Episode #12 : Interview with Brian Train (Brief Border Wars) - History and Games Lab Podcast

In this episode, award-winning game designer Brian Train joins host Eduard Gafton to talk about his game Brief Border Wars and using a card-driven system to model the chaotic, stop-and-start nature of impromptu wars.

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐬

○ 00:00:00 - Start

○ 00:08:01 - How did Brian get into games?

○ 00:33:17 - How does asymmetry make for interesting match-ups?

○ 00:43:40 - Should games be historically accurate?

𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞

○ Brian gives a lecture on Game Design & Self-Publication at Georgetown University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtky8WgsyyA

○ Brian’s website: https://brtrain.wordpress.com/

○ Cole Wehrle’s essay: Affective Networks At Play: Catan, Coin, And The Quiet Year: https://analoggamestudies.org/2016/05/affective-networks-at-play-catan-coin-and-the-quiet-year/

○ Zones of Control: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/zones-control

○ Brian’s game, Colonial Twilight, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2090550457

○ Brian and Volko Ruhnke’s game, A Distant Plain, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=870116466

○ Brian’s game, Kashmir Crisis, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2421971111

○ Andean Abyss (first GMT COIN system game): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/91080/andean-abyss

○ Tactics II (first wargame) : https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1574/tactics-ii

○ The Little War (Slovakia vs. Hungary, March 1939): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/223436/ukrainian-crisis-little-war

○ Simulations Publications: http://www.costik.com/spicom/

○ BCT Command: Kandahar: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/126708/bct-command-kandahar

○ Nights of Fire: Battle for Budapest: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/236125/nights-fire-battle-budapest

○ Vassal game system: https://vassalengine.org/

○ Zenobia Award finalists: https://zenobiaaward.org/finalists/

○ Europe Divided: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/260147/europe-divided

○ An Infamous Traffic: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/206490/infamous-traffic

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐨

○ Through Anchor, we are available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and most main podcast services: https://anchor.fm/handglab

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

○ The launch event to mark the release of our brand-new wargame, Lion Rampant: A Viking in the Sun, was a huge success! To buy, access this link: www.linktr.ee/HistoryandGamesLab.

○ The History and Games Society is meeting on 11 October! This meeting is a great opportunity to speak with the committee, meet other HGS members and contribute ideas to future society events. The Zoom link will be sent to all members of the society. Register for the society here: https://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/activities/view/historyandgames.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐔𝐬

If you have any feedback or would like to get in touch for a potential podcast appearance, our DMs are open on Twitter @HandGLab or you can email us at historyandgamesstudentgroup@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk.

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○ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/HistoryandGamesLab

𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫

Intro/Outro Music: Call to Adventure by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3470-call-to-adventure

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-licensee