Mark Johnson (he/him)

Proud parent of trans & cis daughters.🏳️‍⚧️👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏼 @wargamestogo.bsky.social
Discord:

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@evil_architect Will do when I get my next one

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

Ok, I think I'm jumping ship to bluesky now. Will be doing my part for a more positive experience.

https://t.co/qPO80lFFwx

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

I just backed Battle Card on @Kickstarter https://t.co/xjGFAPNqVt

(And I'm not even a Kickstarter guy!! But I am a fan of these two designers, and the exploration of small wargames more generally.)

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@zweigefuhle They look incredible, Nils!

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

Whoa, this is just about my point of entry into the hobby. Ogre, GEV, Rivets, Ice War, The Fantasy Trip… 1979

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

full range of Metagaming’s microgames, which were enormously popular around 1980; Advanced Wizard and Advanced Melee, 2 rulebooks for Metagaming’s RPG The Fantasy Trip; a few bags of Snits! miniatures for Tom Wham’s Snits games, #DnD Basic/Expert sets &bowl of High Impact Dice!

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@djackthompson @Clint_Davey1 @composer_tom A good example of a “conventional” postcard wargame. :) But look up that S&T game, too. Very clever peninsula + Singapore island map in two scales

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@Clint_Davey1 @composer_tom @djackthompson S&T did a very good game about it https://t.co/CTRkJDQ0mT . And there’s even an earlier postcard game, also good https://t.co/8Y0LstnxO2

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@Farsol4 @billsimoni @djackthompson @zweigefuhle @6xW_a @cardboardpusher @ADragoons @TheGascon @OJsdas @thecommandtent @JohnLyn83159113 @MOWEbbmike @WendellAlbright @williescottb @jagcfo @SeanSeanmac31 @GameChangerII @fredserval @silentdibs @playersaidblog @playersaidalex @DaniChaPlays @HBuchanan2 @MarcFigueras @askatasuno @giuseppetamba @tomlgame @wargamerules @KimKanger @Seado31 @wetlir @DrCrossbows @beyondsolitaire @GoBlue4122 @HistoryTablePod @Blue_Tweezers @TonysBoardLife1 @CodyK76 @whovian223 @colewehrle @nbsp1618 @CorellianPirate @onceuponageek @markherman54 We’ve named enough people so I’ll just name a game. I like smaller/shorter wargames, and this one by S. Craig Taylor does a great in a big box. (esp with optional rules from The General)

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@josephnschmidt @djackthompson We played Byzantium as our eurogame group’s Game of the Month back when it was new. Wallace has always been at the vanguard of euro-wargame hybrids

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@cardboardpusher Wait until you hear how long we’ve been playing it! This is PBEM Vassal, my opponent & I aren’t quick with our turns, and this is a Storm Over design without the early turn ending by a die roll feature. So it’s a grind. But I think that’s the point. I like it.

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@zweigefuhle

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

First is @zweigefuhle about graphic design in wargaming. Then comes @djackthompson about simulation & statistical modeling, along with @mtiller . All of them worked on Battle Card Market Garden, now the free entry to the new LINE of Battle Cards published by @postmarkgames

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

New podcast posted. Wargames To Go 24 is all about Operation Market Garden. Besides my usual talks about travel, movies, books, and smaller wargames on a topic, I’ve front-loaded this big episode with two interviews. https://t.co/XUMGWx8GWI

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

@cardboardpusher Maybe we can play my copy at SDHistCon :)

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

Here’s why Vae Victis ships their wargame magazines in a bag. Their die cutting is so precise the attractive counters fall out of the sprues. :)

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

I can’t figure out when I last visited Antietam, but it pre-smartphones. Then, too, my time was short because of a biz trip. This time I did a GPS-enabled audio tour in the rental car. Nice!

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

A few hours to kill before my flight home. Just enough time to squeeze in one more site. A famous bridge, sunken lane, notable cornfield, and plenty of artillery. Yep, I got to revisit the battle of Antietam.

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

Last stop for me was the Worthington House, not far from Worthington Ford where CSA Cavalry made it across the river and began to push the Federals back. A boy hiding with his family in the basement published a firsthand account of the battle decades later (Fighting for Time)

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

Part 2 of my CSA-strikes-at-WashDC visit today worked back in time a couple days from Fort Stevens to the Battle of Monocacy in Frederick, MD, which preceded it. Here Jubal Early’s Second Corps tried to swoop down from the top of the Shenandoah to hook into a raid on DC.

[Mark Johnson (he/him) @WargamesToGo]

Getting to see the critical terrain features, such as the river and railway cut & bridge was a highlight.