It's a full house this week, as Len is joined by Ian Boudreau, Luke Plunkett, Mike Williams, and Ruth Cassidy to perform a bit of an autopsy on Millennia, C Prompt and Paradox's take at a Civ-like historical 4X. We all came away with a bit of a

Three Moves Ahead 609: Europa Universalis 5 Confirmed?! (Patreon Preview)

Mar 23rd, 2024 29m 48s

This is a preview of this month's Patreon episode. Check out the extended version at Patreon.com/3ma!Join Len, FatherLorris, and Lord Lambert as we get the NoCB Cast band back together to talk for 3.5 hours about Paradox Tinto's "Project Caes

Three Moves Ahead 608: Balatro

Mar 17th, 2024 1h

Len, Jon, and Mike Williams deal out a hand or two of Balatro. It's poker? Sort of? Not really? Poker with boss battles. Poker with booster packs. Poker with tarot cards? We don't hold our opinions close to our chest as we try to apply some kin

Three Moves Ahead 607: The Strategy Games of Steam Next Fest 2024

Feb 25th, 2024 1h 13m

Len, Jon, and Mike Williams sit down to discuss the strategy and strategy-adjacent demos that caught our eyes in Steam Next Fest. Jon played 50 (!) of them, and several were actually good! Also like, where are all the aliens, for real though?

Three Moves Ahead 606: 2024 Look Ahead

Jan 31st, 2024 1h 18m

Len, Mike Williams, and Nerium Strom take a look at the strategy and strategy-adjacent games coming in 2024, discuss which ones we're most interested in, make some predictions, and discuss the awful state of the industry for workers this year s

Three Moves Ahead 605: Warhammer 40,000 Tabletop

Jan 20th, 2024 1h 24m

Is this a Winter of Wargaming? Len and Ian are joined by Brian "Chef Lu Bu" Smawley to dig into Warhammer 40K as a setting through the lens of the flagship tabletop miniatures game (particularly the recent 10th Edition). We go over a bit of lor

Three Moves Ahead 604: Mega-Sized 2023 Recap!

Dec 31st, 2023 2h 14m

Len, Rowan, and Ian gather 'round the Yule Log for an extended discussion on the year that was 2023 in strategy games. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad. There were a lot of people talking about "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year" tha

Three Moves Ahead 603: Against the Storm 1.0

Dec 17th, 2023 1h 25m

Len, Rowan, and Luke have gathered around the hearth to revisit Against the Storm for its 1.0 launch. With one veteran and two greenhorns in tow, we discuss how this survival city-builder has changed since Early Access and why it's still so sat

Three Moves Ahead 602: Patreon Preview: An Interview with Michele Pirovano (dotAGE)

Nov 29th, 2023 7m 3s

Listen to the first five minutes of our November Patreon episode for free, and then hear the full one hour and 15 minute interview by subscribing at Patreon.com/3MA!Len had a chance to chat this month with Michele Pirovano, the (almost) solo

Three Moves Ahead 601: Victoria 3: One Year Later

Nov 26th, 2023 1h 16m

Len is joined by Dr. Bret Devereaux and Chapel Comic creator Father Lorris to take a look at Victoria 3 one year later. Is this a game that deserves to stand beside Paradox's best yet? And if not, what's it still missing? We play armchair game

Three Moves Ahead 599: Cities: Skylines 2

Oct 28th, 2023 1h 14m

Len and Jon are joined by Sin Vega and Well There's Your Problem's Justin Roczniak (donoteat01) to discuss Cities: Skylines 2. We have some mixed feelings about this much anticipated sequel, and we don't shy away from pointing out what doesn't

Three Moves Ahead 598: Total War: Pharaoh

Oct 15th, 2023 1h 6m

Len and Ian are joined by freelance writer Josh Broadwell to discuss Total War: Pharaoh, the first properly historical Total War in an actual age. We dig into the new campaign mechanics, the feel of the battles, and the scope of the map. Has Cr

Three Moves Ahead 597: Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

Sep 30th, 2023 1h 3m

This week, Jon is joined by RPS Editor in Chief Katherine Castle and freelance writer Dominic Tarason to discuss Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. Mimimi's swan song, as we sadly learned after recording, is a follow-up and an evolution to Shadow

Three Moves Ahead 596: Baldur's Gate 3

Aug 19th, 2023 1h 32m

Len, Jon, and Ian are joined by Brian "Chef Lu Bu" Smawley to delve into Baldur's Gate 3. We discuss what really makes this a CRPG that can be enthusiastically recommended to tactics fans, what our favorite races, classes, and companions have b

Three Moves Ahead 595: Aliens: Dark Descent

Jul 29th, 2023 1h 27m

Rob, Len, and Rowan are in the pipe, five-by-five, to discuss Aliens: Dark Descent. An unconventional squad-based stealth game that brings James Cameron's sci-fi classic to a new (and dare we say better) perspective, we discuss similarities to

Three Moves Ahead 594: Jagged Alliance 3

Jul 22nd, 2023 1h 14m

This week, Len is joined by Sin Vega and Dominic Tarason to discuss Jagged Alliance 3, the long-awaited sequel to one of the greatest tactical games of all time. Did they do a good job of recapturing what made the original so memorable? Is this

Three Moves Ahead 593: Rule the Waves 3

Jul 1st, 2023 1h 11m

It's the... Summer of Wargaming? When a game comes along that's even too obscure and spreadsheet-y for our normal panel, we light the Grognard Beacon. And this week, first-timers Wesley Livesay and Benjamin Magnus answered the call. The subject

Three Moves Ahead 592: Age of Wonders 4

Jun 10th, 2023 1h 20m

Len, Rowan, and Jon step through the portal into Age of Wonders 4, the latest fantasy 4X from Triumph and Paradox. We dig deep into the strategic and tactical pacing and why so much of it hits the spot in a world of ultra marathon strategy camp

Three Moves Ahead 591: Darkest Dungeon 2

May 22nd, 2023 1h 54m

Rowan, Len, and Nerium hitch their wagon to Darkest Dungeon 2 and set in for the long haul on this epic-length episode. We discuss some of the ways this sequel is an improvement over one of 3MA's consensus favorite games of all time (that we so

Three Moves Ahead 590: Wartales

May 14th, 2023 1h 23m

Rowan, Nerium, and Luke set off into the fantasy landscape of Wartales to give a glimpse at one of the most robust tactical management games we've seen in a while. They discuss how it's a counterpoint to – and possibly even a commentary on – Ba

Three Moves Ahead 589: 'Board Game' vs 'Simulation'-style Strategy Games

Apr 21st, 2023 1h 22m

It's an all-star panel as Len and Mike Williams are joined by Mohawk Games' and Idle Thumbs' own Soren Johnson and Paradox Tinto's Johan Andersson to chip away at a tricky target: the different design goals between a more "Board Gamey" strategy

Three Moves Ahead 588: The Great War: Western Front

Apr 15th, 2023 1h 18m

This week, Len and Ian welcome military historian Brett Devereaux back to the show to talk about The Great War: Western Front. We discuss what it gets right and what it gets wrong about the trenches, artillery bombardments, and innovative tacti

Three Moves Ahead 587: Terra Nil

Mar 31st, 2023 1h 9m

This week, Rowan teams up with Fanbyte's Mike Williams and Kotaku's Luke Plunkett to discuss Terra Nil, a "city builder in reverse" about restoring the natural ecosystem of a devastated planet. We break down what makes this concept so compellin

Three Moves Ahead 586: Industrialization and Snowballing w/ Bret Devereaux

Mar 24th, 2023 1h 11m

Len and Ian are joined once again by our official unofficial historical consultant, UNC Chapel Hill's Dr. Bret Devereaux, to discuss a couple of interrelated topics: Snowballing in strategy games and the process of industrialization. We take a

Three Moves Ahead 585: Phantom Brigade

Mar 11th, 2023 1h 21m

We have a packed panel this week as Jon is joined by Fanbyte's Mike Williams and Nerium Strom, Waypoint's Renata Price, and Freehold Games' Brian Bucklew to hop into the cockpit on Phantom Brigade. This is far from the first turn-based mech gam