This Week in 40K Podcasting – 06/26/2014 – 07/03/2014

Welcome to another installment of “This Week in 40K Podcasting,”  Here is this week’s top 5!

Preferred Enemies – Episode 79 ***Explicit*** 

Highlights:  This week the boys dive into the new Ork Codex!  They opened up the show with the news and all of the new releases that came with the Ork Codex and a local event that all participated in.  They then moved on to their review of the Ork Codex, which started with the look and feel of the book.  This included the new 7^th Edition format and their thoughts on this.  They then moved on to the ary wide Special Rules, starting with the change to the Mob rule, ‘er We Go, the Waaahhh, and much more.  They then moved on to detail out the Warlord Traits, reviewing all of the HQ choices available to the Orks like the Warboss, Weirdboyz, Painboyz, the remaining named characters and some interesting wargear changes.  They moved on to discuss the Troops and the few subtle changes found here for Boyz and Grots.  They then moved on to look at the Elite choices like Nobs, Burnas, Tank Bustas, and some of the Dedicated Transports to the army.  They then moved on to discuss the Fast Attack choices of Storm Boyz, the Flyers, War Bikes and their loss of built-in cover, and more.  They then covered all of the cool Heavy Support choices like the Def Dreds, Killa Kans, the Big Mek Guns, Battle Wagons, Flash Gits and more.  They also discussed Gaz’s move to the Lord of War stature along with the Stompa.  They moved on to discuss the Artifacts, Tactical Objectives, and the Formations found in this book.  They closed out the show with their hobby progress which included some great stories of air compressor issue. 

Opinion:  This week the boys did a pretty great job covering the new Ork Codex, I have to say. They basically run down the entire book, including every unit in the book and how they have changes from the previous book.  I particularly enjoyed the commentary on the new layout of the 7^th Edition Codices and I’m curious as why this change was made. As the wave of podcasts coving this book will come out, I’d recommend this one first thus far.  Very good work guys!

The 11th Company – Episode 199.6 

Highlights:  This week the boys roll on with their detailed review of 7^th Edition.  They kicked off the show with what they have been up to lately, which included Neil’s tales from moving to the DC area, Lords of War in standard games, how 6^th and 7^th Edition kill the ‘all-comers’ lists, and what are tournaments going to look like in 7^thEdition?  Next, it was back to their review of 7^th Edition, this time picking up with the Unit Types which included the changes to the Jink Save, Artillery, Jump Packs, the change to the Smash rule, Flyers and their tweaks, and more.  This devolved into a conversation about Lords of War and how the Ork Codex is expected to have them in the actual book and what this will do to the game.  They moved on to discuss the Vehicle rules, including how they move, how armor works, vehicles and line of sight, blast templates and their placement, and more.  They then covered the new Vehicle Damage Chart and what has changed here.  They closed out the show with a discussion on the FAQs that were made to 6^ththat did not get ‘copy and pasted’ into 7^th and how this reopens old rules debates. 

Opinion:  The goys continued on with their outstanding review of the 7^th Edition Rulebook, and I have to say it is without a doubt the most complete review out there.  Everything that is different or has been changed in this rule set if dissected and reviewed.  I have truly enjoyed the review and look forward to its conclusion. 

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 182 ***Explicit*** 

Highlights:  This week the boys cracked into the new Ork Codex!  They opened up the show with what they have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby.  This included some Firestorm Armada.  They then moved on to their review of the new Ork Codex, starting with the completely different format of the Codex and why this change did not have to happen at all!  They moved on to talk about the Ork Faction origination chart and how it seems that this book is really meant to play unbound.  They moved on to the Tactical Objectives and how they do not really differ much from the rulebook ones.  Next, it was on to the army wide Special Rules like “‘Er We Go!”, the Mob Rule, the Warlord Traits, and more.  They then moved on to talk about the HQ choices like the Meks, Big Meks, the Painboy, the Warboss, and some of the named Characters.  It then moved on to the Troops, Boyz are still the same cost, nothing much has changed here, and Grots are Grots.  It was then on to the Elites,  Burna Boyz, Nobs, MegaNobs, Kamandos, and much more!  This moved on to the Dedicated Transports and the rules change to Trukks and Battle Wagons.  They moved on to Fast Attack choices like the DakkaJet, DeffKoptas, Warbuggies, Stormboyz and more.  Next, it was on to the Heavy Support choices like the new Mek Guns, the new Gorkanaut/Morkanaut, Lootas getting moved to Heavies and more!  They moved on to talk about Ghazghkull Thraka and his Lord of War status in the book.  They closed out their coverage by discussing the Gifts or Gork and Mork, or the Ork Relics!  They then moved on to talk about the new Ork Psychic powers and how they affect the game.  They then closed out the show by discussing their overall feelings for this book and this game in general. 

Opinion: One of the first places I go when a new Codex has dropped is right here with Nathan and Lange.  They always give their unfiltered and, well, Jaded opinion on the book at hand.  I just love their reviews for their brutal honesty.  And, they happen to do a pretty good job covering the book, rule for rule and unit for unit.  I am looking forward to next week’s show as well, as they build lists out of this book.  Overall, a really good show, check this one out. 

Masters of the Forge – Episode 6

Highlights:  This week the guys opened up the show by discussing a little about the new Ork Codex.  They moved on to talk about what they have been doing lately in the hobby and gaming.  This included a lot of “Hobby Challenge” work as the 6 month benchmark is approaching.  The cast was then joined by Steve from the Overlords podcast to kick off their coverage of ‘counts-as’ armies, specifically with the Imperial Guard.    They kicked off the conversation by defining the difference between proxy and counts-as.  They then moved on to provide some examples of what they have used as ‘counts-as’ armies, what they look like and how simple or complex a ‘counts-as’ army can be.  This includes paintjobs, new bits, using existing models to represent another, and so on.  Steve went on to talk about his Imperium of Man project and all of the bits and bobs he has used to make his mark on his army.  This rolled into an interesting conversation about 7^th Edition and competitive play.  They moved on to talk about some of the armies that can be best represented as a ‘counts-as’ army, like Traitor Guard and Exodites.  Next, the guys moved on to discuss the ‘Many Faces of the Astra Militarum: Gue’vesa’.  These are a traitor guard regiment who has joined up with the Tau Empire.  They discussed some of the old back history to this regiment, how they came to fight with the Tau and what eventually caused them to join up with the Tau Empire.  They then took this army to the table top by discussing how they would ‘counts-as’ this army with the existing GW line.  This included some rules that they wrote for the best way to represent this army. 

 
Opinion:  Keeping up with the traditions and history of their previous podcast, the Masts of the Forge podcast has started to educate me on aspects of the 40K universe that I had no clue about.  This week’s topic was really interesting and I really enjoyed it!  Not only did they give you information of a really cool traitor Guard regiment, but they also provided you rules for playing them if you decided to do so.  Just and outstanding show I am really starting to enjoy quite a bit.  Thanks for the hard work guys!

The Overlords – Episode 154 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week the guys were all out of sequence and they started the show with the local news, which included their Escalation League, a review of their Birthday Event, and new podcast on the horizon.  Next, it was on to the news which included all of the new Ork models and of course the Codex.  Next, in ‘Smells like Tactics’ the guys discussed ideas on how to keep your models alive on the board longer.  This included survivability tactics like making effective use of cover, the cover rules, how deployment can keep you alive, reserves, and the use of transports, good armor saves, high model counts and much more!  Next, Jason had an interview with fellow Overlords member Art Ashley and they discussed the Citadel Tool Set from GW!  They started with the sculpting set and talked about how these tools are used and some of the benefits to them.  They also covered the Fine Detail cutters, Files, and all the cool tools that GW is offering for the hobbyist.  They also discuss some of the much more affordable options available fairly commonly in a regular hobby store.  They then moved on to talk about what they have been up to lately in the hobby and gaming.  This included a stupid about of painting, Jon’s new Space Marine chapter, and so much more.  They closed out the show by talking about how to re-use and recycle those models you just don’t play with anymore.  This included ‘Frankenstein-ing’ models to make them into something new, weapon swaps to make them useful again, and so on.   

 
Opinion:  The boys started off with a really nice recap of their birthday bash, something I wish I could have attended because it sounded like a blast!  The ‘Smells Like Tactics’ segment was pretty interesting this week and a review of the GW tools was something I had not heard before, so I found it quite fascinating.  I especially liked the segment on how to reuse older models, it gave me some ideas on what to do with stuff that is collecting dust right now.  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***  General Gaming News, Rumors, List Reviews, Tactics, and Rants!

Skardcast – Episode 85  Wych Cults and the 7^th Edition Psychic Phase

Forge the Narrative – Episode 57  New Ork Codex Thoughts

40K Radio – Episode 76  New Ork Codex Review and more!

Screaming Heritic – Episode 66 ***Explicit***  Casting Tips, Hobby Tips, Justin from SWM and more!

Boltgun Battle Brother – Episode 29  Army in a Weekend

2nd Wave – Episode 18  Chaos Daemons Review Part 2

X-Wing Podcasts – And if you’re looking for a few good X-Wing Podcasts, please check these guys out!

The Kessel Run  Brought you by the Heroic 28s!

NOVA Squadron Radio Your home for tactical X-Wing discussion!

Scum and Villainy The Team Covenant X-Wing Podcast

The X-Wing Podcast ***Explicit*** Ben Curry & Ben Johnson’s UK Show