Wed, 19 February 2014
Hope to publish a new episode soon; have a couple of great game designers lined up. Thoughts and prayers with friends and family in Ukraine. Related, I've been blogging on the situation in Ukraine on my Triumph of Chaos board (in the between the wars folder) on Consimworld.
Category:general
-- posted at: 2:38pm CDT
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Tue, 17 December 2013
Been swamped with real life work. Just back in the States for holidays. Will post next episode soon. Thanks for the emails/posts inquiring to my status.
Category:general
-- posted at: 9:36pm CDT
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Sat, 9 November 2013
Spent the day reading The Third Reich by Roberto Bolano. Had heard about the book - and given that I played the game in my mispent youth, I decided to read it. Selve description here: On vacation with his girlfriend, Ingeborg, the German war-game champion Udo Berger returns to a small town on the Costa Brava where he spent his summers as a child. There, they meet another vacationing German couple, who introduce them to the darker side of the resort town’s life. Soon Udo is enmeshed in a round of the Third Reich, his favorite World War II strategy game, with a shadowy local called El Quemado. As the game draws to its conclusion, Udo discovers that the outcome may be all too real. Link to NYT review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/books/review/the-third-reich-by-roberto-bolano-book-review.html?_r=0 I should get episode XVIII of Guns, Dice, Butter published in the next week or so.
Category:general
-- posted at: 11:50pm CDT
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Sat, 15 June 2013
Will pass the 25,000 download mark today; 444 days since starting Guns, Dice, Butter. 15 Episodes 32 GREAT guests on the show so far. 38 Hours of programming. Thanks to Mr. LaDue and Mr. Sample for pushing me into this lark. And, the incredible technical skill of the Applenista. Been a blast.
Category:general
-- posted at: 1:11pm CDT
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Tue, 16 April 2013
Been totally swamped with work lately. Back soon (when spring finally arrives). Have some great guest lined up. Great to see continued strong interest (emails, posts and downloads) in Guns, Dice, Butter.
Category:general
-- posted at: 11:25pm CDT
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Tue, 11 December 2012
I was thinking about a question Volko asked on Episode X: "Why don't you like to game modern conflicts?". Basically, I answered on the podcast that it was due to story; that somehow the stories from the past are "richer". It may be that we've had A LOT longer to develop the narrative with stories of yore that stories from present times. I also remembered that I had conducted a poll on BGG a few years ago regarding what are gamers' favorite armies/least favorite armies to game out: image below. Something about pushing around roman legions in a rich political game context (a Pax Romana, Carthage: The First Punic War or even a grand tactical like Siege of Jerusalem). Maybe it is that the game designers bake in more political dimensions with those conflicts than with a WW2 (exceptions: Empire of the Sun, World in Flames, etc) or modern design. Maybe it is that the more recent conflicts grab more attention on the toys (ex: panzer tanks). Of course, Volko's COIN series and Train's variety of modern conflict games (ex: Algeria) aren't guilty of that (of ignoring the political dimension - or a focus on "the toys"), but I think so many of the games we began with were (ex: The Avalon Hill Classics). Of course, there other issues with modern conflict games: too raw, too messy, etc. Anyways, I'll take a non WW2 era game over a modern or WW2 game anytime when it comes to wargaming: I'd play Empires in Arms over any WW2/modern game. Or, any number of ancients games for that matter.
Category:general
-- posted at: 11:52am CDT
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Fri, 6 April 2012
Ed Wimble and I refered to a number of books on Episode 2. Following is that list: Logistics and the Failure of the British Army in America by R. Arthur Bowler The Southern Strategy by David Wilson The War for America by Piers Mackesy The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies 1760-1785 by Don Cook The Frontier War for American Independence by William R. Nester I've read all but Mr.Wilson's book and would highly recommend the whole lot: they really gave me a different perspective on the conflict. I will be getting a copy of Mr.Wilson's book very shortly. I also referred to a forum that where Wilson and Wimble hold court that I think is about the best thing on the net regarding the American Revolutionary War (Art of War: David K. Wilson - in the Blog Central section of consimworld.com). A link here: http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX/.1dd09579/3206
Category:general
-- posted at: 9:08am CDT
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Thu, 29 March 2012
So, how to podcast? Bought a mic: Blue Snowball $80. Got a plug in for Skype that records conversations - $20. Created episode in garageband (get one of your kids to show you how to use - or go to applestore). Additional handy program is Soundflower: allows you to record any sound that plays thru your computer. Placed in itunes (on my desktop - just watch any podcast on youtube telling you how). Purchased a domain www.gunsdicebutter.com $6/yr, which will point to this site. Got an account here on libsyn ($15/month for 250 megs - the first episode was about a 180 megs) to host the podcast. Uploaded the first episode using a ftp server (filezilla - downloaded free). Had to hunt around here to make my website. Also, had to hunt around to adjust the settings that feed itune store. Then, submitted podcast to iiTune store - should take a couple days to post. Will be interested in feedback on the episode - post it on consimworld and BGG when I get a discussion board there up and working in the next day or two. ---------------------- Update....I've also discovered how to save as a MP3 in garage band and at some reduced quality. So, I'll upload the MP3 version (same exact episdoe, just save in MP3 format) and 1/3 the size - 60 megs vs 180 megs - in a day or two. Now that I know how to save my podcast in MP3, I'll probably try that if the quality doesn't significantly suffer for friends still stuck with a PC: we haven't all become Applenistas....yet!
Category:general
-- posted at: 2:36am CDT
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