This Week in 40K Podcasting – 04/19/2013 – 04/25/2013

Welcome to another “This Week in 40K Podcasting,”

Here is this week’s top 5!

The Overlords – Episode 124 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week, Carl from the Independent Characters podcast joined the boys in studio in the UK!  I am totally jealous!  The guys opened up the show with some announcements before moving on to their review of Salute 2013!  Carl helped to make some comparisons between Adepticon and Salute; the boys discussed a lot of the things that they saw there, the bits trading, the new games, their personal highlights and so much more!  Next, the guys moved on to talk about the ‘Overlords Team Event’ that was held the day following Salute.  They talked about all of the fun they had, the event itself, and the games that they played that day.  Next, Jon decided to interview Carl and discuss his trip to the UK, which included some culture shocks, finical issues with UK credit card machines, and much, much more.  They move on to talk to Carl about his Forgeworld addiction and how one starts down the dangerous path of Forgeworld.  They tell warn you of the start drugs of Brass Etch and  Rhino Doors and discuss the progression to the Imperial Armor books and their models all the way to Titans and Zone Mortalis.  They also discuss some of the balancing concerns with Forgeworld units and are these units meant for that campaign book only, or in 40K overall.  They closed out the show with an interview with Chris Michaels from Powered Play Gaming and they discussed his Kickstarter project for LED Lighting kits for 40K and other miniatures games.  He discussed how the process is done, how easy it can be, and how much it adds to your models!

Opinion:  What an outstanding show that I have been waiting to hear for some time.  I have to say right off the top; the only thing this show was missing was Steve and Geoff!  That being said, it was still a great show.  The podcast community has grown in leaps and bounds in the last two years and to have two of the big show merge into one for an episode was a real treat.  It sounds like we all were missing out on a great time.  The discussion about Forgeworld was really worth it, and the interview with Chris introduced me to a new awesome product!  Overall, my top pick for the week! 

Highlights:  This week Christina and Jim were both absent, however the terrific trio of Kamil, Chase, and Snorre motored on and opened up the show with what they have been up to lately in the hobby and gaming.  This included Chase’s first impressions of the new Tau.  They moved on to the news where they covered Forgeworld’s new Imperial Armor 12, the latest releases from the Black Library, and of course what’s new on the third party market.  Up next, in the ‘The Librarius’, the boys looked into the full back story of the Executioners chapter of Space Marines!  They discussed a bit about their history as a successor chapter and their participation in the Badab Wars on the side of the Astral Claws.  They also hit on the change in their paint scheme over the years since their first appearance in Rogue Trader.  They covered their role in the Scouring, their home asteroid of the Darkenvault, their borderline crazy nature and death tallies their tendencies to take and keep trophies of fallen foes and their worship of the God Emperor.  They also covered some of their most famous battles, their well know characters, and their role in the Badad War.  Next up in the ‘Armory’ the cast presented army lists themed in the vein of the Executioners!  Kamil and Snorre built a 1750 point Codex Space Marine army list and Chase took on the 2000 point list.  In the ‘Briefing Room’ the staff answer questions from their fans, with topics like ‘what does Fluff mean?’ and ‘what are the other Chaos gods then the four we know about’ and much, much more.   

Highlights:  This week it is a double dose of one of my favorite segments, the ‘Big Fight!’  In the first fight, Dave, Nathan, and Franco take a tactical look at the new Tau Special Characters and pit them against some Daemon Special Characters to see who would come out on top.  This included battles between Farsight and Karnak, Aun’va and Aun’shi, and information on all of the Tau characters!  Next, in ‘War Stories’, the guys discuss some of the more memorable games they have played lately.  This included Nathan’s new Daemons list and how it has been performing against Dave’s Space Wolves/IG army, Franco’s new Tau army, and much more!  Next was the second installment of ‘The Big Fight!’ and first the sum up this round as it has been so far.  They then have then next bout on the docket and this week it was Azrael from Codex Dark Angels versus Skarbrand from Codex Daemons.  They then move on to the mini finale where Aun’shi faced off against Karnak and the boys had a complete tactical evaluation of both in the end.   

Opinion:  By far my favorite segment of the show is the Big Fight and I got a double dose this week!  The war stories segment was also interesting, I do want to hear more about the new Tau and the boys take on them.  Overall, a really fun show I enjoyed!  Nice work guys!  Still having a hard time with the name, but I’ll get used to it. 

The Southern State of 40K – Episode 7 ***Explicit*** 

Highlights:  This week Jake and Justin opened up this show with some announcements before moving on to ‘the State of Paint’ where they update their listeners on their latest painting and hobby projects.  Next, in ‘Debriefing’, the boys discussed the last couple of games that they have played.  This included mention of some battle reports they have up on their YouTube channel, a good look at the new Tau, a visit to Spruehammer and much more.  Then in the main topic, Justin opened up the segment with a satire Tau Tribute speech in the vein of the ‘Gettysburg Address’.  This was quite funny and dedicate to a balanced list.  They moved on to look at the HQ choices, starting with Farsight and the special characters moving down the list of generic choices.  They moved on to discuss the Troop choices and some tactics to using Fire Warriors and outflanking Kroot before discussing the Devilfish.  They then moved on to discuss the Elites, such as Crisis Suits, Drones and their variations, Stealth Suits, the glorious Riptide and its fun toys and much more.  They then cover the Fast Attack like Pathfinders and the new flyers and they then moved on to the Heavy Support and how the Broadsides and Sky Rays have changed and more.  They moved on to discuss the Warlord Traits, the Special Rules like Supporting Fire, their overall thoughts on the new codex, and what they believe will be the key units in the book and the stinkers!  They closed out the show discussing Adepticon and the composition of the top 16 and can Forgeworld help fight the flyer menace?    

Opinion: This was my first listen to this show and I have to say I am quite impressed!  The audio quality was quite good, the content was great 40K discussion, and the two hosts have a great on air relationship.  This show seems to have it all together, with social media all set up, a YouTube channel for battle reports, set up on iTunes, and a good, albeit basic website.  The show followed a winning 40K podcast format with a hobby section, battle report section, and a main topic, and this week’s topic was a great one, a really good look at the new Tau Codex.  I will be keeping my eye on this show, they do nice work!

Imperial Vox Cast – Episode 93

Highlights:  This week Bill is joined by Jason ‘Magilla Gorilla’ and this show is dedicated to a continuation of the Daemon Codex review, and they focus on the Nurgle side of the book. This opened up with some discussion about how great the Heldrake is and how it is one of the top flyers in the game.  They then open up a discussion about the Artefacts available to the army and their benefits.  They both then run down the lists that they have been running, each having CSM allies.  They then move on to discuss the HQ choices, both generic and named Special Characters from the Daemons and CSM books, and some of the awesome builds that Nurgle can have combined with a discussion on the psychic powers.  They then move on to discuss the Troop choices from both the CSM Codex and the Daemon Codex, and which ones are the most point efficient, and their love of the Plague Marine.  They then move on to the Elite choices, including Beasts of Nurgle, the Heavy Support, and the rest of the book.  They closed out the show with an overall view on the book and its combination with the CSM codex and how they feel the codex measures up in 6^th Edition.  They also touched on their plans for the next couple of weeks in their hobby. 

Opinion:  This week the guys took an interesting look at not one, but two Codices as a single entity, which I really enjoyed!  We all sort of felt like the CSM Codex was missing a little something and the Daemons Codex filled that spot.  I liked the guys take on it where they looked at one god through the eyes of both books.  Great work, I am looking forward to the next one!

Honorable Mentions– All great podcasts that just missed this cut this week, but you should still check them out, in no particular order:

Signals from the Frontline ***Explicit*** GW Releases, their Adepticon ’13 experiences, games they tried at Adepticon, rumors, Kick Starters, and much more

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 124 ***Explicit*** Onslaught Review, Forgeworld in Competitive Gaming, and the new High Elves release. 

Forge the Narrative – Episode 6 New Tau Codex Review, Forgeworld at competitive events, and more. 

Hitting on 6s – Episode 26 ***Explicit*** Fluff gaming vs. Power Gaming

The Deployment Zone – Episode 35 Google Hangout Episode

Forging the Narrative – Episode 7 Anzac Cup review, running an event, Comp in tournaments, and more!

Hitting on 3’s – Episode 23 ***Explicit*** Tau Codex Review and much, much more!

Life After the Cover Save – Episode 69 and 68 Bonus ***Explicit*** Welcome back Longhair, Broadside Bash, typical LAtCS conversation, and a call to a listener!