Podcasts (sorta) for Gamers: Ken Burns' Civil War

Netflix on the iPhone with unlimited data is pretty sweet. I noticed that Ken Burns' "Civil War' was available on Netflix instant view, and having found the Civil War almost too large to grapple with (Burns' Civil War is like 18 hours long, and it's just a brief overview!) I had avoided learning much about it.  Even with the streaming option, I didn't' feel I could commit the huge amount of time necessary to work through the entire series, but once I realized I could stream it wirelessly and listen to it during my commute it became much more manageable. Relying on still photographs and interviews, the "Civil War" is largely and audio experience anyway, and while I may have noticed more nuance by actually watching it, listening to it proved highly rewarding.

I found it a great introduction to the war. It illustrated the personalities involved, showed the various offensive and defensive moves by both sides, and was able to draw distinctions between the battles. I toyed with the idea of getting into ACW for real with Black Powder, but the large number of troops required for the set piece battles, and the  rather bland uniforms put me off.  I might do some ACW skirmishing with An Uncivil War from Architects of War though.

Podcasts for Gamers: Meeples and Miniatures

I've listened to Neil Shuck's "Meeples and Miniatures" sporadically for years.  The early years were pretty rough, but this year I realized Neil has really hit his stride. He's enthusiastic, thorough and fair and his inclusion of guests have really made this my "go to" gaming podcast.  My favorites are the "View from the Veranda" episodes with Henry Hyde (of Battlegames Magazine). Henry's cheerfulness and enthusiasm for wargaming is infectious.  I also really enjoyed the pair of painting podcasts he did with Steve Archbold and the shows with Richard Clarke of "Too Fat Lardies".  Good stuff, and with close to 100 episodes out there's a wealth of material to listen too if you haven't been there from the beginning.

Podcasts for Gamers: Norman Centuries

After wrapping up Brownsworth's "12 Byzantine Rulers" I jumped into his "Norman Centuries" series, another set of podcasts that act as an abridged version of one of his books.  I had become familiar with the Normans while reading up on William the Conqueror, but having a soft spot for Harold I didn't follow up on their history post Conquest. I was really surprised by their arrival in Italy a few decades later and the numerous wars they got involved in as mercenaries and conquerors.  The rag tag collection of Normans, Italians, Greeks and Muslims squabbling over Italy and getting into open conflict with the Pope(!) was fascinating.

I really dig armies with diverse troop types and the Normans seem to touch everything from the end of the dark ages, to the Byzantine Emire to the beginning of the Crusades. I'm looking forward to reading up more on the Normans in Italy with an eye to getting some of these weird mixes of troops and ethnicities on the table. I'm already toying with the idea of a Norman SAGA warband, and fleshing it out into a full Norman army for Hail Caesar.

Also, it looks like he's allowed the podcast to be included in a straight up iPhone app from the iTunes store. If you wanted to purchase the podcasts instead of downloading them for free.

Podcasts for Gamers: 12 Byzantine Rulers

There's a handful of game focused podcasts I've found that are fairly good, but most of the great audio I've piped down to my iPhone on my commute have been history focused, rather than game focused. I've found it easy to get a general overview of periods that I don't know very well, and generally find one or more battles or personalities that pique my interest enough to explore further.

"12 Byzantine Rulers" is a history of the Byzantine Empire in podcast format available on iTunes. The podcasts are essentially an audio book of author Lars Brownworth's book about Byzantine history. That's not a period I was interested in, but I was looking for something meaty to listen to during my commute and saw it recommended. It's great stuff, and really fleshes out the dim fringes of my understanding of the Fall of Rome, through the Dark Ages, into the Crusades and setting up the Renaissance. And Belisarius was the MAN! Really looking forward to delving more deeply into this period when I get a chance, and all because of this small podcast series.


Here's a link to the book this podcast is based on: