In early September, I made a forum post on Idle Thumbs, talking about my happy times playing the NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Sphere of Influence tutorial:

https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/10385-nobunagas-ambition-sphere-of-influence/

I never thought more than 2-3 people will pay attention to it, since the 3MA harcore strategy crowd is very western, table-top, DOS-PC, wargaming driven. But, It turned out, the Koei games are far more known and popular than I thought, even in these circles. Fast forward a month later, and my most favorite (and very excellent strategy) game podcast @3MA made an episode about Koei & the Nobunaga game series. They invited Nicholas Vining, from Gaslamp Games (Dungeons of Dredmor, Clockwork Empires), who loves the series, and they all talked about all the points, I found so intriguing - from the tutorial to grand strategy game design, to game AI:

https://www.idlethumbs.net/3ma/episodes/nobunagas-ambition-sphere-of-influence

Like with all Three Moves Ahead Podcasts, this one is also worth listening, even if you don't know or care about the specific game.

Tags: Nobunaga Series, Console Strategy Games, Historical Games, Koei Tecmo, Crusader Kings 2, Paradox Game Studios, Total War Series, Game Design, Game AI.