"Mentioned In Dispatches" with the Armchair Dragoons

2 June 2023

And you thought we were done for the Summer30 but then The Wargaming Company popped up with some very snazzy new 10mm Napoleonic minis and we reconvened to talk with David Ensteness about them and what the rollout plan is.

So let’s enjoy our guy Cyrano geeking out of some new toys, and trying to figure out how to avoid the arts-&-crafts of the hobby while still getting to play with these remarkable new figures.  Let’s also enjoy David explaining the trial and error process of learning the ways to manufacture these figures, with a remarkably candid look inside the production side of this industry.  And then let’s all take a break so our guys can focus on Origins and get back to you in the Fall.

click the images below to really zoom in and get a detailed look at these new minis, and let us know when you spot the horizontal pockets.

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

5 May 2023

Brant, Gary, and Mike are talking conventions!  First, Brant & Gary take some time to discuss Buckeye Game Fest, with the events, experiences, and fun to be found at that one.  Then, it’s time to talk Origins (and see below for the directory for all of our Origins coverage, both current & projected).

So let’s talk about Origins as a whole, some attendance numbers through the years, the annual hilarity that is the (complaining about) event registration, and then some detailed discussions of the events we’ll have at the Wargame HQ from Catastrophe Games & Fort Circle & PicoArmor (all of whom are planning to be there with us), plus GMT Games (who always offers a huge amount of support to our area), and folks like Invicta Rex Games (Song for War), On Target Sims (our Command Post Exercises), and more.

We also spend some time looking forward to some other events over the Summer that we probably won’t make, but would like to some time.  We also take a few minutes to discuss the upcoming Armchair Dragoons Fall Assembly in October of 2023.  And yes, after Brant says “last thing” we go on for another 10+ minutes.

And thus wraps season 10 of Mentioned in Dispatches, and we’ll see y’all in the Fall when we start season 11!

ORIGINS 2023 COVERAGE

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

At the Origins fair, I did see,

Yes, a flea had managed to sneak,

The flea’s moves were swift and were bold,

So remember, at Origins beware,

28 April 2023

Pat Mooney of Flagbearer Games joins the show to talk about Nations & Cannons, and specifically, their latest Kickstarter campaign, as Merle Robinson of the NSDM also tags in as a guest co-host.

So how do players fit into the setting?  What sorts of adventures do they find?  We talk about these, as well as the genesis of Nations & Cannons as an educational tool and their current crossovers into some optional light fantasy theatrics.  There’s a variety of products already available, and we’ll find out in a few weeks if Merle was able to successfully talk Pat into coming to Origins 2023.

Links that matter!

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

21 April 2023

Moe & Grant pop in to join Brant on a discussion of what we’re playing now, and what we’re looking forward to, whether it’s upcoming games, or events, or games at events!

Yes, we ramble a bit on this one, but that’s kind of our schtick, isn’t it?  We talk about Canadians wargaming the ACW and how awesome Bruce Maxwell is.  We cover some upcoming games we’re excited for and the events we’re going to hit for the rest of 2023 – like Weekend at the Warehouse, Origins, Compass Expo (both of them!), and the Armchair Dragoons Fall Assembly.

We’re winding down season 10, so catch us while we’re still recording before our usual Summer break!

We told you last week that nominations are open at BoardGameGeek for the Golden Geek Awards, including the podcast category.  There’s no chance in hell that Mentioned in Dispatches would ever win for Best Podcast because we’re not called “Meepled in Dispatched” or “Mentioned in Meeplepatches” or something, but it would be awesome to get a wargaming podcast into the final round of voting.

While you’re there, give some love to Hexy Talk, Beyond Solitaire, History on the Table, Homo Ludens, and Harold on Games.  We’d tell you to vote for Pushing Cardboard, too, but Grant isn’t in the list

If you can’t vote b/c you don’t have enough GeekGold to spend on it, shoot Brant a PM on BGG and he’ll send some your way.

Please trot on over to the iTunes page for our podcast and give us a rating – whatever you think is fair!

Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

14 April 2023 ~

It’s been forever since we had a chat with our guy David Heath of Lock ‘n Load Publishing but he’s here to talk about “tabletop AI” and solo assistants for tabletop wargames.  Think of this as a third piece of our solo gaming puzzle from this season, after talking solo wargames as a whole, plus digital AI, earlier in the Spring.

So what’s the difference between an “AI” and a “solo assistant”? We’ll make you listen to David’s explanation   We also discuss some of the new games they’ve got on the horizon, how a production screwup got you a giant box of goodies for a Kickstarter, support for Tabletop Simulator and other digital implementations, and why you never want to exit “early access” on Steam.  Let us know what you think!

Some of the other things we get to:

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

7 April 2023

We brought in a couple of guys that actually know about naval wargaming to tell us all about what goes wrong when wargaming naval warfare.  Chris Weuve and our guy Rocky have both spent many more days afloat than Brant has even spent on the beach, so we let them steer the ship31.  We even bring marines into the conversation (and then rapidly dismiss them. . . )

So let’s talk about how much the players get wrong, fighting to the last ship, gamey-ness on the tabletop rather than in the real world, and how much “doctrine” belongs in the game.  We’ll run the gamut from age of sail up to the modern day, but keep ourselves firmly in the water and avoid any ‘space navy’ discussions.

Here are some links to some things we talked about

Please trot on over to the iTunes page for our podcast and give us a rating – whatever you think is fair!

Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

31 March 2023

Buckeye Game Fest is coming up in a few weeks, and we brought in War Room Commandanté Ardwulf to tell us all about it, plus we dragged in designer-extraordinaire David Thompson for his take on his favorite convention, too.  We also talk about some of our other favorite smaller conventions, and have a special Armchair Dragoons convention announcement of our own at the end.  And yes, our Convention & Event Calendar is still chugging along.

While the convention itself opens up on Thursday the 27th of April, the War Room opens up on Monday the 24th, for a whole bunch of bigger games, like this year’s multiple games of La Bataille, and the Marshall Enterprises guys will be there, too.  OCS table?  Certainly!  Bunch of COIN games with The Player’s Aid?  Absolutely.  Tim from Catastrophe Games?  We tried to bribe him to stay away, to no avail.  Heck, even Russ from Cardboard Conflicts is going to be there!

You get the CABS library – 1500ish games – plus a good-sized main gaming room with all the other tabletop games of Euro/Ameritrash productions, and also the Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator (with a shorter waiting list and no extra price!), plus a great downtown location.

No, it’s not a ‘big’ convention, but that’s exactly why a lot of people prefer these – not too expensive, not too crowded, and not too insane.  Well, except for us.

To give you a sense of what you’re in for, here’s a look at our coverage from last year.

Also, this episode has a little more off-color language than usual, so maybe don’t put it on a speaker at work.

Please trot on over to the iTunes page for our podcast and give us a rating – whatever you think is fair!

Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

24 March 2023

Brant and Rocky are joined by special guest Sebastian Bae to talk about how the hobby wargaming world has approached contemporary / near-future conflicts with China and in the modern PTO.

Whether you’re flipping the map on its head, or trying to project near-future weapons capabilities, it’s a unique set of challenges.  How might political shakeups change the “start condition” of the conflict?  What role is played by strategic logistics?  How would you put a multi-player model in place without relegating some players to being tag-along siblings?  What assumptions are you bringing to your design, and maybe shouldn’t?

We’ve got some links for you!

Preview of a new wall map in work. Adapting a perspective I have used before but going for high-resolution, large-format, and a lot more detail. Struggling to find the right colors and balance for topography, population density, and lots of labels. pic.twitter.com/Orz7Nkohd8

— Rhodes Cartography (@RhodesCartogra1) February 18, 2023

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

17 March 2023

OK look, we all have rulebooks we love, and ones we hate.  Formats we love, and formats we hate.  Podcast guests we love, and…  well, you get the idea33.  So let’s talk about rules, and the rules that govern rules-writing.

Case system?  Conversational style?

We tackle all of these topics, as well as why you don’t want to be the person who gets a rule named after them, why you should always have blind playtesters34, and the breast & worst typos you can make.

Soon, I think, the @ADragoons will drop a podcast where I rant about the need for the better editing of rules. Perhaps I undervalue the present. Working my way through "Charlie Company" (2e), somebody's getting a belated kick in the painfuls. pic.twitter.com/nWyH1LWtVV

— Jim Owczarski (@TheGascon) March 13, 2023

Just for kicks, we did ask Chat GPT for the definition of a “rules lawyer” and this is what we got

A "rules lawyer" is a term used to describe someone who focuses more on the technicalities and specifics of the rules of a game, system, or situation than on the actual intended outcome or spirit of those rules. This term is often used to describe individuals who use their knowledge of rules to gain an advantage over others or to argue their case in a situation where the rules are unclear or contested. While knowing and following the rules is important, being a "rules lawyer" can be seen as negative because it often involves using technicalities to manipulate the system or win at all costs, rather than playing in the spirit of the game or situation.

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.

10 March 2023

Brant, Bryan, Jim, and James all gang up to talk about different facets of artificial intelligence in wargaming, and other digital games.  How “intelligent” do you really want it to be?  A dedicated opponent?  A shadowboxer?

While talking through the options, we cover a variety of games and AIs, from Tiller to Panther to Elder Scrolls to semi-legal free-on-the-web adaptations of game.  We talk about indicators that we see in games of in/competent AIs and the level of details we would ideally want when playing.

Why are you gaming with an AI?  What do you expect from the AI?  How can those requirements be baked in up front?  And what do Pop-tarts have to do with any of this?  All that and more, right now on… {announcer voice} MENNNNNN-tioned in DISPATCHES! {/announcer voice}

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Thank you for joining us for  Mentioned in Dispatches and checking out the official podcast of The Regiment of Strategy Gaming.