The week that was ...

I don't know how to say this, but I'm kind of a big deal!

19th -25th October 2012

Chaos fail

My first taste of the new Chaos Marine 'dex was postponed this week because, quite frankly, Mick had bigger fish to fry. I'd put together a not completely hopeless 500pt Tyranid list to face him though so I hope we can reprise our game this week.

In the absence of a game against them, I took a closer look at the codex and decided that actually the "Typhus/Plague Zombies/anything else you like really", list does look good, does look like something I want to play and does look very reasonable cost-wise thanks to Mantic's release of the Corporation Zombies deal. Not so good for Battle Brothers but very good for the wallet!

Rumors abound

For those of you that don't follow Faeit 212, and why the hell don't you - do it NOW, there have been lots of leaks surrounding the pre-christmas release schedule. Most notable, in my 40K biased opinion, are the Wall of Martyrs, The Space Marine and Necron Mega Forces. In the past the Mega Forces have been pretty damn good deals so keep an eye on them because if they are for armies you like/collect this is probably going to be a good investment.

In other news, the on-again/off-again, maestro of SEO - Adam from The Space Wolves Blog appears to be back on the scene again and is threatening to unite all the Blogs disgruntled with BoLS's treatment of the common Blogger and to pick up where FtW's blog roll left off but with even more pazzaz! Colour me apathetic but I'll leave you to make what you will of it (Ed - Andy's opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of Claws and Fists)

In other media

Some of you may know I'm a big fan of Podcasts. I'm currently listening to The Independent Characters and the 11th Company (never missed an episode of either) and I've picked up again with The D6 Generation (not a 40K podcast but an excellent general gaming one).

Over the last two episodes the Independent Characters have been reviewing the first Book in the Horus Heresy series from Forgeworld, "Betrayal". If you are in any way on-the-fence about this book, I strongly urge you to listen to the last two episodes as they are a really superb, in-depth review of the content, both fluff and rules, by a couple of guys who have a great understanding and enthusiasm for the project. In addition to this the Podcast is very entertaining no matter what aspect of 40K they are talking about so why not subscribe while you are at it.

The 11th Company are still doing what they have been doing sublimely for the last 138 episodes most recently they have delivered some very interesting insights into the world of Tournament Organisers in the US and some early (typically cynical) opinions on the Chaos Marines Codex. Though credit where it's due Neil "he's not going to lie to you" Gilstrap has managed to maintain a cautiously optimistic take on the new codex. I think it's important to remember that when you listen to these guys they are coming from a position of playing for wins in a highly competitive setting but if you're not that type of player this really shouldn't put you off listening to the podcast, it consistently provides fantastic tactical insights into play-styles and list building that I have not found anywhere else on the internet ...

... at least not since 40KUK went AWOL, just a little note here that I miss you guys and I hope that you get a new episode out soon; and please, for the love of god, sort out your sound quality. The content is epically good but I found the last one almost impossible to listen to!

And finally

I'm a pretty keen computer gamer as well as doing the 40K stuff, and recently X-Com has had me poised over the "add to cart" button on Steam. I keep telling myself I can wait until the Winter sale, where it's bound to be 25% off, but I'm not sure I have the self restraint to follow through. Fortunately my buddy Tee has been keeping me distracted with games of Dawn of War 2, Orc Must Die 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 (I'm all about sequels). These games are all excellent, particularly in the co-op multiplayer stakes but I'm not sure how long the distraction will continue to be effective. And really, why am I punishing myself about this ;)

Anyone else out there a keen PC gamer? What have you been playing recently?

Podcasts

For as long as I've been back into playing 40k I've been listening to some of the many Podcasts that are out there in the extended 40k community. Here's some information on the ones I like to listen to.

40K Radio : Currently off the air due to a long saga which I won't go into here. However, I hear that one of the sponsors, Battlefoam, is going to be buying the show, watch this space! This was the daddy of the 40k Podcasting scene, the older shows were great but it lost it's way somewhat in the most recent 10 shows or so. It's all still well worth a listen if you can find any of the old shows on iTunes or Podcast Alley. Typically the show would contain a "this week in gaming" section, codex overview, tactics and hobby tips along with beer fueled humor, interviews and contests.

The 11th Company : This is my favourite podcast at the moment, it's presented by a great panel of knowledgeable and experienced 40k players and is frequently insightful and genuinely interesting. Typically they focus on strategy and tactics and have regular interviews with players from all over the world. They are also doing a fortnightly codex countdown ranking the strength of the codices from weakest to strongest.

I think the thing which really makes this podcast stand out from the crowd is the professional way in which it is presented and the way that they truly appreciate the impact of a local meta-game on how we listeners relate to their experiences. You have to listen to an episode or two to appreciate this; when I first listened to it I, and quite a few other listeners, just could not believe that they did not rate Predators or Landspeeders. However because they broadcast and eloquently justified their position in relation how how their game is played locally it has really opened up my eyes to the fact that there a real differences in the way 40K is played both nationally and internationally.

A very worthwhile way to spend your time!

World's End Radio : This is an Australian Podcast and it covers all of the Games Workshop games, including Blood Bowl and other specialist games. Luke and JJ, the hosts, are very entertaining and the podcast is always interesting and stays focused. They frequently record at tournaments and interview the players and tournament winners. Their insights into the Australian tournament scene, with particular reference to how the composition system works over there, are very interesting and they've also done some good hobby features that are worth a listen.

40K Warcasting : I would say this is one of the more easy listening podcasts, the mood is light, the show is split into three or four distinct sections and the hosts, Kelly and Shrek, stay focused on the topic in hand. It makes for a very enjoyable and entertaining listen, it's not the most informative of the podcasts but you won't mind.

Dice Like Thunder : A purely 40k focused podcast with probably the coolest name of our group and certainly one of the better ones to listen to. The presentation is generally good, though the conversation can, and does, board the off-topic train at regular intervals which will probably lead to you getting confused occasionally. It also makes the podcast a lot longer than is strictly necessary but as I have a relatively long commute I really don't mind that!

I think the hosts could be seen as somewhat polarizing, I know I've sat there listening to their conversations thinking that they really don't know what they are talking about which is a concern when they pitch themselves as competent tournament-style players. However, my recently acquired appreciation of local meta-games has allowed me to mellow on these issues a bit, and while they do get some things wrong, it's only very occasionally. Frankly we all get things wrong from time-to-time but most of us are fortunate enough not to do it on the record!

Again this is worth a listen but if you're easily offended or highly opinionated you may want to skip it. I should also mention that they have a very good website and forum with a number of home-brew rules developments to bring the older codexes up to date.

Imperial Vox Cast : I find this to be very similar to Dice Like Thunder (DLT) but again, thanks to the differences in their local play-styles it comes at similar topics from a different enough angles to make it a worthy addition to your podcast library. I think that these guys are slightly less opinionated than the DLT crew but really there's not a lot in it, the production quality is fair and the show, while broken up into two or three sections, frequently loses it's structure which can make the discussions hard to follow. Generally though I pick up something interesting from every episode I listen to and the hosts keep the show entertaining so you don't mind the frequent tangents!

The D6 Generation : Not a 40k podcast, they refer to themselves as a general gaming podcast, but, in my opinion, one of the finest podcasts out there full stop. The hosts, Russ, Rafe and Craig are really entertaining and very knowledgeable, they each have their own editorial segments, they review a game (usually a board game) every episode, there are guest sections and typically do a section or two on something relating to gaming in general like technology for example.

A really good podcast and very entertaining with occasional references to 40k!

There are some new kids on the 40k block which I'm going to check out soon, if you want to go take look you can find out more about them at the links below:

The Gamer's Lounge
Tabletop Hooligans
The Independent Characters