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Wargames To Go

Wargames To Go

著者： Mark Johnson
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 Mark Johnson's irregular podcast about small wargames.(c) 2013 by Mark Johnson
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  • Wargames To Go 27.1 - Invasion of Norway in WW2

    Wargames To Go 27.1 - Invasion of Norway in WW2
    2025/05/11
    Join the Wargames To Go (and Boardgames To Go) discord server https://discord.gg/vxEG9bMPdx



    Ok, let's see how my attempt to tackle smaller topics more often actually goes. Can I get out one show/topic per quarter? That's my personal goal for the rest of 2025. Then I'll re-evaluate.

    Which brings me to Norway. Literally. In a week's time I'll be vacationing there, and that was a great reason to focus my next wargame podcast on this location. Instead of ALL of Norway's history (like I did for Scotland back in 2023, covering games & movies from the Roman era to the Jacobite Rebellion), I'm focusing just on WW2. In fact, I'm mostly focusing on the events of about a couple months in 1940, when Norway was invaded by Germany. I knew that had happened, but few of the details. Now I understand that Norway defended herself on the battlefield (hampered by late mobilization), the Western allies were fighting there, too, but ultimately the Germans were victorious. Norway was under Nazi occupation for the rest of the entire war.

    Be sure to check out the Geeklist of games for this topic.



    But there's more to it than that. The invasion itself was a complex operation of combined arms and logistical planning. The German navy was practically expended in this operation, and the Luftwaffe demonstrated again the new military technology of air superiority. Nevertheless, the strategic prize of the port of Narvik was retaken by the Norwegians and their Allies, Hitler's first significant setback in WW2. However, events back on the continent (the Invasion of France, the Evacuation at Dunkirk) drained the allies away from Norway, allowing the Germans to retake Narvik.

    There have been games about this strategic battlefield since some early days in the hobby, though not the earliest. At least since Frank Chadwick and GDW's treatment in The Europa Series, the Norwegian setting published in 1974. Over the years other titles have appeared, but this has always remained a lesser-gamed topic, with fewer titles. Fortunately, there are several smaller wargames, as I try to concentrate on for this podcast. There almost always are.

    Now I've played a few of them, watched some movies, read some articles, and soon will be visiting the actual location. This isn't a military history trip--it's a vacation for my wife & I. That means I won't see everything, but I'll see enough. I always appreciate being in the actual locations where things happened. It just adds to the experience.

    -Mark


    Films
    • The King's Choice
    • Kampen om Narvik
    • Nr. 24
    • Atlantic Crossing


    Other
    • The YouTube channel Historigraph has an outstanding series of animated maps with voiceover narration about the Invasion of Norway
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    1 時間 7 分
  • Wargames To Go 26.2 - First Contact Games (Conclusion)

    Wargames To Go 26.2 - First Contact Games (Conclusion)
    2025/03/24
    As has happened before, my subject for this podcast episode sort of grew to be larger & more challenging than I was prepared for. As a result, I'm bringing this subject to a "close" before I'm actually finished with the topic. Of course we never really finish a topic in history, but some are more digestible than others. The entire scope of "first contact" between different peoples of the world was not so digestible! Even when limiting it to "New World" interactions in the Americas, it's a never-ending socio-historical challenge. We are still learning, still discovering, still understanding. I haven't learned everything, but I've learned a lot. It's been rewarding. It's something I will come back to in the future, possibly when there are more sophisticated history games that aid my understanding. That's my hope. During this exploration, I was on two YouTube shows by other hosts--one was Joe Byer's What Does THAT Piece Do? show, the other Fred Serval's Homo Ludens show. For this "conclusion," Joe returns the favor by coming onto my podcast to discuss the topic some more. This discussion is the first part of the episode, and I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to check out the Geeklist of games for this topic. Afterward, I continue on by myself to describe the movies, books, and games that were part of my exploration. Then I conclude by sharing my plans to aim for smaller topics, single episodes about each, and hopefully closer to a quarterly schedule. That means the end of one show (this one) will include a look ahead for what the next one will focus upon. This time, you'll hear me wrap up with some plans for learning about the German invasion of Norway in WW2. I've already got a geeklist with some games listed, and I've recently watched Number 24 on Netflix about the Norwegian Resistance. Pretty soon I've got a vacation planned to Norway where I may learn some more, too. I have a geeklist for this Norwegian topic, too. -Mark
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    1 時間 45 分
  • Wargames To Go 26.1 - First Contact Wargames (Introduction)

    Wargames To Go 26.1 - First Contact Wargames (Introduction)
    2024/10/15
    Come join the new Wargames To Go (and Boardgames To Go) discord server https://discord.gg/vxEG9bMPdx Once multiple games about conquistadors in the new world had landed in my collection, I had a dilemma. On the one hand, the 15th-16th century contact between the two halves of our world was one of its most pivotal events. That cannot be denied. On the other hand, the depiction of those events--in history, in entertainment, in culture--has been one-sided and morally suspect (or worse) for the longest time. Could wargaming be any better on this topic? How could that be possible? Be sure to check out the Geeklist of games for this topic. For a few years, I just avoided the topic. However, I know that I have a lot to learn, and this could be my opportunity to do so. Once I read a couple recommended books and had wargame youtuber Joe Byer agree to partner with me, that was enough to dive into the topic. A key modification was my attempt to shift the focus to "first contact" between the Old World and the New. As early as it was, that's not really what's happening in any games about Cortes or Pizarro. In fact, almost ALL of the games in my episode geeklist are actually depicting armed conflict that occurred several years or even a full human generation after first contact. Oh well, that's the limitation of the hobby, at least as it currently stands. Some of the books (and a couple of the movies) do a better job with "first contact." Bluesky link YouTube playlist However, like everything in history, it's all connected. Learning about what happened with the conquistadors or King Philip's War in New England inevitably requires you to back up in order to understand the context. That can back the story up to first contact. It does in the literature...can wargames (or more properly history games) be far behind? I'm seeing new designers, publishers, and perspectives enter the hobby, giving me some hope about that. Also check out Joe Byer's YouTube show, What Does That Piece Do? where he & I discussed this topic. As well as a Teach & Play video I did with Fred Serval for one of these games on his Homo Ludens youtube channel. In this introductory episode, I explain why I'm interested in the topic, what game titles I've found so far, and something about the books and movies that are relevant. As you'll see (and hear), I'm willing to really stretch the definitions of First Contact in order to bring in some movies. After all, this podcast has always been a "multi-media" exploration. I wouldn't have been brave enough to include the science fiction film Prey on my list, but after talking with some Native American friends at work I'm emboldened to channel their own enthusiasm for a wider depiction of their culture and topics in films. So why not? What’s next for this podcast? Well, I’m going to take a delicate dive into the challenging topic of anthropological “first contact” in history games. As much as possible, I want to explore what happened when Europeans & the indigenous people of the New World first encountered each other. I don’t really mean the Indian Wars of the plains. Instead, I’m after what happened when the first ships arrived and people “discovered” each other. This is an area where history games and wargames have not made much progress, but that’s also why the subject is interesting. -Mark
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    1 時間 4 分

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