TotalCon 26 is HERE!

No, I didn’t steal this from Ben Gerber who posted Total Confusion XXVI – if you’re going to be there, come say hello! But, if I did happen to steal it, and I’m not saying I did, let’s just remember that adage about great minds stealing instead of borrowing. That’s all I’m saying on the topic.

Now that I’ve made it clear that this TotalCon 26 posting was inspired by yours’ truly, let’s get to the meat and potatoes. This weekend is TotalCon 26. I’m attending and am also running a game, with Adrian B. and Cort N., on Saturday. If you are going to the con, I’d love to meet you. You’ve probably tired of me saying that my favorite part of podcasting and blogging is communicating with you guys. BUT, that happens to be true.

In the hope of making your lives a little easier I am including my theoretical schedule. I’d love to meet you and chat. On Saturday I’ll be wearing my Wargaming Recon t-shirt. Friday’s wardrobe is still up for debate but may be my Like t-shirt (where the I is replaced with a lightsaber) or my Battleground Games t-shirt (black with the store logo).
If you want to meet up, I’m willing to play just about anything or just hang out. Send me an e-mail to JREINHART@GMAIL.COM, try Twitter, or Facebook. If you got my cell # give that a go or text me. Did I mention how much I love my iPhone?

Friday
1pm The Last Voyage of the Yamato (War at Sea minis event run by Dan Eustace)
5ishpm Food, Meet up with people (Ben Gerber I’m looking at you), kill time until 6pm event
6pm War Stories from the Con (run by Peter “Blix” Bryant)

Saturday
1ishpm Arrive, check out Vendor room, Lunch, Setup for event
3pm Daybreak at Hangman’s Creek (Black Powder event I’m running with Adrian B. and Cort N. THERE’S ROOM FOR YOU TO JOIN!)
7pm My game ends, Dinner, meet up with people, drinks
Late PM Go home

Wargaming Recon Episode 68: Tropico & TotalCon 2012

Wargaming Recon #68: Tropico & TotalCon 2012 Download (957)

Host Jonathan J. Reinhart opens the show with some announcements. He highlights the show contents: TotalCon 2012 Contest Results, SOPA/PIPA Update, Tropico 4 review, Napoleon Total War Review, and more.

Surprise is expressed at the lack of feedback to Episode 67‘s review of Battlegames Magazine‘s new digital subscription format. Episode 67 set a record as fastest growing show. Listeners are entreated to submit comments as to why they liked that episode so much and what they would like to find in future shows.

TotalCon 2012 gets its own contest. The contest ended and the winners are announced. Congratulations to all the winners, a thank you to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to the people at TotalCon with a special thanks to Steven Parenteau and Angelia Heroux for their help in obtaining the free passes..

Tropico 4, the computer & video game that puts players into the fictional shoes of a Carribbean island dictator, is reviewed and explained. Napoleon: Total War, a real time strategy (RTS) computer game is reviewed based on its demo. The historical Battle of Ligny is mentioned.

Jonathan’s weekly column at Troll In the Corner is discussed. In particular, his article Wargaming Blends Old & New School Gaming aka a Response to Ben Gerber’s “Thinking in the old school” is discussed.

The show winds down with thoughts on preparing for a con. Listeners may also be interested in 10 Things Every Gamer Should Bring With Them To a Gaming Con.

As always we conclude with a message from our sponsor, 12-7-Games.com, our Creative Commons license and contact information (find us on Facebook and Twitter).

We hope you enjoy this episode of Wargaming Recon and are eager for your feedback (both positive remarks and constructive criticism). Send it all to cwfgamecast at wargamingforums dot com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, or Xbox Live with gamertag cwfgamecast.

Our intro song is “Downtown” by Matthew Ebel. Please give his other music a listen at www.matthewebel.com.

Wargaming Recon Episode 67: Bibliomania

Wargaming Recon #67: Bibliomania Download (970)

Host Jonathan J. Reinhart opens the show with some announcements. He discusses thanks everyone for their condolences, announces a new endeavor, promotes the TotalCon 2012 Contest, reviews the new Battlegames magazine digital subscription, chats about the holidays, talks books, reviews Man of Honour by Iain Gale, and editorializes about SOPA & PIPA.

An explanation is given as to why the “week in gaming” segment has disappeared. The death of Jonathan’s grandfather is mentioned along with thanks for all of the sympathies that were given. Jonathan reveals a new writing project in the form of a weekly column at Troll in the Corner.

TotalCon 2012 gets its own contest. Listeners are encouraged to e-mail cwfgamecast@wargamingforums.com with their favorite American Civil War game, and reason why, for a chance to win FREE passes to TotalCon 2012. Full details can be found at WIN FREE TotalCon 2012 Passes.

Battlegames magazine has officially changed ownership and Jonathan shares his thoughts about the new way digital subscriptions are handled. He doesn’t hold back with his views and makes a surprising announcement.

The holidays are discussed and received gaming gifts are mentioned. The bulk of the show is focused on books for gamers. Hitler baut Grossdeutschland im triumph von Konigsberg nach Wien by Heinrich Hoffmann, Caesar’s Army by Harry Pratt Judson, Fighting Techniques of the Colonial Era 1776-1914 : Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics by Robert B. Bruce, Advanced War Games by Donald F. Featherstone, and The War Game by Charles Grant are all mentioned.

Man of Honour by Iain Gale is briefly reviewed. Don’t forget to read up about the Battle of Blenheim and the War of Spanish Succession.

The show finishes with Jonathan editorializing about SOPA & PIPA. Check out American Censorship to learn more about SOPA & PIPA. Please watch the four minute video, below, about these acts.

As always we conclude with a message from our sponsor, 12-7-Games.com, our Creative Commons license and contact information (find us on Facebook and Twitter).

We hope you enjoy this episode of Wargaming Recon and are eager for your feedback (both positive remarks and constructive criticism). Send it all to cwfgamecast at wargamingforums dot com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, or Xbox Live with gamertag cwfgamecast.

Our intro song is “Downtown” by Matthew Ebel. Please give his other music a listen at www.matthewebel.com.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/31100268[/vimeo]

(Un)Realistic Goals for 2012

Who doesn’t love to read top 10 lists and goals for a new year?  People make resolutions, companies strategically plan, and websites reveal annual goals.  Not being one that enjoys abandonment in the dust, I thought you would like to see my 2012 plans for this blog and podcast.

Some of the plans are probably unrealistic.  Others are well-intended.  And the rest will be obtainable.

This year I will:

  • Attend gaming conventions.  I am running a game at Total Confusion this February and plan to attend Huzzah in May.  We’ll see if I can expand into a third con.
  • Maintain the bi-weekly podcast release schedule.  Delays have always plagued the podcast.  Looking back to 2006 I see that is true.  This year I aim to stick to my promise of a new episode every other week.  Some exceptions are to be acceptable such as major holidays and so forth.
  • Release at least 20 podcast episodes this year.  A new episode every other week = 26 episodes but let’s face it.  Shit happens.  Putting out 20 episodes means I will deliver 20 hours of gaming audio for your enjoyment.  It will take me no less than 40 hours to make that happen and it will be worth it.
  • Book interesting guests.  Last year 6 guests joined the show for a total of 7 episodes.  This year I want to expand the number of guests to include those on the announced guests plus surprise guests.  I want to invite some past guests back onto the show too.
  • Mainstream t-shirt distribution.  By this I mean that I want to make the giving of Wargaming Recon t-shirts a more common occurrence.  They’re expensive but with increased support I know this can happen.
  • Grow sponsorship.  12-7-Games keeps this endeavor going.  The support of Bill Dettmers and his company is vital to the existence of this blog and podcast.  But, let’s expand!  Increased sponsorship helps to provide the amazing contest prizes, t-shirts, and everything else that happens.  Last year we received support from a myriad of places such as Battlegames Magazine, Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine, TotalCon, Huzzah Con, Bailey Records, and Imperium Star Games.  Many of the contest prizes and giveaways were made possible because of those generous entities.
  • PAINT!  I painted 28 models, 1 building, and 10 bases of FoW infantry last year.  This year I want to do more.  I aim to finish my American Revolution army using Perry Miniatures.  I intend to assemble and paint at least one of my Architects of War terrain pieces, and I plan to finish painting the rest of my Flames of War army (6 BMW motorcycles and 1 Famo recovery vehicles).
  • SAGA.  Buy the SAGA rulebook and begin a warband.  Anglo Saxons are my likely choice.
  • Play.  I want to continue to play Black Powder in as many different time periods and conflicts as possible.  I want to spend time to learn Flames of War.  Dystopian Wars is also on my list along with SAGA.
  • Improve Editor’s Choice.  The Editor’s Choice award is a nice way to acknowledge excellence.  But, it can be better.  It must be better.  It will be better.
As the months fly by you can be sure that these goals will be appended, amended, and altered.  I’m leaving it up to all of you to keep me honest.  Let’s see how I do!

We’re Striking!

Three topics never belong in a blog.  Politics, religion, and sports.  Unless you’re running a blog dedicated to politics, religion, or sports you need to STAY CLEAR of those issues.  That is something I firmly believe and a belief I have tried to adhere to (except the sports bit…I mean c’mon its the Boston Bruins).

I’m running a gaming blog and a gaming podcast.  That other stuff doesn’t belong.  This time, however, it is different.  The United States Congress is looking at two bills, which it wants to pass.  The bills are commonly abbreviated as SOPA and PIPA.

Below is a video I want you to watch.  It is 4 minutes long and explains what will actually happen if SOPA and/or PIPA are passed into law.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/31100268[/vimeo] On Wednesday, January 18 many websites are going on strike in protest of SOPA and PIPA.  Mozilla, Reddit, WordPress, MoveOn, TwitPic, the entire I Can Has Cheesburger? network are just a few of the websites that will be striking.  We are joining their ranks.

What does this mean?  On Wednesday all participating websites will go black.  Participating websites will turn themselves off, display informative pictures, and other messages opposing SOPA and PIPA.

While this is happening you will NOT be able to access ANYTHING on this blog.  Most participants are striking for 150 seconds.  We are striking ALL DAY.

You may wonder why gamers should care if SOPA and PIPA pass.  If the bills pass websites can be responsible for anything their users post/share.  Gaming blogs, message boards, and podcasts can be shut down if anyone posts anything the government thinks MIGHT be inappropriate.  It will become almost impossible to discuss, review, and promote games, companies, and products.

Do you want the gaming sites you love to die?  We can all agree that piracy is wrong.  Nobody should illegally obtain material.  It is important to protect the trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property that hard-working entities have created.  But, SOPA and PIPA DO NOT do this the right way.

One last thing for you to look at.  Please read The Internet Goes On Strike from Stop American Censorship.