Harold on Games Podcast #6 with Professor Patrick Rael – NOTES

May 25, 2018July 7, 2018haroldbuchanan2 1 Comment

PODCAST LINKS

Sound Cloud Link: Harold on Games Podcast #6 with Professor Patrick Rael

iTunes Link: Harold on Games Podcast #6 with Professor Patrick Rael

Stitcher Link: Harold on Games Podcast #6 with Professor Patrick Rael

TWITTER

Harold Buchanan on Twitter @HBuchanan2

10 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for War Gamers

SUMMARY

Patrick Rael is a Professor of History at the prestigious Bowdoin College in Maine. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1995 in American History from the University of California, Berkeley. African-American history is Patrick’s specialty and he is the author of numerous essays and books.

Today we are going to talk about his seminar class, Historical Simulations, in which he works to answer the questions: Can board games teach history? Is it possible to analyze them as historical interpretations? What would such analyses reveal about both history and the way it is represented in popular culture? Which game mechanics or approaches to design seem to be better able to promote historical arguments? What factors may impede the representation of the past in games?

The Seminar Explores the past while addressing these questions. It examines six topics in history and plays one game related to them. Topics include: the age of exploration and discovery, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, frontier exploration, slavery, and the American Civil War.

Join the Harold on Games guild on Board Games Geek and leave me a comment with your thoughts and ideas. Thanks to the San Francisco based Jeff Denson for the intro and outro music. Check them out at http://www.jeffdenson.com . Do me the favor of sharing the podcast with a few friends. That will help to get the word out.

Danielle Allen

Pomona College Commencement

The Declaration of Independence

PATRICK RAEL

Patrick Rael, center, explains how to play Iron Horses, a game he invented, to Peter Selmayr of Brunswick, right, and Kori Handwerker of Brunswick at the Board Gamers Meetup at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick recently.

Patrick Rael’s BGG Blog Ludica

No Longer a Trivial Pursuit: Using Games to Teach History

Can board games teach history? (HIST2624, Bowdoin College, F17)

Real-live adversaries! In-your-face victories!

DISCUSSION

Battle of Midway

Battle of Austerlitz

What If History: Is There Any Validity To Counterfactualism?

MUSIC

Jeff Denson

Jeff Denson: Spotify

Jeff Denson: Facebook

Jeff Denson Trio Live in Berlin: Alone Together: YouTube

Can; I’m Green: YouTube

The Beatles

BOOKS

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition

Roger Crowley

John Shy

The Terror by Dan Simmons

MOVIES AND TV

GAMES

Colonial: Europe’s Empires Overseas

Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection

Founding Fathers

Lewis & Clark: The Expedition

Discoveries

Freedom: The Underground Railroad

Water Disaster Partially Averted by GMT Boxes!

May 25, 2018May 27, 2018haroldbuchanan2 1 Comment

Enjoying a day off when my daughter walked in and asked why the garage was full of water. I entered the garage to find water shooting out of the water heater like a gray whale surfacing for air. After cutting off the water, I surveyed the damage. The biggest problem was a bag and a plastic container, both full of games. Both were also full of water as I had placed them optimally in front of the water heater spray. I mentally wrote them off to a salvage operation and went about getting everything else out of the water.

Then, I dug into the games. The frustrating part is these are the containers I usually keep in my car but had removed as I had family in. Family left and I was slow about putting them back in the car. Sigh…… Both the bag and the container were full of water.

7th Fleet – complete loss – 2 games – a friend had given me a good price on 2. I was able to pull out a couple of maps and a few counters in zips. Zips are the unsung hero here. Anything in zips avoided water damage.

Leaving Earth – Survived as I had stored everything in zips except the rules. I can reprint those but they don’t look to bad. Box went in the trash.

Manoeuvre – sitting sideways in the container it took the full brunt. Pulled counters out in zips and of course the dice. I expect to replace this lite but fun game. Easy to teach and fast to play.

Cuba Libre – the first GMT Box miracle! I literally pulled the game out of the water and after a quick wipe down, everything but the box top survived. The box must have sealed and it is robust enough that it didn’t soak through in the time I waited….. My group puts this on the table often so I am happy it has been saved.

Combat Commander Europe – GMT box miracle number 2. Also submerged in water, neither box top or bottom survived, but the only damage to the contents was a touch of water damage on one map. There was water on the counter tray and on the box my buddy Pat Wells put my counters in – but other wise perfect! My most played game (in a close race with TS – so I am happy!

John Company – Box destroyed – contents saved! Another great box with a tight fit!

Twilight Struggle – Survived in whole as I brought it inside to show my father in law! Random act of fortune? I don’t think so…..

Liberty or Death – the sad part of the story is that my players copy of Liberty or Death did not make it. I removed the pieces as i keep them in zips but the beautiful map did not survive……. ;-(

2018-05-24 14.38.12 A few random copies of Strategy and Tactics and Fire and Movement – very absorbent I am sad to say.

Sekigahara – dead

Notes and prototype of Flashpoint: South China Sea – I saved my notes and the wooden pieces but the rest will have to be reprinted.

In summary I expected much worse. My biggest loss was the 7th Fleet. I will replace all the other board games and I will email GMT to buy a few boxes. The GMT Boxes were awesome and held up great – I did not expect that. and anything in zips was fine.

Words of wisdom: This all could have been avoided if i had put the games back in my car on a timely basis. Secondly – don’t put your games on the floor – if you put them in a box that will be on the floor, put a buffer under them. And lastly – store everything in GMT game boxes…..

Harold on Games Podcast #5 with Martin Wallace NOTES

May 18, 2018haroldbuchanan2 Leave a comment

PODCAST LINKS

Sound Cloud Link: Harold on Games Podcast #5 with Martin Wallace

iTunes Link: Harold on Games Podcast #5 with Martin Wallace

Stitcher Link: Harold on Games Podcast #5 with Martin Wallace

TWITTER

Harold Buchanan on Twitter @HBuchanan2

10 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for War Gamers

SUMMARY

THIS podcast is singularly composed of an interview with prolific designer, Martin Wallace. We will discuss at length his newest game – Lincoln, now available on Kickstarter. I will publish some notes and references on my web site conflictsimulations.com.

Thanks to the Portland Oregon based band Jenny Don’t and the Spurs for the intro and outro music. Check them out at jennydontandthespurs.com

MARTIN WALLACE