It's the magnificent Dr. Martin! Rex was the editor for
The General magazine that provided so many of us with so much gaming knowledge and entertainment. He takes us back to the Avalon Hill days and on a walk through his history in video games as well. You will most likely want to read his thesis paper titled
Cardboard warriors: the Rise and Fall of an American wargaming subculture, 1958-1998. He analyzes the reasons we game. And shows us the original art for Hedgerow Hell by G. Parrish.
SHOWTIMES
0:21 Interview
59:04 Total Running Time
SHOW LINKS
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Great interview! I'm not a regular listener, but I got a tip that you were interviewing Rex. As you noted, it would have been nice if it could have been longer - maybe you can do a Part II down the road. I hope you can also get Mac/Charlie/Don. Do these guys keep in touch? Still play any ASL? How did they handle the playtest process at AH? Any thoughts on what's become of the hobby in the last 25 years? Well, there are certainly a lot of topics that might still be explored!
ReplyDeleteA most EXCELLANT interview. I started with Afrika Korps also. Was one of the 21,000 subscribers to The General for years. Great job and thank you so much for bringing him into your podcast.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure that Dan Dolan did Gavutu-Tanambogo?
ReplyDeleteGood day Two Half-Squads! Great interview with Rex Martin. I'd like to 2nd RB's comments regarding asking Rex for a part II interview to cover additional information. I'm also wondering about the possibility of inviting Bob M., Charlie K. and/or Don G. onto the program? I presume you've tried to reach out to one or more of these individuals in the past? You'll go down in history as pulling of the ultimate achievement in podcasting lore if you can add those guys to the TTHS resume of interviews!
ReplyDeleteCharlie was interviewed in episode #289. Don and Mac have respectfully declined an interview. Most likely Rex was referring to getting Gavutu published as one of his last editing decisions. A second sit down with Rex is possible! Thanks all for the encouraging comments!
ReplyDeleteDolan did indeed write the article, and the first rough draft of a campaign game. He had indicated that he wanted to do something "meaty" to hype the new modules featuring the Japanese and the Marines. Hence, the desire for a reasonably sized Pacific island invasion scenario. Suggestions bounced around as to what might be possible. Not sure exactly who was responsible for this particular approach, but we all agreed that the Gavutu operation was "doable." Initially it was contemplated as a HASL module. But that wasn't going to happen, as Dan explained in his article. And so we all set to work on it, Charlie on maps, I on scenarios, Dan on rules and such. And so, the only tactical level operation of an island invasion.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification!
ReplyDelete