This Week in 40K Podcasting – 08/15/2014 – 08/21/2014
The Independent Characters – Episode 107
Highlights: This week, Geoff returns to the show to help Carl cover Imperial Armour IV: The Anphelion Project Second Edition! They opened up the show with ‘The Work Bench’ where the boys discussed what they have been up to lately in the hobby and gaming. This included the news that Geoff is moving away, Carl meeting new folks on the internet, and some games played. Next, it was on to their review of Imperial Armour IV: The Anphelion Project Second Edition. Now, they had already covered the first edition of this book back way back on episode 36, and this is just a look at what has changed between editions. This included the loss of the entire Apocalypse information from the book, the art has been upgraded, the photos much sharper, and more. They do cover the story of the conflict between Inquisitor Solomon Lok, the Elysian Drop Troops, Red Scorpions, and of course the Tyranids hoard! They discuss the Tyriand Invasion and how the early part of the story involved a lot of cleansing missions by the Red Scorpions and how the Tyranids adapted their attacks. This moved on to how Lok got involved and how his actions affected the conflicts efforts, and in the end, how he was left to his own fate. They then go much further into detail on what has been added to this book, starting with the new Tyranid units like Dimachaeron! They also discussed the older Forgeworld models that were first made available here in this book and some of the changes that were made to them. They also go into the Elysian forces, Lok and his rules, and more. They then moved on to discuss the campaigns and missions found inside Imperial Armour IV! The campaign and missions are all new and completely revamped from the earlier editions. They discussed how this has moved to the format of the more modern IA books and their campaign system. They also mentioned how missions worked and how they all tied together after all of these missions have been completed, and some of the Warlord Traits. They close out the review with their ‘Bang for your Buck’ evaluation of the book. They closed out the show with an interview with Brandon from ‘Smells Like Wargaming’ and painting the Imperial Knight.
Opinion: First and foremost I would like to wish Geoff the best of luck on his move and that he will be missed on the air. I will point out that Skype is a thing and he should come back for these awesome Imperial Armour reviews! Ok, so that being said, once again Carl and Geoff chime in with an outstanding review of a Forgeworld book. The Anphelion Project was the first FW book I had ever read, and it was based on their review all those years ago. This was a recap of a lot of that, however all of the new stuff made it totally worth it! Outstanding show once again, farewell Geoff!
Highlights: No, you didn’t miss the historic episode 100; they have not aired it just yet. They first discussed why episode 100 is a bit late and that it will be out to us real soon! Next, after some announcements, the boys discussed what they have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby, which included a lot of preparations for the NOVA Open and China-cast! The guys then launched in with their two part review of the Codex: Astra Militarum, starting with their one-word evaluation of the army. They then covered the Warlord Traits from the army and how these help improve the army. Army Wide Special Rules such as Orders, how they really work, what’s changed, and what the specific orders do. They then rolled on to the generic HQ units like the Company Command Squad, Commissars, Priests, and much more. They then moved on to discussed the named Characters and what they add to the army before touching on the Troop Choices like the Infantry Platoon and all of the separate squads you can added to an Infantry Platoon, Conscripts, Veterans and more. They then covered the Dedicated Transports like the Chimera and the Taurox. They closed out the show with a review of the Relics and what they added to this already powerful army.
Opinion: Before stating my own podcast I am not so sure I would be as understanding of the time and effort it does take to edit these shows together. Let alone one like the party Episode 100 must have been. So I totally understand skipping over Episode 100 and releasing Episode 101 right on schedule, and it was of course of the up-most quality! IG (I will never call them AM) is indeed one of the top tier armies out there and the boys did an outstanding job in the first part of this review!
Highlights: The boys lead off the show with their quick and dirty review of the new Space Wolves! They covered the leak of Grey Knights within the iTunes upload of the Space Wolves codex. They then did their “Good, Bad, and Ugly’ of the Space Wolves codex, starting with the good including the cool fluff, Blood Claws are now awesome, Grey Hunter at are only a point more than they used to be, but are still good, the newly listed transports in the Fast Attach choices, Thunderwolf Cavalry, and more. Then it was on to the bad, the loss of ‘Mark of the Wolfin’, Sagas, and the flavor leached out of this book. Then it was on to the ugly, which included the new Codex format and how it really is confusing, the photos of very old models in the book, and much more. Then it was on to the local news and what they have been up to lately in the hobby and gaming! This included the Overlords ‘Bring and Buy’ and what ‘Unbound’ has done for the narrative game! They closed out the show with a segment on playing the Inquisition in 40K, from their ‘Codex’ and the best ways to compliment this codex with the right allies.
Opinion: I really enjoyed this week’s show, featuring a lighter version of the Space Wolf Codex. I like the ‘Good, Bad, and Ugly’ format as it hits on all of the key points without running too long. The gem of this week’s show however was easily the Inquisition segment! It is an area of the 40K lore that truly fascinates me and I am not sure it is clear on how to best play them on the battlefield. Now, if we can just get those Sisters fixed and I will be happy! Very nice podcast guys!
Highlights: This week, Dawson and Bill are joined by Jeremy and they breakdown the recently released Ork Codex! They kicked it off with an introduction to who Justin is and some of his gaming history, and this rolled into what they all have been up to lately in gaming and the hobby. They boys then moved on to their review of the new Codex Orks! They started with the Special Rules for the army, like the massive change to the Mob Rule, the ‘Er’ We Go’ rule and the ‘Waagh!’ rule. They then moved on to the Warlord Traits for the army and the loss of the Force Organization chart shenanigans with the warboss for Nobs and warboss on bike for Biker Nobs. They then moved on to the HQ units including the Warboss, Weird Boyz and their new Psychic Powers, Painboyz, and some of the war gear upgrades available to the Orks. They also covered the named characters in the book and some of the changes found there, including the loss of Gaz as an HQ choice and now is a Lord of War. They then moved on to the Troops of Boyz and Gretchen, then the Elites choices of the Bruna Boyz, Tank Bustas, Meganobs, and more. They also stopped to talk about the Fast Attacks like the Trukk (still wield to see them listed like this), Storm Boyz, the Dakka Jet, DeffKoptas and more. Then it was on to the Heavy Support choices like the Mek Guns and how good they are, the Gorkanaught and Morkanaught, Battle Wagons and more. They then covered the Lords of War and the Stompa and Gaz and the fact that Formations are in the book! They then summed up the whole Codex and their thoughts on how this book will play in the competitive scene.
Opinion: With the tidal wave of Space Wolf reviews, hearing something different was a welcome change for me, trust me! Jeremy was a great addition to the cast and the guys did a great job covering the book. I am still lukewarm on the 7th Edition codices and I was glad to see the boys sort of agreed with me. This has to have been one of the best Ork reviews I heard and I highly recommend it!
Highlights: This week Gary Percival rejoined the show and was joined by Alex Rae to talk about this new codex for the Space Wolf codex. They kicked off the show with a brief introduction to Alex and who he is and what his gaming street cred is. They then started their review with the Army Wide Special Rules, Sagas being rolled into the Warlord Traits, what those Warlord Traits do now, and more. They discussed how the FOC has changed just a little, the new formation call ‘the Wolves Unleashed’ and what it does for the army, and the war gear; what has been stripped out of it and what is there now, and what are the new Relics. They then covered the new Psychic Discipline, the Tempestas, and how the Space Wolf powers have changed. They then moved on to their unit-by-unit review, starting with their thoughts on the new layout! They moved on to the generic HQs like the Wolf Lord, the Rune Priest, and the named Characters like Ragnar. Unfortunately that is where the review cuts off due to technical issue. Next, after Franco’s wonderful intro, Dave returned to the show for a ‘Q&A-Team’ segment. Dave ran a solo segment where he answered emails from the fans of the podcast, starting with a question on ‘Recommendations on going to a tournament’, to topics like ‘army list checking’, ‘how to make it more difficult for your opponent’ and much more.
Opinion: Ok, so some good and some bad with this podcast this week. First the good, I was really happy to hear from Dave again! I was not aware of how much I had missed his presence on the show until I heard from him again, even in the solo capacity. Then the bad, so the Space Wolf review started off amazingly good, and then something happened and it was cut off. I would almost have wanted them to hold off and waited until they had the whole review before releasing this. That being said, what was there was very good.
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