The Canadian Wargamer Podcast

16/04/2024

15/04/2024

Video version of the latest podcast, and James looking very fetching in his housecoat.

Yes, in the spirit of all things Easter, this podcast has risen, or at least, roused itself from its slumber.In this catch-up issue, James and Mike get toget...

14/04/2024

Hey, have you missed us? We've missed you. Not a lot, but enough to put Episode 26 together. Give us a listen.

Hello, is this thing on? Does it still work? Yes, in the spirit of all things Easter, this podcast has risen, or at least, roused itself from its slumber. In this catch-up issue, James and Mike get together on air for the first time since last October. No interesting gue...

16/10/2023

I'm totally embarrassed to say that James and I recorded a chat back in August and then I totally procrastinated in editing and uploading it. What did we talk about? Honestly, I can't really recall. Quar, the Napoleon film, getting sexier as we get older, that sort of thing. Apologies to my mate James and to those of you wondering if this podcast was kaput. It's not, quite.
Enjoy.

I'm embarrassed to say that James and I recorded this chat on August 10, and then I totally forgot about uploading it in the business of my day job. So here we are, two whole months later and I owe big apologies to James and to you dear listeners, all two of you. I vaguely recall that we talked abou...

30/06/2023

Wendy de Wolfe is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, fine artist and freelance graphic designer, and wargamer with a particular interest in kriegspiels. For the past year, she's ben running a large Napoleonic kriegspiel set in 1806 in which James and I were among the players, only to recently discover...

30/06/2023

We've been very quiet these last few months but not gone away. James and I are happy to release Ep 24, in which we chat with Canadian veteran and wargamer Wendy de Wolfe about kriegspiels. We're at 9k downloads, so spread the word and let's get to 10k!

Wendy de Wolfe is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, fine artist and freelance graphic designer, and wargamer with a particular interest in kriegspiels. For the past year, she's ben running a large Napoleonic kriegspiel set in 1806 in which James and I were among the players, only to recently discover...

12/04/2023

Freshly posted, the CWP official HotLead 2023 postgame show, with a blue-ribbon panel of Canadian grognards and ne'er do wells.

Our blue ribboned panel of veteran HotLead game-masters and ne'er do wells, Keith Burnett, Dan Hutter, Don Perrin and Brian Hall join Mike and James in a shamelessly self-congratulatory chat about what we did, saw, and liked about HotLead, Ontario's premiere miniatures gaming event. In the back thir...

12/04/2023

It's Episode 23 of CWP, our official post-games commentary on HotLead 23. A blue-ribbon panel of gamemasters, HotLead veterans, and grognards join Mike and James with out thoughts on a darn fine weekend in Stratford.

Our blue ribboned panel of veteran HotLead game-masters and ne'er do wells, Keith Burnett, Dan Hutter, Don Perrin and Brian Hall join Mike and James in a shamelessly self-congratulatory chat about what we did, saw, and liked about HotLead, Ontario's premiere miniatures gaming event. In the back thir...

27/03/2023

Here's a quick video tour of some of the great games put on at Hot Lead in Stratford, ON, last weekend.

https://youtu.be/VfaOqqWaFrs

23/03/2023

And here's the audio version. Please like, subscribe, follow, tell your mom, recommend to your friends, write to your MP, etc.

In this episode, we detour from miniatures to chat to Marc Rodrigue, Montreal-based designer of the award-winning French and Indian Wars boardgame, Bayonets and Tomahawks, published by GMT Games. We talk about Marc's abiding interest in the French and Indian War, and the design process that led to h...

23/03/2023

Episode 22 of CWP is online. James and I chat with Marc Rodrigue, Montreal-based designer of GMT's award winning French and Indian War game, Bayonets and Tomahawks.

In this episode, we detour from miniatures to chat to Marc Rodrigue, Montreal-based designer of the award-winning French and Indian Wars boardgame, Bayonets ...

20/01/2023

In our most recent podcast, we made a reference to the awesome Canadian cartoonist Kate Beaton and to her cartoon on The Fenian Raids, which tells you almost everything you need to know about that rather strange episode. It's too good not so share, and since you're all good people, here it is.

19/01/2023

Episode 21 is published, and with two different guests!
James and I talk all things War of 1812 with gamer Roger Chrysler, who also tells us about his family connection to that war.
In our Canadian Content Corner, we talk with Kevin Jacobi, one of the two owners of St. Catherines based Six Squared Studios.

Mike and James chat with Roger Chrysler, a wargamer whose family history led him to a deep dive in early Ontario history and the War of 1812. Roger tells us about his family and their involvement in the war, and we do our own deep dive into the many gaming possibilities (figures, rules, scenarios, b...

28/12/2022

Mark your calendars - Jan 11 a great chance to hear a free lecture by Ted Barris on Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic.

In the 20th century’s greatest war, one battlefield held the key to victory or defeat – the North Atlantic. It took 2,074 days and nights to determine its outcome, but the Battle of the Atlantic proved the turning point of the Second World War. For five and a half years, German surface warships ...

27/12/2022

Troop type: Heavy Foot

26/12/2022

To our listeners, from Mike and James.

23/12/2022

From our houses to yours, it's the Second Annual Canadian Wargamer Podcast Christmas party, featuring a special appearance by Santa Grognard, who busted himself out of the drunk tank just for us!

Not a lot to say about this one except to wish a very Merry Christmas to our listeners, and hoping to have more for you in the new year. Cheers from Mike and James.

21/12/2022

Here is the video for Episode 20, our interview with Glenn Pearce on 6mm, Napoleonics, and a bunch of other stuff. Tomorrow I should finish uploading the audio for last night's podcast Christmas party!

In Episode 20, Mike and James speak with Glenn Pearce, the Dean of Canadian Napoleonic Wargaming. Glenn is the mastermind behind what may be the oldest N...

20/12/2022

We had our Second Annual Christmas Party podcast last night. Good thing I wasn’t aware of this drinking game until today, otherwise we would all be kaput!

12/12/2022

It's been a while, but Episode 20 is now out in the wild. James and I had a grand time speaking with our guest, the Dean of Canadian Napoleonic Wargaming, Glenn Pearce.

In Episode 20, Mike and James speak with Glenn Pearce, the Dean of Canadian Napoleonic Wargaming. Glenn is the mastermind behind what may be the oldest Napoleonic miniature wargaming group in the world, based out of Toronto, Ontario. Glenn describes how he and his group made a big decision to go sma...

31/10/2022

Really grateful to everyone who's been patiently waiting for the next podcast. At least, we hope you've been waiting, patiently or otherwise. So here it is. James and I have both been in slump territory lately, stuff on the mind, new routines, the excuses vary. James I think has been far more productive than me with the gaming and the brushes.
So no guest this time, just us having a natter and catching up. Hope it makes your painting more enjoyable.

After a two month absence, which is explained in tedious detail, CWP is back. No guest this month, just Mike and James having a long overdue natter and catchup. We talk about the Amazon pseudo-Silmarillion series Rings of Power, and whether it will have any influence on wargaming in Middle Earth. Th...

14/08/2022

Pleased that our friends at Tundraworks are nearly 70% of the way there to funding their Lace Wars 18mm Kickstarter.
In the second half of Ep 18, just out today, James and I speak with Morgan Drawson about this exciting Canadian project.
Tundraworks shared these photos with us, happy to show them here.
Best of luck guys.

14/08/2022

Episode 18 of the podcast is up.
I speak with Dr. Robert Engen, Canadian military historian and educator, about using wargames in the Professional Military Education of Canadian Forces mid-career officers.
James and I speak with Morgan Drawson about the new Lace Wars line of 18mm miniatures from Tundraworks, whose Kickstarter just went live

In the first and longest part of the podcast, Mike speaks with Dr. Robert C. Engen, a Canadian military historian and educator with a passion for wargames. I spoke with Robert while he's between jobs. Until recently, he used wargames to teach operational process and planning to mid-career officers a...

08/08/2022

On Wednesday, James and I will be recording the next episode as we chat with Dr. Robert Engen. Robert is a young and already well-published Canadian military historian (http://robertengen.ca/books/). He's the author of two recent books on the experience and effectiveness of Canadian infantry in WW2, in which he takes issue with longstanding theories of combat made popular by people like SLA Marshal.
Robert has just finished an appointment teaching the future senior leaders of the Canadian military at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, where he has been a strong advocate of using wargames as part of PME (Professional Military Education). We're catching him before he leaves Canada to start a gig teaching the Australian military.

We want to talk to Dr Engen about a bunch of topics, including differences/similarities between hobby and professional wargames, the Canadians in WW2, and so forth.

What would you like us to ask Dr. Engen? Let us know and we'll try to work it in to the discussion.