The Mad Padre's Wargames Page: The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 12 Is Out!

I’m totally remiss in not posting more frequent updates on the Podcast. We’re at Ep 12 now and closing in on 4000 downloads. Woot!

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