visit to the convention. We also run a Discord server exclusive to the convention where participants can get to know each other, schedule games and trade ideas and plans. We have produced for your enjoyment a three-part series of discussions on the August 2023 Event by San Diego Historical Games Convention at the US Naval War College Museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The event was three days of historical tours and gaming including tours of the Battleship USS Massachusetts, various sites that were part of the Battle of Rhode Island, Tours of the Museum at the Navy War College and Tours of the Navy War College itself. The tours were conducted by historians, game designers and professional wargamers to add to the color and background. Gaming at the Museum was incredible as we played, flanked by torpedoes, models, historical documents and displays of items of historical significance to the US Navy. The convention was attended by a host of designers, professional gamers, hobby gamers and other interested parties. Of course, the museum is on base but our evenings and lunches were spent in the picturesque and historical town of Newport Rhode Island. We had such a great time; we are planning our return in 2024.

An interview with the Designer of Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan (2011)(#5 Wargame on BGG) Matt Calkins. He discusses his vision while designing the game as well as what is next.

A discussion with icon and award winning game designer Mark Herman. In this episode Mark tells us about his workout regimen (including 100 sit ups and 50 pushups), Pacific War game history, SD Hist Con, an upcoming Ukraine game and a new book on wargame design.

An interview with Uwe Eickert who is a game designer and the founder and owner of Academy Games.

Designed Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game and the roleplaying games Star Wars: Edge of the Empire and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (3rd Edition), along with Blood Bowl Team Manager: The Card Game and several other games.

Mark Miklos - the father of the Battles of the American Revolution series - and I talk about the history of the series - what's new and what's next. We talk about why Yorktown is missing and the implications of the British surrender at Yorktown on the Patriot cause. We also discuss the potential for a pop up convention at an interesting historical site - what do you think? shorturl.at/aJQX1 https://www.nps.gov/york/index.htm sdhist.com/ sdhist.com/sdhist-con-2022/ sdhist.com/conflicts-of-interest-zine/ sdhist.com/summit-award/

John Butterfield and I talk about flipping counters and some of the games he has been working on, his continued work on Chad Jensen's game Downfall and his new game ON Hells Highway an update of a classic. He also talks about what he looks for is a publisher. https://www.gmtgames.com/p-944-downfall-conquest-of-the-third-reich-1942-1945.aspx https://sdhist.com/ https://sdhist.com/sdhist-con-2022/ https://sdhist.com/conflicts-of-interest-zine/ https://sdhist.com/summit-award/

Zenobia Award Winners Announced! Over 11 months, 150 applicants to 46 proposals led to these 8 finalists then voted on for the 3 winners. Watch here for the announcement https://youtu.be/IvK6QpPi2D8 Congratulations to all the winners, finalists, participants, volunteers & sponsors!

The Zenobia Award announces the 8 Finalists for 2021. Also included are 2 Honorable Mentions for Game Play and History. For the complete video and more detailed discussion see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWhv6mU7ghQ https://zenobiaaward.org/

We recorded the SD Hist Con COINFEST KICKOFF meeting with GMT President Gene Billingsley, The COIN father Volko Ruhnke and other COIN designers. We discuss COIN history and why the universe of COIN has grown so fast and continues to explode! We check out toward the end to go to our various gaming assignments. Recorded August 7, 2021. The boardgame convention was Virtual on Discord.

Ananda Gupta Interview From May 2021 SD Hist Con On Line where we discuss innovation in boardgames and his work at Riot Games.

Join our steering committee for a meeting to discuss what's coming up at the May 2021 SD Hist Con on line. We talk about who will be there and what we learned from the 2020 on line con. I also have a brief discussion with Mark Miklos regarding his latest work - BAR #10 White Plains and his attendance at the convention! SDHIST.com

We visit with John Butterfield and Mark Herman at the San Diego Historical Games Convention in November of 2020 to discuss their days at SPI and since!

A reunion of COIN game designers including Volko Ruhnke, Mark Herman, Brian Train, Morgane Gouyon-Rety, Bruce Mansfield Mike Bertucelli and me discuss the series and a few great stories about the history and development. Recorded live at the San Diego Historical Games Convention in November of 2020.

PART 2 of 2 Harold and Volko Ruhnke have been playing The Burning Blue designed by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood and published by GMT Games. They interview Lee on his history in Wargaming, what he thinks about The Burning Blue and the other designs. This was also captured on Video and you can see that on Harold's channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8k3d4emMK0&t=17s

PART 1 of 2 Harold and Volko Ruhnke have been playing The Burning Blue designed by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood and published by GMT Games. They interview Lee on his history in Wargaming, what he thinks about The Burning Blue and the other designs. This was also captured on Video and you can see that on Harold's channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4D4xZ0jsQM

Dana Lombardy spends some time with Harold discussing his career and his latest project: MacGowan & Lombardy's THE GREAT WAR fast-playing card game. Available on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/680099836/macgowan-and-lombardys-the-great-war-fast-playing-card-game

Podcast #33 Podcast #33 An interview with the great Rodger B MacGowan Part 1 Rodger Mac Gowan has worked on over 500 wargames and designed various game magazines in his career. He is the holder of numerous games industry and hobby awards. Rodger started playing wargames in high school in Oceanside California. His first amateur magazine was titled Arquebus in 1974 and in 1976 Rodger founded Fire and Movement magazine, an independent and professional magazine devoted to reviewing games. Fire and Movement Magazine has won 6 Charles S Roberts Awards for best professional magazine and was included in the Origins/GAMA Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1976 The Avalon Hill Game Company approached Rodger to designed their wargame packaging. Rodger’s first package design for Avalon Hill was “The Russian Campaign in 1976, followed by Squad Leader in 1977, Cross of Iron in 1978, and Flat Top in 1979. Rodger would design the packaging for most of Avalon Hill’s Wargames over the next ten years resulting in over 24 designs along with cover art and interior art for the General Magazine. Along with Avalon Hill, Rodger also created packaging designs for Game Designers’ Workshop, Simulations Canada, Operational Studies Group, Peoples Wargames, Yaquinto Games, Quarterdeck Games, Hobby Japan, 3W Game Company, Australian Design Group and others. In 1990, as Art Director and Senior Vice President, Rodger helped to launch GMT Games. Over the last 30 years Rodger has been in charge of the visual I.D. of GMT Games by designing the game packaging, company and game logos, physical systems for the games, and the marketing image of the company. In 1992 he designed and co-founded C3i Magazine with a focus on GMT Games products and the History of the Board Wargame Hobby. I met with Rodger in Los Angeles and we spent several hours discussing his life, career and the state of the wargaming hobby. This will be the first part of our discussion with the intent of giving you a unique view of the history of the hobby; through Rodger MacGowan’s eyes.