This Week in 40K Podcasting – 7/23 – 7/30

Just a reminder, "This week in 40K Podcasting" will be available over at the blog From The Warp first thing Saturday morning:

http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-week-in-40k-podcasting-723-730.html

I cover a ton of podcasts this week, so be sure to check it out!

40K Battle Report - 1000 Points Tyranid Swarm vs. Space Marines

So we moved on to week three of my local games stores mini tournament this week, with my 5-year old professional dice roller in tow. First, I learned a few things last night about the tournament itself, largest piece of news being that this would be a five week tournament and not four. Also, that there is enough money in the pot to place three players, with first still having a hefty prize (well, hefty enough for a $5 entry fee loosely run tournament). This is good because I think it will help spread out some of the winners some and hopefully will have a clear cut winner in the end. And, after last night's results, I am really happy to hear that I'll have the chance to furthr increase my lead.

Now, on to the game. The way this tournament is being run is as a challenge league, in that you must accept any challenge that comes to you or suffer the loss. Weaker players (those with lower records and victory Point counts) call the challenges, to prevent stronger players from praying on the weak to win. So this week, as soon as my son and I walked into the door, Sam sees me and yells out, "I challenge EvilEd209!" There is a bit of a giggle that runs through the room, but I smiled and humbly accepted.

You see Sam is relatively new to the game, in fact I think that I was his 10th or 11th game total last night. And I do not like to brag, I really don't, but I am considered to be one of the top players in my area. So for Sam to call me out in front of my kid was pretty brave. Stupid, but brave.

The game wasn't really much of a game at all, as it was more a teaching session then anything else. Now, normally I would throw a game like this as to build the confidence of the new guy and keep him interested in the game. However, this was tournament play, with money involved and prizes. And my kid was there watching Daddy and you don't want to seem like a loser in front of your kids, now do you?

I still helped him out, I basically countered my own deployment by helping him with his. I gave him a basic strategy to go with, told him what units were his biggest threats and the best ways to handle them. I did almost everything but tell him turn by turn, shoot this, move here, do that. But once turn one began, the teaching stopped.

I am not going to give you a blow-by-blow of this game here today because, well it was a comedy of tactical errors on his part that lead to him being wiped off the board by turn 4. I did, in the interest of sportsmanship and being a nice guy, feed him a few units to murder and feel good about, but this game was never in any question.

The real news here is that the other top players in the tournament (the 2-0 players) all tied in their games. Two of the guys, Mike and Greg, Played each other and it ended in a tie and David, my friendly rival, managed to tie a game to one of the new guys. So at the end of the day, your good 'ol friend EvilEd209 was sitting on the top of the pile at 3-0 with 3000 Victory Points. Next week I got challenged by Greg, on of our better players, so I will not be newbie bashing next week. But, if I did the math right, if I manage to beat Greg and finish week 4 at 4-0, there is no way I can not place in the week 5 finale.

Thanks to Sam for a fun game that was mostly just for laughs. Sam said that he wanted to see how good I really was and why everyone up there speaks my name with fear. Why does everyone call me Evil in the first place. Well Sam, now you know. In a couple of weeks the tournament will be over and I will let Sam beat up on me and maybe earn some of that back. As long as no money is involved, I don't care about losing.

DLT: The Soul Drinkers

The boys over at Dice Like Thunder (www.dicelikethunder.com) are at it again and are adding some more fun, fan generated material to help make your 40K experience just a bit more interesting. This time around is "Loyal Traitors", A Soul Drinkers Codex. Well Codex in part. This Home Brew Codex basically allows you to take selections from Codex: Chaos Space Marines and Codex: Space Marines, having the special characters and special rules located in the the "Loyal Traitors"

The Fan-Dex is really a lot of fun and there was a great amount of effort put into this 'dex to make it feel right for the Soul drinkers. Rich and Dan should be commended for their work. It is something that my local gaming club will be play-testing soon. I highly recommend it.

You can check it out here on the Dice Like Thunder website:


http://www.dicelikethunder.com/files/DLTSoulDrinkers.pdf

"This Week in 40K Podcasting" is Moving!

Well, it is official folks and I can now talk about it. The very popular and sometimes controversial segment of "This Week in 40K Podcasting" is getting a new home. Starting this coming Saturday, July 31th, 2010, and each and every Saturday there after "This Week in 40K Podcasting" will be posted on the very popular blog site From The Warp (http://www.fromthewarp.blogspot.com/). I am very excited about the move, as it represents a really big opportunity for me to get the word out and have a much larger audience to hear my thoughts. Not to mention that Ron is giving me such a huge signing bonus! Wait, that was a joke... oh man!

But seriously, the segment will remain the same, just be posted to a different site. My blog will still be here and I will still post to it often. It is just this segment that is moving.

"This Week in 40K Podcasting" really has grown to mean a lot to me in the short time I have been doing it. It really is the first thing I have done in the 40K community that I feel is actually contributing to the advancement and betterment of the hobby. It is something that is completely original and something that no body out there is currently doing. I'm proud of that.

I have a few folks I'd like to thanks for all of this. First, and of course I want to that Ron, the owner of From the Warp for finding me and believing that this little weekly article was worth it to put on his blog. Second, I want to thank all of the 40K podcasters! I mean really guys, you do a good thing for the community, you entertain us, education us, and make us realize that 40K gamers are everywhere! Your podcast have opened our eyes to a much larger and greater 40K Universe. Thank You! I would also like to thanks Bill and Jay over at the podcast Gamers Lounge. I was inspired to start this blog by listening to there show and I want to give credit where credit is due. And I want to thank fellow blogger Big Jim (http://galaxyinflames.blogspot.com/) for telling me all about From the Warp on an episode of Gamers Lounge. He gave me the idea to sign up with them and look where it got me. A Weekly Article with them. Thanks Jim!

So, I will have an introduction article go up on FTW sometime this week and the this Saturday, I'm so excited, will be my first big post. Watch for it guys.

And thank you!

This Week in 40K Podcasting – 7/17 – 7/23

This Week in 40K Podcasting – 7/17 – 7/23

So here we have yet another installment of This Week in 40K Podcast for the week that was, July 17th-23rd, 2010. This has quickly become my favorite this to write during the week. Something that was mention to me via email was that some of these podcast do have some harsh, adult language. So, please be advised, listen to these casts before you let your kids hear them! I have marked the podcasts with adult language Explicit.

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Dice Like Thunder Episode 95 – Rating 4/5 **Explicit Language**

You’re home for all things AWESOME started off by poking some fun at yours truly! That’s right, the ‘ol EvilEd209 got mentioned less the 30 seconds into the first segment. I am a good humored and sensible person, and I love the guys and the show. And starting a weekly article that rates 40K Podcasts I realize is opening myself up for some pokes. So thanks guys for being the first to poke me… I mean.. um… you know I what I mean.

But to be clear for the readers, I am a war gamer and enjoy all of the games that DLT mentioned, however this segment is entitled this week in 40K podcasting, focusing on the 40K part, and the points they lost last episode were for the non-40K game talk. I have to admit, that each time you guys would mention Fantasy, I would smile! I felt like the star of the first segment. Thanks Guys! Don’t change a thing!

They went on to name the winner, David, of the Horus Hersey Board Game “Theme Song” contest, of which I am eternally jealous of and wish I had some musical talent, but I don’t. They moved on by mentioning a new London based 40K Based podcast, the Overloads (www.theoverlords.co.uk) which is gaining some attention. I will be adding them to my listening list and will critic as needed. In fact I missed them last week and will be adding them to this week’s segment to make up for it, sorry guys! They made mention of some of the home-brewed material that DLT has put out there for the fans. If you have not had the chance, check it out, they are worth it. I recommend the missions book, which I use on a regular basis. They also dropped a mention of Rankings HQ (www.rankingsHQ.com), for tournament players. I have not attended a tournament yet that has used it, but the season is still early.

Next up was a discussion on “Why 5th Edition is Not Awesome”. They discussed older codices being used in the new rule set, not all of the 5th edition codices being balanced with each other (hello Tyranid Codex), laughable FAQs and some of the standard arguments of no models for units with rules in the codex. Lastly they go over the craziness of the Blood Angels FAQ.

The second segment is the real jewel of this episode, an in-depth overview of the Assault Phase, continuing with their tips and tactics of the game as a whole. As a Tyranid player, this segment got a least three re-listens as the boys went over all of the nooks and crannies of the Assault Phase. They give you a ton of tips on how to dominate in the Assault Phase, or how not to be dominated, and what to watch out for. Very well worth it! They seem to subscribe to the same theory I do, if I roll a bucket of dice at you, even if you go before me, I still win! They even give the tactics of why NOT to shoot before you assault. They end it out with a list of great Assault units and how to use them. They are starting some threads over on their forum about great and horrible Assault units. Feel free to chime in; I know my 10 point homagaunts (Adrenal Glands and Toxic Sacs) will be getting a vote.

The last segment closed out with some shout outs, some other podcasts that hit on non-40K related material, and an Under Rated (no Over Rated this week) of Abaddon. The man is a god, deal with it. There is no rating for him! They reminded us of the “Name My Army” contest for Dave, dave@dicelikethunder.com. Contest will run until the first week in August. And of course took one more jab at me before show’s end… making me smile.

Overall, a great podcast that ‘happened’ to mention me and the blog as a running gag! You would have gotten the 4 rating even with out it guys, great job, but thanks again and I hope I was fun to mess with!

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The 11th Company Episode 26 – Rating 3.5/5

The Myrtle Beach Wild Bunch started off their podcast with a conversation on Tournaments, Comp systems, and house rules is reference to fixing the broken things in 40K. One of the things I liked about this segment is why it is in Tournament Play there is a “By The Book” feel to the rules, and that House Rules, Fixes, or FAQs are not permitted. I really do believe that it is possible to have the 40K community at large help to fix the broken or older codices to get them back to the competitive level, and they hit on this a lot. Personally I’d like to see Neil’s fixes for my beloved Necrons and see if they had play-tested it.

Next, they moved on to Pat’s Corner where he had an interview with Mike Collins, a member of Team Wales in the ETC. They talked about what armies the Wales Team will be bringing and their basic strategies. I think it is interesting that two teams in the ETC are bringing Necrons, with monolith spam of course. I also think it is interesting how the Europeans seem to feel that the United States might not be prepared for this tournament, and that they will not do well their first time out. And that they were building lists as if they were under some sort of comp system, and bringing weaker lists. I strongly disagree. With the team that we have assembled, I am sorry Europe, but these guys are going to do well and will bloody you’re noses. If they are not in the top 5 teams, I’ll be strongly surprised. I loved this interview because it got me all worked up over the ETC and I wish I could attend. I feel like a World Cup fan now! USA, USA, USA!

The next segment was a short unit highlight of the Termagant from the Tyranid Codex. Personally, I can not have a Termagant without a Tervigon, and they agreed, so to look at the unit alone is not a fair comparison. As I have noted in my review of the Codex, they are many synergies that make this codex work, and the Tervigon/Termagant combo is a must for my armies at least. Overall a good review!

The next segment was an interview with James Hakola, the owner of mrdandy.com and wargamma.com, websites dedicated to alternative models for 40K and other modeling needs. Both are great sites to find models that GW has not gotten around to making just yet. James gives a brief history of his model making career and how he got to where he is now. It was an interesting interview and gave out some good information on the “Battle Wolves”, an alterative model for Thunderwolves, where there is a great need for now. He also does “Drop Pods” for space aliens. Good looking model too! He finished up with the process of how the models are made.

The last segment is the first part of a two part Codex Countdown: Orks. The first thing I will say about this segment is that I did not care for the fact that it was broken up into two segments. I know, I know, I understand the argument that people put up there for short podcast vs. long podcasts. There are two kinds of podcast listeners, the ones who have the time to listen to a 4-Hour Megasode, and those who don’t. That some people like to burn podcasts to CD and listen to them in the car and 4-Hour episodes can not be done unless you edit them yourselves. But I do not have that problem and most people I know in the podcast community do not either. Most listeners have iPhones, or MP3 players that can handle a 4-Hour long podcast without any difficulty. So overall I was not happy to learn that this segment was being broken up into two pieces.

However, on with the review as is. I happen to be one of the people that believes that the Orks still or a top tier army and it was as if Neil had read my mind as he started the segment. Again, while some people might not agree with how the gang feels Orks are most effective, I happen to be an 11th Company believer. Long before I heard of this podcast, I was advising my Ork playing friends to play them basically just like they tell in this segment. And damn me for doing so, because hoard on hoard, Orks beat Tyranids.

Overall, it was another good podcast from the 11th Company. That broken up Ork segment has left a bad taste in my mouth but other then that a great cast. I am one of those people who loved 40K Radio’s Codex Overview segments and those were broken up over several shows, so I guess I can get used to this if this is their new format. We will see.

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Imperial Vox Cast Episode 30 – Rating 3.5 /5 **Explicit Language**

Your light in the darkness of the Warp, this week the Bill, Tor, and Dawson do another one of their “Versus” podcast, Daemons vs. Space Wolves. They open up the show with their hobby and gaming talk for the last few weeks. They play-tested their 1,000 point tournament lists, and tried out the missions to tweak their armies based on the results. There is some real good Space Wolf tactical discussion in this section, so keep your ears pealed for it. This is usually my favorite part of their podcast, as you can tell these guys are hard tournament players and play each other just as hard at all times. Some of the best gems of the podcast can be found in the opening 30-minutes of the cast. This was no exception.

They move on to the next segment and the main portion of the show where they build one army to face another, in this case Chaos Daemons vs Space Wolves. Now, I would first like to say that I do not build my armies to beat any one other army; I usually build all-comers lists, tournament style, and so do most of the people I play with. So these podcasts where they take two armies and face them off and build lists to fight just each other I really do not care for. And the reason for this is: who build their armies that way, seriously? While these segments are loaded full of great tactics, and will give you a good overview of both armies, they are tactics for a very limited range vs such-and-such an army, and overall very narrow in their vision of other armies.

The guys do go into a great level of detail on both armies and if you play these armies I highly, highly recommend it. They have some great tips on what to build, how to build it and what upgrades to give each unit. Of course, if you see these armies at your local game store, I would also highly recommend that you take a listen just to get an overview of some of the big time units of each army and what you might see on the table. They even go as far to have a partnership with my man Phil Johnson (www.thebrokenforge.com) and have links to his retail site where you can buy the discussed armies at a discount. A very cool option!

So, while these “Versus” podcasts are my least favorite from an otherwise outstanding podcast, this one was still pretty good and earned a pretty high rating for me. The content on this podcast, even though on a subject that I do not agree with, is so outstanding that it makes up for my dislike of the segment. I play against both armies regularly and it was good to hear some of the things that I could be seeing in my next tournament.

They finish out the show with a great piece on Tactics vs. Strategy, and how your tactics should never supersede you strategies for victory. A really great piece and well worth the listen.

Good job guys, looking forward to your next podcast.

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The Independent Characters Episode 8 Rating 2.5/5 **Explicit Language**

Carl and Geoff start off by saying that this week’s show really didn’t have much of a theme or structure, which is always something that makes me cringe to start off a podcast. They move on to what they have accomplished in the hobby in the last two weeks. They do go over some good hobby stuff on the GW washes, which I have used, use now religiously, and absolutely love. They do give you some pretty good painting tips, but I have always had an issue with painting tips by audio only. I really think these guys should put together a few YouTube videos on painting. They did go on to a few battle reports, starting off with Geoff’s Drop Pod Salamander’s list. They took the approach where Geoff talked about his hobby stuff then his battle and then Carl talked about his hobby stuff and then battles.

I think it would be better if the both talked hobby, and then they both talked battle reports. It would be more streamlined. That being said, Carl’s recalling of games that happened two weeks ago was poor, and ended up with of lot of “I’m sorry, I don’t even remember the result of the game, let alone what units my opponents used, but here is what I remember.” I can understand not being about to remember ever detail of a game, heck I have played so many that I can’t recall a vast majority of the games I have played. But I’d never use these games as ‘content’ for my podcast. If you intend to do a battle report on your blog or in your podcast, take notes! I do!

The next segment had two special guests, “Blitz” and “The Professor” hosts of the Battlezone Podcast (http://thebattlezone.libsyn.com/) who attended a gamer-get-together tournament with the crew and friends of the Independent Characters. They go in detail on the “Escalation” style tournament that they had just completed and the scenarios that they ran. The tournament sounded like fun and it gave me a few ideas on what to run next at my LGS tournament. The whole segment was basically one big battle report with some interesting conversation.

The last segment was basically what they hoped to accomplish in the next two weeks of hobby time. This is mostly regular stuff and nothing too exciting. They finished off the show with a review of their “Deep Strike” event, a gathering of 40K gamers. A really cool idea of getting together with the local gamer who they did not know and just hang out and talk 40K. Their review was all to brief for my liking and I wish they would have gone into much more detail. They also recapped their little mini-tournament one last time, and some other projects they had in mind. They posed the question if they should be 40K game only content or 40K universe. My vote… 40K Only Guys!

Overall a content light show, it was ok, but not their best work.

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The Overlords Episode 4 – Rating 1.5/5

Okay, for starters I owe these guys an apology as their podcast was out last week and should have been reviewed in last week’s segment, but I just missed it. Sorry guys! Now, fair warning, these guys are in London so it will take you a few listen to get used to the accent if you’ve not heard it in 40K before. But it is worth it to get used to it.

Steve and Paul had a special guest in studio (or in the garden for this show) Annie on their show this week. And as we all know a female gamer is as rare as an albino unicorn, and thus, super hot! Mix in that British accent and, well, she worth a listen to at least!

They start off the show with some brief news, the guys have started a Twitter Account for the show, and so all interested parties should sign up. They posted their local gaming club’s rules on their site and they are available for download. They move on to some brief Fantasy news, which I could have done without. But they did not get into the game at all, just the templates and dice which or out which could be used for 40K. So no foul. They go on to some Forgeworld and Black Library releases, and the dry rumor mills. Everyone is waiting for Dark Eldar to be officially announced far as I am concerned. They do move on to a good topic about how GW waits until the last minute to announce their new model and army releases, while other companies have that as public knowledge well in advance. I happen to agree with the boys on this one and that GW really is running their release schedule a little too tight to the vest. They move on to a mail bag section and the first email they hit on was about their previous podcast’s sound quality. I couldn’t agree more. I know that they are just getting started so I usually cut some slack for the new guys on sound and content. That being said, I think they did a good job this week sound-wise and maybe they should tape in the garden more often!

They move on to the next segment where they talk about bringing new players to the game, and the “Fluff” or story player of 40K vs. the modeler or builder bring the player into the game. They interview Annie, an Eldar player, about how she got back into the game of 40K. She moves on to tell us why she chose Eldar over any other army in the 40K universe. The conversation moves on to their prep work for what sounded like an escalation league at their local Games Workshop store (I’m jealous BTW). They guys sound like they really have not delved into the competitive end of 40K too much, which they are aware of, and are worried about getting spanked in the league.

They move on to their last segment, the “flavors” of 40K, straight up rulebook 40K, Planetstrike, Apocalypse, Cities of Death, Spearhead and Battle Missions, or the expansion games to the base 40K. They go over their experience playing Apocalypse style games and how there has to be a lot of prep work done in order to make the game enjoyable. They mention their light contact with Cities of Death games, and how it changes the game mechanics back in 4th edition Cities of Death have made it into the 5th Edition game with line of sight and cover saves being as abundant as they are. They move on to some of the “Fluff” games that they had set up and some of the weird and fun games they had made up to play.

Overall, this show was really, really light on content. I know these guys are just getting started and are nervous when the mic gets turned on, so I am willing to see where the podcast goes. If I could offer up some advice to the hosts of the show:

“Your podcast has a great start, but you need to give us, the listeners, more reasons to want to listen to you each episode. Interviewing your buddies is okay, but how about going deeper into their armies, tactics, strategies, and fluff behind their army. You need to offer something that we want to hear. What makes a good podcast is doing something different, be original, give me some reason not to listen to something else. I wish you the best of luck!”

So, that is it for This Week in 40K podcasting.

Got a podcast all about 40K, or mostly 40K that I am not listening to? Let me know. I'll be happy to add you to my listening schedule! Disagree with my rating? Post comments for that too!

Don't Be That Guy: The 40K Coach

Okay, so we can all admit it. You've done it and you know you have! You've walked by a game going on at your local game store or gaming club and seen a player who clearly needed just a little bit of help in their game. Maybe that player is new to the game, or just inexperienced, or playing against one of the better player in your area and is grossly over matched. And as an experienced player, and the friendly guy/gal that you are you offer up a quick tip. You actually open you mouth and give just a bit of advice on that game that you have nothing to do with.

"Hey, you know if you move here, he'll have to run through area terrain to get to you and you'll attack first in combat." Or, "if you shoot this instead of that, it would help you do this." It is usually just a quick nugget of knowledge that really will not change the game in any way, and his opponent really could care less because they know they have the win secured. But you helped out a fellow gamer and expanded his/her knowledge of the game just a bit more. You feel good about it, you helped someone.

But there is a time, a place, and a time limit on such interventions to a game. If the game is just a pick-up game and has no real meaning to either player, most players are open to a little advice. Heck, if his opponent is a veteran and crushing the guy anyway, a little advice to the new guy to make the game a bit more of a challenge might even be a welcomed intervention. Because how much fun could it be to beat down a guy who barley knows how to play the game. Now, of course if your "advice" turns into you playing the guys army for him, well this could be an unwelcome "butting in" on your part, and really rude to both players.

I have done coaching games myself. These games are usually for the new guys, to help him with just the bare bone basics of the game. What do you roll to hit? How many dice? What do you roll to wound. Things like that. But in this game, the opponent is fully aware that I will be there to help out the new guy (and he knows to lose), and usually my advice during the game trickles off as the game goes on so that the player can learn on their own. But these are special cases, in most games coaching can be an unwelcome interruption.

However in League, Campaign, and certainly tournament games this is a HUGE faux-Pas and in some case can be considered cheating! I recently posted an article recanting the tale of my second week mini-tournament win over my friend Andrew. The part I left out was his brother, David. David is a much better player then his brother, and David and I have a bit of a friendly rivalry going. So when he found out that Andrew and I were slated to go head-to-head that day, David was right there to over see the game. He helped Andrew with his deployment, and some of the moves he made. But at one point, David began whispering to his brother plans for the next turn. Foul!

Now I know, it is just a small, $50 in store credit prize on the line, but this was a tournament game. And coaching is real close to cheating as far as I am concerned in this situation. So when the whispering started, I in my best joking tone, was like "Hey, how many guys am I playing here?" David got the hint and backed away from the table and allowed the game to finish without further interruption. David, of course, does not want to see me in the finals as he has only beaten me once in tournament play. So I am sure he was hooping his brother could steal a win and knock me out of contention. Or maybe he was just trying to help his brother out, offering friendly advice to a weaker player. Either way, this was not the time nor the place to coach a player. David got the point that I did not appreciate his intervention in a tournament game.

The point of this story is, we all want to help, and that is okay. Some of us are just better at the game then others and feel our experience can help bring those player up a level or two. But make sure it is okay with both player to offer up that help. And in tournament play, back away from the table and keep your advice to yourself! Let the two people playing the game determine the outcome. Lets face it, we are all there for fun, but there is money and prizes on the line. I had a similar experience at 'Ard Boyz this year, where the eventual winner of that day had approached my table and started a conversation with his buddy, my opponent, during the game. At first it was innocent, but as soon as the conversation turned to the game at hand I stopped it cold. I did not know the guys, so I did not know if my joking tone would work. So I was firm but fair, "Hey man, I know he's your friend and all, but we are playing in a tournament and coaching at the table could be considered cheating. Why don't you watch the game from over there, and your friend can tell you how it turned out." He got the point and I won my game without his interference.

So, lesson of the day, advice if fine in a friendly game but try to refrain from butting your nose in where it is not wanted, or for too long. And in case you didn't know, tournaments are always off limits!

When dealing with the 40K Coach, simply point out that you are playing your opponent, not him, and that coaching could be considered cheating. Most players do not like the idea of being called a cheat and will back off. I hate to use that dreaded C word, but it is what it is. And surprisingly, most people are afraid to use that word too. Not me.

40K Battle Report - 1000 Points Tyranid Swarm vs. Space Wolves

So, on to week two of the 4 week mini-tournament at my local game store. This week the swarm met with a rather broken Space Wolves army. My opponent, Andrew, had some rather bad luck in the previous week and lost one of his two Vindicators for the game which he subbed in a Grey Hunters squad for, one unit of Grey Hunters did not come on the table until turn 2 and one did not come on until turn 3. His army consisted of three units of Grey Hunters with two meltas and a Powerfist, a Dreadnought with Autocannons and heavy bolter, one Vindicator, and his HQ with the Grey Hunter Squad on the table, which was a named character I can not remember at his time, and means very little to this report. I ran my stock list, A Tervigon HQ, two, 30-man termagant squads, a 30-man Hormagaunt squad, a unit of Hive Guard, a Unit of Zoanthropes, and sitting n for the second Hive Guard squad, I went to the side bar and pulled a Gargoyle squad. We rolled Seize Ground with 5 objective with a Pitch Battle Deployment. We did a good job of scattering the objective all over the board (a mistake from my opponent) and I set up first.

With so many models I really was able to setup so that every unit in my army would get a cover save as they advanced, which turned out to be a key to the game, and was holding 3 objective to start the game to his one. He boxed up the units he deployed and put the Vindy, Dread, Grey Hunters and HQ in cover in one corner of the board, the furthest away from most of the objectives I might add. He stole first turn and his tactics went right out the window. I thought he was going to run a Marine gun-line on me and make me come to him through a hail of bullets. However on turn one he moved the Vindicator out of cover to take a pot shot at some gaunts (allowing it to be in charge range of my Gargoyles who had adrenal glands) which only manged to kill two thanks to cover, moved his HQ squad out of cover to move toward the closest objective, and moved and shot with the dread, killing a handful of Gargoyles.

My turn one consisted of a lot of maneuvering to control objectives, as I knew I'd have an easier time holding objective with that many scoring units on the table and his three total. I also moved the hormagaunts into cover but within charge range for turn two on his HQ squad, Tervigon spitting out more gaunts, and charging the naked vindicator with Gargoyles and blowing off the main gun. A huge victory for me. I figured the gargoyle for dead anyway, so to take out one of the two major threats on the board to my army on turn one was sweet.

His turn two was alright, he walked on the other Grey Hunter squad but was too far out of range to do anything with them. He moved the Vindicator in order to wipe out the gargoyle and had some really bad dice rolls that managed to leave three of them still alive. His HQ Squad hunkered down on the objective and rapid fired into the Hormagaunts, killing only 4 thanks to cover saves and Feel No Pain from the Tervigon. 75% save ratio is awesome! And the dreadnaught moved closer to my gaunts which were on an objective and backed up by the Zoanthropes. Huh? My thoughts exactly!

My turn two was brutal. Zoeys stunned the dread, Trevigon pooped more which were left behind to hold an objective, and used Catalyst on the hormagaunts, 30-man squad was left behind to hold another in cover, and the gargoyles turned to shoot and assault the HQ squad. Hive Guard were still out of position to do anything and just ran. On the assault, I cleared out all but the HQ and a melta from the squad holding his lone objective by charging with two dozen angry hormagaunts. By the end of turn two I was holding four objectives and contesting one, his HQ squad was on the verge of dying, and he was pretty much out of the game.

There was some clean up on turn three, his HQ squad bit the dust, his last Grey Hunter squad in reserve moved in too close to the hormagaunts (foolish), his out of range Hunters moved and shot the termagants holding an objective in cover to no avail, and dread just sat there drooling. My turn three the horagaunts assaulted the new Hunters and won combat, Hive Guard cleared out the dread, Zoeys dropped AP3 small blast templates on ten marines, killing 7, they broke, and my now 4 gaunt squads were holding 4 objectives soundly.

At this point, Andrew had gone through enough and wanted to forfeit the game. However, by the rules of the tournament, if he chose to do so he would yield to me all 1000 victory points and have to roll to see if all of his units would come back in for the next game. He figured the game for a total loss anyway and gave it up. His dice were kind and only one unit of Grey Hunter will not be back next week, which he would have switch out for the now repaired vindicator anyway.

So, in review, again I could not be happier with my performance. I took my 5-year old son along with me this week as these are short games and we are limited to one per week. All I can say is watch out Vegas! This kid can roll some dice, and did a good job for Daddy rolling to wound.

Standings: 2 - 0 with 2000 VP, sitting in first. Now, three other people are at 2 - 0 right now so I suspect I'll be playing one of them next week. I'll keep you posted!

To be Judged...This Week in 40K Podcasting

So I received a massive response to my new weekly segment, "This Week in 40K Podcasting". It is, by far, the largest response this blog has ever received so far. By the large amount of traffic to the site, emails, hate mail, and mentions on podcasts, I think I am on to something. I am truly and greatly appreciative of all of you! Thank You so much for making this a success!

It is the first thing I have done in which I feel I can really contribute to the 40K community, something that no one else is currently doing. I love 40K podcasts, I listen to all of them and often more then once. I am not only passionate about them, but knowledgeable as well. I am a big fan of all of you and I wanted to show my gratitude for what you have done for us, the fans. I really feel like I am on to something with this segment and I am looking forward to where this could go.

The number one question I received this weekend from podcast hosts, fans of the site, family, friends, that creepy neighbor of mine, was "How are you judging these Podcasts and what is the criteria you are looking for?" So I felt that I should give you exactly what I am looking for an what tips the scales from a 3 to say a 5 podcast for the week. Clear the air, shall we say. I consider a 3.0 to be an average score, and a 5.0 to be the greatest podcast I have ever heard, and a 0.5 to be the single largest waste of my time in the history of my life. So a rating of 3.5 or 4.0 is not bad, it is good, really good in fact.

First, a weekly rating IS NOT a judgment on the podcast as a whole. It is a judgment of that individual podcast. Not everyone brings their A game each podcast, heck, even Star trek had some real crappy episodes. So do not view a week's review as an overall judgment of the cast, crew, or quality of the podcast as a whole. It is just that, a critic of that week or installment.

1) 40K is the Key ) I know that this is hard to believe, but a lot of podcasts out there billing themselves as 40K podcasts, delve into heresy by discussing other games! I know, it shocks me too. In all seriousness through, I am a gamer. 40K is not my only game. I play the F word, shh.... fantasy, and Firestorm Armada, and Dungeons and Dragons (although we converted to Pathfinder almost a year ago), and I used to play Battletech, and a whole mess of other games I am ashamed to mention on this blog. My point being, as a gamer, I love that the other games like Flames of War, and War Machine, or whatever get mentions on 40K Podcasts. But I am taking it purely from a 40K stand point. If I were looking for 40K content, how does this podcast measure up? How relevant was the materiel this week to the game of Warhammer 40,000? If you go into a 30 minute discussion on Fantasy, or Flames of War, I will enjoy it, but it's not 40K. And there for not relevant to "This Week in 40K Podcasting"

2) Content) - What does your show bring to the table this week? Does your show have a direction? A theme, segments that make sense and have something to give the listener? Do you do battle reports, overview of Codices, tactics, strategies, rumors or news? Or does your podcast sound like the average discussion around the table at any local game store or gaming club? Anybody can do a 40K podcast, and I mean it, anybody. A $3 mic and free audio software with a site to host you and you're off. Its basically that simple. But not everybody can be entertaining, can give the listener something worth the download. In the real restate world it is all about location. In podcasts, it is all about content. If your podcast is 3 hours long but is just you a your buddies talking 40K with no real direction and a collection of random thoughts, broken themes, and inside jokes, well, it has no content, despite its size. But if you have something prepared, a direction, and provide a service and entertainment to the listener, then you're golden. Content is a big factor in my scoring. 40K Content that is.

3) Audio Quality) I realize that not everyone out there has the disposable income to have a full blown recording studio in their basement dedicated to their podcast. But like it or not, audio quality is the number one factor in anything you listen too. The podcast could have the best content, amazing tactics, the cure for the common tournament loss, but if you can't hear it, or it is edited poorly with a bunch of garbled or weak voices, well, then it sucks! A few podcasts out there use the one open mic method of podcasting, which I understand, but will in the end produce a low quality product. Voices that are too far away from the mic to hear or a ton of background noise that makes it hard to listen to. Or some folks use Scype to have host come in from somewhere else. Sometimes this works, sometimes it is a horrible mistake. Point being, if you sound professional, you get professional. If you sound hobby, then you get hobby. Nothing personal, but if i have to play it back three or even four time to hear what was said... then it will get a low rating.

4) Other) This is my Wow factor. Did the podcast blow me away? Did they bring something I have never heard before or do something out there that no one else is doing? If so, they get credit for it. If not, no harm no foul. This is where the 5.0 ratings will come from.

That is about it. My goal is not to offend any of the podcasts or the hosts. I want to make friends with each and every one of you who step in front of a mic and put yourself out there, not make enemies. They are all taking brave steps to put their voices out there for our entertainment, asking nothing in return (well, almost all of them are asking for nothing). I applaud them all. I am a fanboy of each and every one of you! I would love to hang out with you, roll some dice, drink some beer, have some fun. To the Dick Like Thunder Crew, I'll be at Adepticon this and every year hence forth, I'd love to play you, hang out, be on the cast, chill at the bunker. I'd be honored to have Rich beat me down like I stole something from him! To the Independent Characters, I wish I had known about you like three weeks earlier then I did, because I was in San Fransisco and would have loved to hang out. To the 11th Company, I am planing next year's family vacation specifically to Myrtle Beach so that I can see you guys and girls!

To all of you, you are are all aces in my book. Please do not take a weekly podcast review as a judgment on you personally or professionally. Take it for what it is, a fun little segment to let the rest of the web know about you and the great work you are doing. And if you had a crappy show this week, and let's face it if you did, you already know it.

So here to to them all, I hope you all keep doing what your doing and entertaining us!

This Week in 40K Podcasting - 7/10 - 7/16

So here is the week that was in the 40K Podcasting web-o-sphere for July 10th - 16th, 2010


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11th Company Episode 25 - Rating : 4/5

The Myrtle Beach Wild Bunch released a gem of a podcast for their Episode 25 this week. They open up the show with an interview with Nick Rose, AKA Darkwynn from Bell of Lost Souls, and the founder of the dreaded 'Leafblower' Imperial Guard power list. Nick is wanted in 23 States for murdering all other power lists in their local gaming areas, so this interview must have been hard to lock down, with Nick on the run now. The interview was great, save for the guys in the background that kept playing the 'Imperial March' song every time Nick spoke about his IG list. Nick is part of Team America who will be playing IG in the upcoming ETC, European Team Championship. I am not sure what the foliage will be like in Gremany in August, but I hope the leaves in Germany are ready for Nick's Leafblower, because I suspect a lot of bare trees will be in Nick's wake!!! Good luck man!

The gang then moves on to the real star of this episode, a one hour discussion of all of the 'gray area' rules in the 40K Rulebook. I found this to be the most interesting part of the podcast. It was really cool to hear how other players rule on those weird rules or situations that occur from time to time in 40K. This segment is worth at least two listens to get everything and commit it to memory! Awesome Job Guys.

They close the show with a followup interview with the Tournament Organizer (TO) of the Nova Open, Mike Brandt. They go over some rulings on their FAQ, as they will not be using the INAT FAQ from the boys over at Adepticon. It was a good interview an worth a listening, but since I can not make it to the Nova open this year (although next year looks doable) I was not nearly as interested. So, if you're planing to attend the Nove Open 2010, worth listening to.

Overall, I am a huge fan of the 11th Company Podcast. It is just the kind of Tactically minded podcast that gets my 40K juices flowing!


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Dice Like Thunder Episode 94 - Rating 3.5/5

Your home for all things AWESOME! Started off their show with complaints about the release of 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy in their Mecca of the Chicago Battle Bunker. And then move on to the release of the 8th Edition FAQs and how they were released with the new rulebook. Yawn. They managed to save the segment by making a big push for open play-testing of all GW games to try to break it before you release it with codices and the rulebook. Exactly how I feel there GW! I'd love to be a public play-tester!

They move on to the Rumor Mill and talk about the upcoming Dark Eldar coming in October and Gray Knights in December with Necrons possibly in March. Then on to an article released on BolS about the Hyper-Build 40K Armies, hearkening back to the 4th Edition min-max days of to min troops and all hammer units. They move on to a conversation about the big guys over at BOLS writing articles about and how SPAMing units is not fun. I find it interesting that the guys responsible for the SPAM lists out there are now trying to tell people, yeah, this will win but it is not fun to play against. Well then don't tell people how do to it! I complained about it, see a previous post for my rant.

They also do a brief Overrated and Under Rated and a Review of a new Black Library Book, "Way of the Warrior". They then move on to the real meat of this episode, the Second Segment is an in-depth look at the Shooting Phase of the game. A lot of great advice and tactics to be found here. Listen to it three times, totally worth it!

The third segment started off with a "Pimp my List" for a Tau army out of Japan. So good insight into an army screaming for a new codex. Maybe Next year Tau!

***Contest Alert*** Pick My New Army

Pitch a new army to Dave of DLT, send him a pitch for a new army to start and win a free blister and a DLT T-Shirt. Rules are non-Imperial army. You all know me, I am pitching Tyranids! Deadline will be for a Month from Contest Announcement.

Dave@DiceLikeThunder.com or Go To there Forums Under the Contests Section

Another Good Episode for the DLT Crew!


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The Gamers Lounge Episode 11 - Rating 3.5/5

The Gamers Lounge this week Featured Big Jim as a Special Co-Host (who, insistently had better sound quality then the hosts) from the Blog-O-Sphere. My first impressions of this cast was to turn the volume down as the sound quality was pretty poor. A warning to those listening. That being said Big Jim was pretty engaging and worth listening to.

Fair warning that there is some Non-40K related topics discussed which is why it gets the rating that I gave it. Winner was announced for the Malifaux contest, one in which I did not get the chance to submit to and now I am damned disappointed in myself for.

The main subject for this week's Podcast is fan generated material for your game (We'll go with 40K for our purposes). They go over some good sites to find fan generated material, hitting our friends over at DLT, and some of the Bell of Lost Souls material. They also hit on the fan Generated FAQs like the INAT FAQ and why the fans must generate FAQs for a game they company created.

They then moved on to fan generated Codices and Army Books, and how 40K Players have a huge dislike for fan generated Codices in tournament play but in Fantasy the Chaos Dwarves is a fan generated Army Book that is accepted in tournament play.

The last section was one that I really enjoined, as they interviewed Big Jim and why he started his blog (http://galaxyinflames.blogspot.com/). It was as if I was listening to myself, really. Why he started his blog, how frustrated he was with the net forums and getting no usable responses or flamed. He even gave me the idea to join From the Warp and get the blog's name out there.

Over all the guys put on a good show, and it was really fascinating to hear from Big Jim. When listening to the show, know that it is not a fully dedicated 40K Podcast, but it is still worth the listen.

They do mention that the host will be going into summer sessions and the both Bil and Jay will be preoccupied during this time. However, they have pre-recorded some shows that are in the can and will be released during this down time.

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40K Radio - Episode 001 Rating 3/5

So 40K Radio made it's return to the podcast airwaves this week. This new iteration of 40K Radio proclaimed itself to be a high quality, new formatted and structured podcast with a new feel and new attitude. However, the very first thing I want to say is that the quality of the audio was not what we have come to expect from 40K Radio. If nothing else, Spencer knew how to put on a high quality sounding podcast (even if the content was garbage at times), maybe they should have taken some advice from him before releasing this. Not only were the mics off a bit, but at one point Romeo was talking and scype was cutting in and out and you couldn't hear him. Glad this was just the run through and I hope they iron out they issues before August when the show is supposed to start up for real.

This first episode wasn't really an episode much at all. It was basically an introduction to the new crew. George Miller in Flordia and Rick in Arizona (Battlefoam employee) with a floating third seat at this point, today filled by Romeo from, you guessed it, Battlefoam. It sounds like they are going to run this podcast via scype, with Rick dialing in from Arizona and not being directly in-studio in Flordia with George. This has a real impersonal feel to tell you the truth and the biggest change to the show's format. It feels weird to me to have a guy in one room and another guy 2500 miles away in another room talking and calling it a podcast. One of the things the the old 40K Radio got right was the three person, in the same room format. You always felt like you were right there in the room with Spencer, Scott, and Phil or Chipley. This feels a little artificial too me. The scype issues make it worse.

Overall, the show was okay. Nothing spectacular as it was a trial run with some audio quality issues and scype issues. Most of it was a tribute to the old podcast and an infomercial on how the show is going to be run and what content they are going to hit on. The new shows will release on the 1st and 15th of every month. They mentioned more then once that there would be stronger prize support and better 'Boota only content, which, if true, might make me want to buy my 'Boota membership back. They promised that if the show started to turn a profit, they would increase their prize support for their fans. They want interviews, hobby info, and everything that was 40K Radio, like the News, Codex Overviews, Hobby U and the like.

George promised to go back over some content of the previous version of 40K Radio that did not get a fair shake, and directly mention the Tyranid Codex. I am really looking forward to that. So the show did what it was supposed to do. It got me interested in the crew, excited for future episodes and looking forward to the next one. We will see if they pass or fail the internet critics.


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40K Warcasting Episode ??? - Rating 0/5

Where are you guys? It seems to happen every year to this podcast. Summer comes and 40K Warcasting shuts down, completely. I think it is a school thing for these guys by it is hard to stay a fan of a show that bills itself as a top end 40K podcast and posts nothing for months. Or weird things about the next show is being taped in May with nothing after... in July now! Get it together guys. Post something stating on break for the summer, or something like that. I love your show guys, but get it together.



Well gang, that was the week that was in 40K Podcasting.

Got a podcast about 40K that I am not listening to? Let me know. I'll be happy to add you to my listening schedule! Disagree with my rating? Post comments for that too!

The New 40K Radio Episode 1: My Review

Ok, so this will also appear on tomorrow's This Week in 40K Podcasting, but I just had to get it out there for all of you as soon as possible.

40K Radio - Episode 001 Rating 3/5

So 40K Radio made it's return to the podcast airwaves this week. This new iteration of 40K Radio proclaimed itself to be a high quality, new formatted and structured podcast with a new feel and new attitude. However, the very first thing I want to say is that the quality of the audio was not what we have come to expect from 40K Radio. If nothing else, Spencer knew how to put on a high quality sounding podcast (even if the content was garbage), maybe they should have taken some advice from him before releasing this. Not only were the mics off a bit, but at one point Romeo was talking and scype was cutting in and out and you couldn't hear him. Glad this was just the run through and I hope they iron out they issues before August when the show is supposed to start up for real.

This first episode wasn't really an episode much at all. It was basically an introduction to the new crew. George Miller in Flordia and Rick in Arizona (Battlefoam employee) with a floating third seat at this point, today filled by Romeo from, you guessed it, Battlefoam. It sounds like they are going to run this podcast via scype, with Rick dialing in from Arizona and not being directly in-studio in Flordia with George. This has a real impersonal feel to tell you the truth and the biggest change to the show's format. It feels weird to me to have a guy in one room and another guy 2500 miles away in another room talking and calling it a podcast. One of the things the the old 40K Radio got right was the three person, in the same room format. You always felt like you were right there in the room with Spencer, Scott, and Phil or Chipley. This feels a little artificial too me. The scype issues make it worse.

Overall, the show was okay. Nothing spectacular as it was a trial run with some audio quality issues and scype issues. Most of it was a tribute to the old podcast and an infomercial on how the show is going to be run and what content they are going to hit on. The new shows will release on the 1st and 15th of every month. They mentioned more then once that there would be stronger prize support and better 'Boota only content, which, if true, might make me want to buy my 'Boota membership back. They promised that if the show started to turn a profit, they would increase their prize support for their fans. They want interviews, hobby info, and everything that was 40K Radio, like the News, Codex Overviews, Hobby U and the like.

George promised to go back over some content of the previous version of 40K Radio that did not get a fair shake, and directly mention the Tyranid Codex. I am really looking forward to that. So the show did what it was supposed to do. It got me interested in the crew, excited for future episodes and looking forward to the next one. We will see if they pass or fail the internet critics.

The New 40K Radio Launches, July 15th

Official word is out! The debut of the new 40K Radio will launch on July 15th according to their website. I will be listening to that new podcast and give you a full review once it is released.

So here crossing fingers and hoping for the best! Come on George, I know you can do this!

40K Battle Report: 1000 Points - Tyranid Swarm vs. Jetbike Seer Coulcil

So I just got back from my Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) where they run regular 'small' tournaments or campaigns over the course of a few weeks, with a small but respectable prize at the end for the winner (I have won this twice since he started doing it). This week started their 1000 point Side Bar Tournament. Basically you come with your favorite 1000 point list with a 250 point side bar. If you want to use a unit in your side bar, you need to swap it out for equal or lesser point value from your base list, making sure not to go over 1000 points. Your side bar can change from week to week over the 4 Weeks of the tournament, but you base list must remain the same. If a unit is wiped out during the course of the game you roll a d6. On a 6 that unit is fine for next game. 4-5 means the unit will start in reserve, 2-3 and the unit is in reserve until at least turn 3. On a 1 the unit can not be played in the following game. A really neat idea and something different for a change.

I decided that with such low points, my Tyranid Swarm list of almost 100 model at the start of the game would be just too many wound for most lists to handle and would score me a big win in the 4th week (Usually $50 of in-store credit for a $4 entry fee, not bad). The list is pretty simple, a Tervigon for an HQ, 2 huge units of Termagants, a 30 man Hormagaunt Squad with Toxic Sacs and Glands (my hammer unit), with some Hive guard an Zoanthropes to deal with light mech. My side bar is two big units of Gargoyles and another hive guard.

My first opponent this week was a good friend of my Anthony who, in his infinite wisdom, thought that a 10 man Jetbike Seer Council list would mop up the competition. His whole army consisted of 20 models, the 10 man seer council and 2 5 man Jetbike Guardian squads. Total!

I personally do not believe in 'death star' units like the Seer Council for the simple math of their Average Points Per Model, or APPM Rating. I believe I can credit Neil and the crew over at the 11th Company for this little tactical gem. Take this game for example. Antony's APPM was 50 Pints per model, 50! So for every model I killed in this game, on average, 50 points was coming off of the table. Where as mine with the termagants the Tervigon produce was in the neighborhood of 8. 8 v 50... it was no contest.

We rolled up capture and control with Dawn of War deployment. He rolled first turn and placed his Seer council right on the 24" line. His two JetBike Guardian Squads took up positions behind the Death Star.

I set up about 19" away from the council with my hormagaunt, and placed the Tervigon and the massive gaunt squad on the objective in my deployment zone (in cover of course), to insure that I would not get charged turn one. Here my guess range was a bit better then that and it turned out to be 20". So, turn one he charges forth with the Council 12", fires into my hormagaunt squad and kills 11 of them. His guardians both fail night fight rolls and can not hit the Gaunt squad they move 12" to shoot. In the assault phase he jumps back 6" with the council and guardians, placing both at minimum of 15" away. Perfect charge range for Hormagaunts! MY TURN!

My Turn one just plain brutal. I moved forward with the hormagaunt squad, move my Hive Guard and Zoanthropes in position for them to take pot shots at the council to soften them up a bit, and the Tervigon pooped out 12 more gaunts that got placed on the objective. The second gaunt squad move forward to threaten the guardians, but were just out of range to shoot, and the one from reserves made a run at the second objective. The Hormagaunts rolled 5 on the bounding leap and were clearly in assault range, and the Hive Guard/ Zoanthropes managed to Kill 2 Warlocks with shooting. ASSAULT! I charged the Council with 19 Hormagaunts at I6 and STR4 thanks to Adrenal Glands, so I went first in combat with 57 attacks, hitting on 4s and re-rolling ones thanks to Scything talons, wounding on 4s and re-rolling wounds thanks to Toxic Sacs. All-in-all, 26 wounds were done to the Seer Council. I killed 3 more Warlocks! In their attacks back poor, Anthony rolled 6 or 7 ones to hit and only managed to do 2 wounds, which, I saved! Hell yeah! So, the council lost combat by 3, rolls their Leadership and fails, re-rolls thanks to embolden and... wait for it... FAILS! In the ensuing sweeping advance I roll a 6, he rolls a 1, bye-bye 780 point Seer Council! Turn ONE Baby! The Hormagaunts are eating raw hamburger meat as we speak for a reward.

The rest of the game was mope up. In a rage Anthony deiced to charge the hormagaunts with one guardian squad and the gaunts with another. The first squad lost three models, did three wound and remained locked. Same for the second. By his half of turn three, the guardians fighting the hornagaunts lost another and did nothing back, the gaunts killed one more, broken them and they went 17" toward the table edge with no hope of coming back. My turn three killed off the remaining guardians, and that was game.

Overall, hell, I couldn't be more pleased with my performance. I never lost a unit, tabled my opponent, and had some laughs during the game.

So, moral of the story kids, death star units may look good on paper, but never really earn their points back. And when they die, the bulk of your army goes with them. So look in to that APPM ratting of your army and see where you stack up!

1-0 with 1000 Victory points for good 'ol Edvil209 and sitting pretty in 1st place. More to come on this mini-tournament.

Spaming Spam with a side of SPAM.

So have you seen this article on BOLS yet?

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/07/goatboy-40k-spamming-with-side-of-spam.html

Did anybody else read this article from Goatboy and go "WTF?" The article basically was a cry to the power gaming community to stop spamming (using the same unit over and over and over again to gain a powerful advantage over your opponent) as it is no fun for you opponent. Wait, this did come from the BOLS guys right? The same guys who as soon as they break a codex throw up army list after army list on how to use this broken list on their blog? The same guys that year after year find a way to break and take advantage of the Gladiator and Tournaments at Adepticon and win thousands of dollars in prizes, right? The same guys who not only published the Leafblower list, but included an instruction book on how to use this list? These same guys who SCREAM spam and cheese are now telling us how "not fun" it is for the opponent to face one of their UBER Killy you do not have a chance to be me lists? Seriously! No kidding! Really, I didn't know that Leafblowers and Razorback SPAM was no fun to play against.

Now, I have no problem with this. Really, personally I feel that spamming and uber power gaming lists really takes away from the fun of the game, for both players. I really feel that if, IF I believed in comp, I would comp armies like this out of the game. Now, I do not believe this. And I feel that I just need to play better to beat these lists, and that it is only a matter of time before a counter to these power lists are found, more then likely by the BOLS guys, and leafblowers will go the way of the Nob Biker. The problem I have is the source of a fast majority of the power gaming lists, tactics, and strategies is now telling everyone, don't do as we do, it's no fun.

So what are they trying to say. "Yeah, we play this way and will play this way at every tournament we play in, and we will crush you, your friends, your dog and your dreams of ever winning and win this without much challenge, post and brag about how we did it on our blog, but don't you do it. It's no fun." So are they getting sick of losing to their own cheesy tactics? Or army lists? Or do they want to soften up the competition so that they can continue to crush everybody? What?

I love the guys over at BOLS, I really do. And here is a friendly piece of advice for you guys: If you want the cheese and spam to stop, STOP FRIGGIN' PRINTING AND USING IT and BRAGGING ABOUT HOW TO USE IT! Yes, Power lists will pop up on Dakka, or Warseer, but no one there is publishing an article on arguably the biggest 40K website in the world that includes details instructions on how to use the list. Say like this Leafblower article:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2009/09/40k-ard-boys-armylist-leafblower.html

Take some responsibility for what you put out there. If you want cheese and spam to stop, try printing articles on how to beat the cheese. Find the flaws in the Leafblower and razorback Spam lists and publish that. Use you power for good, not to spread more evil!

I would love for Darkwynn to write the "How to Dismantle the Leafblower" article right on BOLS

Or Fritz to write the "How to Kill the Jetbike Seer Council lsit" Article

Or GoatBoy to Write "How to Kill Spacegoats"

But they never do. They tell you all about these killy lists and are now complaining that they have become so popular?

Ok, rant over.

New Segment: This Week in 40K Podcasting

So over the last few months I have been watching my Google Analytics for this blog and it would appear that the posts I do that receive the most hits and largest reader interest are those that refer to podcasts. 40K Radio mostly, but podcasts none the less. Funny huh?

So, then it occurred to me that there really isn't a comprehensive site out there that reports on the news, reviews or goings on in the podcast world. A site where you can go to hear some reviews of the shows, analysis, comments, or just plain reporting on what is out there.

So my readers have spoken and I am answering. Starting this week, Fridays (more or less) will be my "This Week in 40K Podcasting: segment here I list what podcasts I have listened to, my thoughts on those podcast, reviews, news in the 40K Podcast world, and contest reports.

So I have to get my butt in gear and listen to some podcasts! I am looking to you, the readers to tell me about podcasts I have not heard of yet and give them a try. Right now my criteria is 40K only. I know that there are a few casts out there the do war gaming, with 40K being in the mix. For now I am going to not review them at this time. But podcast like Dice Like Thunder, 11th Company, The Independent Characters, The WarBanner, Imperial Vox Cast, 40K Warcasting are my main focus. Got another gem of a podcast out there you want reviewed... drop me a line and I'll start listening and reporting!

So, here's to the Podcasts and off with the reviews!

Thanks Guys!

Riding the Cheese Wagon...

Alright, so admit it. At some point in every Codex Space Marine player's life they look at the other chapters and say, "I wish I could do that." They look at their Space Wolves or Blood Angles brothers and say, "Why can you have 5-Man squads with Melta guns in Razorback and I can't?" The look at 'Dev' Squads that can split fire with multiple Missile Launchers any say, "Hey, that's not fair"

And if you are lucky and decided to go with your own Space Marine Chapter and not a 'Codex' chapter, who is to say which Space Marine Chapter your army is a founding from... this week.

So I am at that point with my Codex Marines. So on Thursday night after debuting my Eldar on the gaming table and crushing my buddy Sean in a kill point mission to only get my skinny Eldar but handed to me in a Capture and Control mission, we did what we always do. We sat around after the games were done and shoot the bull about 40K. We talked rules, tactics, and what we could have done differently.

At some point though, he asked me if I was ever going to get back to my Marines. I started my Marines for a starter army to teach my boys how to play the game. Occasionally I get board with Tyranids and I would break out the Marines just for fun. So they have been sitting on the shelf looking at me wantingly to be painted and played. Now, I have no plans to give up my Eldar, I really want to have 1850 points built, painted, and play-tested for Adepticon this year. But I always have my next project in mind as I am working on the current one. This is why my 'Nids are only 10% painted.

But I was think about getting back to Marines after the Eldar are done, and I wanted to make a Blood Angels list. So my friend Sean was the first to offer up, "You know if you run you're own chapter you could be Blood Angels today and Space Wolves tomorrow and Codex Marines on Monday."

This brought a smile to my face. He's right! For the most part, A Rhino is a Rhino, Vindicator is a Vindicator, a Marine a Marine. Now each codex, BA and Wolves, have some units unique to them, but with some filing and a new paint job I really could make a Marine Army that could Go between Codex, BA, and Wolves. So I am going to do it!

I am going to Start my own Chapter, the Lightning Legion, who Started off as Codex marines when they lost a big part of their forces in a great battle with the Necrons. Along came two other successor chapters to the Blood Angels and Space Wolves to help out and they too also took brutal loses in the battle. Commanders killed, chapter masters mortally wounded. It was a mess. In order to win the battle and the war versus the Necrons, these three weakened chapters decided to combine their forces on the battle field and fight side by side, like a single chapter. This brave plan worked, the they were able to defeat the Necrons, together as one chapter. When the war was over, they had grown so accustomed to each other the the new command structure, they decided to stay a combined chapter. Hence, The Lightning Legion was born.

Game play-wise, you'd pick a codex for that game or tournament, but I plan to paint up this army and start interchanging which codex I am using.

I will report my progress here and show some of the custom models that will have to come from this so that I can have Thunderwolf cavalry next to models on the shelf with wings.

So, is this Cheese? Let me know gang!

Scott and Phil.... Together Again!

So I have been breaking my butt at work and have been getting behind on my podcasts, I admit it. I usually hit the big ones on my list first, Dice Like Thunder, 11th Company, and the Independent Characters and Imperial Vox Cast are first on my list. But, I love my man Philip Johnson and I always check from time to time to see if the WarBanner had released a new postcast. now, I know Phil. I have spoken to him and I knew that his family had been ill over the last few months. But things on the home front are better now for him and he released a new podcast this week. With special guest, Scott Steva!

After a fast email email to my man, your man, the man Phil, it turns out that Scott might be a regular feature tot he WarBanner Podcast.

Good, Great, AWESOME! As you all know I am a Philip Fanboy, and a close second is the Sheriff of 40K, Scott. To have these two guys back together is just Epic. I can even say just having Scott there has increased the quality of the content of the Warbanner.

This is great news!

LeBron James and 40K Radio moving to Flordia!

So the rumor mills have been running pretty strong about the deceased 40k Radio podcast lately and it looks like some sort of confirmation has finally come from their friends of this blog and members of their own forums.

According to sources close to 40K Radio, Romeo from Battlefoam has indeed purchased principle rights to the 40K Radio podcast show. Spencer will still have some ownership of the show (and profit sharing as well I am sure). In the lull between the show dying and being resurrected, 40K Radio has offered all of its paying members an additional 90 days to their Freebootaz forum.

Structure of the show is still in debate and I find it hard to believe that 40K radio will not turn into a full time commercial for Battlefoam. A lot of the hard core fans of the show had complained on how much of the show's content had been commercials and it looks like that will not change. "All Battlefoam, All the time"

But who will host this new 40K Radio you ask? As I reported weeks ago when this happened, 40K radio is moving to Florida, with some basketball guy named LeBron James as it turns out, and will be hosted by George Miller and his crew. No previous hosts will appear on the show. Although rumors are abound that Spencer is moving to Florida and still might be an on air presence on the show.

No indication has been given if 40K Radio will still be the name of the show, but sources believe that a name change is also forthcoming.

In the end I guess this is a good thing. George Miller is a good guy, and his crew has some pretty decent knowledge of the game. I am curious as to how the show will perform now under ownership of a company, and not a bunch of guys just shooting the breeze about 40K.

I personally will miss Scott. He had become the reason I enjoined 40K Radio and this whole mess leading up to his leaving the show and causing all of this makes me sick.

But, we will be watching, or listening, and see what will become from that little podcast from Erie.

Eldar Building Project

So I have been 40K-less for almost a month now. I got to play the week before the family vacation to San Fransisco. But the week leading up to the vacation was all prep work for this massive trip. I am really upset that I did not find this great new podcast called "The Independent Characters" (http://theindependentcharacters.com/blog/) which is based out of San Fransisco that I could have visited and played while I was there.

But, vacation was awesome, we had a great time, and came home. The week after was really recovery, as jet lack sucks as an adult, but the kids took it really hard. So I did not get any hobby or gaming done that week as I was just too beat. Then, my wife went to San Diego for a conference for work and I was at home with three boys all week. No hobby - No Gaming

We come home to find out that we have a small gas leak in one of our vehicles and we needed to get that taken care of as soon as possible, which sucked up my regular gaming night of Tuesday nights. NO GAMING!!!! However, the three day 4th of July weekend did give me the chance to get some hobby done.

So with a great three day weekend, I decided to go ahead and break the rule I had established with myself and started building my Eldar army. I only own at this time about 1,000 Points of Eldar and I thought it would be fun just to get them together. The next thing I knew, I had an old school Falcon built, a unit of Fire Dragons stripped, a unit of Rangers stripped, a Wave Serpent built, a ten man Dire Avenger Squad built, a Farseer built, and the new Fire Prism built all in two nights! Yea Hobby!

But now that I am staring at these freshly built models, I want to play them. So shoot me. I plan to take out the Eldar tonight and play a game or two with the unpainted Eldar. Now, I want to paint these, but with the blistering heat wave and high humidity we have been having in western PA this week, I did not want to chance spray paint to model. Trust me, they will be painted before I built any more models. I will buy more, just not build them. I want this army to be fully painted at 1850.

However, next week looks better weather-wise and I'll be priming and painting.

I plan to film at least one of the battles tonight and throwing it up on the YouTube page. I'll let you know what I learn tonight. I expect to get my butt kicked pretty well, as my gaming group has no idea how to take it easy on a vet player starting a new player. Got I love them!