February 24, 2011 In the wake of another successful Rabbitcon, Lara Crigger and Rob Daviau join Julian and Rob to talk about good luck, bad luck, and fun luck. Rob and Lara discuss her first wargaming experience, Hold the Line, and how it came down to a photo finish despite some unspeakably bad luck for her American forces at the start. Rob Daviau explains how luck aids the storyteller, and shapes game narratives. Then the panel considers why the sort of luck in a deck of cards is often more interesting than the luck in a roll of the dice, and how luck can shake up repetitive gameplay. Rob (Red) vs. Lara (Blue) at the Battle of Long Island

February 17, 2011 Bruce and Rob welcome Troy back to the show by monopolizing conversation as they describe their reactions to War in the East. Bruce consults von Manstein's Lost Victories in the hopes of discovering where they went, but Rob is pretty sure the Germans dropped them somewhere in the Pripyat Marshes. All Troy knows for sure is that 2by3 scored a big win with this game. Then Rob takes a trip into Dungeons and finds a pleasant surprise, while Bruce is pleased by an invasion of Poland wargame with a marvelously bad interface. Show links: Battle of Smolensk (1941) - The map may help you enjoy the show Rob's Dungeons review September 1939

February 10, 2011 Rob turtles up for a free-for-all discussion of RTS multiplayer gaming with Tom Chick and Chris Remo. What really powers the Starcraft II community, and why can't other RTS games match it? It looks unstoppable, but does a challenger arise with League of Legends? 3MA favorites Supreme Commander II and RUSE depress the panel with their multiplayer front-end, but Chris cheers himself up by building a cathedral in Dawn of Discovery.

February 3, 2011 Game Table Online's Robert Eng joins Bruce, Julian, and Rob for a discussion about online board gaming. Topics include business models, what goes into a successful conversion, and what these services mean for the board gaming hobby. Game Table Online

January 27, 2011 Rob and returning guest Jenn Cutter discuss what they saw at the Paradox convention in New York. The Escapist's Greg Tito helps out with some good questions and pro-tips on how to make a game presentation awkward for journalists. Troy Goodfellow just can't quit you, and refuses to leave until you understand how great Crusader Kings 2 looks. Games discussed: Naval War, Magicka, Pride of Nations, Salem, Pirates of Black Cove, Gettysburg Armored Warfare, Crusader Kings 2 Production: Michael Hermes Greg Tito's previews from the Paradox Convention: Magicka Mount and Blade: Fire and Sword Salem Jenn Cutter's previews from the Paradox event: Magicka Pride of Nations Rob's thoughts for Gamers With Jobs.

January 19, 2011 Troy makes a shocking announcement that leaves the podcast in shambles.

January 13, 2011 Scott Jennings (Lum the Mad) fills in for an ailing Rob as he and Bruce and Troy welcome Joel Billings (2by3 Games) and Erik Rutins (Matrix Games) to talk about what Gary Grigsby's War in the East means for wargame design, scale, realism and detail and marketing of wargames.Pardon some of the sound issues from time to time.

January 7, 2011 PCGamer's Dan Stapleton returns to help Troy and Rob make sense of 2010. Why Starcraft 2 matters, why Troy resents DLC, the magic of Achtung Panzer and why Rob has no idea what is coming out this year.

December 30, 2010 If you chat with me about strategy or board games, I have mentioned Bronze to you. Alex Kutsenok is the lead designer of Bronze and he sits down with me and Julian to talk about the development and inspirations for this deep but easy to learn computer/board/strategy game. Prepare for a love fest.I also give shout outs to all the people who helped make Three Moves Ahead in the past year.

December 24, 2010 On the night before the day before Christmas, Troy and Rob and Julian sit down to talk about Jon Shafer leaving Firaxis, mega patches for turn based games Civ 5 and Elemental and then we wrap up with seasonal reflections including New Year's resolutions for the podcast.

December 16, 2010 In response to a listener/reader question, Troy and Rob talk about end games that work and end games that don't. What do we mean by the "end game"? What role do strictly defined victory conditions play in making an end game appealing? Can you avoid the late game drag?Apologies for the duet show. That time of the year.

December 9, 2010 We were on a good run and it couldn't last forever. A pleasant light little seasonal chat about how to cope with the gaming constraints of visiting our families went off the rails when we realized that that topic would only last us about forty minutes.I made the mistake of pushing us forward and then things got a little weird and stupid. I cut that bit - saving it for an outtakes show where it belongs; trust me you do not want to hear how unfocused it got until you are in the mood for it. Note to self: If you run out of things to say after 30 minutes, it is OK to stop there.Shorter than usual, but we talk about how board games can bring families together, what games keep us sane on our own when we retreat to a quiet corner.

December 3, 2010 GWJ's Lara Crigger and JTS's Todd Brakke join Troy and special guest Soren Johnson in a wide ranging talk about how how theme and mechanics work together or fight each other. What is Left for Dead really about? Why are themes so important to Lara? How do mechanics translate meaning? Why is Civilization so ahistorical? Do only game designers care about this stuff?Lara loses her train of thought for the first time ever, Todd makes some sense and Soren is his usual impressive self. And more on X-Com. Theme is Not Meaning Part 1, Part 2 Redistricting Game Soren's GDC talk as summarized by Destructoid

November 23, 2010 PCGamer's Dan Stapleton joins Troy, Rob and Bruce to talk about what made 1994's X-Com one of the best strategy/tactics games ever made. Tension, atmosphere, UI, level blending, real time v turn baed and indie efforts to bring the magic back. Hideous UK Box ArtXenonautsUFO: The Two SidesDan vs Evan in The Two SidesTom Chick on X-Com

November 16, 2010 Troy almost fires Rob and Julian on this episode as a conversation about licensed strategy games. Bruce Geryk holds forth on why War of the Rings is like Stratomatic Baseball, Julian sings of Starfleet Battles and Rob talks about his experiences in another board game. What makes a license succeed or fail? Can either Star Wars or Star Trek really work as a licensed strategy game? Martin vs Erikson - who wins? Is Troy the only person who likes Babylon 5?It is a loud and fun show. Listen to it.Also, info on the upcoming 3MA/FOS meetup. War of the RingWar of the Ring article (Bruce is the final two comments)Starfleet Battles