Three Moves Ahead

Rob, Rowan, and Fraser apparently got into the catnip this week before getting together to talk about Kingdom. Kingdom is a game about chasing rabbits, usurping monarchies, and losing your hat. It caused Rob to enter a Howard Hughes-esque fugue state, shuffling about in his apartment with tissue boxes on his feet while mumbling about forgetting to bring coins into the woods.

This week Rob, Fraser, and Troy "More Than a Phalanx" Goodfellow take a look at the RTS genre. Rob has concerns about the health of this stalwart of the strategy space, where innovation seems low and quality titles are few and far between. Troy wants more elves and less aliens.

Rob, Gaslamp Developer Nicholas Vining, and Troy "Notice me, senpai" Goodfellow sit down to talk about Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence. Koei has a long history of strategy games that dates back to console gaming with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Their most recent offering, Sphere of Influence, is newly available on Steam. It's a beautiful game, but is it good? Is interesting better than...

Rob, Sean Sands, and Troy "I play Plants vs Zombies for the lore" Goodfellow hunker down to defend their glowing orbs and talk about tower defense. The genre is still alive and well, but did it ever really die? Or has it been the Samwise Gamgee of genres: consistent, comforting, and good at gardening?

The true measure of a game's greatness is how many game developers play it during their lunch breaks. This week we learn that Company of Heroes validates this universal truth with its compelling gameply and lasting appeal. With the recent addition of the British army to CoH2, Rob Zacny, Blendo Games' Brendon Chung, and CoH product Shane Neville look back at the original game and the state of the s...

Bruce and Troy "I really made a Messerschmitt" Goodfellow are joined by noted game designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood to talk about Lee's new game, Wing Leader. Wing Leader is a side-view aerial combat game that allows players to simulate different weather conditions and air combat scenarios.

This week is a full house with Rob, Troy, Tom, and Fraser all weighing in on Eugen Systems' Act of Aggression. Tom stands alone as the half-hearted bastion of defense for a game that underwhelmed the panel. An unintuitive UI, questionable ethnic portrayals, and general crappiness had Fraser "so angry he punched a child", a deed which is now forever rendered in text.

This week Bruce sits down with prolific game designer Brian Train. Brian's games span a wide range of conflicts and scenarios, including Greek civil war, fighting in Algeria, and Special Forces actions in Vietnam. His predilection for asymmetric warfare and non-traditional combat modeling have brought his games to the attention of US military simulation experts and wargame fans throughout the worl...

Rob, special guest Paul Dean, and Troy "Blue Balls Appear Irregularly" Goodfellow talk about Armello, an Early Access game available on Steam. Armello combines charming graphics and design with a game concept that is unapologetically a board game. The PC translation of this is full of potential that has time to be realized by the time the game is ready for release. We learn that Paul is lukewarm o...

Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat (1995) is a gem of a game that has recently been made available again through the magic of digital publishing. The game was ahead of its time: the 3D tactical combat would serve as an inspiration for the gameplay in Shogun: Total War. (The Total War series would eventually meet up with Warhammer later in Total War: Warhammer.) The dark fantasy setting and specia...

TJ Hafer and Rowan Kaiser joing Rob Zacny to discuss the latest expansion to CK2, Horse Lords. Horse Lords allows the player to assume the role of the eastern hordes, galloping across Europe and the CK2 interface. Has CK2 finally been stretched to its limit?

Starcraft II remains one of the most popular Esports, BUT... It's one of the most-streamed games, BUT... the new game mode will attract new players, BUT... listen in to hear what Rob and 3MA's very own Sean Sands think of the Legacy of the Void beta. (Also, learn about Rob's wicked APM.)

Things can change quickly. One day all of your fans are happy, the positive reviews flow like wine, and phrases like "a return to form" are bandied about by critics. Then, when you least expect it - BAM: hit by a bus called "Rome 2" and it's back to the bottom. Time to claw your way back again. Rob, Fraser, Rowan, and Troy "The Horse Lord" Goodfellow talk about series that have fallen off the hors...

It's our Pi-eth episode! Rob is joined by game designer David V. Heron and OG panelist Tom Chick to discuss Massive Chalice. Doublefin's take on squad-based tactics has Tom all aflutter while David has a more reserved take. This Massive Chalice show has Massive Spoilers, so watch for the subtle cue.

Rob, Bruce, and Troy "They Call Me Pony Express" Goodfellow attack the mailbox. We asked 3MA listeners for questions and got them in spades, so tune in to find out the panel's favorite games, podcasts, and desert island picks.

Bruce and Rob are joined by game designer Ananda Gupta to discuss the idea of historical accuracy in games. Bruce gets down to the point by looking for a definition of "historical accuracy" and whether it's a bonus, a detriment, or just another facet of wargaming.

Rob Zacny and Troy "Flava Flavius" Goodfellow examine the latest Total War game, Attila. Following the dizzying heights of Shogun 2 and the despair-filled depths of Rome 2, Attila shows that Creative Assembly can still soar like so many proverbial eagles. The praise is effusive in this show as both hosts are happy to see the series return to form. Rob breaks it down: "Attila... basically awesome."

Rob, Rowan, and Sean Sands fulfill our listeners' requests by taking a deep dive on the newest expansion for EU4: Common Sense. The latest DLC (and associated free update) brings notable changes to the game's systems. Are they all for the better? Should this be called EU5? How many kids are on Rob's lawn, and should they get off of it? Credit for the episode title goes to listener @semitext, who a...

Paradox returns to World War II with the upcoming Hearts of Iron IV and a recent press event found Rob, Rowan, Fraser, and Gamers with Jobs' Sean Sands playing a preview build of the simulation. The results? Mixed feelings. Amidst glimmers of hope for an improved HoI on the order of the successful EUIV and CK2, the panelists found a confusing interface, a lack of direction, and plenty of room for...

In the beginning, there was Panzer General and it was good. Soon after that came Panzer General 2 and it was even better. After that was another game we don't talk about. Fast forward a decade or so to Panzer Corps and things were back to good, unless you asked Troy, and some time after that we reach this week's topic of Panzer Boat. Rob, Tom, Bruce, and Troy "HMCS Uganda" Goodfellow get together...

Roguelikes. They're not strategy games, but they're everywhere. Well, parts of them are. Very specific parts, but rarely all of them, at least not enough to make everyone happy. To discuss these finer points, Rob gathers a veritable rogue's gallery of panelists and experts. Tyler Sigman: game designer and creator of the upcoming Darkest Dungeon. Darren Grey: Roguelike developer and current host of...

Rob and Troy talk to Jamie Cheng and James Lance of Klei Entertainment, developers of Invisible, Inc, a turn-based tactical game that focuses on stealthy people doing stealthy things.

This week, Bruce Geryk hosts Kim Kanger, designer of Dien Bien Phu: The Final Gamble, as well as a series of wargames covering France's 20th century colonial wars. They discuss the appeal and importance of the wars in Algeria and Southeast Asia, as well as the unique challenges of designing games around them.

MoO-ve over, other space 4X games -- Star Drive 2 is here and ready to impress. Fraser Brown (it's definitely Fraser this time) and Rob discuss the finer points of perpetuating genocide on a mass scale for the best reason possible: a lack of any other viable option. Star Drive 2 improves on the original and brings a ship building module that Rob actually enjoys, a feat not seen since GalCiv2 which...

Open your folder of fanfic and scroll down to the Warhammer and Warhammer 40K crossover you've always wanted to publish, the one where the dark elves fight space marines with acid spitting aliens and dragons flying through the sky next to the Serenity (for good measure). Now close that that .txt file, open Heroes of the Storm, and behold: Blizzard have brought your dreams to life! Warcraft, Starcr...