This Week in 40K Podcasting – 03/22/2013 – 03/28/2013

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

Here is this week’s top 5!

Deepstrike Radio Episode 56 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  Big Jim is still absent from the show (miss you man!) however the cast has some help and are back at it again.  They opened up the show with what they have been up to lately in the hobby and gaming.  Next, they cover the ‘News’ where they discussed the leaked Tau photos, the latest from Forgeworld and the Black Library, and what’s new in the third party product market.  They also discussed the amount of attention their Dark Angels episode has received.  They in the ‘Librarius’ the cast dove into the history and back story of the Eldar Craftworld Altansar!  They discussed their sister world of Ulthwe, its torrid history near the Eye of Terror and its eventual decent reemergence from the Eye.  They also talked about the complete history of Maugan Ra from his escape from Altansar to his creation of the Dark Reapers.  They also discussed the rare Chaos Eldar!  Next, in the ‘Armory’, Christina and Snorre did some Kill Zone lists for the Altansar and Chase and Kamil did 1500 point Eldar lists.  Then, in the ‘Briefing Room’ the cast answers some questions from their fans, which included how Tyrainds travel through space, how does the ‘Waaagh!’ work, the Oaths of the Moment, and much more.  In a new segment called ‘The Index’, the cast sat down and discussed how to include great background details into your games of 40K, from back story to painting and modeling.  They closed out the show once again with some bloopers! 

Opinion:  Once again the DSR cast and crew checked in with just an outstanding podcast.  I have to say that this really has become my home for all of the 40K background that I never knew before.  From big Space Marine chapters to Eldar Craftworlds, they have it all.  I completely enjoyed this week’s show, easily my top pick for the week.  Way to go guys!

The 11th Company – Episode 156 

Highlights:  This week the guys hit on a variety of topics, opening the show as usual with ‘This Week in Gaming’ where they cover the new change in bit sales that came down from GW, Tau rumors and can they take on the Heldrakes, WargamesCon adding ForgeWorld & Forgeworld’s effect on the game, new Daemons and much more!  Next in ‘Pat’s Corner’ Pat had an interview with David who took second overall with Grey Knights at the Dark Star GT.  They discuss his 1850 list, how well it performs in 6^th Edition, and what his answer is to Heldrakes.  He also talked to Pete about the new Chaos Daemons codex and everything that it has changed.  Next up on ‘The List’ Neil and the gang built lists for their forum users, which included a Magic Flag Dark Angels list in the world of the Triple Heldrake list.  They also did a Tyranid list at 1850 points (Thanks guys!) and a ‘comp’ Space Marine list for an Australian event. 

Opinion:  This week’s show was back to what I have come to love about the 11^thCompany.  It was loaded with great tactical discussion, a good look at how the Heldrake currently dominates the tournament world, and some fun list building advice.  I am really looking forward to what the guys have to say about the new Tau codex, asI am getting ready to build a new army.  Great show overall, I’d check it out.

40K UK – Episode 67 ***Explicit*** 

Highlights:  This week the boys clocked in with I think their shortest episode EVER!  This week is completely dedicated to the UK’s Grand Tournament preview, which most of the staff will be participating in.  They opened up the show with a brief description of the event itself, what it has taken to get to this level and the venue for this great tournament.  They also discussed the painting scores for this year, and how they feel about these standards.  They then moved on to break down the 1850 point lists that they intend to take to the event.  They discussed each and every unit, any allies they are bringing in, any Forgeworld they are adding to their lists, and some of their tactics.  Franco is taking his triple Heldrake list, Dave is taking his Grey Knight/IG list, and Josh is taking Wraithwing or Necrons/Chaos.  They closed out the show discussing who they believed were the heavy hitter and top players to watch out for in this event. 

Opinion:  Very quick edition of 40K UK, and that did not detract at all from the content.  I really like their new format of breaking up their tournament reports into smaller, more digestible pieces.  This week show was great, with an inside look at what top caliber tournament players are thinking about the current meta and what it is like to prepare for an event like this.;  Great show guys.

The Independent Characters – Episode 75

Highlights:  This week is not cursed and the boys get in a full episode focused on identifying your 40K play style.  The staff is joined by Josh and they opened up the show with some announcements before moving on to ‘The Work Bench’ where they discussed what they have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby.  This included some interesting discussion about playing an Apocalypse game.  Next, the boys moved on to their main topic of the show, ‘Identifying your 40K play style’, starting off with the reason why one would want to know their play style before buying an army.  They recommended borrowing an army to see if that army fits your play style before you start buying models.  They then identified the three main basic play styles of playing 40K: Offensive, Defensive, and Balanced.  They first discussed some of the best armies and army builds that fit into each of these categories.  For Offensive armies, Orks and Khorne Chaos armies fit into these categories, Eldar and Space Marines fell into the categories of Defensive armies, and starting discuss how to build armies to fit each of these categories.  They then define each category in a more generic sense, taking the time to give some basic unit designs and army builds that fit into these philosophies, such as gun line defensive armies, counter punching armies, take all comers lists and much more.  They closed out the show by sharing some of their thoughts on the Bay Area Open!  Josh played in the Fantasy event and Carl and Geoff sort of hung out with the crowds.  They discuss some of the disorganization that they saw and the overall reaction of those who participated.  They also offered up some friendly suggestions to make next year’s event better and of course discussed that a woman had won the event.  They also discussed Big Jim’s participation at the BAO in running the narrative event. 

Opinion:  Quite an interesting topic for this week’s show, one which I think would help out new 40K players or old grizzled vets alike.  We all have either done it or seen it, an army that does not fit the player’s play style.  I think it is quite important to identity your own play style and find an army that best matches it.  This show was a great look into that topic with a lot of great advice.  Nice work guys!

The Overlord – Episode 123 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week there were some new jingles added as Steve returns to the show.  They opened up the show with some announcements and discussion about the latest news, which included GW’s ban on internet bits sales, the GW business model, and much more.  Then, the guys briefly moved on to talk about what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  Next, in the third segment, the guys sat down and discussed the trends that they are noticing with 6^th Edition Codices.  They discussed the prices for the hardbacks, the formats, the quick references, the more story driven codices, Flyers and their effect on the game, and much, much more.  Overall, they are quite happy with the direction of the latest codices and hope that GW keeps it up!  Then, the boys looked at the Tau, what will all of the new photos that have leaked they discussed what they liked about the previous edition and what they hope for with the new.  After that, the guys discussed to idea of mainstreaming the game of 40K and what things GW could do to help expand their player base.  What can they do to bring the game to the next generation?  Little things like advertising that could bring in the new blood.  Next, they played a pre-recorded segment with Ed and Blake from Life After the Cover Save and they talked about a wide range of topics, some of which were 40K related, some not so much.  They closed out the show with my man Dagmire and a Black Library book review where he reviewed the audio dramas ‘Malediction’ by CZ Dunn, ‘Chosen of Khorne’ by Anthony Reynolds and ‘Perfection’ by Nick Kyme. 

Opinion:  While this week’s show did at time drift off the rails, overall it was still classic Overlords.  Maybe it had something to do with the LAtCS guys being on, who knows.  But when the guys were on topic, they had a lot of great things to discuss.  My personal favorite was the trends of codices in 6^th edition, but the LAtCS interview was fun too.  And of course what could end a show better then my man Dagmire with a great audiobook review?  Great show guys!

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***  Tau and Eldar rumors, list reviews and much more!

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 120 ***Explicit***  Chaos Daemons 40K Part 2: Lists and Tournament prep and Miniwargaming Closes

Skaredcast – Episode 39  Forgotten Rules and a List Review

Life After the Cover Save – Episode 66 ***Explicit***  Jason from the Overlords podcast and R.I.P. Paul Bearer

Hitting on 3s – Episode 21 ***Explicit*** Codex Space Marines, Christina from the Deepstrike Radio podcast, and much more!

6s to Hit – Episode 23 ***Explicit***  Re-play of an old 40K for Old Men podcast

The Deployment Zone – Episode 33  Caring for your paint brushes, David Witek from Garagehammer Interview, and more