Mentioned In Dispatches S15 E4 – Brian Train’s Newest Game Designs

10 October 2025 ~

After 3 years, Brian’s back to join us to talk about his latest releases, both Brief Border Wars 2, and China’s War, which have been in extended development and both just happen to hit your porch at about the same time.

Brant, Mike, and Brian talk about quad games overall, d66 dice mechanics, development & history of the Brief Border Wars oeuvre, other ‘quad’-like sets that Brian’s worked on, when WW2 actually started, and some of Brian’s recent gallivanting through Europe for professional wargaming purposes.

Brian’s always a great guest, so sick back and enjoy!

The mandatory list of links

• Brian’s website with his game design musings and occasional new material
• China’s War (GMT Games)
• Brief Border Wars 2 (Compass Games)
• Brief Border Wars (Compass Games from the Wayback Machine)
• Deep Fried Happy Mice site referenced by Brian for d66 mechanic that’s undergoing a move/migration
• The District Commander series at Hollandspiele (Binh Dinh, Kandahar, Maracas, and ZNO)
• Brian’s previous appearance on Mentioned in Dispatches:  Wargaming Ukraine; The Essential Wargaming Library

Mike’s copies of the Fiery Dragon versions of Battle for China

Drop in on your podcast platform of choice  (iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | Castro | whatever we forgot to link) and throw our way to help other listeners find us

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