This Week in 40K Podcasting – 03/01/2013 – 03/07/2013

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

 Here is this week’s top 5!

Highlights:  This week the cast finished up their two part review of the Dark Angels!  They open up the show with what they have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby.  Next, the covered the latest news, including the release of the new Chaos Daemons, Forgeworld’s Abaddon and Loken release, the KR Multicase Kickstarter App, the latest third part releases and much more!  Next, in a new segment call the ‘The Strategium’ they compare the new Dark Angels codex to other similar codices.  In this case they look at the old Space Marine codex and the new Chaos Space Marines codex.  They discuss the tradeoff for some of the Special Rules of the armies and if they feel even.  They also discuss the Dark Angel’s specific rules and if their feel they are in line with the story of the Dark Angels and the Warlord Traits and their uses.  They then move on to look at some of the unit-by-unit comparisons from these three codices, including Librarians, some of the fun the Special Characters bring to the army, and how much better are Dark Angel Tactical Marines then every other Marine army.  This really was a review of all of the units found in the Codex and the wargear, including those nasty banners.  Next, in the ‘Armoury’ the staff took turns building Dark Angel lists, from Chase and his Ravenwing list to Christina and her DA/Sisters list and more.  Then the closed out the show with the ‘Briefing Room’, the cast answers questions from their fans, which included their reasons for not liking the Dark Angels chapter, OP units or Wargear in the DA codex, and more. 

Opinion:   The outstanding review of Codex Dark Angels rolled on this week with a rather interesting new segment.  I have to say I really did like the way that the compared this codex to other codices as it really gave us a look at where 6^th Edition is going.  It was also a look back at what some of the design ideas from 5^thEdition.  I would highly recommend both parts of this series.  And stick around to the end for a special treat! 

40K UK – Episode 64 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week the boys have been kind enough to break their tournament coverage into two more digestible pieces, and this show is part one of the ‘Battlefield Birmingham Tournament’.  This week Dave, Nathan, Franco, and BJ opened up the show with their overall feelings on the event including their own little crisis on the way to the event.  They then do a quick overview of the lists that they took to the event before giving a blow-by-blow review of each of their first day and three rounds of games including the missions, their opponent’s lists, and the outcome of their games.  They then had an interview with of their opponents and they discussed their games, their lists, and what went right or wrong in the game.    Next the boys recorded a segment on the drive home where they reflected on the event itself and some of the awesome army builds that they saw there.  They also discuss some of their shifts on strategy going into the second day of the event, including a good Telekinesis vs Biomancy discussion. 

Opinion:  I have to say I am truly glad the guys have broken their show down into smaller chucks, as it does not take me a week to listen to all of them!  This week’s show was a great follow-up to the preparation episode of last week.  It was on line with much of what they have done in the past on their coverage of event, but my favorite section was the talk on the way into Day two.  There was a lot of great 40K theory in there!  Nice job guys!

Highlights:  This week’s show opened up with ‘This Week in Gaming’ where the staff covered all of the games they have been playing lately.  This included a lot about the recent ‘St. Valentine’s Day Massacre’ tournament and Matt and his winning Eldar list.  They discussed how his list works and some counters arguments to his list.  Next, in ‘Pat’s Corner’ Pat had an interview with Daryl from KR Multilcase and they discussed their Kickstarter for the Community App.  Then, the guys continued on with their review of the Chaos Space Marine codex, and they started with the Cultist!  They moved on to the Chosen, Possessed, and reset of the Elite choices.  They then move on to the awesome Fast Attack slots, including the Chaos Spawn and Helldrakes, and then moved on to the Heavy Support choices like the Obliterators, Mutilators, and much more.  They then move on to discuss the cultist marines, starting with the nerffed Berzerkers, and moving on to the Thousand Sons, Plague Marines, and Noise Marines. 

Opinion:  A pretty good show this week, it was really a treat to hear from Matt and I was happy to see that Eldar players are still alive and kicking out there.  The boys did an admirable job covering the Chaos Space Marine Codex, though I must admit that I too was having issues following along at home.

Highlights:  This week the boys have their first look at Codex Daemons of Chaos, well, the German translated one that is.  They open up by discussing some of the new models that had been leaked at the time, and reviewed the overall new plastic line of daemons.  They move on to discuss what has changed about Daemons, starting off with the removal of Daemonic Assault.  They moved on to discuss some of the rumors that surrounded the codex and what was semi confirmed rules like the Gifts.  They then moved on to talk about the new Psychic Powers for each of the gods and what the in game effects are.  Next, the boys move on to discuss the Warlord traits, the Warp Storm table, and some of the units within the book, starting with the named HQ choices.  They then moved on to a tangent conversation about the ‘Death from the Skies’ supplement and their local stores not supporting it.  They closed out the show by discussing their hobby progress the last couple of weeks. 

Opinion:  This was an ok ‘First Look’ at the new Chaos Daemons Codex, though I think I would have preferred an all English edition of the Codex.  I think it still left a few questions out in the air with the language barrier.  However, beggars can be choosers and for what it was, it was a good look at the new army. 

Second Founding – Episode 25

Opinion:  This was a great topic this week, one that not everyone observes.  I am a huge fan of themed armies and this episode reflected on some great things one can do to add a theme to their models.  It can be as simple as adding bits or resin bases to paint schemes and more.  Check this one out!

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 117 ***Explicit*** Daemons of Chaos Armybook Review!

Skardcast – Episode 36Setting Priority levels in your hobby!