Ok, let's see how my attempt to tackle smaller topics more often actually goes. Can I get out one show/topic per quarter? That's my personal goal for the rest of 2025. Then I'll re-evaluate.

Which brings me to Norway. Literally. In a week's time I'll be vacationing there, and that was a great reason to focus my next wargame podcast on this location. Instead of ALL of Norway's history (like I did for Scotland back in 2023, covering games & movies from the Roman era to the Jacobite Rebellion), I'm focusing just on WW2. In fact, I'm mostly focusing on the events of about a couple months in 1940, when Norway was invaded by Germany. I knew that had happened, but few of the details. Now I understand that Norway defended herself on the battlefield (hampered by late mobilization), the Western allies were fighting there, too, but ultimately the Germans were victorious. Norway was under Nazi occupation for the rest of the entire war.

But there's more to it than that. The invasion itself was a complex operation of combined arms and logistical planning. The German navy was practically expended in this operation, and the Luftwaffe demonstrated again the new military technology of air superiority. Nevertheless, the strategic prize of the port of Narvik was retaken by the Norwegians and their Allies, Hitler's first significant setback in WW2. However, events back on the continent (the Invasion of France, the Evacuation at Dunkirk) drained the allies away from Norway, allowing the Germans to retake Narvik.

There have been games about this strategic battlefield since some early days in the hobby, though not the earliest. At least since Frank Chadwick and GDW's treatment in The Europa Series, the Norwegian setting published in 1974. Over the years other titles have appeared, but this has always remained a lesser-gamed topic, with fewer titles. Fortunately, there are several smaller wargames, as I try to concentrate on for this podcast. There almost always are.

Now I've played a few of them, watched some movies, read some articles, and soon will be visiting the actual location. This isn't a military history trip--it's a vacation for my wife & I. That means I won't see everything, but I'll see enough. I always appreciate being in the actual locations where things happened. It just adds to the experience.

-Mark


Films
• The King's Choice
• Kampen om Narvik
• Nr. 24
• Atlantic Crossing


Other
• The YouTube channel Historigraph has an outstanding series of animated maps with voiceover narration about the Invasion of Norway

As always happens, a subject that attracts me for wargaming and this podcast proves to be deeper and richer than expected. Once I knew I would get a chance to visit Scotland on vacation last summer/fall, it was my opportunity to dive into "wars of Scotland" in a general sense. What did I think that was? From Braveheart and Hammer the Scots I knew about the first War of Scottish Independence, at least a bit. I'd heard of the Jacobite Rebellion and The '45. And I figured there was some Roman history somehow, what with Hadrian's Wall up there.

Of course, there's much more. Not only did I confirm the Roman-Caledonian history and learn more about Robert the Bruce or Bonnie Prince Charlie, I naturally uncovered a lot more detail in those conflicts...plus many others that fill the centuries between the parts I knew. Not all of them are depicted extensively in wargaming, but often at least a scenario in Ancient Battles Deluxe, as well as informative YouTube animations.

In this episode I give some general impressions & observations about some of the game systems I played, notably Men of Iron, Ancients/Ancient Battles Deluxe, Commands & Colors, plus a standalone game about Bannockburn/Stirling/Falkirk. There are movies worth mentioning, and a few more games or scenarios to try.

This is all expected to wrap up fairly quickly. Later this week I'm going to GMT's Weekend at the Warehouse, and there I'll get in a game or two to be discussed on the next podcast...along with a general report on the GMT event.

-Mark

One week ago I was at my first SDHistCon. I had a good time, would like to share that experience via this audio convention report...and still there manages to be a slender but worthwhile connection to my Wars of Scotland subject.

For anyone who only found me for the convention report, I start with a brief overview of me & my podcast(s). Then I get into the convention itself, some of the great people I chatted with, and the remainder of the episode is a rundown of all the games I played. I'm covering them in roughly descending order of their wargame bona fides. So the first ones are the most traditionally wargame-y, followed by more & more titles that go from consims to general history games, ultimately finishing with a few light euro-style boardgames.

The first game discussed happens to the one that connects to my current exploration on this podcast, the Wars of Scotland. Border Reivers is a game I could only experience at a convention, so I seized the opportunity. The next Wargames To Go podcast should have a lot more Scotland in it, some of those films I mentioned, and is expected to wrap up this topic. Then it will be time to look ahead to the next one. I've got some ideas.

Thanks to the entire SDHist board that makes this event happen. Harold Buchanon may be the visible face of the organization, but I know he'd want to point out over a dozen board members, plus other advisors, that make it all work.

-Mark