Mike Bertucelli has been with me and Liberty or Death every step of the way.  I feel lucky that he is interested in the game enough to develop it.  He is also a great guy to work with: larger than life both literally and physically and with a big heart.  He brings a lot to the table as the COIN series Developer.  He treats me with kid gloves as I am a first time Designer.  He diplomatically dealt with my crazy ideas like quadrupling the size of certain counters.

Talking with Mike on Skype is also good fun as the ambience is set by the chiming of his two grandbabies playing in his living room.  He impresses me as a guy that loves his family and loves spending time with them and gets great energy from it.

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Ludography

Navajo Wars – Developer

A Distant Plain – Developer

Fire in the Lake – Developer

Fields of Despair – Developer – P500

Gallic War – Developer – P500

Comancheria – Developer – P500

Liberty or Death – Developer –  P500

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So Mike, how did you get your start working with GMT?

My first game was Navajo Wars.  Joel (Toppen) and I become good friends over Ventrillo (a VOIP system GMT uses for group communications) when he was first becoming a Developer.  I was play testing some of his stuff.  He asked me to look at Navajo Wars and I thought there was something really cool and different there.  He decided to submit it to GMT.  They liked it but it needed a lot of work.  We jumped on it together.  I ended up as the Developer and we did a lot of designing.  He had done Andean Abyss for Volko (Ruhnke) and I was one of the play testers on it.  The first time it had seen daylight, Volko showed it to Joel and I.  That’s how I met Volko – just the right place at the right time.  Then 2 years ago at Consimworld Expo in Tempe Joel was super busy with the many different projects Joel works on and Volko had an early prototype of A Distant Plain and I played it.  Volko asked if I wanted to be the Developer as Joel was too busy and the rest is history.

Gallic War and Liberty or Death are the two COIN series games I am working on.  Comancheria is new to P500 and Kurt came to me in December for Fields of Despair.

You’ve got your hands full.

I do with four games, but the COIN system games aren’t as bad.  Anything Volko does runs itself.  I have my hands more into Liberty or Death with a first time Designer named Harold (sigh) but it is going well.  I expect I will be more involved in that one than any other which is good.  I like the early involvement and having influence in the design.

So what is it that you like about the COIN system?

I like the fact that the game system is 80% there and each game straps on about 20% chrome.  You can go from game to game and you understand the mechanics but the games are made special by the 20% chrome.  I really like the innovation of the card system Volko designed.  Prior to COIN you usually had a hand full of cards with events.  Having just one card in play and being able to see forward to the next card and the order of play and you can impact or limit the opposing player with your choices is brilliant.  Simple, but a ton of fun to play.  The subject matter is also challenging and teaches you things you wouldn’t normally learn.

What was it like working with the Rock Stars Mark Herman and Volko Ruhnke?

I guess they are rock stars.  Volko is the nicest guy you will ever meet.  He listens to every piece of feedback and considers it.  Not like other designers who will listen to you to appease you.  He listens to every kind of feedback everybody has.  There are a lot of things play testers have thrown out there that have stuck.  He is such a professional he makes everyone else look like they know what they are doing.  I didn’t have a lot of interaction with Mark – he did all the cards for FitL.  I did work with him on a few things and he was great as well.

Is it hard to recruit the teams to do the play testing necessary to develop these games?

That is a very interesting question because it really depends on the game and the designer.  For COIN games I have no trouble recruiting – I have to turn them away.    But you take a game like Fields of Despair, I have a good number of playtesters but not a lot of active play testers.  That’s always a difficult thing.  What happens in the industry is we have a lot of guys that say they want to play test but they really just want to look.  You are lucky if you can get two in ten to stick and stay with the process.  They want to see it but they don’t want to put the effort in.  Known designers get a better following than those with a more limited resume.

Kurt’s game for example – Fields of Despair – is an outstanding game.  I didn’t know much about World War I when Kurt contacted me.  He got a list of Developers from Andy and called me because I lived the closest to him about 100 miles away.  I asked him to send me the rules I read them and really liked the system.  He came up and we played a game with a friend of mine.  I told him I was in after I played it.  Kurt is a good gamer and I think you have to be a good gamer to be a good Designer.  It shows in his approach and his thorough design.  It’s a really enjoyable and different game.   It is a block game but not a normal block game.  One block can be a decoy or have a strength of up to 20.  It had a lot of cool features that made me want to develop it so the game could get into circulation.

Do you have an inner circle of testers that you can go to for tough design decisions?

I do – I have a number of guys that are like nails in the COIN system and I can go to them.  They have tested a lot of the games and are solid on their feedback and views.  I also have a group of local guys that are great gamers and really good for short notice playtesting of just about anything.  Each game also has a group of guys that dug n deep to the topic and I would go to for issues around that game.  Navajo Wars has a group of guys who dug deep and Fields of Despair has a group of playtesters that have been at it for years.  Kurt has been working on the game for over three years.

But there is one guy that I trust with the most complex issues and that is Jordan Kehrer.  He is a great gamer and a very intelligent guy and has a wide range of games he likes to play.  He wrote the tutorial for Andean Abyss and has been a major contributor to Liberty or Death.  He is one of the main guys that I rely on.

No doubt – he is a big part of  Liberty or Death!  Do you have a favorite COIN game?

That’s a tough question.  I really like the way the factions interrelate in A Distant Plain.  I like the bad marriage between the Coalition and the Afghan government and how the Warlords act as spoilers. Fire in the Lake is just awesome.  Its hard to even describe – its not just one thing – it is a real brain twister.  If you want a heavy COIN game the long game is a lot of fun.  The two that are coming up are fun as well.  With Gallic War anything Volko gets his hands on is great and I am very excited about that.  With Liberty or Death you just can’t beat the American Revolution and the way those four factions (British, Indians, Patriots and French) work together and compete with in the game.  There are some things in that game that I really enjoy – it goes back to the 20% chrome.  But I really don’t know how to pick.

Its like picking between your children – how can you say who is your favorite?

Yes, that’s the truth.  You can’t.  A Distant Plain.  Fire in the Lake is the smartest.  Then there are the two that are in the oven!

What’s on your table right now Mike?

I have a secret game there that I can’t tell anybody about so don’t ask!  But it is pretty cool!  I’ve got Fire in the Lake sitting over there – and Hoplite.  And I just got the new double sided map for Bomber Command.  Jordan and I have developed a solitary system for Bomber Command that we are going to be working on soon.  You can play as the British where you usually play as the Germans.

Have you thought about designing something yourself Mike?

No.  To be honest I like where I am at.  Being a Developer is a funny deal.  You are deeply involved in the process.  We are responsible to the best interest of GMT so sometimes have to guide Designers in that direction.  I enjoy doing all of that.  I get plenty of design work in doing that and frankly there aren’t enough Developers.

It’s likely that there are not enough good Developers.

Right – I think if there were more good Developers we would see more games.  Kurt had to wait a long time to get a Developer.  There are a lot of smart guys that could do it but it takes a lot of time.  I’m lucky enough in my own life that I am semi retired at a young age and have the time to do this.  When football season is going my time is a little more limited but otherwise I have a lot of time for games.

What’s that big ring with the football on it? 

This is Bullard High School’s one and only championship ring from our 2009 championship.  Our high school has been in existence since 1953.  We went 13-0 that year and it was quite a big deal.  My son played for a championship in 2005 and graduated in 2007 and a couple of years later pop got it!  He still hates me for it to!

So now you are coaching special teams?

For some time I have been the video coordinator for the team – which entails three different angles and syncing them into one clip.  We also film all practices and I work to ensure that is uploaded and coordinated.   I have coached various positions on the team and now I am the special teams coordinator.

Do you use any game strategy in the role?

Well to be honest with you, when crunch time comes during the game, a lot of times they are calling my name asking for input.  Gamers make good strategists.  I am also looking from the head coach’s perspective:  how to utilize the clock and time outs and field position.

What else do you do with your free time?

I have been a sailor since I was young.  I used to participate in a lot of regattas from Mexico to San Francisco and every lake in California.  Now I have a Hobbie Cat 18 – that’s where the funny names come from on BGG and ConSimWorld.  I also have a Catalina 25.

Recently I purchased a nice 28 foot travel trailer.  The wife and I are going to do some traveling.  I’ve got it parked over at Pismo Beach on the coast and will use it as my beach house.

I live on an acre in the middle of Fresno and have 2 houses on the property.  My son and his wife and kids live in the back house I get to see my grandbabies whenever I want.  Its really neat and you get to see the things as a grandparent and really enjoying all of the things we overlooked or missed as young parents.  Ariah is our granddaughter and Caleb is our grandson who is three.

Do you play any sports games given your love for football?

I enjoy Pizza Box Baseball a lot.  I also enjoy Pizza Box Football but there are more dice than decisions in that game.  I have actually worked at creating my own football game but my friends keep telling me it is to much like real football – too complex.  I want to call the formations and be able to adjust.  I want to run zone but we will need to double team deep – it’s probably too involved to be much fun.

I love Thunder Alley.  It probably is the best race game I have ever played.  Snow tail was my favorite racing game until Thunder Alley.

Do you have an active gaming group you play with?

There is a very active gaming community here.  You could play every day of the week if you wanted to.  There is a store here named The Crazy Squirrel and it has a very large game room where anyone can come and set up to play.  And I have a good group of guys that I do play tests with as well.

When did you get started gaming?

I grew up in Fresno.  When I was in grammar school in the 70s Avalon Hill had a game at the store I wanted so bad.  I was driving my parents crazy asking for it.  It was Panzer Blitz.  And I finally got it and played it wrong for a long time.  Then I got Luftwaffe and the rest is history.  I played hard through the 70s and 80s.  I got into Squad leader and ASL and played them all.  The in the 80s I got married to Tasha and we had kids and I drifted away from gaming.  Then after 2000 I got back at it hard.

Do you have a favorite period for gaming?

I like WW2.  I like tactical games hence ASL.  I love Fighting Formations and Combat Commander.  I play a little bit of grand strategic but not much.   I enjoy Fighting Sail – any sailing game I’m there – Flying Colors.  Not much I don’t like.  Fields of Despair has put me on a WWI research and gaming binge.  I’ve learned more about WWI since I started developing Fields of Despair than I ever knew.

What do you watch, listen, read?

I like podcasts.  I listen to the Messy Game Room and Advance After Combat – those are my two favorites.  I used to listen to Point to Point with Jason and Scott but they don’t do that one anymore, unfortunately.  Love TV series like Breaking Bad, The Americans, Sons of Anarchy.  Movies – since I am Italian I have to say The Godfather is the greatest movie ever made.

Favorite line from the Godfather?

“Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”