This Week in 40K Podcasting – 08/23/2013 – 08/29/2013

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

Here is this week’s top 5!

Highlights:  This week’s episode has been much anticipated by the 40K community!  The boys have a final print ready copy of the new Space Marine Codex in hand and they discussed the new book is a two part series.  Romeo joined the crew and they opened up with a very brief look at what they have been doing lately the hobby.   They move on to discuss some of the new releases, including the Space Hulk video game and the latest from the Black Library and Forgeworld.  They also touched a little on the rumors floating out there from Adeptus Mechanicus, goodbye to Battle Forces, and Nids on the horizon.  Then, after all of that, in the ‘Tactica’ segment, Kyle and Rik discuss the 2500 point game that they played with the new Space Marine Codex!  They hit on the new Centurions and Grav weapons, the new tanks, and how some of the rules worked.  And finally, after teasing us enough, the boys had their part one of their review of Codex: Space Marines.  They opened up by looking at the army background and slightly adjusted fluff and art found in this beautiful book.  Next, they moved on to the Warlord Traits, and some of these are really cool!  Next, they discussed the new Chapter Tactics and how they change the army based on chapter, or successor chapters, of Marines you take. They also discuss how the Special Characters can only go in their chapters or successor chapters.  They also discuss how the Allies system works with allying with another Marine as well as some of the specific Ultramarine Combat Doctrines and how they function on the battlefield.  They also covered the White Scars, the Black Templar, the Iron Hands, Salamanders and much more!  They then moved on to a more detailed look at the Black Templars and what they lost and gained now that they are rolled into the base Marine Codex.  They finish off the first part of their review by covering all of the Special Character found in this book.  They closed out the show with a brief Black Library review of the book The Death of Integrity by Guy Haley.

Highlights:  The guys are back before their trip to the Nova Open, and they opened up the show with ‘This Week in Gaming’ where they discuss the games they have been playing.  This included a brief look at the Space Marine rumors, the release of Black Legion, Space Hulk and the ATC!  Next, in ‘Pat’s Corner’, Pat talks to Kenny Boucher from the ‘Forge the Narrative’ Podcast and they discuss his ATC experience and the Chaos Daemon list that he ran and how he plays them.  Next, TJ is back with another ‘Simhammer’ segment and talked about the value of a unit based on its points and how durable it is due to its values versus certain weapons.  Next the guys are back to their look the Dark Angels.  They opened up by discussing Deathwing Terminators, and how over costed they are in the current game.  They moved on to discuss the Deathwing Knights, and their failings.  It was on to the Ravenwing and all of the units that encompass this branch of the army like Ravenwing Bikers, Black Knights, the Command Squad, the Land Speeders, the Jet Fighter and much more.  They then ran through all of the special characters for both the Deathwing and the Ravenwing armies, and some of the key pieces of wargear.  They polished off the review by looking at some of the vehicles and heavy support options and some competitive builds for the DA.  In the community segment we heard from Reese from Frontline Gaming on the Las Vegas Open, and much more.  They closed out the show with their Q&A session from their Facebook fans.

Highlights:  This week the Big Fight makes its big return!  The boys opened up the show with the Flyrant versus Typhus!  They detail out the one-on-one combat between these two great models and focus on the looser of the battle afterwards.  They also discussed a great army build with that Character.  Next, Dave had an interview with a new member of the cast, Ms. Edith Rodgers, and they discussed her hobby experience, how she got into the hobby, and what she will be doing for the podcast.  They moved on to an interview Edi had with Simon Tams who discussed his Age of Armies ‘Dark Angels’ blog on 40K Global.  Next, Dave then had an interview with Dan Sackets and he discussed his anti-Tau tactics with his Eldar/Dark Eldar list that is just wrecking Tau face.  They closed out the show with and interview with Jason from the Overlords podcast to discuss some of the fluff of the game.  The boys are not really that well versed on the backstory of the game and Jason is their new experct.  They started off by testing Jason on why their competitive armies would have the allies that they do.  This included some background story on the Daemons, the Farsight Enclave and Grey Knights with Necron allies.  They moved on to discuss some of their stories out of the Black Library books.  

Highlights:  This week the boys take a look back at 6^th Edition in its first year!  This week the boys are joined by Chandler from the Feast of Blades tournament and internet blogger Chumbalaya!  They opened up discussing the Feast of Blade qualifiers and how the main event will run in Denver.  They moved on to discuss what they have been doing lately in their gaming and hobby work.  They moved on to their main topic, which was a year in review of 6^thEdition 40K.  They opened up with changes to the rules that they liked and disliked, such as the changes to vehicles and scoring, snap shots, precise shot, Forgeworld being more common placed, cover saves need fixed and more.  They also discussed some ideas on how they would fix a couple of issues they have with 6^thEdition.  After a break, the boys dove into the subject of how they have grown as a player.  This included how they have adapted to the game as it has changed over the years.  This included a conversation on GW’s business policies over the last year, including the new hardback codices and expensive digital releases.  They then discussed big tournaments and why to attend them; this included how to make it fun for the non-gamers in your life. 

Opinion:  This week brought us two really great guests in Chandler and Chumbalaya!  Overall though, the jewel of this show however was the look back at 6^th Edition over the last year.  There were a lot of great points brought up here, some of which I had forgotten about.  They did then wonder off on to different subjects after that and it seem to be off the main topic, but all still very interesting.  Overall, a good show guys!

Highlights:  This week is dedicated to one of the latest Supplements to the 40K World; the Farsight Enclave.  Nathan and Lange opened up the show with what they have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby. This included some discussion about Star Trek: Attack Wing.  They moved on to their weekly listener poll, which was a Fantasy question about their Battalion Boxes.  Then it was on to the main topic, starting off with their review of the Farsight Enclave.  They discuss of the secrets revealed within the story of this great book and moved on to talk some about the books effect on the tournament circuit.  They then discussed what this book actually brings to the table and was it enough?  They then dug a bit into the rules that were introduced, including Crisis Suits as Troops, Ork Hunters, and more.  They also get into the awesome Command Team and all of his buddies!  They move on to discuss the Warlord Traits, some of the Special Wargear, and Signature System Upgrades.  They then discussed why they believe the Farsight Enclave is a better version of the Tau Codex.  They closed out the show with some discussion on the new Superman/Batman film. 

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!

Skaredcast – Episode 60 Eldar Warlord Traits, Apocalypse, and more. 

Forge the Narrative – Episode 23 Imperial Armor Apocalypse and Black Legion

The Independent Characters – Episode 83 Hobby Progress, Games Played, and Hobby Classes

Hitting On Threes – Episode 32 ***Explicit*** Quick Hits: Apoc, Supplements, 6^thEd Codices, Comp in 40K, and Adam from WarMoreRadio!