This Week in 40K Podcasting – 8/24/2012 – 8/30/2012

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

Here is this week’s top 5!

The Heroic 28s – Episode 41

Highlights:  This week the guys open up the show with a review of a laser line level by Battle Geeks.  Next, each member of the staff talked about their 5 top armies making the switch over to 6^th Edition the best.  They all offer up armies with really well thought out arguments for why these armies have made the transition and are the most effective armies in 6th.  This list included a lot of talk about flyers and anti-psyker defense; also talk about the Necrons, Grey Knights, IG, and much more.  Next, the guys do a segment on units that you rarely see in 40K, covering mostly Artillery, Beast and Calvary, and vehicle squadrons.  They cover the massive rule change to artillery models now being T 7, the new ‘leaving a man behind’ and ‘wound’ allocations rules for the squadrons and much more.  They close out the show with a conversation about walkers and their change of roles in the game to support units.

Opinion:  This was just a great show this week guys, easily my favorite for the week.  I enjoyed their thoughts on which armies made the transition to 6^th the best, despite disagree with some of their views.  (Kenny, Tyranids, seriously?)  They followed that up with some great review of rarely seen units, and a toy I think I have to have.  Overall, a great show this week guys!

The Independent Characters – Episode 60

Highlights:  This week the guys are covering Imperial Armor Aeronautica! They open up the show with some announcements before moving on to the ‘Work Bench’ where they discuss what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  This included a look at the starter set price and the beautiful models contained within.  Also, Geoff talked about an event he recently attended this past weekend.  There were a lot of games reported here!  Next up, the guys started their review of the book Imperial Armor Aeronautica.  They started off by reviewing the book itself, its look, feel, and format all being top-notch as we’ve come to expect from Forgeworld.  They then move on to discuss some of the units found within, including some flyers they did not feel were flyers.  They also focus on some of the units that they found most interesting in this book.  They move on to discuss the third part of the book, which included the campaign setting for these aerial combats.  They found the story rather generic and not all that interesting.  They also talk about the rules found in this book versus the Aeronautica Imperialis game that Forgeworld already makes.  Next, they move on to discuss where you the customer will get value out of this book, including how strong will flyers be in 6^th months?  They also give their ‘Bang for your buck’ evaluation of this book, and rating its usefulness.  They close out the show with a couple of Black Library book reviews, ‘Path of the Outcast’ by Gav Thorpe and ‘Priests of Mars’ by Graham McNeill. 

Opinion:  I am a huge fan of the ICs reviews of the Imperial Armor books, and this was no exception.  This book seems to be on the edge of ‘to buy’ or ‘not to buy’ as it seems useful to me now, but a year from now might not be as useful.  This review helped me make my decision to pass on this book and I appreciate the complete review they did.  Outstanding work guys!

The 11th Company – Episode – 131

Highlights:  This week the guys are joined by Kevin and his crickets, Tactical Terrain Eric, and ‘Blackmoor’ and they open up the show with ‘This Week in Gaming’.  The guys each attended different events this past week and the guys discuss their results from these tournaments.  This included Blackmoor’s Feat of Blades qualifier event and talk of the Skyshield Landing pad.  Next in ‘Pat’s Corner’, Pat has an interview with Chandler from the Feasts of Blades and they discuss the swag bags this year, the event itself this year including badges and prices, how they plan to handle rules FAQs, and more.  Next, Tactical Terrain Eric is back talking about terrain as it is defined in the 6^thEdition rulebook.  He talked about open terrain, sheer cliffs, difficult and dangerous terrain, lethal terrain and more.  He also discussed making lava or ice pools out of the GW craters, with some really awesome tips for painting and filling! He moved on to talk about area terrain, and making some creepy effects with household items like Play-Doh, and much more.  The guys then continue their 6^thEdition discussion, opening up with some ETC discussion, rules changes and their effects on the armies, and extreme builds such as the shooting, deepstrike, and Flyer builds.  They then move on to discuss the rules for units within transports and assaulting out of them and the rules follies found there.  They close out the show by answering questions from their listeners on 6^thEdition. 

Opinion: This week’s show is actually last week’s show, due to a delayed release of this episode.  However, this was still the high standard of 40K podcast that I love from these guys.  Tactical Terrain was outstanding, and not only did it cover a few rules I didn’t know, but Eric educated me on making some fascinating terrain.  I thought this week’s review of 6^th was a bit lacking, as it was all rules questions and debate, and not moving forward with their review. 

***SPECIAL NOTE*** The guys will be broadcasting the top tables at this year’s Nova Open.  Their coverage is second to none and the gold standard for broadcasting big events!  Please check them out HERE

 Imperial Vox Cast – Episode 81 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week Bill and Mike are recording at ‘At Ease Games’ and they open up the show with what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  This included their feelings on 6^thEdition and the challenges they are having with the new system.  This moved on to a detailed discussion about a game between Bill and Mike.  They run down their lists, the mission, and the outcome of the game.  Next up, the guys have an interview with Reese from the Frontline Gaming group and they discussed the next event on their agenda, Comikaze!  This is a 1500 point tournament using most of the 6^th Edition rules.  They also talked about his views on 6^thEdition, mostly all positive but pointing out a few thing he does not care for.  The guys close out the show with a review of the Horus Hersey board game from Fantasy Flight games.  They recorded segments in-between turns, with a final review at the end of the game. 

Opinion:  This week’s show was pretty good; I really enjoyed their reviews of the games they played this week.  I thought their review of the Horus Heresy board game could have had a bit more to it.  I was hoping for a look at the rules and game mechanics.  So I was a bit disappointed there.  But overall, still worth a listen!

40K Radio – Episode 47

Highlights: This week, Romeo and Chad are recording live from the ‘Valhalla 9’ event run by Blue Table Painting in Utah.  They open up the show with what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  They then talk about the trip out to Valhalla, some talk about using Forgeworld models in regular games of 40K, and more.  Next up the guys cover the latest 40K and gaming news and rumors, including the Horus Hersey books from Forgeworld, Battlefoam, DualCon and more.  Next, the guys have Sean from Blue Table Painting on the show.  They talk about his Valhalla event and Blue Table Painting new premade army deals and their overall value.  This rolled into a conversation of where the miniature gaming industry going?  They talk about the evolution from having GW being the only company out there to having several companies making bags, hobby materials, models and games, painting services and much more.  IN the next segment, Romeo has an interview with Reese from Frontline Gaming and they discuss the upcoming DuelCon event.  They talk about running the event in 6^th and some of the concerns they had at first with the new edition.  They also talk about some of the plans Reese has for the event, the mission, scoring the event, and much more.  They close out the show with some updates to their forums and some news there. 

Opinion:  I placed this show in the top five only because Sean from Blue Table Painting was on, and he is by far one of my favorite people in the miniature wargaming community.  However my feelings on 40K Radio as a whole have not changed when Romeos a major part of the show (hasn’t he left the show like twice now?). Despite his admissions to not liking 40K, He’s still on a show called $)K Radio, and Romeo mostly talked about Battlefoam and ‘other’ games he prefers other then 40K. Does that make sense to anyone?  The vast majority of the show was either a Battlefoam commercial, or talk about a Battlefoam run event, or talking about other games. I do not see why they keep the name 40K Radio anymore when so little of the show is about 40K.  The show would be much better if Romeo would not pollute 40K Radio with non-40K material.  Kyle still rules, and I love the show when he is behind the mic, but aside from the golden nugget of Sean, this show was a really disappointment. 

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*** – FW Horus Heresy, Flakk Missile, Starter Set, 40K Release schedule and Upcoming Events

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 91 ***Explicit*** – the Eldar Codex, Vehicles and Flyers in 6^th, and new releases!

Tyrant’s Due – Episode 30 ***Explicit***  – Interview with Nick Kyme, New Starter Set, GenCon 2012 Review, Dark Angels Rumors, Starting Necrons, and their Chaos Campaign!

Noobhammer – Episode 23 ***Explicit*** – Jason and Nate are back with the new Starter Set review, Failcast releases, Gemma Noon from the Black Library Expo, and a girl learning how to play Fantasy.

Hitting on 3s – Episode 5 ***Explicit*** – New starter set, 6^th Ed Terrain rules, Chariots and Flyers, Melta vs Plasma and much more!