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Wargames To Go

Wargames To Go

By: Mark Johnson
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Mark Johnson's irregular podcast about small wargames.(c) 2013 by Mark Johnson
Episodes
  • Wargames To Go 29 - Postwar Germany

    Wargames To Go 29 - Postwar Germany
    May 21 2026
    This is a smaller, almost impromptu episode before I get to my next intended topic. During my last trip, the historic connection I was trying to make was to Charlemagne and his imperial capital at Aachen. That's still coming, both some games and a podcast episode. With that in mind, I'd specifically been trying not to get into more WW2 history while visiting Frankfurt, Cologne, and some places in-between. However, it still came up in the form of social history, the recent decades since 1945. I saw some sites about that, I read a book, saw a film, and wanted to share some thoughts on the podcast. But what about a game? This time I wasn't thinking of traditional military history--I was learning more about socio-political history. Fortunately, since 2014 our hobby has had a perfect game for this topic, Wir sind das Volk. It's a game I appreciated and played a few times when it was new, but its latest incarnation on Rally The Troops has given me many more opportunities to play it. What a rewarding tie-in to my reading and travels. Besides the game and its specific history, this general topic has me thinking about a political problem that has no easy, let alone perfect solution: how does a defeated opponent, perhaps a guilty nation in a tragic war, ever work its way back into good terms with other nations--its recent foes? To do so quickly & easily ignores the death & suffering that occurred. To extract a painful price over excessive time only contributes to danger of recurrence. Now I know a little of what happened after the World Wars, but what about the American Civil War and other conflicts. If & when I manage to visit Ireland, I believe this is a relevant issue there, too. Is it too challenging of a topic for "games" to handle? Perhaps. But it wasn't so long ago that no one had ideas about how to make a game about Postwar Germany, or the Suffragist Movement in America. Now look where we are! Designers can be more brilliant than we can imagine. Films • Judgment at Nuremberg • Nuremberg • Malta Story Books • Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany (Taylor) • Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (Judt) • Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955 (Jähner) Travel While on a recent trip to Germany we saw two particular sites that made a strong impression on me, and I discussed in the podcast episode. • Haus de Geschischte Bonn • NS-Documentation Center (the EL-DE Haus), in Cologne/Köln -Mark Charlemagne will be still my next topic. I'm not sure how many games there are about him and this period, but it ties in to my trip to Aachen, I'd like to learn more, and want to take a break from WW2. Here's a geeklist with my preliminary ideas about it.
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    51 mins
  • Wargames To Go 28 - Operation Torch

    Wargames To Go 28 - Operation Torch
    Feb 6 2026
    Join the Wargames To Go (and Boardgames To Go) discord server https://discord.gg/vxEG9bMPdx I'm taking the win. For a while now I've been wishing I could do these episodes more often, study more topics, play more wargames, read more books, see more movies… This time, it worked. I didn't play that many games, but I played a few while digging into a new topic: the American entry into WW2's ETO through Operation Torch. The combined American-British amphibious invasion of the western half of North Africa was something I knew a little about, but—as always happens with me—I learn a lot more through this experience. I learn some more details about what happened, and a lot more context. That's the part of history that I find most fascinating. In this case, the wider context had a lot to do with Vichy France and its colonies. The formation of this new, odd government, who was responsible, how it operated, and America's complicated, troublesome relationship to it. One book really brought that home, but it showed up in everything, including podcasts, movies, and the games themselves (at least somewhat). Films • Patton • The Big Red One • Casablanca Books • When France Fell (Neiberg) • Patton: A Biography (Axelrod) • An Army at Dawn (Atkinson) • No Ordinary Time (Goodwin) Travel No, I didn't make it to Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia to see this places in-person. That would be amazing. I'd love to see the Atlas Mountains and sunset from there that Churchill insisted that FDR see during their famous conference. The closest I've come is getting to see the US Army Desert Training Center that Patton himself picked out from his knowledge of the American Southwest, and trained troops that would later be part of Operation Torch. To be honest, it's now a pretty run-down place. Clearly the modern army trains elsewhere. Yet it's still an interesting part of history, and what wargamer doesn't enjoy seeing some tired, old tanks? -Mark Charlemagne will be my next topic. I'm not sure how many games there are about him and this period, but it ties in to my trip to Aachen, I'd like to learn more, and want to take a break from WW2. Here's a geeklist with my preliminary ideas about it.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Wargames To Go 27.2 - SDHistCon and Invasion of Norway (Conclusion)

    Wargames To Go 27.2 - SDHistCon and Invasion of Norway (Conclusion)
    Dec 15 2025
    Join the Wargames To Go (and Boardgames To Go) discord server https://discord.gg/vxEG9bMPdx Here's what I wrote last time... Quote: 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. FAIL Oh well, it was a noble goal. The reasons I didn't succeed in my goal are boring, so let's skip those. There's always next year, which isn't so far away! In this episode I do manage to bring my Norway topic to a conclusion, by playing not too many more games, but by seeing more films and going to this wonderful country. Like almost all traveling, it was a lovely experience. And like almost all my wargame explorations, I learned quite a lot. That's a win, in my book. Before I get to those games, movies, and travel, however, I use this opportunity to talk about my experience at SDHistCon last month. I'd been to this unique convention once before, and again it was a great experience. One of these days I hope to make it to the Circle DC event on the opposite coast, which sounds equally fantastic. For Norway, I was fortunate to visit in May, just in time for their national holiday. We arrived in Oslo and spent several days there. That included a side trip to Oscarsborg Fortress (Festning), which was instrumental in slowing down the German invasion and takeover of the capital & country. It's probably no exaggeration to say that the bold action of its commanding officer gave just enough time for the government and royal family to flee Oslo, ultimately forming a government-in-exile rather than one forced to surrender. Not to mention the evacuation of the nation's remaining gold reserves overseas, away from German hands (as happened in other countries). Guns of Oscarsborg Festning that fired across the narrow Oslofjord And here was the fire control room for the fixed torpedo tubes that stopped & sunk the invading Blucher cruiser The fortress museum has a great animated map of the entire event. Even in 2025 you can't always find the same things online. Oslo was an occupied capital for the entire war, and it contains a fantastic resistance museum. It made me think of the different ways countries were occupied, which ones had governments in exile, and other peculiarities. I also learned more about the various coastal raids that the British conducted in occupied Norway throughout the war. Films • Max Manus • The 12th Man • Suicide Mission • The Arctic Convoy • War Sailor • April 9th • Gold Run Outside and inside photos of the Hegra Festning (Fortres) that held out in northern Norway -Mark For my next topic I'm going to be looking at America's entry into WW2 in Europe, at least in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Here's the geeklist for it.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
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