This Week in 40K Podcasting – 03/07/2014 – 03/13/2014

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

Sorry, I was off sick last week, but here is this week’s top 5!

Highlights:  Love them, hate them, or worship them like gods among men; this week I would like to help ‘Life After the Cover Save’ celebrate their 100^th episode!  They join a very elite group of podcasts who have been able to survive and thrive long enough to hit the century mark.  This show, above all others that I review in this article, is the one that I get the most polarizing opinions on from 40K Podcast fans.  Some folks just flat out hate them.  They say that the boys don’t take their show seriously, the game seriously, they rarely talk about 40K, if ever, they do gross things on their show, are offensive, etc.  Some folks fiercely love them.  They are funny to the point of tears, it is a show that is like hanging out with your gaming buddies, and it really is all about life, after the game, or ‘after the cover save’.  So while 40K is a backdrop for the show, and on occasion very good, it in itself is a comedy podcast with a light sprinkle of 40K just for flavor.  I myself didn’t know how to take this show early on.  I actually blasted them once on this article for the content of their show.  However, over the years, I warmed up to the show and the cast and I got it.  I got the show, I got the boys and their sense of humor, I got the format, and I got that they are putting out a very funny show that on occasion has some good 40K content.   I personally love the show, it is something I have come to respect and enjoy each and every week, and I look forward to 100 more episode.  Even when that Josh guys shows up!

Opinion:  As for a review of the show and its 40K content, well, there is none.  But so what?  There were some great stories in there, a lot of laughs, and a great way to celebrate their 100^th episode.  Even though Josh blasted me, personally, I have learned to take a joke and hold no grudges.  I wish them all the very best.  And Josh, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, congratulations man!  I’m happy for you!

Highlights:  This week the boys are talking about the 40K Tournament Scene!  They opened up the show with some god awful music and some announcements before moving on to games played and hobby talk.  They then moved on to the main topic of the show, which is the 40K Tournament season:  What is it and what it is like.  They first hit on all of the major events and described them a bit.  They hit on all of the greats, starting with the Las Vegas Open, and moving on to the big one Adepticon, the Bay Area Open, WargamesCon, the American Team Championships and how this event differs from most, the NOVA Open, Feast of Blades, and Da Boyz GT.  They also hit on Torrent of Fire and their ranking system and its benefit to the community.  They then discuss what it take to get ready for the Tournament Season, and this included what to expect to spend just getting into the event let alone the travel and housing expenses involved.  They moved on to subjects like managing your expectations, especially if it is your first GT, providing your TO with some feedback, army transportation, things to take with you to the event, SHOWER, food and much more!  They also discussed Display Boards and how to make them or buy pre-made ones.  They then covered what the big tournament armies are today in the meta, starting with massive use of ‘Deathstars’, what they are and what they do on the field.  They then went down top to bottom all of the armies in 40K and discussed the lists you might see from them.  This included lists like Screamer-star, Flying MC Circus, Jetseer-stars, Night Scythe spam, Centurion-star, Tau and Tau/Eldar, and much more. 

Opinion:  This was just an outstanding podcast!  I don’t know about the rest of you, but with the fire hose of content that GW has been pushing out for the past year, with all of the game and system breaking new dataslates, digital this, codex that, my head is spinning.  Trying to keep up with the current competitive meta of this game is now a full time job.  This show did an outstanding job of summing it all up, with some helpful advice for those planning to hit the circuit this year.  Great show guys!

Highlights:  This week the guys covered the Torrent of Fire Invitational!  They kicked off the show with ‘This Week in Gaming’ where they talked about the games they have been playing lately.  This included the sneak attack Imperial Knights update to the Allies Chart, more dataslate fun, and ‘who knows what is going on with 40K now that Imperial Knights are a full blown Codex’.  Next, in ‘Pat’s Corner’, Pat talked to Joe who writes for the 3++ blog and they discussed his article entitled ‘40K: An Escalation of Bad Design’.  Next, it was on to ‘Tournament talk’ where the guys discussed their recent attendance of the Torrent of Fire Invitational!  This started with the selection process of how players were invited to the event.  They then moved on to talk about how the lists there were designed, mostly either ‘deathstars’ or ‘deathstar busters’.  Next, they discussed the lists that they ran and some brief round-by-round evaluations of their games, which included quite a few great players at this event.  Up next was ‘Tactical Terrain’ and Eric was answering some listener submitted questions, which included creating a unique Zone Mortalis swamp board and making your own trees.  They closed out the show by answering some questions from their Facebook Fans! 

Opinion:  The Torrent of Fire Invitational sounded like a great event to attend, an really seems to show that the meta has genuinely shifted to ‘Deathstar 40K’.  I really appreciated the guy’s evaluation of the event.  The interview with Joe was quite interesting, and I’d check out his article if I were you.  And lastly, Eric had some really inventive ideas for some terrain which I am going to steal!  Great show this week guys!

Highlights:  This week the boys kicked off the show by discussing the latest release from GW, Codex Imperial Knights!   This moved on to a discussion about the state of the game and with all of the rapid changes how they are reacting to it.  They then moved on to review the rules for a Knight Titans and they operate on the battlefield.  They then moved on to some local news which included their Highlander Event, an Escalation League and more local events and hobby progress.  Next, the boys discussed the additions of Codex Supplements to the game of 40K and what they have so far added to the game.  First, with the word Codex in the title, the implications of legality in the game is implied.  They discussed the new Codex: Legion of the Damned and Codex; Imperial Knights which seems to suggest that they are an army unto themselves.  They then discuss the Legion of the Damned codex and how the fluff was really good, however the lack of choices was not so good. 

Opinion:  I have to say I really enjoyed this week’s show, mostly because it came from a group of guys whom I consider to be fluff players and not competitive players.  And even they are starting to question the decision making process of GW.  With Imperial Knights, Legion of the Damned and Inquisition, I am not sure anymore what a Codex really is.  What is a core army and what isn’t anymore?  What are they doing to the game I love?  I truly appreciated their view point ion this now ever present issue with our game.  Thanks guys!

Highlights:  This week, Carl, Justin, Adan were joined by Tim get together to discussed assembling some of those more difficult Forgeworld models.  Tim gave a bit of an intro to his gamer street cred as well.  Next, in the first segment, the guys talked about their recent Hobby Progress and games played.  Next, Tim took the reins of the show and talked about the difficulties of working with the larger resin kits from Forgeworld.  He first discussed his commission service and the level he goes to in order to build, pin, and magnetize these awesome models.  He then discussed his process for assembling them, and first that is to count the parts and make sure they are all there, then wash them in soap and water to clean off all of the releasing agent.  And of course making sure that they model is completely dry before beginning.  Next came the instructions, which Forgeworld is notorious for not having very good ones for, and test fitting before gluing.  He also talked about the tools that he uses, as clippers can be bad for resin models.  This included a lot of good files, hobby saws, finger nail clippers, and much more.  Here was time for a good safety tip on the dangers of resin dust!  Use a mask kids!  Then it was on to pinning and gluing and all of the good work you can do to keep you’re models in one piece!  This included his sand heating process, two and three part epoxies, and brass rod/ piano wire pinning.  Next, in the Warrior Lodge, Carl is joined by Josh, Jason, and Ian and they hit on a lot of the hot button topics in our gaming world.  This included what they have been up to lately, their thoughts on the new digital content (dataslates, codices, formations, etc.), and Imperial Knights and what they bring to your standard game of 40K.  They closed out the show with an interview with Teras from Geek Nation Tours! 

Opinion:  Well, if I wasn’t terrified of buying Forgeworld before!  I surely am now!  Honestly though, Tim sounds like an awesome guys and really did bring the awareness of putting together these larger Forgeworld models is a lot more involved than one might think.  I truly appreciated the education and I might have to hire Tim sometime in the future!  Does he have a service?  The Warrior’s Lodge was also very good and it really does show that a lot of the 40K players out there are wondering what the heck is going on. 

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*** General Gaming News, Rumors, List Reviews, Tactics, and Rants!

Seize the Initiative – Episode 1 Well done for their first episode, all about Digital GW releases!  Need to get a little closer to the mic though, it was hard to hear everyone.

Imperial Vox Cast – Episode 110 ***Explicit*** Target Priority in 6^thEdition

Preferred Enemies – Episode 72 ***Explicit*** Codex: Imperial Knights review

Hitting on 3s – Episode 41 ***Explicit*** Where they have been, recent releases and how they impact the games, and questions from their fans

6s to Hit – Episode 47 ***Explicit*** List suggestions, a review of the Tyranid Codex, and much more!

Boltgun Battle Brothers – Episode 26 Is the 40K System really broken?

Screaming Heretic – Episode 58 ***Explicit*** Imperial Knights, Tyranid Dataslate, Legion of the Damned, and more!

Forge the Narrative – Episode 43 Imperial Knights and the Torrent of Fire Invitational 

Southern State of 40K – Episode 21 A Review of Imperial Knights, 40K Rumors, and Battle for Stones River tournament report

Angels of Death – Episode 24 Review of Codex Imperial Knights and where have they been since December?

The Combat Phase – Episode 42 Super Dungeon Explore, Warmachine/Hoards, and more