Podcast Recent Listens and Recommendations

Hello friends:

I've been doing a bit of a deep dive into wargaming and military history podcasts lately, which I listen to either on long walks or at the painting bench.  I thought some of you might be interested in a roundup of listens that I've recently enjoyed and which might be of interest.

Big Lee from Posties' Rejects (of which I'm an honourary member!) offers some wise thoughts about how to get the younger generation into the hobby of wargaming,   As a wargaming vicar, I found this conversation very similar to the debates we have about the greying of the church and where the next generation will come from.  As a grandparent blessed with little ones, I found his suggestions most encouraging

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I'm a great fan of Zack White (@zwhiteHistory), an English PhD student and a tireless online promoter of Napoleonic history - usually on his podcast, The Napoleonicist.    He's an erudite and gracious interviewer, and his guests are usually topshelf.   Recently I had the pleasure of contributing my meagre voice talents to a collage of readers he put together for Voices of Ireland, bringing select letters and diaries of Irish soldiers and civilians to life.   I'm the one with the flat Toronto accent.    Conrad Kinch (@questingvole) has heard me try my Irish accent, but has tactfully kept his silence.

Ken Reilly (@yarkshiregamer) has a podcast featuring those long, free-wheeling conversations that I associate with British wargaming podcasts (aka the late Meeples and Miniatures).   I really enjoyed his conversation with Dr. Chris Brown, a Scottish historian and wargamer.  Chris is funny, acerbic, and very much a character - in other words, a Scot.   I'm currently reading Chris' book Arnhem: Nine Days Battle and while it's not my wargaming area of interest, it is a brilliant piece of military history.   Chris also has a wargaming presence on Facebook - S.P.I.T. Wargames (Stupid Projects in Twenty-eight)  - which is worth checking out.

Speaking of interviews, there's a very good one with Andrew, the host of Firepowergaming, in conversation with Tom Egan (@tomjegan).   Tom is an army officer in the Irish Defence Forces and an ardent wargamer.   In this conversation they talk about gaming as well its applications to Tom's day job which is training junior officers to plan and conduct operations in the field against a variety of threats and challenges.   Not that I'm trying to imitate Irish accents (see above), but Tom's Cork accent has thus far defeated me.  :)

Another interview that I enjoyed recently was between Sean Clark (@GodsOwnScale), host of the God's Own Scale podcast, and Jon Bleasdale, who runs a blog called Grymauch 's Solo Gaming.  I am fond of Sean's podcast, he has an easy, gentle style and is what I call a "down the pub" sort of podcast.  Jon's Grymauch blog is incredibly ambitious and shows a multitude of large 6mm battles in a variety of periods.  I think I could learn something from how Jon does campaigns.

Finally, I want to say how glad I am to have discovered the Old Front Line podcast by Great War historian Paul Reed (@sommecourt).   His depth of knowledge and the way he brings minutiae to life are stellar.  For example, in a discussion of the role of estaiments (small restaurants) in the life of the Tommies, I learned that our slang word "plonk" for cheap wine comes from the soldier's adoption of "vin blanc", which along with cheap beer was the booze on offer at soldier's estaiments - the red wine was for officers and was quite expensive.   Paul's discussion of the Lijssentheok military cemetery is a great example of Paul's erudtion, and covers the development of British military medicine in the Great War, the role of women nurses, railways and transport, soldier's eating and drinking habits, and the layout of military cemeteries.  Top shelf.

New Follower Friday

It's Friday, and it seems like a good time to say hello and thank you to the nice and interesting folks who have signed on as followers of Mad Padre Wargames.

Michael Awdry, from the UK, is one of my fellow brush ronin in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Michael's entries to the challenge have featured some beautifully painted Colonial figures. I have to say, I've never seen anyone paint a finer camel. His blog, 28mm Victorian Warfare, is fascinating and is kindling my interest in this period.

Danjou's Hand, from Mrs. Padre's birth state of Georgia, USA, runs a fascinating blog, Tabletop Diversions, where he writes good and thoughtful stuff about RPGs. He also has one of the coolest monikers out there.

Monty Luhmann is from St. Paul, Minnesota, and runs the blog Twin Cities Gamer. Monty and I have shared some emails on our mutual interest in the Ottoman army and on the SYW rules Maurice. He's a helpful chap and a talented painter.

Thomas Richardson - sorry, mate, your Google profile doesn't say that you have a blog. If there's anything you'd like folks to know about you, please reply and I'll add it to this post. Glad you're here regardless.

Pete, who also goes by the intriguing handle of Puggle Monster, is a regular on the Guild Wargamers site, and blog at SP's Projects Blog, where he wages "A futile fight against entropy". Pete does interesting things with modern wargare and knows his way around a T34 tank.

Sarge At Arms is a new blogger,and is the son of JackSarge, a follower and friend of this blog. Sarge Secundus shows great promise as a painter, and his first blog post shows some creative uses of old Airfix figures.

Howard Han is a friend of mine and colleague in the Canadian Forces. He's recently started World War Two gaming in 15mm, and has an impressive collection amassed already. I hope he won't mind if I mention this collection of his figures. Howard, you need to start a blog, buddy. If you're in the Ottawa area and looking for opponents, sing out here and we can connect you with Howard.

Finally, a shout out to Krista Johns, a young lady of indomitable spirit, a kickass army wife, and creative spirit. Krista isn't a follower, but she did leave a very clever poem as an entry in this blog's 100 Follower and 50K pageview contest, which is more than most of you sorry mooks have managed to do. There is still time to get your entry in, so whaddya waiting for? Krista's blog, Flat-Out Whimsy, chronicles her gutsy recovery from a pretty horrific accident. Krista could use some followers, fellas. She's good people.

Thanks again, all. I woudn't do this without you.

And There Was Much Rejoicing

Why are Mr. and Mrs. Padre celebrating in their traditional ethnic costumes? Because the Mad Padre Wargames blog has been awarded a Liebster award. Let the yodelling ring out and the alpenhorns sound! RIIIIICOLA!

If you have been following miniatures wargames blogs recently, you likely know what a Liebster is, but here's the lowdown if you aren't in the know, see?.

A Leibster seems to be a blogger's way of encouraging fellow bloggers with a little encouragement and praise. I am very grateful to Benito, aka Annibal, a Madrid-based wargamer who shares my interest in the rules published by Two Fat Lardies. Benito's blog is Gaming With Too Fat Lardies. Benito was kind enough to say this about my blog: " Excellent stories and high sense of humour. Award shared with his other (and more serious) Mad Padre blog about all things spiritual and not so spiritual (NOTE: a remarcable recommendation coming from a well known in my circles agnostic-to-atheist guy like me...)".

Thanks so much, Benito. I've enjoyed your blog for it's interesting mix of WW2 and Vietnam era gaming, and for gaming reps from what looks like an amazing and talented group of Madrid gamers.

I should also thank another person I've come to think of as a friend, the fellow who runs Col. Scipio's Palladian Guard blog, who also nominated me for this award. Colonel, I really enjoy the rich background of your W40K blog and also like the alt WW2 theme you have there. I wish I had time to visit your blog more. Many thanks.

Here are the Lebster rules as I got from Benito's site:

Copy and paste the award on your blog linking it to the blogger who has given it to you.

Pass the award to your top 5 favourite blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment on one of their posts to notify them that they have won the award and listing them on your own blog.

Sit back and bask in that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing that you have just made someone's day!

Sp I went through the list of blogs I followed and had trouble finding any that don't already have a Liebster. But there were a few, all blogs that I enjoy. Here they are.

Rabbits In My Basement is the blog of Canadian gamer James Manto. With a dedicated team of friends, James has made the Hot Lead convention a fixture on the Canadian gaming landscape. His blog shows some wonderful figures from Colonials to Ancients to World War Two, reports on activities as an Army Cadet leader, and other esoteric stuff. James' blog is as interesting and lively as he is in person.

Light Bobs and Paint Blobs is the blog of Jason, a talented painter whose current interest appears to be the English Civil War. Not a period I game myself, but I admire his talent, enthusiasm, and his ability to pump out large and impressive looking units on a seemingly regular basis.

Are We Not Men? is a World War Two in 20mm blog run by Berlin based blogger calling himself darkbirk. I like his brushwork, which is able to bring out the potential of plastic figures that some of us, including myself, never manage. Like me, darkbirk also likes the storytelling aspect of our hobby.

Archduke Piccolo is the splendidly named blog of an engaging chap whose name I don't know - I just call him Milord Archduke. He is a New Zealander, judging from some of his real life comments. He's an engaging and enthusiastic chap with a passion for Imaginations-type old school Lace Wars gaming, but also does some interesting work in WW2.

Finally, I'll give the nod to fellow Canadian Grenzer John, like me a wargaming pastor (there are actually quite a few of us out there) for his blog The Minstrel Boy. John always has something there to interest me, whether accounts of 1812 reenacting events that he and his son go to, to accounts of some eclectic and interesting free for all games from the Age of Reason to WW2.

So that's my contribution to this trend in the wargaming blogosphere. There are many many other blogs I enjoy and admire, too many to name. When I consider that I have met so many people online whom I would consider friends, from all over the world, it is truly a blessing to be part of this virtual community. As the header of this blog says, "Guiness, toy soldiers, good friends. God is good." Indeed he is.

Not A Sausage In June, But A Nice Shirt

It's been bloody forever since I touched a paint brush, except for yesterday, during my lunch hour at work, so maybe that, and today's post, counts as breaking my slump. Travel, work, and a touch of what the medievals called accidia, or in good old fashioned English - sloth, have kept me much from the hobby. My painting project in June was to paint the fence around my backyard, which was in an appalling state, and all had to be scraped first. Well, still has to be scraped, really, since I've only managed to do one side, working the odd hour in the evening or all of the Monday of the Canada Day weekend. It's not great fun, and I'd rather be prepping little men, but when it's done at night, a beer and a half hour playing baseball on the PS3 is all I'm good for.

The scraped fence thus far. Anyone want to come help? There's a beer in it for you!

One good thing that happened in June was a shirt exchange with Fran, The Angry Lurker, who had designed some smashing shirts for his group of UK gamers, Posties' Rejects. There is a bit of a Canadian connection with the Posties, because my fellow Canuck blogger, Curt, of Analogue Hobbies fame actually made it over to the UK and played in a game with the Posties this spring. So when I proposed to Fran that I swap him a quality Canadian Forces shirt for a Posties shirt, I felt it was appropriate to have Canadian Chapter put on the back of mine.

Me with the shirt. Definitely the handsomest of the Rejects. Again with the fence!

Such a lot of silver hair. I didn't think I was that old.

Old, and mad.

This shirt goes into a special part of my wardrobe, beside Hot Lead red staff shirt and a rare Too Fat Lardies golf shirt. My son tells me that only an enormous geek would collect wargaming shirts. I tell him I'm not that enormous. So hopefully I'll get the chance to wear this shirt at a game or two soon, and that getting this post up will break the chains of lethargy and get me back to my paint bench ... in an old shirt, because I'm sloppy with paint.

A Shout Out for Grog News

I came across the website Grog News in my travels of late, and recommend it big time. Lots of good wargaming and consim theory, as well as discussion of contemporary military and security issues. It doesn't appear to be too heavily travelled, but it's a labour of love and deserves more traffic.

Rabbits in His Basement

No rabbits in my basement, but that's the name of a blog launched by a friend. For several years James has been amusing his friends with wise and funny takes on life in his emailed "Adventures of Rubberman". His blog promises more of the same as well as shots of his painted miniature wargame figures (he does some nice work), like these finely painted Victorian era Scots infantry:



James has his own painting service which I've used and happily recommend. He is also the mastermind behind Hotlead, SW Ontario's best miniature wargames convention, which runs every year at the end of March.


Good work, James, keep the posts coming.

The Painter's Dilemma

One of the regulars on the Too Fat Lardies Yahoo group pointed me to the blog Iron Mitten, by Secundus, a British wargamers and gardener with an interest in Ancient Rome and Naoleonics. He is also a very talented artist, and his cartoons alone are a good reason to visit his blog.

As an example, this cartoon captures the dilemma of every miniature wargamer who has multiple projects competing for his attention on the painting desk, and only so much time (that would be me). Often, as Secundus notes, this dilemma becomes worse when a sexy new rulebook comes out, tempting you to try a new period and buying new figures which want to jump the older ones waiting in the painting queue.