Three Moves Ahead

Vic Davis rides back into town to talk about Six Gun Saga, his new solitaire card-based strategy game. Julian is mighty fond of it, but wants to play with the rest of his posse. Rob is curious how Vic's Armageddon Empires and Solium Infernum fans have greeted this unusual game, and where Vic is headed next.

An exhausted Julian and Rob welcome Cory Banks back to the show to go over what they played at Julian's board gaming retreat. Could Agricola's position be threatened by young up-and-comer 7 Wonders? Why is Battleship Galaxies the best space game since Sins of a Solar Empire? Is Castle Ravenloft a baby game, or an appropriate introduction to strategy and wargaming for children and novices? On the other hand, why would you play that when Last Night on Earth and Invasion from Outer Space are so much better? All these questions and more will be answered for those who are... Three Moves Ahead.

Ralph Trickey takes a break from updating and improving The Operational Art of War III to talk about the series with Rob, Troy, and Bruce. They discuss how the game is changing through patches, and then debate whether TOAW is a game so much as it is a set of tools. They also talk about how scenario designers have put those tools to use, and what shortcomings afflict the system. Everyone shares his favorite scenario, but Rob cannot contain himself and names three. Ralph mentions plans for The Operational Art of War IV, but it'll be hard to sell that if he keeps making TOAW III better and better.

Elemental and Civilization V come in for a follow-up appointment with Julian, Troy, and Rob. Have the major changes that have been patched into these games translated into major improvements for the player? How much post-release support should players reasonably expect, and what can developers accomplish with it? What flawed games have become great with patching?

Here come the creeps, led by Rob and Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Quintin Smith! Fortunately, they encounter a maze of discussion and towers of topics. Inspired by first-person tower defender Sanctum and tower attacker Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Quinns and Rob explore how these games change the tower defense formula, and what about that formula needed changing? Are we doing a disservice to a neat mechanic by insisting that it is a genre? Why are we continually drawn in by games we often find shallow and unsatisfying? Is tower defense really about destruction, or is there an under-served creative aspect to these games?

A lot of games and pieces come up for discussion here, so brace yourself for a link attack.

Quinns' Sanctum Wot I Think

Troy's reactions to Anomaly: Warzone Earth

Rob, two years ago, on tower defense games

Quinns on Ace of Spades 3MA on AI War

Rob's "excessively positive" Dungeons review

The Verdun game Rob couldn't remember is The Trench

Kieron Gillen on Warfare: 1917

Rob is pleasantly surprised by Revolution Under Siege and rounds up Troy Goodfellow and Broken Toys' Scott Jennings to talk about it. What is the context for a Russian Revolution game, and how does Revolution Under Siege communicate that? Is the AGE system a good one for this kind of game, and why is it such a turn-off for some people? Most importantly, how the hell does an armored train work? Why wouldn't you just stay away from the tracks? Seriously guys, what the hell?

Gamers With Jobs continues colonizing 3MA, but the natives still welcome Cory Banks because he brings whiskey and podcast topics. Fantasy Flight games is upset about an iOS game that bears a significant resemblance to Richard Borg's Command & Colors system, and Bruce, Cory, and Rob wonder what it all means. Before they reveal themselves as ignoramuses yet again, William Flachsbart, intellectual property expert, arrives to tell them what it all means. How carefully must new products tread around the innovations of old ones? When does borrowing mechanics turn into theft? Is there any way we can send Troy to jail? What about the Vancouver Canucks?

Here is Bill Abner's original No High Scores story, and the interview to which Wil is referring in this episode.

Big thanks to Michael Hermes for helping us sort out numerous audio problems this week.

Ah, good day, Herr General. The General Staff have prepared this podcast analyzing the strength and dispositions of the Panzer General series. You will have access to some new units for this mission. Bruce will shatter its defenses with an explanation of why he is not very fond of it, and Julian and Rob will go through the gap with an argument for its simplicity and refinement. Troy can provide air cover by placing the series in a wider context of genre and gaming history, but be careful. He consumes alcohol at twice the rate of a normal unit.

Brilliant victory: Complete the podcast in 55:39

Victory: Read Rob's love-letter to PG2 in the May issue of PC Gamer

Tactical victory: Comment and re-tweet

On the 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter, Troy and Rob rally around the bonnie blue flag and find Gamers With Jobs' Erik Hanson waiting for them there. Then they march off to discuss the American Civil War and its gaming legacy. They discuss how changes in a game's scale also change how the war is presented, why the war has such a hold on the imagination, and what were its defining features. A

Along the way, Rob calls the Shenandoah campaign the Cumberland campaign, incorrectly places Cutler in command of the Iron Brigade at 2nd Manassas, and leaves his window open to let listeners hear the sounds of the Cambridge police. Embarrassing errors, or a subtle homage to Burnside?

Bill Abner and Dan Stapleton arrive to help Rob sort out the long-delayed Dawn of War II: Retribution episode. Rob isn't wild about the campaign for a few reasons, and eventually he starts to figure out why. Bill dislikes Chaos Marines wailing on electric guitars, and he thinks that's indicative of the direction the 40K universe has gone. Everything goes brilliantly until the show ends and Dan asks, "Wait, was I supposed to be recording?" Then Rob executes him, inspiring everyone to greater feats of podcasting next week.

Bill's Retribution review