I'm currently in Raleigh NC at my mom's house, visiting for another few days.  Last week, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Brant Guillory for his GrogCast podcast on his GrogHeads site, covering disparate topics including my game design work, game development, and how it all overlaps with my college-level teaching.  This was all conducted in the gaming area of…

The newest issue of Line of Departure is now available for purchase.  Its lead review is of No Middle Ground from Against the Odds, followed by analysis of Age of Empires II HD from Steam, Guilford (GMT), and the venerable Avalon Hill game PanzerBlitz.

To read the full table of contents, and the issue's Bully Pulpit editorial,…

I just got back from the Post Office, and dropping of the last copies of Issue 80 to go out to the subscribers.  Here is the article list:

ISIS and the New Modern: A Review of Islamic State: Libya War

by Jim Werbaneth



Islamic State: Syria: A Preview

by Javier Romero



Insurgency Among the Stars: Simulating Revolutionary War in Freedom in the…

The eightieth issue of Line of Departure is being printed right now.  The lead review is of Javier Romero's Islamic State: Libya War, and he contributes a preview of his upcoming Islamic State:Syria too. 

Next, there's an article that I wanted to write for a long time.  It is an analysis of Freedom in the Galaxy as a game of insurgency and counterinsurgency, a model of revolution as understood in the real world but placed in a science fiction milieu.  Another article covers strategy…

Does anyone want to take an online course on the Civil War, starting on May 22, and last ten weeks, through La Roche College? I'm the professor, and the textbook is James McPherson's Battlecry of Freedom. There would be no paper, and the grading is on ten discussion boards and two exams. To get the three college credits, you'd have to register at La Roche College as a student. It might be possible too to do so as an auditor, without going for the credits. I've taught this twice before…

The popular "Backwards Subscription" offer is back, this with eight recent magazines, Issues 71 through 78.   These cover a wide range of games, with topics from the ancient world to the far future, and scaled from microtactical to grand strategic.

Read more about them here:

Comprehensive Article List

And order…

As I've been talking about for a while, prices for Line of Departure went up today, for the first time in about eight years.  Now, if you look inside copies of some of the TPS games, you'll find a subscription flyer for the magazine, with the old prices of $22.00 per year for American and Canadian subscribers, and $27.50 for those elsewhere in the world.



As a special offer, I'm going to honor those prices for TPS gamers only, through April 2017.  If you have one of those flyers,…

For the benefit of teachers and especially students, I just set up a page with links to all the academic papers I wrote for my last venture into graduate school. These are still on the Line of Departure Online Features Articles page, but for the sake of convenience, they are all now organized in one…

Issue 79, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of Line of Departure, is now on the market.  This is also the third in the magazine's history to have the theme of Americans at War.  This issue contains the following articles:

Return to the Third World War: A Review of the GMT Games Edition of MBT

Fictional Battles, Fictional Game: Battalion-Level Battles of World War III,…

No, this is not a political post, not really.

Tonight, I sat on a panel with six other voters recruited by Trib Total Media, the publisher of the old Pittsburgh Tribune Review and currently the Valley News Dispatch and Greensburg Tribune Review, at the Media Innovation Center of Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh.  My perspective wasn't as a professor of political science, but one of a group of typical voters.  One guy was a business owner who voted for Trump, three were…

As I work on Line of Departure Issue 78, I have come to the difficult decision that due to rising printing and postage costs, I'm going to have to raise prices.  This is the first increase since 2008, and I hope that it is the last one for quite some time.  Here are the new prices, effective March 1:



Four-Issue Subscription to the United States and Canada: $30.00

Four-Issue Subscription to Everywhere Else in the World: $38.00

Individual Issues to the United States and…

I just updated the Line of Departure Online Features site.  The major part of it involves the latest addition, an academic article that I wrote about a year ago on the logistical foundations of the Union offensive in Virginia in 1864.  As I note on the site, this is probably going to be the last historical piece I write…

Officially, this was conferred last month, but the diploma only arrived today.  My course concentration was World War II, but with an elective each on command and leadership in the Civil War, and on the American Revolution.  Interestingly, the latter was taught mainly from the British…

Issue 78 of Line of Departure has been mailed to the subscribers, and the first issues should be arriving at their destinations now.  The articles, all by me, are:

Gunflashes in the Night: A Review of Iron Bottom Sound III

Six Days of War: Middle Eastern Battles in 1967: Sword of Israel

High Definition Addiction: The Return of Age of…

I remain pleasantly surprised by the way that people remember my old articles on Firepower from the Avalon Hill General.  Some of them go back thirty years, and people remember them and still play some of the scenarios.



Therefore I am extremely happy to see Darren Breidigan's efforts to scan these articles and make them available again on Boardgame Geek.  These are done with my express approval, indeed encouragement.



The first one is "The Pact: Central European Conflict and…

The newest issue of Line of Departure is released, and the subscribers should all have their copies by now.  This issue represents not just a resumption of publication, but also an upgrade in production values.  Physically, it is now printed on heavier, premium-quality paper, with sharper graphics.  This issue's contents start with…

Coming soon, my design on the Austro-Prussian War in Bohemia.  Thanks to Paul Rohrbaugh for developing the game, and creating the core system in the first place.…

Big news on the Turning Point Simulations Front. I turned in the fully developed version of Mark McLaughlin's game, The Invincible Armada, for editing by the TPS staff and real art by Mark Mahaffey. Players are going to be very happy with this game, as it is low counter density, fast-playing, and can fit on a normal-sized table, even in your kitchen, without taking up more space than a herd of cats. Also,…

The newest issue of Line of Departure has been released, and most customers should have their copies by now.  The lead review is of Ogre: Designer's Edition (Steve Jackson Games), with analysis of Frederick the Great (Avalon Hill) and the French and Indian War Battle Collection (Two Buck Games, along with two new scenarios for MBT (Avalon Hill).  Finally, the magazine…

I have some big news; my World War II desert game Rommel at Gazala is now available in a professional edition from Lock 'n Load Publishing.  This is really the culmination of twenty-five years of game history, as it was originally designed for professional publication in Command magazine, but for various reasons, that came to naught.  Now, LnL is issuing it in a really good-looking and more functional version, featuring larger counters and a much larger map.

Look for this…