Episode 12: Interview with Brian Train (Brief Border Wars)

Interview with Brian Train

In this episode, award-winning game designer Brian Train joins host Eduard Gafton to talk about his game Brief Border Wars and using a card-driven system to model the chaotic, stop-and-start nature of impromptu wars.

Time Stamps

• 00:00:00 – Start
• 00:08:01 – How did Brian get into games?
• 00:33:17 – How does asymmetry make for interesting match-ups?
• 00:43:40 – Should games be historically accurate?

Mentioned in this Episode

• Brian gives a lecture on Game Design & Self-Publication at Georgetown University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtky8WgsyyA
• Interview with Brian on Brief Border Wars: https://theplayersaid.com/2020/02/17/interview-with-brian-train-designer-of-brief-border-wars-from-compass-games/
• Interview with Brian on The Little War & Ukrainian Crisis: https://theplayersaid.com/2017/02/21/interview-with-brian-train-designer-of-the-little-war-ukrainian-crisis-two-game-package-from-hollandspiele/
• Interview with Brian on Nights of Fire: https://theplayersaid.com/2018/02/19/interview-with-brian-train-co-designer-of-nights-of-fire-battle-for-budapest-from-mighty-boards-coming-to-kickstarter-soon/
• Interview with Brian on China’s War: https://theplayersaid.com/2019/12/30/interview-with-brian-train-designer-of-coin-series-volume-xii-chinas-war-1937-1941-from-gmt-games/
• Brian’s website: https://brtrain.wordpress.com/
• Cole Wehrle’s essay: Affective Networks At Play: Catan, Coin, And The Quiet Year: https://analoggamestudies.org/2016/05/affective-networks-at-play-catan-coin-and-the-quiet-year/
• Zones of Control: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/zones-control
• Brian’s game, Colonial Twilight, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2090550457
• Brian and Volko Ruhnke’s game, A Distant Plain, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=870116466
• Brian’s game, Guerilla Checkers, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2421938802
• Brian’s game, Kashmir Crisis, on Tabletop Simulator: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2421971111
• Andean Abyss (first GMT COIN system game): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/91080/andean-abyss
• Tactics II (first wargame) : https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1574/tactics-ii
• The Little War (Slovakia vs. Hungary, March 1939): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/223436/ukrainian-crisis-little-war
• Simulations Publications: http://www.costik.com/spicom/
• BCT Command: Kandahar: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/126708/bct-command-kandahar
• Nights of Fire: Battle for Budapest: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/236125/nights-fire-battle-budapest
• Vassal game system: https://vassalengine.org/
• Zenobia Award finalists: https://zenobiaaward.org/finalists/
• Europe Divided: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/260147/europe-divided
• An Infamous Traffic: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/206490/infamous-traffic
• John Company: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/332686/john-company-second-edition
• Oath: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/291572/oath-chronicles-empire-and-exile
• Pax Pamir: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256960/pax-pamir-second-edition
• Root: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/237182/root
• The Quiet Year: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161880/quiet-year
• Mechanica: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/268493/mechanica
• China’s War 1937-41: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/287515/chinas-war-1937-41
• ConSimWorld: http://talk.consimworld.com/

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Events

• The launch event to mark the release of our brand-new wargame, Lion Rampant: A Viking in the Sun, was a huge success! To buy, access this link: www.linktr.ee/HistoryandGamesLab.
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