This Week in 40K Podcasting – 11/02/2012 – 11/08/2012

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

Here is this week’s top 5!

 The 11th Company – Episode 140 

Highlights:  The guys punch in with another 4 hour show, so be prepared for loads of 40K awesomeness!  This week the guys continue on with their look at armies in the new edition and are covering Orks in a two part series.  They open up the show with ‘This Week in Gaming’ where they talked about their recent games.  Next, in ‘Pat’s Corner’, Pat talked to Bill Souza and they discuss the IG army he took to the Nova open this year.  Pat the talked to Sirus Chappell and they discuss his 1750 point Blood Angels list.  Next, in the ‘Community’ segment, Mike Brandt talks about some changes he is planning for next year’s Nova Open, including going back to their charity fund-raising roots and changes to their format to create less of a system that can be gamed, to paint scores and storyline behind the event.  Next, the 40K UK guys are back on the show and this week they cover the most recent Octoberfest event that Franco attended.  They covered the missions, his list, and briefly talked about each of his games at this two-day event.  Next, the boys start part one of the review of Codex Orks in the new edition of the game.  They opened up with some general thoughts on the army now, including what Allies work best for them.  They then move on to talk about the Special Rules for the army before covering the HQ choices from the book, which included the KFF and the Warboss on a bike.  They move on to cover the Elite including Nobs and Troop choices including the Green Tide of Boyz!  The guys then close out the show by answering some question from their fans on the Facebook page. 

Opinion:  There were two big things in this show that I just loved.  First as you all know I am a huge fan of the long format show and two the ‘extend’ looks at armies were great throw back to how they used to look at Codices.  Pat had a couple of good interviews and hearing from the 40K UK guys was absolutely awesome.  Easily my favorite podcast for the week! 

40K Radio – Episode 50 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  The guys are back after short break and open up the show with what they have been doing lately in the hobby and gaming, which wasn’t much.  Next up, the guys cover the news, including the latest from the Black Library, a look at the new White Dwarf, Forgeworld and GW.  They then move on to talk about the latest rumors floating around the internet right now.  Then the guys moved on to their ‘Tactica’ segment where Kyle reviewed his experience at the recent ‘Feast of Blades’ tournament and Tenax 7R Space Age Plastic Welder!  After that, was the ‘Rapid Fire’ segment where the guys answer some questions from their forum users live on the show.   Then, in the ‘Black Library Corner’, Rik talked about the book ‘Angel Exterminatus’ by Graham McNeill.  Up next was ‘In the Crosshairs’ where the staff reviews the Forgeworld book Horus Hersey: Betrayal!  They first cover the look and feel of the book before going into the contents of the book and the amazing artwork.  They then cover the background of each of the four Legions covered in this book, starting with the Sons of Horus, and moving on to the World Eaters, the Emperor’s Children, and the Death Guard.  They then move on to look at each of the primarchs and heroes from these great Legions.  Next, they discuss how the game is played in compared to regular 40K, starting with the missions found in this book and the modified Force Organization chart. 

Opinion:  I was starting to miss the guys, but they are back with another great show this week. I found that I was wanting more coverage of the Feast of Blades event, but as Kyle did not actually play in it (he was working hard I’m sure!) we did not get much there.  I have to say the boys did toss out a great hobby product I need to find!  My favorite segment by far this week was the guys look at the Horus Hersey: Betrayal book.  I now have to own this tome and it was great to hear their opinion on it.  Overall, a great show!

40K UK – Episode 52 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  The guys are back, for real this time!  This week the boys open up the show with what the heck has been happening with the show and where they are now.  They also introduced BJ Mason as a cohost of the show, who was a play tester for both the 6^thEdition rulebook and the CSM codex.  Next, in the first Roundtable in quite some time, the guys take a tactical look at 6th Edition and how it evolved over the testing phase of the edition.  BJ hits mostly on how 6^thwas designed to help balance the game, and this spilled over into how the CSM and future codices will be balanced and externally play-tested.  They also discuss what they have been doing lately in the hobby and what they are building for 6^th.  Next, Franco and BJ take a good closer look at the Chaos Space Marine codex.  They open up with their overall views on the book and how balanced they feel that it is.  They then talk about some of the builds they have been working with to see how effective they are, including the Typhus plague zombie build and the Slaanesh themed army.  They then put together a ‘best of’ list which included units from every mark.  Then, in another Round Table, the boys point out their highlights of 6^thEdition so far on the UK tournament scene and the direction it seems to be going.  This then moved on to a conversation about Forgeworld being used in standard 40K tournaments and how characters and ‘Look Out, Sir!’ changed with the FAQ.  The boys close out the show with ‘Operation Codex’ where they take a look update that was done to Codex Chaos Daemons!  They run down each of the new models and the changes made to Screamers and Flamers! 

Opinion:  I was great to see the guys are back this week, hopefully for good now!  Easily the best part of the show this week was the addition of BJ to the staff.  Just hearing some of the nuggets of knowledge that a play-tester of the Necron codex, 6^th Edition rules, and CSM codex could bring to the show in way of the design process was fascinating!  They then go one to a good review of the CSM codex and how 6^th Edition has effect the UK tournament scene.  Overall, this was the kind of show I hope for each week.  Nice job guys!

Deepstrike Radio – Episode 48

Highlights:  The boys have their first show after Chris’ departure from the show, and Chase and Jim open up the show with what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  They then moved on to the news where they covered their website updates and podcasts, Warriors of Chaos, the latest releases from Black Library, GW, and Forgeworld, and some third party releases.  Next up in the ‘Librarius’ the boys cover the background of the Blood Angels!  They first cover the revered Primarch Sanguinius and some of his background history, including his battle with Horus. They then move on to discuss the chapter itself, their story, and combat tactics.  They then discuss some of the successor chapter of the Blood Angels, some of the mote noteworthy special characters, and some of their key battles in the galaxy.  This week, the ‘Armory’ is just a bit different than usual.  This time, the boys build a 1000 point list live, without any preparation.  Both Jim and Chase debate each choice and find what they feel is best for the list.   Next, Jim discussed a 1750 point list he constructed, and Chase did a 2000 point list.  Then, was a new segment called ‘Table Trends’ where they look at what is changing about lists on the table in 40K today.  This week they talked about the Daemon Codex explosion and how the White Dwarf update has really revitalized this codex!  They also touch on the new CSM codex and the Helldrake, cheap bikes, Raptors, and the special Daemon weapons.  They then move on to talk about Rhinos still sticking around, Powerfists dropping off the board, missiles, melta-spam dying, ‘Look Out, Sir!’ and much more!  The guys close out the show with ‘The Briefing Room’ where this time the look at the direction Forgeworld is going.  They open up looking at the next Horus Hersey book and the Legions covered in that and the fact that Primarchs now have rules!  They then move on to look at the Legion army list itself and how it differs from your standard Marine army in composition and Force Organization.  They also discuss some of the note notable characters out of the new Betrayal book.    

Opinion:  Their first show after Chris’ departure was still up to the high standards they usually have, and this was a good show.  I had two parts to this show that I really enjoyed, first of course was the look at the Blood Angels and the second the new ‘Table Trend’ segment.  I think the guys could make this a guest host segment where tournament focused played can come in describe what they are seeing on the tournament circuit.  And of course the guys teased me this week with just a brief look and the Horus Hersey book, thought my hope is that we see that multi-show review of the book (hint, hint).  Great work guys!

The Heroic 28s – Episode 50

Highlights:  This week the guys were recording live from Feast of Blades!  Kenny and Uncle Buck are joined by Russell and Travis and they open up the show by discussing their overall feelings on the event.  They talk about getting their lists ready for this event and what they did to practice for it.  Kenny talked about his Tyranids taking their lumps at the tournament, and they also talked a bit about their lists and how the big events are a whole new meta.  Next, the boys had an interview with Chandler, the main TO of Feast of Blades.  They discussed how the event ran this year, and the dominance of Chaos Daemons this year!  Next, the boys start their review of Codex Chaos Daemons!  They open up discussing the special rules for this army before moving on to each and every one of the HQ choices from this book, including the dreaded Fateweaver, the Heralds, and the mounts available!  Then the guys have an interview with Blackmoor, and he covered his experience at the Feast of Blades this year, and the Daemons controversy at the event.  They close out the show with a good close look at the Daemon Troop choices and discuss some good selections from this list.  They also discuss the myriad of Allie options now available to this army. 

Opinion:  Okay, so the guys had some recording equipment issue this show, so there are parts of this podcast that you either cannot hear or are unlistenable.  The parts you can were were a pretty good review of the Feast of Blades and Codex Daemons.  So I kicked in down to the 5^thspot for that reason.  They also had a couple of good interviews, which also suffered from their poor audio quality, and did a pretty great job looking at Daemons, when you could hear it.  I have a tough time rating this one as what I could hear was good and what I couldn’t hear almost wiped that out.  So I’ll let you be the judge on this one guys.  Also, Kenny, I’m sorry.  I did try to warn you about those bugs on the completive circuit my friend.

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

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 101 ***Explicit***  Model of the Week, Warriors of Chaos, How bad was last show, and much more!

Signals from the Frontline ***Explicit***  Dark Angels, Eldar & Ork Rumors, Interview with Robin Cruddace, Check this one out!

Skard – Episode 19 Feast of Blades and Daemons!

The Preferred Enemies – Episode 40 ***Explicit***  Best, Worst, and Weirdest units in 40K!

Hitting on 3s – Episode 10 ***Explicit***  Chaos Troops vs Power Armor Troops, Retailers on 40K, choosing a Home store, and much more!

Southern Inquisition – Episode 3  Apocalypse 40K!

The Deployment Zone – Episode 25  Best Painted vs Best Sportsmen, Iron Kingdoms, and much more! 

El Pee and the Man – Episode 50 ***Explicit***  Boltgun Battle 5!

The Independent Characters – Episode 65  An outstanding review of Necromunda!