Three Moves Ahead

Len and Jon are joined by Alice Caldwell-Kelly and Justin Roczniak of Well There's Your Problem to talk about Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic. May contain revisionism. Check out Well There's Your Problem, a podcast about engineering disasters: wtyppod.podbean.com/ Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/3ma

Rob is joined by freelance writer Sin Vega to discuss Suzerain, a branching narrative head-of-state simulator that asks you to make complex decisions about the politics of a small, Cold War nation. Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/3ma

Rob, Jon, and shadow councilor Mike are joined by 3ma Panelist Emeritus Tom Chick to discuss Shadow Empire, a post-apocalyptic sci fi colony management sim with a 300+ page manual.

Bruce takes the Winter of Wargaming to the Streets of Stalingrad as he interviews acclaimed wargame designer Dana Lombardy to discuss his past, present, and future work. Check out lombardystudios.com where you can still pre-order MacGowan and Lombardy’s The Great War card game at the Kickstarter backer price.

Rob, Troy, and Jon discuss Field of Glory II: Medieval as the Winter of Wargaming enters the Middle Ages. Who are these guys Alexander Nevsky brought to war today? Anybody? Pyotr, are they friends of yours or what? Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/3MA

As the Winter of Wargaming presses on, Rob and Bruce discuss the Avalon Hill classic PanzerBlitz and the interplay between game mechanics and the awesome war movie you see in your head. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/3MA

Note: Since this episode was recorded, one of the designers discussed, Tom Russell, has come out as transgender. Please note that while he / him is used on the podcast, her correct pronouns are she / her. The Winter of Wargaming begins with a trip down memory lane with Bruce and wargame designer Lou Coatney, whose career includes not just several great original print-and-play designs but also a robust set of fixes and "mods" to classic wargames. Bruce and Lou also discuss in detail the problems of getting Barbarossa and The Bulge "right" from a design and history standpoint. coatneyhistory.com/ lcoat.tripod.com/

Len, Rowan, and Fraser ally up to discuss all of the updates to Total War: Warhammer 2 since its launch, as we've miraculously not done a show on it since then, and the piping hot announcement of Total War: Warhammer 3.

Rob, Rowan, and Len discuss how faction design in strategy games has changed over the years, and the trend toward more specific and asymmetrical mechanics which started in RTS before spreading to the rest of the wider genre.

Fraser and Jon are joined by PC Gamer's Rachel Watts to discuss high-flying city builder Airborne Kingdom. Can this unorthodox spin on the classic genre keep our interest aloft?