Interview with Mark Backhouse

Josh and Edward are joined by Chris from No Name Games to talk about both his ongoing Kickstarter for Eleven Bravo and modern wargames generally, from scenario design to multi-domain battles, the use of drones, and what differentiates modern wargames from other periods.  

Today on Brushes & Bayonets, Edward and Carter discuss their process on working and writing SNAFU, a game Carter developed with input from Edward over the last two years. SNAFU is a company level WWII game focused on ease of playability and historical decision making. Releasing on July 10th, in the episode our hosts break down how the game was conceived, what it does differently to other WWII games, and what kind of support is being released alongside the main book.

Josh and Edward are joined by two friends of the show and rules writing collaborators Carter and Michael to talk about their choices for unknown or underserved wargaming periods. They each make the case for a period they are passionate about, where to find miniatures and rules for the period, and where you can learn more about each era. 

After a school related hiatus, Josh and Edward tackle a passion project of theirs - balancing historical battles via different types of win conditions. They talk about taking historical battles from periods like WWII, Napoleonic, Pike & Shot, and Ancients that were lopsided for one side and how to turning them into fun games. 

It is Edward and Josh's pleasure to interview Mark Backhouse, a pillar of the wargaming community about his article writing for Wargames Soldiers & Strategy, his philosophy on game design, and thoughts on smaller scale miniatures. 

Edward and Josh are ecstatic to be joined by Chris McDowall, RPG & Wargame designer to talk about his new game MAC Attack along with the intersection of playing and designing both wargames and RPGs. We discuss how GMs have made their way into wargames, designing for theme or mechanics first, and where to interject chance vs resource management into games. 

Josh and Edward recorded this episode a bit later than usual... as Edward was traveling to see the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields. Today on the show, the hosts discuss how terrain matters to wargames, a bit about how the travel experience influenced Edward's thoughts on grand tactical battles, and some techniques for setting up terrain for both historical an ahistorical battles. 

On today's episode, Josh and Edward dive into the topic of "Bathtubbing," or when a scenario designer changes the scale of a historical wargame to fit the battle they wish to portray. Your hosts discuss when bathtubbing works well, when it should be avoided, and a different way to think about the wargames rules on your shelf. 

Join Edward and Josh in learning from Miles of Little Wars TV as he shares his secrets to running a great convention game and how to put on an unforgettable wargaming experience. 

Today on the Brushes & Bayonets podcast Josh and Edward are joined by Evan and Patrick, two expert wargaming GMs who together have run the Race to the Dan and Overland campaigns for members of the Little Wars TV discord. Edward and Josh who played in both campaigns peer behind the curtain to figure out how hard it really is to run a campaign, how the listener can start, and learn a bit about what makes this style of campaign so unique among wargaming.