This Week in 40K Podcasting – 10/12/2012 – 10/18/2012

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

Here is this week’s top 5!

The Heroic 28s – Episode 48

Highlights:  This week start the first in a two part series on one of my favorite armies, the Necrons!  The guys open up the show with their first impressions of the new Chaos Space Marines codex, including the book itself, the rules, and the new model range.  Next up was the first part of the review of Codex Necron.  They open up with the Special Rules of the army, including Reanimation Protocol, Ever Living, Entropic Strike, Living Metal and more.  They move on to cover the generic HQ units, covering the Overlord, the Destroyer Lord, and the Royal Court.  They also talk about some of the amazing war gear options available to the Overlord, including the Warscythes, Resurrection Orbs, and the controversial Mindshackle Scarabs!  They also talked extensively about the bag of tricks that the Royal Court and their wargear open up.  In the next segment the guys talk about the Special Characters, starting with Imotekh the Stormlord, moving on to Illuminor Szeras, Orikan the Diviner, Trazyn the Infinite, Zahndrekh and Obyron, and Anrakyr the Traveller!    They also discuss the Catacomb Command Barge with its Quantum Shielding.  They then move on to the Troop choices, Warriors and their Ghost Arks, and Immortals.  They close out the show with some announcements and final thoughts. 

Opinion:  Ok, I’ll admit I was a bit biased this week as the Heroic 28s covered the army that got me into 40K in the first place, and the army that I am currently playing exclusively.  Now, that being said, they really did do an outstanding review of this great codex.  First, if you are into any sort of competitive play, you WILL see Necrons at your event.  And I would highly recommend anyone in that vein checking out this week’s show and most certainly next week’s show.  This is a great place to learn about Necrons and learn about what you might face.  Great work guys!

The 11th Company – Episode 136

Highlights:  This week the guys are making up for lost time with a monster 5 hour show!  So put your big boy pants on for this one!  They open up the show with a long ‘This Week in Gaming’ where the guys run down a bunch of their games from the Battle for Salvation.  Alan covered his DuelCon games and Neil had a legendary rematch with Tony Kopach.  Next up in ‘Pat’s Corner’ where Pat talks to Kenny Boucher’s from ‘Next Level Painting’ and they discuss his Chaos Daemon army.  They also discuss his painting service and all he has to offer.  Then, he talked to Tom from the Tyrant’s Due podcast and they talked about the Building rules in 6^th Edition.  Next, Eric is back with ‘Tactical Terrain’ and this week he is talking all about Mysterious Terrain!  He talks about all of the rules for each type found in the book and gives some ideas on how to mark them for a game and how to model them.  Next, in the community segment, Pat talked to Bart from the blog ‘The Adventures of Commander-Nearsight’ and they talk about salvaging models, and this included some tips for stripping paint off of old models.  He also talked to Michael from Foodhammer.com, other podcasts, and vendors.  Next in ‘Segmentus Obscurus’, Melonhead joins the show and he and Kevin talk about the new Chaos Space Marine codex.  This week they focus on the Marks and Icons and which ones work best.  Next, the guys are back and they are talking all about their first impression of the new Chaos Space Marine codex!  They talk about the underwhelming feeling most people are getting from this Codex, as nothing is jumping off the pages as killer units.  They move on to talk about how some of the Special Characters have changed, the Helldrake, and their anti-air capabilities.  They move on to talk about the Forgefiend, the Daemon Price, and how they feel this Codex will perform in the competitive circuit.  They close out the show by answering question from their Facebook fans! 

Opinion:  I really enjoyed this week’s shows, starting off with a great review of the Battle for Salvation.  I am just sorry Neil’s rematch with Tony Kopach was not broadcasted, as I would have loved to have seen that game.  Pat and Tom’s conversation on the Building rules were quite enlightening, and the Salvaging Models conversation came with boat loads of tips for stripping models, and Tactical Terrain is quickly becoming one of my favorite segments, so I highly recommended this one.  And of course I was looking forward to the guy’s review of the CSM codex, but of course they are holding off until the meta shifts to accommodate this new book.  Great show!

Deepstrike Radio – Episode 46

Highlights:  This week the guys are gushing over the new Chaos Space Marine codex!  They open up the show by briefly going over what they have been doing in gaming and the hobby.  They quickly move on to the news, were they discuss the latest releases from GW, Forgeworld, the Black Library, and other model companies.  This included a pretty in-depth look at the Chaos Codex, the book, the art, and the overall value.  Next, in ‘the Librarius’ the guys begin to break down the fluff of the Chaos Space Marines!  They open up by talking about how the army has changed from the previous version in the fluff, and how they are now much more of a threat on the galaxy and the Imperium as the definitive ‘bad guys’ of 40K.  They move on to talk about who the Chaos Space Marines are and the four gods of Chaos.  Next, they gave a very brief overview of the Horus Hersey and the Black Crusades that came to follow.  They also hit on the nine Traitor Legions and briefly discuss briefly their history, their place in the Heresy, and where they are today.  They also talk about fallen chapters of marines such as the Red Corsairs, the purged chapters, and the mad chapter of the Crimson Slaughter.  They also run down some of the most notable events of recent history for the Chaos Space Marines.  Next, in the ‘Briefing Room’ the guys take a hard look at the new Codex, starting off with the new Warlord Traits, challenges, the Boon table and their upgrades, marks and icons!  They move on to discuss the four disciplines of Psychic powers and each of the powers available in this codex, including their restrictions and they effect on the tabletop.  They move on to do a unit-by-unit look at each model available in the codex, starting with the Special Characters.  They moved on to the generic HQ units and then the Troop choices.  They move on to look at the Elite choices, focusing quite a bit on the Cultist Marines, but also hitting on the Terminators, Chosen, Possessed and Mutilators.  Up next were the Fast Attack choices, starting with the dirt cheap Bikers, moving on to Spawn, Raptors, Warp Talons, and more, finishing off with the new Helldrake!  They close out the show with the Heavy Support choices; starting with Havocs and their Flak Missiles, they move on to the entries that have carried over from the last codex, and finishing off with the Forge and Maulerfiends.  

Opinion:  I have to say I came away from this podcast wanting for more, more Chaos that is.  With the rich history of the game we love being SO in-depth that there is no way anyone could cover over all of it.  I personally am looking forward to the multi-part coverage of the Horus Hersey for example; as they were forced to give an all too brief review of it.  But, overall, they still did a really good job covering the fluff of the CSMs and an outstanding review of the Codex itself. 

Turn 8 – Episode 27

Highlights:  This week the guys are talking Chaos!  They open up the show with ‘the Roundup’ where they talk about what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  Then, in the news, the guys cover the latest from GW, Forgeworld, and the Black Library.  Opy then leads a discussion on the latest rumors floating out there on the net, like second wave Chaos and Dark Angels, and their local news.  Next, the guys preview the new Chaos Codex, having only had the book for a short time.  They talk about their initial impression of the Codex as fair as how balanced the book is, and they move on to some of their highlights.  This included their Chaos specific Warlord chart and Psychic powers.  They move on to cover the Special Rules for the army, the Chaos Boon table, and some of their wargear.  They also highlight some of the new units in the book like the Helldrake, the Forgefiend, and zombie hoards!  Opy then moves on to talk about a couple of games he had the chance to play with his new Codex!  Next up was the signature ‘Battle Report’, and this week they have a 1500 point game between Blood Angels and Necrons.  They discuss the deployment, the mission, the layout of the table, and the lists.  They move on to the dramatization of this great battle followed up with a review of the game’s outcome.  The guys close out the show with ‘Rules of Engagement’ where they talk about those odd ball rules that have not had an effect in 6^th Edition until the Chaos Codex came out.  These rules included Hatred, Zealot, ‘It will not die’, Soul Blaze, and Salvo weapons. 

Opinion:  Always a pleasure to hear from the guys over at Turn 8, and this week their turned in yet another great show.  I like that they decided to only do an overview of the Chaos Codex, as we all still don’t know where it will fit in the game just yet.  The ‘Rules of Engagement’ segment was a great topic and one I needed a refresher in with the new Choas book out now.  And the battle report was once again my favorite part of the show, this week having the added bonus of a campaign game.  Check this one out!

The Overlords – Episode 111 ***Explicit***

Highlights:  This week Jon and Jason are joined by Ciaran and Teras from Geek Nation Tours.  They open up with the latest News which included the latest from Forgeworld and their Hersey Era line and GW and the new Chaos Space Marines codex and models.  They move on to cover what they have been doing lately in gaming and the hobby.  They move on to a great conversation on building lists in 6^thEdition.  They open up by discussing vehicles and transports and how their battlefield role has changed in 6^th.  Next, they talked about Flyers and how they can easily be unbalancing to a game of 6^th right now.  They talk about some of the options available for anti-air right now.  They then talk about building a list to win the missions in 6^th Edition, and this included including Fast and Heavy choices as they can be scoring units.  They also talked about how they have changed some of their Characters due to the changes in 6^th and their effect on the Regroup rolls.  Next up was part one of their review of the Chaos Space Marine codex!  They open up with Teras discussing the iPad version of the codex and all of the neat features it has.  They move on to talk about the book itself before covering the Special Rules for the army.  They move on to start a unit review, starting with the generic HQ choices like the Chaos Lord and the Daemon Prince.  They then move on to loosely talk about the addition of the army specific Warlord chart and Psychic disciplines.  They move on to talk about some individual choices, like Bikers and the Cultist Marines.  They also talked about Chaos Spawn and a conversation on what Legions got nerfed in this version of the codex.  They briefly covered some of the units in the codex, stopping to focus on the Possessed, Mutilators, Warp Talons, and of course the Forge/Mauler fiends and the new Helldrake!  They close out the show with their overall feelings on the codex after their first look at it. 

Opinion:  I was super psyched to hear Ciaran back in studio, we missed you buddy.  And I am hoping Steve will be making a return real soon.  This week had a really outstanding segment with ‘List Building in 6^th’.  As the dust is starting to settle with this new edition, some patterns of the new meta are being to emerge and the guys did a really good review of this.  And of course the first part of their review of the Chaos Codex was informative.  Great work gang!

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***  New Space Marine models and Chaos Marine discussion

Jaded Gamercast – Episode 98 ***Explicit***  Teras from Geek Nation Tours is in to talk about the new Chaos Space Marine Codex!

Worlds End Radio – Episode 69 ***Explicit***  Updates, News, Playing under a time limit, and Characters in 6^th Edition

Screaming Heritic – Episode 34 ***Explicit***  Teras from Geek Nation Tours, Horus Heresy Book 1 review, Tale of two gamers, CSM Review and much more!

Tyrant’s Due – Episode 33 ***Explicit*** Chaos Codex and Horus Hersey: Betrayal Review!

Second Founding – Episode 15  Xenos Alternative Models

Noobhammer – Episode 25 ***Explicit***  Chaos Marines review