The Canadian Wargamer

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

https://madpadrewargames.blogspot.com/2022/03/games-at-hot-lead-2022.html

Sunday Mar 27, 2022

The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 13: The Hotlead 2022 Blue Ribbon Panel Wrap-up

Sunday Mar 27, 2022

James and Mike convene a stellar panel of new and veteran game masters to compare notes about what we saw, played, bought and did at Hotlead, Southern Ontario's best and biggest tabletop miniatures event and the first one since March 2020 and the start of Covid.

Our Guests: Joe Saunders https://www.youtube.com/c/MiniatureLandscapeHobbies/videos

Keith Burnett and Brian Hall from KEGS (Kent Essex Gaming Society) https://www.facebook.com/KEGSCON?filter=2

James' Hotlead report: http://rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com/2022/03/hot-lead-2022-in-which-rabbitman-does.html

Mike's Hotlead report:

Hotlead on Facebook

Our Current Contest: Somewhere in this episode is a contest. Listen to win a set of Bob Murch / Pulp Figures Cossacks. Proceeds from these figures go to the UNHCR appeal for Ukraine.

Monday Mar 14, 2022

The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 12 With Our Guest, Cynthia Jing of the Laurentian Tabletop Gaming Organization

Monday Mar 14, 2022

Cynthia Jing is the youngest person to appear on our podcast to date, and is arguably the most famous, because she and her group have been featured on Little Wars TV, and we haven't (not that we're jealous). Cynthia is part of the Laurentian Tabletop Organization, a Canadian club that supports college and university gamers in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto.

We had a great chat with Cynthia about how her group is firmly rooted in tabletop miniatures gaming, particularly at the crunchy end (Napoleonics and Seven Years War) while, thanks to Covid (thanks, Covid! >said ironically<), has pivoted to digital platforms such as Tabletop Simulator and Twitch. We talked about how Laurentian helps college-age gamers discover the hobby, about the secrets of running successful campaigns, and about how it's cool to be a nerd. As two aging nerds in cardigans, James and I were grateful to learn that we're cool.

One of the secrets of getting people into historical gaming is playable rules that have complexity but are not ridiculously complicated, have a strategic aspect for campaign games, and which can play to a quick conclusion. We talked about how Sam Mustafa's horse and musket rules, particularly Blucher and Might and Reason, work well for this purpose. Cynthia recently hosted a fascinating chat with Sam on her Twitch channel and there's a link below.

We also talked about how the folks in Cynthia's group move between tabletop gaming (or it's digital equivalent) and highly complex video strategy games like Hearts of Iron (think Avalon Hill's Third Reich crossed with Sid Meier's Civilization. Cynthia's contribution to our CWP Digital Library includes a publisher of these games.

In a shortened conclusion, James and I talk about Hotlead (just around the corner!), and the difficulties of finding joy in the hobby during this stressful time of war that lives on our phones and tears our hearts. We'll be back soon with a post-Hot Lead episode.

Links to This Episode:

Our Guest, Cynthia Jing:

Laurentian Tabletop Gaming Organization: https://www.facebook.com/groups/582653558459668

Cynthia's Channel on Twitch:

https://www.twitch.tv/absolutestqueen

Cynthia's Interview with Sam Mustafa:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1306893612

Cynthia's Game Recommendations for the CWP Virtual Library:

Paradox Interactive: https://www.paradoxinteractive.com

Our Closing March

The Great Little Army (Kenneth J. Alford), Quick March of the Canadian Army

https://youtu.be/SVPj_yBLw1M

Contact Us:

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

https://youtu.be/5A05nKypJww

Wednesday Feb 09, 2022

The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 11 With Our Guest Joe Saunders of Miniature Landscape Hobbies

Wednesday Feb 09, 2022

Joe Saunders is one of the nicest guys you'll ever hope to meet in the hobby - he's an artist, a modeller, and a gifted teacher who wants to share his many skills so the rest of us can build better looking models and fight our miniature battles on better looking tables. In this interview, we talk about Joe's background with Games Workshop Canada (remember them?), building his YouTube channel, and his work with Battlefront. We also discuss Joe's recent decision to get into Napoleonics gaming (One of Us! One of Us! One of Us!).

In the second half of the podcast, Mike and James go into the Canadian Content Corner to talk about a little known and horrific battle, Kapelsche Veer, in the winter of 1945 as Canadian troops (Lincoln and Welland Regiment, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), some of them in canoes (!), cleared stubborn German defenders in a brutal week of fighting along the Maas River in northern Holland.

In the What We're Doing segment, Mike talks about his early adventures in 3D printing, and his favourable impressions of Sam Mustafa's Napoleonics rules, Lasalle 2. James talks about how artillery takes up a lot of space on the battlefield, and revisits his beloved Bavarians being annoying to Napoleon at Hanau in 1813. We also talk about how things are looking better for HotLead in March (woot! woot!) and we look ahead to CanGames in Ottawa on the Victoria Day Weekend in May (hmmmm, gaming, or gardening????).

Links to This Episode:

Our Guest, Joe Saunders:

Miniature Landscape Hobbies YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MiniatureLandscapeHobbies/about

Joe's livestream on Building Terrain:

Joe's Etsy Store:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/JoeSaundersTerrain

Joe on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Miniaturelandscapehobbies

Joe's Books for the CWP Virtual Library:

Peter Morby, Creating a Napoleonic Wargames Army, 1809-1815 (Crowood Wargaming Guides) Creating A Napoleonic Wargames Army 1809-1815 (Crowood Wargaming Guides) eBook : Morbey, Peter: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

David Miller, Fighting Men of World War Two: Axis (Simon and Schuster) Fighting Men of World War II - Axis eBook : Miller, David, Smith, Graham: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

Canadian Content Corner:

Paul Woodage of WW2TV talks to Edwin Popken on the Battle of Kapelsche Veer: https://youtu.be/8_LzRfAuARY

James Holland and Al Murray of We Have Ways podcast talk to Mark Zuehlke about the Canadian Army in NW Europe:

https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/the-canadian-story/id1457552694?i=1000548427211

Other Stuff Mentioned:

Becke and Summerfield, Hanau 1813: Napoleon's Retreat from Liepzig

https://kentrotman.co.uk/newbooks/hanau-1813-napoleons-retreat-from-leipzig/

Sam Mustafa's Lasalle II rules: https://sammustafa.com/lasalle/

HotLead 2022 (Mar 18-20) https://hotlead.ca

CanGames 2022 (May 20-22) http://cangames.ca

Our Closing March

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment:

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment - Wikipedia

The Lincolnshire Poacher: March of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment https://youtu.be/s6vyUcF_F2k

Contact Us:

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

https://www.legionsivhire.ca/index.php?

Thursday Jan 13, 2022

The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 10 With Our Guest Jason Weiser of Military Miniature Magazine

Thursday Jan 13, 2022

In our January Episode, we speak with our guest Jason Weiser, the genius behind the first hobby magazine aimed at North American readers in twenty years! Jason's been on a tour of all the posh podcasts, from Yorkshire to the Great White North. We slaved in the studio to get this month's podcast ready just a day before the second edition of MM is released! It's a nervy thing to do and we applaud the chutzpah of Jason and his team. Listeners may recall that we talked with our guest Don Perrin about the demise of hobby magazines on this side of the Atlantic, so we wish the newcomer every success.

The interview begins at 14:45 in the podcast. You can check out the magazine at https://militaryminiature.com and we encourage you to subscribe or at least order an issue.

Elsewhere in this podcast, James talks about getting the Russian Napoleonic army for Christmas, Mike talks about his problems and hopes in getting started in 3D printing, and we nervously cross our fingers as we discuss plans for Hot Lead 2022 in the Time of Omicron.

Links for some of the stuff what we talk about:

Tadenac Games Canada:

@TadenacGames tadenac.canada@gmail.com

Legions IV Hire:

Hot Lead 2022:

https://hotlead.ca

Our March Out this month is in honour of the Royal Canadian Navy and of ou Canuck wargamer friend, @Medical_Int (Cheers, Thomas!). The HMCS Naden Band:

https://youtu.be/8YTl5jFnhPs

Contact Us:

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

https://www.patreon.com/OTDCanMilHistory/posts

Thursday Dec 23, 2021

Episode Nine: The Christmas Special

Thursday Dec 23, 2021

James and Mike welcomed some friends to our CWP Christmas Podparty. We also had a special visitor, Santa Grognard, though he seemed more interested in the Moose Milk than in our Christmas wish lists.

The usual silly seasonal natter and year end predictions. We hope it gives you a laugh and a bit of cheer.

James and Mike with you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thank you for your kind interest in our podcast!

"Moose milk" is a Canadian military tradition, favoured particularly at Christmas and year end mess parties and unit "sticky floor" parties. There are a variety of recipes, and they should be approached with extreme caution:

https://cookwithmitch.blogspot.com/2016/12/canadian-forces-moose-milk.html

Sunday Dec 12, 2021

The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 8 With Guest Brad St. Croix of On This Day in Canadian Military History

Sunday Dec 12, 2021

In this Edition of CWP, James and I catch up after a month off the air by recounting our adventure at Lard, Eh?, the first Canadian wargaming event (to our knowledge) dedicated exclusively to Too Fat Lardies miniatures games. We're joined by our friend and one of Lard, Eh?'s organizers, Chris Robinson. Our conversation covers the planning of this event in the time of plague and whether it bodes well for the reopening of the live wargaming convention scene in the Great White North. James and I also talk about our reactions to O Group; BLUF, it's fun, it makes your noggin a bit sore trying to figure it out, but it's an exciting game and very good at putting the player in the role of a battalion commander without worrying about which section has so many 2" smoke rounds left.

In the Canadian Content Corner, we're joined by our friend Dr. Brad St. Croix, making his second appearance on CWP. We recorded this conversation on Dec 9 (the Defence and Fall of Hong Kong began on Dec 8, 1941), so it's a fitting date to speak to Brad about his speciality, the Canadian role in Hong Kong and the way it's been obscured over the years by some unfortunate historiography. Though Brad isn't himself a wargamer, he was a good sport and helped us work through the battle and how it might be modelled on the table top. Rumour has it that Mike ran straight from the interview to the Peter Pig website to grab some 15mm Japanese infantry!

Continuing the CWP tradition of finishing with some relevant Canadian military music, we end the episode with the march of the Royal Rifles of Canada, one of the two gallant Canadian battalions that were destroyed in the battle.

Brad's contributions to the CWP Virtual Library:

Tony Banham, Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of Hong Kong, 1941. UBC Press, 2003.

Marc Milner, Stopping the Panzers: The Untold Story of D-Day. U of Kansas Press, 2014.

Review on Stopping the Panzers: https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1908&context=cmh

Info on Our Guests:

Chis' Blog: http://twothreesixmm.blogspot.com

Chis on Twitter: @LegendaryNoize

Dr. Brad St. Croix on Twitter: @OTDCanMilHis

Brian Hall: @Brian34586884

Brad's You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZZQKAo8CqUzsUoOhuQdYw

Brad's Patreon Page:

Brad talks with the Juno Beach Centre about Hong Kong:

https://www.junobeach.org/podcast/c-force-to-hong-kong-with-brad-st-croix/

Closing Music:

"I'm Ninety Five": Quick March of the Royal Rifles of Canada: https://youtu.be/9DGOCtbJg48

Royal Rifles of Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/official-military-history-lineages/lineages/infantry-regiments/royal-rifles.html

Contact Us:

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

Wednesday Nov 10, 2021

Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode Seven with Guest Alex McCutcheon of Full Battle Rattle Miniatures

Wednesday Nov 10, 2021

In CWP Episode 7, James and Mike talk to Canadian wargames manufacturer Alex McCutcheon of Full Battle Rattle Miniatures. Alex has brought his soldier's knowledge of the contemporary Canadian Army together with a talented sculptor to create a boutique label of gorgeous 28mm miniatures for gaming the Canadians (and their adversaries) in Afghanistan. There's even a LAV 3!

We talk with Alex about his nervy decision to put his own money into the business, and get some mouth-watering hints as to where he might go next (1885 NorthWest Rebellion, anyone?). We also talk about Alex's love of skirmish gaming, his crazy on again off again GW girlfriend, and a really interesting crossover of tabletop gamers and scale model builders in the Toronto area called Sword and Brush.

In the Canadian Content Corner, James and I convene a blue ribbon panel to discuss the new Dutch film The Forgotten Battle, because how many times in a lifetime do we get to see a film about Canadians in the Battle of the Scheldt (which could oversell what the film actually delivers)? We're joined by grizzled grognard and Canadian Army vet Brian Hall, and by that rising phenom of Canadian military history, the newly minter Doctor, Brad St. Croix, to talk about what the film got right and wrong. We end the conversation with some thoughts on how we would advise Steven Spielberg if he came to us with a hockey sock full of money and a desire to give the Canadians in WW2 a proper screening.

Links from this month's podcast:

Full Battle Rattle Miniatures: https://fullbattlerattleminiatures.com

Sword and Brush: Canada's Premiere Tabletop Wargaming and Miniature Painting Expo: https://swordandbrush.ca

Lords of War Games Store, Oakville: https://lordsofwargames.com

Sword and Board Games Store, Toronto: https://www.theswordandboardtoronto.com

Alex's Contributions to the Canadian Wargamer Podcast Digital Library:

Mark Zuehlke, Opration Husky, The Canadian Invasion of Sicily https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B003Z9JMS4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Robert Semrau, The Taliban Don't Wave https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B003Z9JMS4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Canadian Content Corner

Our Guests:

Dr. Brad St. Croix: @OTDCanMilHis

Brian Hall: @Brian34586884

Brad's You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZZQKAo8CqUzsUoOhuQdYw

Brad's Patreon Page:

https://www.patreon.com/OTDCanMilHistory/posts

Brad's conversation with Mark Zeuhlke on the Scheldt: https://youtu.be/XGpDwvk5uUc

The Forgotten Battle (2020 Dutch Film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forgotten_Battle

The Battle of the Scheldt: https://www.bing.com/search?q=battle%20of%20the%20scheldt&FORM=ATUR01&PC=ATUR&PTAG=ATUR01RAND

Closing Music:

Royal Regiment of Canada March Past: https://youtu.be/ylAiGTAc8sA

Royal Regiment of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/official-military-history-lineages/lineages/infantry-regiments/royal-regiment.html

Contact Us:

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

https://www.facebook.com/groups/582653558459668

Wednesday Oct 13, 2021

Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 6 With Guests Jacob Stauttener and Evan Switzer, ”The Kids In The Hall”

Wednesday Oct 13, 2021

Part One: “The Kids In The Hall”:

Our interview with guests, Jacob Stauttener and Evan Switzer, borrows its title from the 1990s Canadian comedy show, "The Kids in the Hall". Two (youngish) grandads, call us The Airfix Generation, put two (youngish) gamers, call them The GW Generation, on the spor to talk about generational differences and crossovers.

We talk about crossovers from the kind of turnkey gaming systems that young gamers find in a Games Workshop store to more "obscure" (shhhh, don't use that word around James!) games. We talk about the appeal of creative and collaborative projects such as Evan's role in The Ninth Age, a player-driven continuation of the old Warhammer Fantasy system. We also wonder if old gamers, like old church people, can stop clutching their pearls about "Where are the young people" and trust that the next generation will find its way into the hobby and make it their own. And that's a good thing, we conclude.

Stuff mentioned in Part One:

Jacob’s Must Contain Minis website: www.mustcontainminis.com

Also look for Jacob’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_dq-xyb2a9bgYKwD9gqTUg

Evan’s Ninth Age Project:

https://www.the-ninth-age.com/community/filebase/index.php?download/3990/ download link for one of our 'full books' we did for ninth age. good example of the quality we're striving for.

Evan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/switz.hobbies.1

Other Stuff Mentioned in This Interview:

Bell of Lost Souls: www.belloflostsouls.net

Jacob on Bell of Lost Souls: www.belloflostsouls.net/ author/jwstauttener

Laurentian TableTop Gaming Group: https://laurentiantabletoporganization.blogspot.com

Universal Battle Software: www.universalbattle2.com

Critical Hit Gaming Lounge, Oshawa, ON: www.criticalhitgaminglounge.com

Game Chamber Store, London, ON: www.thegamechamber.com

Jacob’s Digital Library Contributions:

Joseph A. McCullough, Frostgrave, 2^nd Edition, Osprey Press

Blood and Plunder: The Collector’s Edition Rulebook, Firelock Games

https://www.firelockgames.com/bloodandplunder/

Evan’s Digital Library Contributions:

Nathan M. Greenfield, The Damned: The Canadians At the Battle of Hong Kong and the POW Experience, Harper Collins, 2010.

Brent Watson, Far Eastern Tour: The Canadian Infantry in Korea, 1950-1953. McGill Queens University Press, 2007.

Part Two: Canadian Content Corner.

Brad, aka @OTDCanMilHis, as a guest on WW2TV

Ask Me Anything on Canadian military history

https://youtu.be/qyw8IuZ0nqY

Mike speaks with Alastair Nichols, author of Wellington's Switzers: The Watteville Regiment about European redcoats in Upper Canada in the War of 1812.

WELLINGTON'S SWITZERS: THE WATTEVILLE REGIMENT (1801-1816) - A SWISS REGIMENT OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN EGYPT, THE MEDITERRANEAN, SPAIN AND CANADA (KEN TROTMAN, 2014)

Alastair's book is available for purchase at https://kentrotman.co.uk

3) Whats Going On In Canada

- True North LardEhs Game Day #1

- November 27, 2021

- 9:30am-7pm

- Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Veterans Association Hall, Hamilton, Ontario

- intend for 2 timeslots of (at least) 4 TFL games per timeslot

- trying for curry dinner!

https://twothreesixmm.blogspot.com/2021/09/take-3-of-lardehs-game-day-in-hamilton.html

4) Closing Music:

Slow March of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery

https://youtu.be/1cq9ZMcFGsY

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery at Buckingham Palace

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2021/10/canadian-artillery-soldiers-assume-queens-guard-duties-in-england.html

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4

https://lostdamnedstunted.blogspot.com/2021/08/1942-ww2-canadian-regulars-dieppe.html

Monday Sep 13, 2021

Canadian Wargame Podcast Episode 5 With Guest Rene Charbonneau of the Trumpeter Tabletop Gaming Society

Monday Sep 13, 2021

In our fifth episode, we talk to Rene Charbonneau, president of what may be Canada's oldest wargaming club in Vancouver, BC, the Trumpeter Tabletop Gaming Society. We talk about what makes a club a success: planning, a code of conduct, outreach to the community and hospitality to young people. Trumpeter's big convention, Salute, sounds like a fine excuse for a trip to gorgeous Vancouver in the spring.

In our second segment, the Canadian Content Corner, we talk about the Dieppe Raid, what we think it was about, and what it was actually about. Mike reports on what he learned watching WW2TV on YouTube and listening to Canadian historian David O'Keefe.

Next, Mike and James ask the question, what makes for a good set of wargames rules and that leads to a good old natter.

Finally we take about what's on the paint bench, and James talks about how his Bavarian sharpshooters, Scharf's Schutzen, are a thinly veiled homage to a well-known series of books and films about some fellows in green.

Links to this Episode:

1) Our bit with Rene Charbonneau:

Trumpeter Tabletop Gaming Society: https://trumpetergaming.weebly.com

Rene's Book Choices:

Vic Hartley, Arrows Against Steel: The History of the Bow and How it Forever Changed Warfare. https://www.amazon.ca/Arrows-Against-Steel-History-Forever/dp/098347561X

Niall Ferguson, The War of the World: Twentieth Century Conflict and the Descent of the West. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B008UCJ6T6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

2) Canadian Content Corner

Historian David O'Keefe's interviews with Paul Wooladge on WW2 TV:

Part One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw-h7WLd0Bw

Part Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjkSis17Ljc

Part Three: August 19 Dieppe Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBL4kVIdIls

David O'Keefe, One Day in August: Ian Fleming, Enigma, and the Deadly Raid On Dieppe. https://www.amazon.ca/One-Day-August-Fleming-Enigma/dp/178578630X

Dai's Wargames Blog and Dieppe Project:

https://lostdamnedstunted.blogspot.com/2021/06/dieppe-commandos-16-of-16-done.html

https://lostdamnedstunted.blogspot.com/2021/05/dieppe-chaplain-j-w-foote.html

3) What Makes A Good Set of Wargamer Rules?

Ken Reilly's Yorkshire Gamer chat with Stephen Wold: https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-11-stephen-wold-oldwargamer/

Anything But a One! Adventures in Historical Wargaming Podcast.Episode 30, Old School vs New School Games.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-30-old-school-vs-new-style-games/id1525105734?i=1000534186317

Zac's blog post on Dragon Rampant:

https://zacgaming.wordpress.com/2020/12/14/stop-recommending-dragon-rampant/?fbclid=IwAR0m6S_xEC3fKSG4FDPZC7sXspxq_gEritMK7Bge0nPoyu8MjYpyZ8QuYGM

James' blog post on Scharf's Schutzen: http://rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-bridge.html

Final Music: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regimental March

https://youtu.be/vGmvkeO2Gos

@MarshalLuigi

James:

@JamesManto4