Three Moves Ahead

The smallest podcast ever! Scheduling confusion means that just Tom and Troy are on hand to talk about naval tactics in strategy games. High on nostalgia, low on insight and yet another plug for Crown of Glory: Emperor’s Edition ’s tactical naval engine. You do get a moment where Tom fancies himself to be Da Vinci. Lost Admiral Perfect General Crown of Glory: Emperor’s Edition The Battle of Lepant...

The panel welcomes Mark H. Walker to the round table for a bruising discussion of his upcoming squad based wargame Lock N Load: Heroes of Stalingrad . Bruce and Julian dominate an unusually combative conversation, which only shows how much we care. What is the place of narrative in war games? Do designers overestimate how intuitive their designs are? Apologies for the sound quality here. In spite...

Troy, Tom and Bruce spend an hour talking about city builders as ant farm games. Why didn’t they talk about Dawn of Discovery two weeks ago? What’s up with Cities XL ? Is SimCity Societies a neglected classic or a misfire of epic proportions? And, most importantly, does Bruce know any games made after 1984?

Troy, Tom and Julian start with Hearts of Iron 3 , detour through a bunch of other WW2 games and somehow end up making less sense than usual. Learn why Thin Red Line is Tom’s favorite WW2 movie, why Julian thinks everyone who bailed on Axis & Allies in college should give it another chance, why our Dominions 3 game has stalled and what Troy sounds like after a long train trip and a couple of pints...

East India Company and other trading themed games take center stage this week. Listen as a full panel talks about where Nitro’s sailing business sim stands and falls. Is it possible to make cargo interesting? Are trading games pointless with a computer opponent? Tom’s final Fidgit diary on East India Company

Sometimes a last minute topic change actually goes somewhere. Troy, Tom and Bruce have a long and detailed conversation about the challenges wargame and strategy game designers face when they try to capture the essence of an historical moment. How do you model insurgency? What makes WW2 the default combat model if not the default topic? Why are Tom and Bruce still scarred by Combat Mission Shock F...

After a month of absences, Bruce Geryk more than makes up for it in a tour de force conversation with special guest Bill Abner as they relive the fun of 1970s baseball simulation games. We open with a discussion of Blood Bowl, which Julian finds too difficult and Troy finds too easy. Then Tom, Julian and Troy sort of fade into the background for an hour. Listen to learn what kind of person replays...

Soren Johnson drops by to talk to Troy, Tom and Julian about how the future of strategy games is online - whether you like it or not. He drops some hints about what he is working on at EA, talks a little bit about Civ and why RTSes have to die in order to be reborn. Julian sells iPhones to everyone, too. We also conclude with our regular Dominions 3 update - there could be a war a-brewin'. Tom pre...

The panel returns to game design territory with a discussion of the problem of runaway winners in strategy games. Can you design around it? Should you? How do you keep a game interesting for everyone? Also, a progress report on our Dominions 3 game.

Troy, Tom and Julian look at the year so far and look ahead to see what games they liked and what they are anticipating. Detours into diving, naval warfare and whether Starcraft 2 will appeal to the masses. Stay tuned to the end for a look at who chose which race for their Dominions 3 multiplayer match and why. (Troy butchers his race name over and over, too. It's very stupid.) Fourmageddon Map fo...

This week, the panel takes the pulse of strategy franchises. What makes you strong? What makes you weak? And is any particular franchise in trouble? We also give you a preview of our next epic multiplayer gaming experience. Will Tom and Julian redeem themselves after such a terrible showing last time? Not with this game.

This week is all about Bruce as he goes on and on about how hard it was to write the manual for Dominions 3. The panel talks about how a manual is not the same as documentation, how even good games could be better with a paper friend and lots of other commentary that only reveals just how old we four actually are. Rome on 640K My thoughts on the Dominions 3 manual GMT Games Bill Harris on Dwarf Fo...

Bruce shows up late, but we do get a full panel to talk about The Sims 3 and the franchise in general. Tom gets all artsy, Julian makes an odd comparison and Troy is a cheater. One of the four panelists hates The Sims, by the way. No prize for guessing who. And be sure to check out Crispy Gamer for Tom's Sims 3 RTS Challenge. Can you turn his loser into a success? Robin Burkinshaw's sad story of A...

Tom and I sit down with Johan Andersson of Paradox Interactive and Kim Soares of Nitro Studios to talk about Hearts of Iron 3, East India Company and what it's like for a hardcore strategy publisher at the new E3.Please excuse the background noise. E3 is a noisy place and Paradox had no ceiling on their meeting room. Context important links to follow.

The panel jumps the gun a little bit and talks about maps before Troy can finish quite his series, but they have good reason. The team goes over an hour this time so Bruce can call Civilization IV's map dead, so Tom can regale you with his wilderness adventures and so Troy can listen to his colleagues say nice things about him. Source of the Nile on Board Game Geek Troy's Map Series from the begin...

Four men enter, two men leave as Tom and Bruce welcome their podcast partners into the oldest continuous rivalry in strategy gaming. In the first official multiplayer recap session in TMA history, the panel talks about Dawn of War 2, how the multiplayer experience holds up under the pressures of age and infirmity. Bonus files include a replay you can load into Dawn of War 2 to see us flail about a...

So what happens when an emergency derails a scheduled topic for a podcast? People scramble, that's what. Listen as Troy, Tom and Julian spend half the podcast debating and discussing how diplomacy is best represented in strategy games, and the other half catching up with topics previously covered, with shoutouts to a Flash of Steel commenter, a Qt3 poster and Julian's daughter. Also, bonus referen...

This week, the panel uses Popcap's Plants vs Zombies as a jumping off point to talk about defensive games in general - tower defense, grid defense and wargames. Bruce hates playing the Reds, Julian talks about his iPhone, Tom comes with another list and Troy is probably stressing the wrong syllable in Omdurman. We also announce the winner of the Demigod CE. Desktop Tower Defence Julian's Plants vs...

A disorganized and rambling panel deals with multiplayer gaming in general and some war stories is specific. Bruce and Tom give the not-so-secret history of Tom vs Bruce. Julian sings the praises of the Gamers With Jobs community. Troy explains how he and Bruce used to spend lazy Sunday mornings. And Tom outs himself as a cheater. A dirty, no good, cheater. The Story of the Crispy Gamer Fiasco Qua...

This week, the panel has a special guest. Stardock's Brad Wardell joins Troy, Tom, Bruce and Julian to explain just what was up with Demigod's botched multiplayer launch. We also get a little bit of information on Stardock's upcoming fantasy turn based strategy game, Elemental: War of Magic. And stay tuned to the end, where we give the details for a prize drawing.

A full panel today as the experts ramble about symmetry and asymmetry in strategy game design. What do we even mean by an asymmetrical game? When is asymmetry just a cheat to hide poor game design? Listen as Julian poses hypothetical questions, Tom praise the King of Asymmetry, Troy challenges Tom's logic and Bruce tries to stay on the sidelines. Tom's first Demigod diary Ogre /Gev Bruce's first a...

The full panel is on hand this week and Troy is way out of his element as they talk about Collectible Card Games as strategy games, starting with Battleforge and moving through Star Chamber, Culdcept Saga and Magic. Should Bruce by a PSP? Who uses the phrase "synergy of modalities of gameplay"? And what game does Tom absolutely not want any of you to buy this week? Listen here as these and more qu...

This week, Troy, Tom and Bruce devote the entire show to Demigod, the upcoming RTS from Gas Powered Games and Stardock. Bruce reaches into the past for a boardgame comparison, Tom is annoyed by everyone and Troy likes most of what he sees. Titan

This week, Troy Goodfellow, Tom Chick and Julian Murdoch discuss what a strategy game is. In a world of genre blending titles, what is core nature of strategy gaming? Listen as Tom sells the panel on his new Japanese child game, Julian dismisses Settlers of Catan and Troy searches for a sponsor.

This week it's all about wargaming as John Hawkins from KE Studios comes in to talk about War Plan Pacific. Julian Murdoch returns to explain why he doesn't understand anything, Bruce Geryk would rather talk about Victory in the Pacific, Tom Chick almost rediscovers his love of wargames and Troy Goodfellow resorts to Star Trek Voyager to make a point. And stay for the end, where John Hawkins unvei...