Texan: So, where're you from ?

             Harvard Grad:   I come from a place where we do not end our sentences

                                    with a preposition,

             Texan: Okay, Where're you from, Jackass ?

                      Good Bye 2011. 

             I am absolutely sure that 2012 will be better.

            (Unless you consider Israel nuking I ran to be a bad…

This evening, I uploaded a new article to Line of Departure Online Features.  This one is an academic article on Winfield Scott's campaign to conclude the war in 1847, conducted from the amphibious landing at Veracruz to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  Because it started as a project for a graduate…

Thought it would be nice to share any stories of games folks received over the Holiday season. Whether you treated yourself or bought from a loved one, share your story with us. I'll kick things off by stating I received one game this year to help bring our kids together for the holiday -- Ticket to Ride. Yup, not a consim title, per se, but something the kids really enjoyed. 

What new games are you now enjoying at your home? And are you…

Debugging the first alpha of "The Fall of Idi Amin, Last King of Scotland" designed by Dennis Bishop.  Supply tracing, reinforcements entry, movement and the combat sub systems are working but need…

It happened again the other day.....   I saw one of Marco’s great video reviews and thought, “Say, that looks like a great game to hook someone on the hobby.” It’s something I’ve been looking for ever since I re-entered the hobby in 2001.  As a high school history teacher and advisor to the school’s “Game Club,” I’ve been on the lookout for that one game that would draw someone into the hobby. But at $60, this game isn’t one of them....

I’m afraid this is…

Would a (hex) wargame creation program be worth paying ~12$ to anyone?  90% of the code needed already exists in various wargame programs I have already written, so its certainly doable.  The big hurdle to a generic wargame program is the huge variation in combat rules so the program would only assist in resolving combat with the player determining loses and retreats.  I would be happy to describe how the program might work in greater detail and to hear what features are really important to…

I have 2 weeks of vacation from work starting next week, so I need to decide how I am going to relax. :)

I plan on finishing my reading of Dupuy's Genius For War , and a couple of fiction books I am reading, but I haven't decided which game(s) I should dig into. At this point my wargame collection, with the exception B-17 QotS, is all pc based titles. I am thinking I will spend some time with Squad Battles: Falklands, and also…

Played 1812: The Invasion of Canada with my son on Sunday afternoon. We played the full campaign which ended at the end of turn 6 when the Brits played all their truce cards to end the game with a Brit win. The game first favored the Brits and then swung in favor of the Americans so I decided to try to end it before it swung back in favor of the Americans. Only 5 pages of actual rules, it plays quickly, and it it fun.

Tonkin components are being produced now. If you wish to preorder this game you should do it soon:…

November is always a good time for gaming because I attend BGG Con. This year I managed to play 14 wargames at BGG Con between Tues evening to Sunday morning. Five of those games were games of Sekigahara; this was probably my favorite game of the con.

I created a BGG Geeklist of all the wargames I played during the con at the link below:

http://ning.it/s44vAE

Ones that come to mind include:

Hannibal: Rome v…

Nice surprise when i got home from work to find the Battles Magazine #7 had arrived. I have never seen this mag before so it was going to be interesting to see what it is like.

I am most impressed. 148 glossy pages with articles on various games, reviews of games, historical articles on battles and even reviews of war films too! For me, it is the perfect magazine.

It also came with 2 games, the main one being Growling Tigers - The Battle for Changde 1943, and a small bonus game…

Currently in progress, a solo campaign run of Nathan's wonderful Bulge game, Iron Tide: Panzers in the Ardennes. Just past the 10 turn point where VP total was one point shy of a German marginal victory. Let's see how this plays out...

Link to AAR