The Canadian Wargamer

Michael Peterson

Your hosts James and Mike, with the occasional guest, look at the Canadian wargames scene. We're interested in miniature wargaming, board (hex and counter) games, and how Canadian military history inspires some of our projects. We hope to help tell the stories of a small but dynamic hobby scene in a big country.

  1. 07/17/2025

    Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 30 With Our Guest Andrew Dobson of Dobbies' Hobbies

    As we reached Episode 30 of the CWP, James and I had a terrifically enjoyable chat with Andrew Dobson.   Andrew is one of Canadian wargaming's rising stars, and is the proprietor of Dobbies Hobbies, a 3D printing factory licensed to produce a wide variety of models from a wide range of suppliers. We love Andrew's energy and his enthusiasm for the potential of 3D printing.  Andrew also has an interest in Canadian military history, which explains our final march past.    This interview was recorded in June, and we're sorry that it's taken a long time to get it to your ears.  Andrew, we would have loved to go with your Sabbaton choice, Cliffs of Gallipoli, but we were worried about the copyright implications, so there's a link below. Dobbie's Hobbies website: https://www.dobbieshobbies.net/ Andrew's Three Book Choices: William Trotter, Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finish War of 1939-1940, https://www.amazon.ca/Frozen-Hell-Russo-Finnish-Winter-1939-1940/dp/1565122496 JL McWilliams and.R James Steele, The Suicide Battalion: One Remarkable Battalion's Journey Through the First World War, https://www.amazon.ca/Suicide-Battalion-J-L-McWilliams/dp/1913518175/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?crid=JHYMT1HZHHNF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9NJfn0CyxqRrk5Dyvxrv993CoyTNQEl8VzcieBgLF4mJaYaijN5E043FFjWgxCHYuNnPA02EQMfOs2q5I-7ScA.89IiEKah1I-48QCG1b-JGcB9dP3fzy_X7K_15cg7e6I&dib_tag=se&keywords=suicide+battalion+CEF&qid=1752762024&s=books&sprefix=suicide+battalion+cef%2Cstripbooks%2C67&sr=1-1-fkmr1  Nicholas Jellicoe, Jutland: The Unfinished Battle, A Personal History of a Naval Controversy. https://www.amazon.ca/Jutland-Unfinished-Personal-History-Controversy/dp/1848323212 Our march out, Punjab, Quick March of the Saskatchewan Dragons: https://youtu.be/ImnfYl35A_o?si=R7pSyNmLa9w8bl55 Sabbaton, Cliffs of Gallipoli: https://youtu.be/PvoYEtyQ9A8?si=NoWuBj3GtwYoPSiC

    1h 49m
  2. 05/16/2025

    Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 29 With Our Guest Jay Arnold, The Veteran Wargamer

    It's a special Hands Across The Border episode with our favourite Yank, Jay Arnold, the Veteran Wargamer.  After a brief skirmish in which Jay tries to annex us, we talk about podcasting versus gaming, what Jay as a soldier looks for in a wargame, and of course, lots of Quar talk during which I went and made a sandwich.   Here's links to what we mentioned in our chat. Jay’s work in Professional Military Education: Joseph “Jay” Arnold | U.S. Naval Institute   Jay’s Veteran Wargamer Podcast:  The Veteran Wargamer - Podcast - Apple Podcasts Scotland Yard (1983 game) Scotland Yard (board game) - Wikipedia Not Jay YouTube Channel (Jay’s Brother):  Scotland Yard (board game) - Wikipedia Cascadia Tile Laying Game:  www.alderac.com Command and Colours Ancients:  www.commandsandcolors.net Space Cadets by Dice Duel (2012) Space Cadets | Board Game | BoardGameGeek Sebastian Bae, Littoral Commander:  Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific | Board Game | BoardGameGeek Too Fat Lardies, What A Tanker: What a Tanker Rule Set | TOOFATLardies Little Wars TV YouTube Channel:  (1516) Little Wars TV - YouTube Fist Full of Lead: Fistful of Lead: Reloaded 2nd Edition - Wiley Games | Wargame Vault Sam Mustafa, Lasalle Second Edition:  Lasalle — Sam A. Mustafa Forest Dragon Miniatures:  Forest Dragon Galaxy’s Edge Books:  Galaxy's Edge Series by Jason Anspach Quar and Joshua Gualtieri, Quar - Western Iron — Wargames Atlantic Elegoo Saturn 3 Printers:   Saturn Series 3D Printers – ELEGOO CA Jay’s Book Picks: Joseph Springer, The Black Devil Brigade: The True Story of the First Special Service Brigade in World War Two. https://www.amazon.com/Black-Devil-Brigade-Special-Service/dp/0935553509 John Keegan, The Face of Battle. The Face of Battle - Wikipedia Jason Anspach and Nick Cole, Legionaire, First Book in the Galaxy’s Edge series.  Legionnaire - GALAXYS EDGE

    1h 22m
  3. 04/07/2025

    CWP Episode 28 With Our Guest, Byron Mudry from Northern Lights Terrain

    Mike and James have a great chat with Winnipeg's Byron Mudry, a lifelong gamer who also takes us behind the scenes in his MDF terrain business.  We also talk about the vibrant gaming scene on the Canadian prairies, and his love of wargaming Canada's storied First World War history.  Byron also schooled us about Trench Crusade and other games that the cool kids are playing. Byron's business: https://northernlightsterrain.com/ Other things we mentioned Legions of Steel (Canadian early competitor to Space Hulk): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2091/legions-of-steel State of Play podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5qFCUIbuAnuZI00KTaHUSg/videos Analogue Hobbies (Curt Campbell's Blog): http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/ Fawcett Avenue Conscripts (Winnipeg gaming club): http://wpggamegeeks.blogspot.com/ Brutal Cities (Australian MDF terrain company): https://brutalcities.com/pages/about-us PrairieCon, Brandon MB's Annual Gaming Convention: https://www.prairiecon.com/ Friendly Fire Manitoba Gaming Event: https://friendly-fire-manitoba.com/ Legions IV Hire Gaming Store, Winnipeg: https://www.legionsivhire.ca/index.php Burrows and Badgers: https://www.oathswornminiatures.co.uk/c/4553237/1/burrows-badgers.html Gaslands: The Game: https://planetsmashergames.com/gaslands/about/ Trench Crusade: https://www.trenchcrusade.com/ Books that Byron Recommend: Brave Battalion: The Remarkable Sage of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) in the First World War, by Mark Zuelkhe: https://www.zuehlke.ca/brave-battalion.html Gallant Canadians: The Story of the Tenth Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1914-1919, by Daniel G. Dancocks: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2660649-gallant-canadians Eric Flint, 1632 Series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1632_series Old Solomon Levi: Regimental March of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles: https://youtu.be/-4CdDPAKJ58?si=oOwg5BUFnAxvGcgg

    1h 27m
  4. 04/14/2024

    The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 26: Is This Thing Still A Thing?

    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 guest, just us.    In a little over an hour, we talk about: Hot Lead, which took place just before Easter and of which James is justifiably proud of his team.   You can find his wrap-up of this year’s show at his blog:  https://rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com/2024/03/hot-lead-2024-lots-of-pictures-and-video.html Some further Hot Lead bits in this segment: We talk about naval wargaming, and the new WW1 rules by local boy Andrew Dobbie:  https://www.dobbieshobbies.net/ Model Builders Supply was not at Hot Lead this year but they sell great terrain (I love their trees) and you could buy the business!  Check it out:  https://modelbuilderssupply.com/ Also thanks to Hot Lead we got morbid and talked about war-games estate sales, since you can’t take it with you:  http://madpadrewargames.blogspot.com/2024/03/an-estate-sale-rules-haul-and-bit-of.html In the middle of the podcast, we talk about 18th century wargaming, starting off with Mike’s report on his first attempts with Henry Hyde’s horse and musket rules, Shot, Steel and Stone.  For more on Mike’s thoughts, see: http://madpadrewargames.blogspot.com/2024/03/first-thoughts-on-henry-hydes-shot.html We also discussed other 18th century rules we want to play more of, including Keith Flint’s Honours of War which gets good reviews from everyone who’s played it:  https://www.ospreypublishing.com/ca/honours-of-war-9781472808097/ As well as Twilight of the Soldier Kings which I think is available for purchase on Amazon.    If you have thoughts about these rules, let us know please. We also talk about ancient Romans, books vs PDFs (James is a print guy), James’ charming obsession with the Quar and Mike’s eagerness to try General D’Armee 2 from Reisswitz Press. Finally we look ahead to some upcoming war-games shows in Ontario: Ragnarok is more RPG and SF focused than Hot Lead but it’s in nearby Kitchener and worth supporting, April 20 and 21.   See https://www.ragnarokxp.com/ Our friends in Hamilton are organizing a more war-games oriented event in Niagara Fallson Saturday May 4:  https://allevents.in/niagara falls/dice-days-at-the-niagara-military-museum/200026103613028#google_vignette We leave you with a quiz:   Who is the best movie Napoleon?    Is it: Ian Holm (Time Bandits) Ian Holm (Time Bandits) OR Ian Holm (Time Bandits)   Cheers and thanks for listening. Write to us: Mike:  madpadre@gmail.com James:  jamesmanto@gmail.com   Blogs:    www.madpadrewargames.blogspot.com www.rabbitsinmybasment.blogspot.com   On Bluesky: madpadre.bsky.social jamesmanto.bsky.social

    1h 17m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Your hosts James and Mike, with the occasional guest, look at the Canadian wargames scene. We're interested in miniature wargaming, board (hex and counter) games, and how Canadian military history inspires some of our projects. We hope to help tell the stories of a small but dynamic hobby scene in a big country.