Am I going to be automated out of my own hobby?

Of course, these days everyone is talking about ChatGPT and other AI programs that generate verbiage or art scraped and remixed from all over the Internet and presented according to some nebulous algorithms.

Not long ago someone asked ChatGPT to come up with some rules for a Napoleonic era wargame and it made a creditable stab at it. It makes me wonder where it’s all headed, so I set up an account on openAI and asked it, “who is Brian Train?”

Answer:

Brian Train is a board game designer and author from Canada. He has designed and published over 100 board games, focusing primarily on conflict simulations, historical games, and games based on current events.

Train’s designs often deal with unconventional topics, such as the Algerian War, the Iran-Iraq War, and the global war on terror. He is known for his innovative approach to game mechanics, his attention to historical detail, and his ability to make complex topics accessible to players.

Train has also written extensively on game design, contributing to a number of publications and speaking at conferences and events around the world. He is particularly interested in the role of games in education, and has developed a number of games specifically for classroom use.

Some of Train’s most well-known designs include “A Distant Plain”, a game about the war in Afghanistan, “Colonial Twilight”, a game about the Algerian War, and “Binh Dinh ’69”, a game about the Vietnam War. His work has been recognized with a number of awards and nominations, including multiple Charles S. Roberts Awards for excellence in wargame design.

HA!

I think it’s just trying to butter me up….

Panel: Colonialism in Boardgames, 26 Feb 2023

Exciting news, everybody!

This Sunday at 2000 UTC, I will be on a panel on Fred Serval’s Homo Ludens Youtube channel considering depictions of colonialism in boardgames – with a lineup of people that I never, ever expected I would share a stage with.

Description of topic and participants from Fred’s announcement:

“We will focus on the evolution of colonialism’s depiction in our games, examine ethical and historical considerations of this depiction and discuss a possible way forward for the hobby.”

The panel:
Mary Flanagan: Pioneer in the field of game research.
Jason “ShelfStories” Perez: Content creator and cultural advisor for board game publishers.
Brian Train: Legendary designer of weird wargames.
Cole Wehrle: boardgame mogul.

These are brilliant people…. accomplished academics and thoughtful designers… my Imposter Syndrome is surging so much right now.

Anyway, tune in, and see if I can keep my finger out of my nose while the big kids talk.

[Edit: I think it went quite well, even if I was not at my most articulate.]

We Are Coming Nineveh: make your pre-orders now!

The time has come for all good people to make their pre-orders for the English-language version of We Are Coming, Nineveh! from Nuts! Publishing.

This is a grand-tactical/operational scale block wargame on the battle for Mosul in 2017, designed by two former students of Rex Brynen’s and further developed by Rex and I. This one is a challenge to balance speed and casualties and time as Iraqi government forces hem ISIS fighters into a smaller and smaller perimeter in the Old City. The game has many event and capability cards that vary play, by accident or on purpose respectively.

Price 52 Euros (about $56 USD), reduced from regular price of 65 Euros. Not sure of shipping cost of course, but for once the European customers will get a break on this part of buying a wargame.

Deliveries begin in March 2023, so no long waits! The link below is for pre-orders and has some very good images of the high quality graphics to help you make up your mind about that part… as for the play and replay value, I definitely will vouch for that.

https://www.nutspublishing.com/eshop/nineveh-en

The Players Aid: Want-to-Play January 2023

Alexander and Grant of The Players Aid talk about many of the games they want to play – they work their way through a whole shelf of titles. The whole is worth watching and they save the District Commander series for the last – about 1:14:15. Their advice: don’t play these when you are tired and distracted, but when you do your effort will be rewarded! Thanks a lot, guys. (Oh, and as the commenters on Youtube pointed out, there is a 4th volume in the series, DC Zone Nord Oranais). They also mention Brief Border Wars and Civil Power.