Wargaming Recon

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Peter Saloom to talk about two recent 1-Day gaming events called Leveled Up and the Hobby Bunker Games Day. Leveled Up is part of Redemption Con and might sound familiar to our listeners. Peter talks about about the turn out and the games played along with other details if you are interested in attending next time. The other event is the Hobby Bunker Games Day...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Peter Saloom. You might remember Peter since he was on recently and was talking about growing community at Redemption Rock Brewing in Worcester, Massachusetts. Peter is a published writer with the Stingers & Spores setting in the Savage Worlds RPG ruleset. Peter starts off by describing the Savage Worlds rules and what about them drew him to using those rules...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by counselor, author and professor; Dr. Allan Hunter. He has written 12 books including The Sanity Manual (affiliate link), Life Passages: Writing Exercises for Your Life Journey (affiliate link), and From Coastal Command to Captivity: The Memoir of a Second World War Airman (affiliate link).  Dr. Hunter has a PhD in Literature from Oxford and Jonathan had him as...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Robert Dunn to talk about Huzzah! Con 2023.  Huzzah was held in South Portland, Maine during the weekend of May 19-21, 2023. Robert writes the show notes for each episode over the past few years.  He is an invaluable member of the team and a friend. Robert and Jonathan talk about Huzzah! Con and give some details about the convention for those who might be int...

This week Jonathan is joined by Kos, the CEO of W.R.K.S. Games. W.R.K.S Games is the publisher of Jordenheim, and now Katana-Ra. The pair jump right in to talking about their new game Katana-Ra and what it is; and the development behind it.  Katana-Ra is a Japanese inspired cyberpunk RPG and Kos talks about the inspiration and how it is different from other games in the genre like Cyberpunk and Sh...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Peter Saloom. Peter helped found a gaming community at Redemption Rock Brewing in Worchester, Massachusetts; and he is also the president of a 2nd generation family business. Peter talks about his gaming origins and how it has led him to building his local gaming community. The pair talk about community building and why it can mean different things to differen...

This is the second of two live episodes recorded at TotalCon 2023. In this episode Jonathan is joined by Joerg Bender. Joerg is the owner of Things From the Basement; the company that makes beautiful MDF tabletop wargaming terrain. The Plan Joerg is given the $5,000 extreme gaming makeover challenge. He has $5,000 pretend dollars to spend on a makeover.  He cannot go over the $5,000 and it has to...

This episode was recorded live at TotalCon 37 on February 25, 2023. Jonathan was joined by Peter Bryant for this live recording. Peter is the co-owner of Solarian Games and the game designer behind the new Razer RPG system. Jonathan quizzes Peter on his gaming origins and why this makes him a good game designer. Getting down to the main portion of the episode, Jonathan and Peter talk about Razor a...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Alex Berner and Chase Harris of Pocket Bard. Alex is the composer and CEO of Pocket Bard. Chase is the Lead Developer and Interactive Audio Lead. The trio talk about what Pocket Bard is and how it can enhance your own RPG or tabletop gaming experience. Diving into the origin story for Pocket Bard; Alex and Chase talk about how their app is different from the o...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Andrew Hartland.  Andrew is the Gaming Coordinator for CaptainCon and a NASA engineer. Andrew talks about what he does as the Gaming Coordinator before talking about CaptainCon itself. CaptainCon is February 3-5, 2023 in Warwick, RI and is full of RPG's, Miniatures and Board games. Andrew goes into detail on the number of events and attendees and tells us all...

In this episode Jonathan is joined by Dave Valentine of Bloody Scotsman Games. Bloody Scotsman Games is the maker of Devil in the Wilderness and the expansion Devil In Sleepy Hollow. (You can even find Jonathan and Adrian in the game as characters.) Dave had a vendor booth at the New England Tabletop Wargaming Flea Market and at ArmourCon 2022. Jonathan and Dave discuss both events. Flea Market/ G...

This week Jonathan is joined by Peter Bryant. Peter is a Co-Owner of Solarian Games.  He is a gamer designer who created Cube of Death. Jonathan gets Peter to go through what his personal extreme gaming makeover would entail. The idea behind the Extreme Gaming Makeover is to see how people would improve their gaming experience if they had a budget of $5,000 USD. Peter discusses the theme of his up...

In this episode we are joined by Cory Ring.  He is the co-owner, content manager, editor, and gamer guru for Cigar Box Battle. If you are not aware Cigar Box Battle has 143 different designs for their tabletop gaming mats. 24 of them are 36"x36". Two of them are massive at 6ft 6inches x 15ft; and the last 117 are in a standard 4x6. They also offer double-sided 4x6 mats and also a satin fleece opti...

This week Jonathan is joined by the esteemed Henry Hyde. Henry is the best-selling author of Wargaming Campaigns (affiliate link) and The Wargaming Compendium (affiliate link)  books.  Many consider The Wargaming Compendium to be the definitive wargaming tome of our generation. Jonathan and Henry discuss why Henry decided to take on this topic when there are other books already on the topic.  They...

This week, Jonathan is joined by special quest Anthony from Brickify. The pair talk about the online auction site Whatnot; they explain what it is and it can benefit you. The 5 tips for buyers that the pair discuss are as follows: Be selective Be careful from whom you buy and also avoid the people that sound like a used car salesman. Does the seller know the product and are they putting effort int...

Joerg Bender is the owner of Things From the Basement.  He comes on to discuss what's happening with their MDF terrain.  Things from the Basement has 13 main lines of MDF terrain and tabletop gaming accessories. Jonathan and Joerg talk specifically about the Exploratory Submarine USS Adrian Benson.  The USS Adrian Benson is from their Victorian Science Fiction line.  It is a tribute piece in memor...

In this episode, Jonathan is joined by Alex Tabb. Alex is a long time friend of Adrian Benson and a fellow gamer. The two travel into old school wargaming as they swap memories of gaming with Adrian. Adrian and Alex met at The Compleat Strategist in King Of Prussia PA, USA run by Ed Wimble (of Clash of Arms fame). They both were there for a demo of an old Western game by TSR called Boot Hill after...

In this episode, Jonathan talks about how he is joining his loves of Star Wars, LEGO, and wargaming. Jonathan is working on developing a convention game for the Battle of Hoth using his LEGO kits. He covers his dilemma with either using the Star Wars Legion rules or using a homebrew set of rules based on Star Wars Legion. If you are interested you can find the free rules on the Atomic Mass Games w...

In episode #277 I am joined by Joshua Shoobridge. Joshua is a podcaster, wargamer dad, 3D printing enthusiast and our audio editor. We start off talking about what games and hobby tasks that he is enjoying currently. We also discuss how COVID has impacted gaming. Joshua talks about his local convention CANCON and how long it has been running.  During COVID lockdowns many gaming events and conventi...

In this episode, we are joined by games designer Peter Bryant.  Peter has quite a resume, he is a game designer, former podcaster, dad, science nerd, TotalCon Industry guest and co-owner of Solarian Games. We briefly talk about how TSR had change names to become Solarian Games.  Wargaming Recon used to be part of the TSR Podcast Network, and we talk about it's demise and why Solarian Games does no...

Referencing the award-winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen, Jonathan shares how chronic depression, anxiety, and grief caused Jonathan to feel like a sinking ship with no land in sight. That is until Jonathan rediscovered a love of LEGO.  LEGO is more than a building toy.  It can even be used for tabletop gaming.  Listen to this episode to hear the tale.  You'll also find out about some upcoming podc...

Kicking off the 2022 season with some lessons Jonathan has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Jonathan shares a few lessons that apply to the tabletop battlefield and everyday life.  The global pandemic has impacted many individuals in a variety of ways. If you, or someone you know, is mourning a loved one please consider looking at Harvard Medical School's "Ways to support someone who is grievi...

In this episode Joshua talks about Oathmark by Joseph A. McCullough. Joshua gives a review of the game and covers the mechanics. He explains how to build your units and the different miniatures you can use. Joseph's bio can be found here. The Oathmark rulebook can be found here. Additional resources are found here. The bases Joshua uses can be found here. You can stay current with Joshua on: Insta...

Australia is in lockdown because of COVID-19.  While many may think this means gaming isn't possible, Joshua Shoobridge shares why that isn't true. He discusses his gaming and hobby experiences during lockdown.  They cover everything from painting minis, trying new painting techniques, and even a dive into 3D printing. As we all now know, it is difficult to play games with someone else during a lo...

Joshua Shoobridge hosts this episode featuring long time gamer, Bob Yates.  Bob can be seen in the award-winning documentary Word From a Gamer directed by Steven Wollett (award-winning director and friend of the show).  He has been gaming since his early childhood.   Although he considers himself more of an RPG and board gamer, many of us play more than just wargames and minis. Bob discusses his e...