April 24, 2017 Do you like wargames in Europe... that escalate? Do you like air AND land battles? Then Eugen games and their partners at Paradox have a game for you in Steel Division: Normandy 44. The creators of the perennial favorite Wargame series have turned their rivet-counting attention to World War II in their newest real time strategy game. Rob, Rowan, and Fraser give you the scoop on the latest game and why they have enjoyed their pre-release access.

Steel Division: Normandy 44

April 11, 2017 The stranger's arrival coincided with omens that the villagers could not ignore. A calf born with two heads. Flocks of crows circling the village green silently as the night, their voices stolen. Men disappearing for days at a time in the woods only to return stupefied, gibbering of bright lights and fairy rings. That stranger's name? Fraser Brown. And he's here to host this week's show on the latest expansion for Crusader Kings II - Monks and Mystics. CK2 Superfan T.J. Hafer is also on hand to talk about satanic cults, taking care of inconvenient spouses, and whether or not we've all hit the DLC fatigue wall.

Crusader Kings II, Monks and Mystics

March 29, 2017 Rob, Fraser, and Troy "No One Expects the Canadian Inquisition" Goodfellow return to the Total War series in a Patreon-patron chosen topic. Medieval II was far and away the most voted-for game in our options of the "middle" Total War games, and this week we return to what made the game so special. Was it the flavorful peasant models? The interesting DLC? The active modding scene? The galloping Scots? Find out as we blast back to 2006.

Medieval II: Total War, the rest of the Total War Series

March 20, 2017 Rob and Bruce wrap up this year's winter of wargaming by looking back at some of the games they played and some of the trends they've seen in the wargame space. From boutique games to the pros and cons of computer wargaming, they cover a wide array of topics on their favorite hobby. Does a narrow scope limit a game's design or does it open up new possibilities? How well can you really simulate a given scenario?

March 13, 2017 Rob, Rowan, and Troy "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster" Goodfellow talk about Scourge of War: Waterloo. Waterloo is the first departure for the Take Command series in which we travel to a conflict outside of the American Civil War. Rowan has concerns about forts and Rob has concerns about... a few other things.

Scourge of War: Waterloo

March 7, 2017 It's a very special Three Moves Ahead as we find Rob visiting Bruce in person to play a variety of wargames. The star of the weekend is Mark Herman's Churchill (previously covered in 3MA #330), a game in which players assume the role of Churchill, Stalin, or Roosevelt over the course of ten critical conferences. Also discussed: 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Churchill, 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis

February 27, 2017 Fun fact: Did you know that if you search for "Steel Panthers" on Google Images you will find both A) screenshots of the Steel Panthers series and B) photographs of an active glam rock band named Steel Panther? Go ahead, look for yourself. I'll wait. Did you check? Pretty crazy that people are still into that. In any case, our Patreon supporters voted and decided that this month Rob and Troy "It's all about penetration and angles" Goodfellow talk about Steel Panthers the video game. Not the band.

Steel Panthers, Steel Panthers 2, The Operational Art of War, Command Ops

February 21, 2017 Rob, Sean Sands, and Jonathan Bolding get together to talk about Star Wars: Rebellion. No, not that one, the board game one. Fantasy Flight's take on the Star Wars universe offers an asymmetrical experience in which the powerful Empire attempts to search for the scrappy Rebels across the galaxy.

Star Wars: Rebellion

February 13, 2017 Hearts of Iron IV has received its first beefy chunk of DLC with Together for Victory, and Rob, Fraser, and T.J. Hafer are here to tell if you it's worth your hard-earned post war dollars. In short: it probably is. Together for Victory expands on the player's ability to reshape history and manage British Commonwealths. Is the best part of the DLC the battle log? Does Fraser get tired of constantly being wrong all the time? Does this expansion make leasing things fun?

Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory

January 23, 2017 The title of the patron backer poll was: "What two (2) inscrutable games do Rob and Troy have to explain to each other?" We found the most incrutabl-iest games we could for our list and the backers voted: Distant Worlds and Aurora would be the games to play. Unfortunately, Troy's head exploded during his valiant effort so this week Rob and Michael will talk about these two behemoths of space strategy. They won't cover everything and won't get everything right, but maybe - just maybe - they'll sell you on what makes these challenging games worth your time. Or not. Probably not.

Distant Worlds: Universe, Aurora

January 14, 2017 The Winter of Wargaming is upon us once again, and to kick things off we look at a different kind of wargaming - the first person shooter. Battlefield 1 tackled the often-neglected first-person arena of World War 1, and to everyone's surprise it turned to be a damn fine game. Several other recent releases have also featured the grim realities of WW1 so Rob, Fraser, and guest Evan Lahti go through them this week to discuss whether historical accuracy is something we need or even want in a WW1 game.

Battlefield 1, Verdun, Valiant Hearts, Arma

January 7, 2017 Rob, Rowan, and Troy "My favorite civil war documentary was F Troop" Goodfellow get together to talk about Ultimate General: Civil War. Game-Labs had an impressive debut with Ultimate General: Gettysburg, putting out a game that was lauded by the community at large as well as our panelists. With UG: Civil War, they take on a much larger task by adding persistent units, more battles, and a grander scale. But are they up to such a daunting task? Can they overcome the focused genius of the first game? As it turns out: yes. Yes, they can.

Ultimate General: Civil War

December 30, 2016 Hey there, friend. How's it going? Have a seat here next to your Uncle Rob. You can have a sip of my brandy old fashioned if you don't tell your mom. Why the long face, ace? 2016 got you down? Yeah, it's been kind of a shit year. But that's okay, I've got good news: regardless of what's happened in the rest of the world, 2016 was one of the best years ever for strategy games. The number of quality releases is enough to keep anyone busy for the next decade. But Uncle Rob, Cousin Fraser, and Wacky Neighbor Rowan are here to guide you through the best games of the year and give their definitive, not hesitant at all lock-in picks for Strategy Game of the Year.

Hearts of Iron IV, Total Warhammer: Warhammer of War (tm), Civilization VI, Darkest Dungeon, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Banner Saga 2, XCOM 2, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Fire Emblem Fates, Ashes of the Singularity, Civilization VI, Europa Universalis IV, Stellaris, Rimworld, Ultimate General: Civil War, Offworld Trading Company, Atlas Reactor

December 23, 2016 Our Patreon patrons have spoken, and the winner of our "Let's talk about an online CCG that's NOT Hearthstone" poll was Duelyst. Rob and Julian have a very un-3MA discussion in which all parties agree that the game at hand is pretty rad. Duelyst takes the best parts of Hearthstone and adds its own mechanics and flavor to create a satisfying game that has kept Julian occupied for the better part of the year. Good job, Patreon backers. Good job.

Duelyst, Hearthstone, Magic: The Gathering

December 19, 2016 Nothing is certain in this world except death, taxes, and Paradox expansions. Time marches on and EUIV, the elder statesman of the Paradox stable, the well-rounded workhorse, the stalwart representation of all things Paradox...ish... has continued to grow and improve. Guest host Sean Sands talks with Rowan Kaiser and T.J. Hafer about Rights of Man and the current state of the game. Where does EUIV go from here? Does Paradox just keep adding features forever? Would that be a bad thing? Why are estates so lame? Why isn't Victoria III a thing yet?

Europa Universalis IV, Crusader Kings II, Hearts of Iron IV