Rob Zacny

Three Moves Ahead 524: The Total War: Rome Remastered Interview This week, as we prepare for the release of Total War: Rome Remastered, Rob welcomes Creative Assembly's Kevin McDowell and Guy Davidson, who both worked on the original Rome. They talk about the studio's early days and precarious finances, the surprisingly slow-burn success of Rome, and the long development hangover that resulted from CA's old culture of crunch. Producer's note: We weren't able to get an isolated vocal track for one of our guests and there are a few places where there's a definite echo. Apologies for the inconvenience. Total War: Rome Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 522: Suzerain Rob is joined by freelance writer Sin Vega to discuss Suzerain, a branching narrative head-of-state simulator that asks you to make complex decisions about the politics of a small, Cold War nation. Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/3ma Suzerain Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 523: Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic Len and Jon are joined by Alice Caldwell-Kelly and Justin Roczniak of Well There's Your Problem to talk about Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic. May contain revisionism. Check out Well There's Your Problem, a podcast about engineering disasters: wtyppod.podbean.com/ Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/3ma Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 513: 2020 in Review Rob, Rowan, Jon, and Len discuss the year in the rear view. 2020 was a year we'll never forget. But can we say the same about its strategy games? How good was Crusader Kings 3, really? What could our modern leaders learn from Soviet Concrete Simulator? Is RTS back, baby? Tune in and reminisce with us. 2020 in strategy games Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 517: An Interveiew with Lou Coatney The Winter of Wargaming begins with a trip down memory lane with Bruce and wargame designer Lou Coatney, whose career includes not just several great original print-and-play designs but also a robust set of fixes and "mods" to classic wargames. Bruce and Lou also discuss in detail the problems of getting Barbarossa and The Bulge "right" from a design and history standpoint. coatneyhistory.com/ lcoat.tripod.com/ Note: Since this episode was recorded, one of the designers discussed, Tom Russell, has come out as transgender. Please note that while he / him is used on the podcast, her correct pronouns are she / her. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 520: An Interview with Dana Lombardy Bruce takes the Winter of Wargaming to the Streets of Stalingrad as he interviews acclaimed wargame designer Dana Lombardy to discuss his past, present, and future work. Check out lombardystudios.com where you can still pre-order MacGowan and Lombardy’s The Great War card game at the Kickstarter backer price. Streets of Stalingrad, Khalkhin Gol, The Great War card game Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 518: Panzer Blitz As the Winter of Wargaming presses on, Rob and Bruce discuss the Avalon Hill classic PanzerBlitz and the interplay between game mechanics and the awesome war movie you see in your head. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/3MA Panzer Blitz Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 519: Field of Glory II: Medieval Rob, Troy, and Jon discuss Field of Glory II: Medieval as the Winter of Wargaming enters the Middle Ages. Who are these guys Alexander Nevsky brought to war today? Anybody? Pyotr, are they friends of yours or what? Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/3MA Field of Glory II: Medieval Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 500: Origins For our landmark 500th episode, Rob sits down with Rowan, T.J., Troy, and Bruce to discuss the formative games that made us strategy fans. Buckle in - it's a long one! Warcraft II, Shogun: Total War, Warlords, The Operational Art of War, Harpoon, Eastern Front: 1941 Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 515: Faction Design Rob, Rowan, and Len discuss how faction design in strategy games has changed over the years, and the trend toward more specific and asymmetrical mechanics which started in RTS before spreading to the rest of the wider genre. Total War, Civilization, StarCraft, a bunch of other stuff Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 516: Total War: Warhammer 2 and 3 Len, Rowan, and Fraser ally up to discuss all of the updates to Total War: Warhammer 2 since its launch, as we've miraculously not done a show on it since then, and the piping hot announcement of Total War: Warhammer 3. Total War: Warhammer 2, Total War: Warhammer 3, Mortal Empires Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 514: Airborne Kingdom Fraser and Jon are joined by PC Gamer's Rachel Watts to discuss high-flying city builder Airborne Kingdom. Can this unorthodox spin on the classic genre keep our interest aloft? Airborne Kingdom Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 512: Per Aspera STORY SPOILERS! Skip ahead from 58:30 to 1:13:05 to avoid. Rowan, Jon, and Len discuss the new Mars colonization game Per Aspera, and how it weaves branching story into a classic colony builder. Per Aspera Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 510: Möbius Front '83 Rob, Troy, and Jon discuss Zachtronics' Cold War wargame Möbius Front '83. What has it borrowed from the genre's storied past? And what might it have missed from recent years? Möbius Front '83 Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 509: The Insider and All The President's Men Troy and Rob discuss two films about exposing the seedy underbelly of the institutions of power: Michael Mann's The Insider and Alan J. Pakula's All The President's Men. How has the film industry's portrayal of investigative journalism and corporate whistleblowers changed with the times? What can each of these stories still teach us today? The Insider, All the President's Men Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 505: Crusader Kings 3 Rob, Rowan, Fraser, and Leana discuss their feelings on Crusader Kings 3 a few weeks after launch. How do we feel now that we've spent more time with the full version? Why does Rob keep sleeping with his grandkids' wives? Listen in and find out! Crusader Kings 3 Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 506: Iron Harvest Rob, Troy, and the prodigal panelist Jon Bolding discuss the alt history interwar RTS Iron Harvest. Can a strategy game be good in single-player for the same reasons it's bad in multiplayer? Aren't giant dieselpunk mechs just the raddest shit? Rev up and strap in to find out. Iron Harvest Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 504: Troy and Kingdom of Heaven Rob and Troy are walking the battlements as they revisit Wolfgang Peterson's "Troy" and Ridley Scott's director's cut of "Kingdom of Heaven". What do these two movies about major siege-battles fought between clashing civilizations, from the early years of the War on Terror, say about their moment? Is Troy underrated, overrated, or correctly rated? Why is Brendan Gleeson so unsettling? All these questions and more are answered this week on Three Moves Ahead. Troy, Kingdom of Heaven Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Hey, this is Len posting on Rob's account (because I never actually made a forum account). Yeah, this was recorded a while ago and I told him it was fine. I didn't want to have to make someone re-record the outro or anything. I edited it so if I'd had a problem with it, obviously, I could have done something about it. Appreciate the concern though!

Three Moves Ahead 413: Myth It's time for another patent-pending Three Moves Ahead Classic Game Analysis as Rob, Gamers with Jobs' Shawn Andrich, and Rock Paper Shotgun's Adam Smith discuss Bungie's Myth series. Myth holds a unique place in strategy's gaming pantheon: in an era of clones and remakes, there's still nothing quite like it out there. Its grim and dark (but not grimdark) fantasy setting and early physics engine set it apart from other games of its day. Take a trip down memory lane before Destiny, before Halo, and into the glory of Myth. Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II: Soulblighter Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 503: Total War: Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild Rob and Leana are joined by Creative Assembly's Simon Mann to talk about the latest DLC for Total War: Three Kingdoms, The Furious Wild. Total War: Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 502: A Total War Saga: Troy Rob, T.J., and Fraser are joined by freelance writer Dia Lacina to discuss A Total War Saga: Troy. The ancient city, not the creator of this show. A Total War Saga: Troy Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 501: Othercide Rob and T.J. are joined by freelance writer Astrid Johnson to discuss goth girl tactics game Othercide. Othercide Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 486: Lion in Winter It's Christmas at the Plantagenets as Rob and Troy watch the superb Lion in Winter and the less superb Becket. What do these movies have to say about history and politics, and is any of it related to historical fact? How good is Hepburn? What is O'Toole doing across these two films? The Lion in Winter, Becket Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Three Moves Ahead 488: The Decade in Retrospect Rob, T.J., Rowan, and Fraser gather to consider the last ten years in strategy games. There is a stark division about what happened to the RTS, as well as how the concept of a game being "finished" mostly disappeared. Then Rob tries to wrap up the show and it goes for another hour as everyone tries to choose their favorite genre game from the last ten years. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes