For our club-versus-club Thermopylae wargame against Mark's Game Room, we used Men of Bronze as the rules for our land battle. Today, the author joins Little Wars FM for an in-depth discussion. Eric Farrington is the author of multiple game systems and he talks to Greg about his past and future projects. Eric also reflects on working with Osprey Games as a publisher and how their development process works. You can follow Eric's wargaming hobby updates on his blog, Blood & Spectacles,...

Greg talks to author and game designer Mark Backhouse about a 2013 article written in WSS Magazine called "Hail Agrippa." That article is freely available here, from WSS. A decade ago, Mark turned to Warlord Games' "Hail Caesar" rules when seeking out a mass battle, ancient naval system. With a few modifications, he turned the popular land-battle system into a trireme-smashing, quinquereme good time! In this interview, Mark talks about how he modified an existing game and what philosophy he...

Little Wars FM officially turns 50! Our Patreon fans voted on the topic for our 50th podcast, and here it is. Miles and Ed chat with the International Kriegsspiel Society about all things Kriegsspiel. They'll go into the origins of the game, which was first released in 1824 by a Prussian staff officer, and track the evolution of the rules since the 1800s. Today, members of the society run Kriegsspiel events online. This enables players from around the world to join, as well as providing...

Plenty of miniature games for air combat exist--Check Your Six and Wings of Glory are played in our club--but they do have their limitations. Something both of those rule sets share in common (along with most others) is that they are dogfighting games. As a player, you control a plane. Maybe two or three at most. You're in the cockpit trying to out-turn, out-dive, and out-maneuver your opponents in the sky.  Today, we're joined by Mark and Carl of Mark's Game Room to talk about a new air...

Today on Little Wars FM, we interview a legendary American game designer, Frank Chadwick. Frank's wargaming roots go back decades and include major titles like Volley & Bayonet and Command Decision. He remains very active developing new games, including an operational World War 2 game he's finishing now. Greg talks to Frank about that new project, his design philosophy, and how he writes wargames. Specifically, there is a focus on Volley & Bayonet, which we used for tabletop battle...

With the Little Wars TV 1813 campaign concluded, we check in with two expert Napoleonic historians for their reaction. Who won our campaign? Would Napoleon's tactical and operational success change history and keep him on the French throne? Professor Alexander Mikaberidze and Dr. Zack White offer a surprising take on our game, blending historical insight with wargaming for a fascinating chat. They also talk about the historical 1813 campaign and why Napoleon allowed himself to be boxed in at...

In the aftermath of our Spring 1813 Napoleonic campaign, Napoleon and Tsar Alexander meet for a heated negotiation. Many issues are on the table as both sides jockey for advantage in the Fall. Will any cities be swapped? Will Napoleon evacuate his stranded fortress garrisons? Can the French tempt Austria into remaining neutral? What about the lesser German states and the Saxons? To mediate our talks, we're joined by two expert Napoleonic historians. Professor Alexander Mikaberidze and Dr....

Little Wars FM is the companion podcast to our YouTube channel, Little Wars TV, which we started over 5 years ago! A lot has changed on YouTube since then. What's it like to start a new wargaming channel now, in 2023? Our friends at Mark's Game Room are finding out! Mark and his crew have appeared on our channel in the past and we're thrilled their club decided to take the plunge and start a historical wargaming channel. Today we talk to Mark and Carl about the process, their strategy, and...

This week on Little Wars FM, we return to the topic of wargaming campaigns. In Part 1 we talked about linear, or "ladder style" campaign systems. Today we tackle map-based campaigning like you saw in our YouTube Pyrrhic War campaign. Miles, Tony and Greg reminisce over some of the club's most successful map based campaigns...and some of the least successful. What are the pitfalls to avoid? What unique challenges and exciting opportunities do "open sandbox" map campaigns present for miniature...

In Part 1 of our series "How to Design Wargaming Campaigns," we talked to Henry Hyde. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more knowledgeable historian of our miniature tabletop hobby than Henry! In Part 1, you heard just a few brief segments of our much-longer and wider-ranging chat with him. As promised in that episode, we're releasing the full version of the conversation between Miles, Greg, and Henry.  If you're interested in running a campaign of any sort with your friends, it's a...

This week on Little Wars FM, we dive into a juicy topic--miniature wargaming campaigns. Our Pyrrhic War campaign this summer was a huge success, both within the club and on YouTube. But if we're being totally honest...we've had our fair share of duds when it comes to tabletop campaigning. It's not easy to design a good campaign experience that's balanced, winnable for both sides, and can be played to a satisfying end.   We're thrilled to welcome Henry Hyde of Battlegames (and the recent tome,...

This week on Little Wars FM, Josh and Dieter review "Fistful of Lead: Reloaded" from Wiley Games. The first edition of this Wild West skirmish game debuted almost 20 years ago but the "Reloaded" update appeared in 2016. The Old West rule review round up will continue in future podcasts, as Josh and Dieter continue their hunt for the perfect Wild West shootout game. They compare multiple systems, discuss pros and cons, and give you all the information you'll need to draw your own conclusions...

This week on Little Wars FM, Josh and Dieter review Gunfighter's Ball from Knuckleduster Miniatures. This is a Wild West skirmish game written by Forrest Harris and Brian Martin in 2018. And it's just the first of several stops we have coming on our Old West rule review tour! In future podcasts Josh and Dieter will return to compare other popular tabletop miniature systems. Grab your six shooter, put five beans in the wheel, and let's ride into the West! If you'd like early access to all LWFM...

Do you remember the early days of COVID lockdowns, when there was a sudden surge of interest in virtual tabletop gaming? Tabletop Simulator, Vassal, Roll20, and old-fashioned web cams suddenly felt indispensable. Even conventions tried to adapt with new virtual formats.  That was two years ago, which makes this a good time to ask, "What happened?" Are those virtual platforms still popular? Are you using them as much as you used to? What will virtual tabletop gaming look like in 5 or 10...

If you listened to our 6-part series on designing homebrew rules, you heard Tom and Greg reference Andy Callan's name many times as the original designer of "Loose Files and American Scramble" back in the 1980s. Loose Files served as the inspiration and jumping off point for what would eventually become British Grenadier and own own modern spin, Live Free or Die. But Andy has been writing games for decades and is STILL developing new creations.  His latest game, Nevermind the Billhooks, has...

It's been a long journey, and today our homebrew rules writing guide takes its final steps. This is the last chapter in our exhaustive, multi-part podcast series on how to write a wargame. Months ago we started back at the brainstorming phase and several hours of podcasting later, Tom & Greg make it to the finish line. In this episode we talk to Dave Taylor, a freelance graphic designer with a deep background in the tabletop hobby. Dave shares some great insights and practical tips for...

In the fifth chapter of our multi-part series "How to Write a Wargame," we approach the finish line. Now that you have a fun game refined through playtesting, you may start to wonder about next steps. Is this a homebrew game you'll keep on the shelf for you and your friends? Or is this a game you should consider publishing? Tom & Greg weigh the considerations in publishing and debate final game adjustments from a major playtest session. If you missed any of the earlier parts in this...

In the fourth chapter of our multi-part series "How to Write a Wargame," we discuss the role of play-testing. This is an absolutely critical part of the development process and we'll share some real-time feedback from our first round of play-testing at the club. Then, Tom & Greg head back to the drawing board to assess the necessary adjustments for further rounds of testing. Part 4 is a long one, folks! We're going deep into the weeds on the mechanics of game design and showing you how...

After a lost year due to COVID, tabletop wargaming conventions and events are back! Today we're talking to the organizer of the largest single-day historical gaming show in the world, Salute. The Salute show is put on by the South London Warlords and was rescheduled for November 2021 this year. How will this year's event be different and what are the challenges to putting on a convention of this scope? Let's find out!   You can find information about attending Salute at their official...

In this third installment of our "How to Write a Wargame" series, Tom & Greg delve into the heart of game design. Today's episode is a long, detailed discussion between two veteran designers on how to structure the turn sequence and how the mechanics of play should unfold. This discussion touches on movement, firing, combat, morale, and every aspect of a wargame. For most developers, this is the most enjoyable and creative part of designing a game! If you missed part 1 or 2 in this...

In part two of our homebrew rule series, Greg seeks out a hobby expert to offer insight on the American War of Independence. Jim Purkey of Fife & Drum Miniatures joins the show to help! What role did artillery play in this conflict? How common were skirmishers? Why were causalities in the battles so low when compared to the later Napoleonic Wars? These are just a few of the questions discussed in this episode! Research for a new game can take many forms, but reaching out to other gamers...

Writing your own wargame is a time honored tradition in this hobby. Maybe you have a brand new idea for something innovative, or maybe you and your friends have been adding innocent "house rules" to tweak an existing game. Eventually, those house rules could evolve into something very different from the original. In this multi-part podcast series, we follow two veteran game designers on a journey through the life cycle of a wargame. Tom & Greg from Little Wars TV recorded a series of...

Little Wars FM is joined today by Troy, who you probably know as "Sonic Sledgehammer Studio." We have a fantastic chat about his miniature painting YouTube channel. Why is he called Sonic Sledgehammer and how has the channel grown so quickly? We ask Troy about his painting process and how his style has evolved both as a painter and a YouTube video editor. We talk about his favorite scale to paint, what new ideas he has bubbling, and we penetrate his deepest, darkest secrets...like, what sits...

In this episode of Little Wars FM, Tom & Greg talk about the challenge of designing historical scenarios. These battles are rarely "equal" or fair, which presents a scenario designer with a variety of problems to solve. How to you make a lopsided historical engagement like Antietam fun and winnable for both sides? Tom & Greg go through a series of case studies to discuss examples where a certain scenario worked or did not. This is a fantastic discussion and should leave you with some...