40K News: It's Alive, ALIVE I Tell You!

Well, I am back in the blogging game! The parts have been unpacked from my friends over at Tiger Direct, and they have been put together. I applied a gentle but firm amount of electricity and swearing and the new Trippe Cored PC is up and running!

I have a few artiles I was in mid-writing of that I want to finish up and post as soon as I can. A Unit break down of the Genestealer vs. the Hormagaunt. An analysis of the phases of the game of 40K, starting with the EndGame. Some of my hobby stuff, the Painting of a Gaunt from plastic to flock. A lot of stuff is comming so stay tuned guys!

Thanks for reading!

40K News: Computer Epic Fail!

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties!

So a lovely thing happened to me this past week. My wife and kids were gathered around the family PC, a former monster of a gaming PC back in its day six years ago, when all of a sudden, it just died. And I mean, died, as in dead, for good, and un-fixable death. After some work pull the Video Card to see if it had died, to checking each of the RAM chips to see if they had failed, to determining that the Hard Drive was still good, I came to the conclusion that either my Motherboard had Fried, or the Processor.

Now, I will start off by saying that this was not a welcomed failure. The PC, while it was 6 years old, had done a great job gaming foe me and it was not until recently that its age was beginning to show. Starcraft 2! However, since it is now dead and the wife was not to upset about building a new one, my new gaming PC components are on the way. Thanks to my friends over at Tiger Direct, I have a new PC on the way!

It will have a 450W Tower with a three core, AMD Processor, 4G of RAM, a terabyte of Hard Drive storage, and a 1G HD Video Card. If all of that is geek mumbo jumbo to you, just know that I will not be able to post as much as I wanted until my new PC arrives and is built. It will be here Tuesday, conveniently on my gaming night, so I will have no 40K this week either, which is suckish!

But, soon, I'll be back on my feet and gaming again. I'll keep you posted!

40K News: Working is Killing Me

Hey gang, I wanted to just let you all know that my work has been kicking my butt lately. I have been keeping up with my 40K Podcasts and my weekly article on From the Warp will be posted on time. However it has killed a lot of the time that I use to think about my next posting. In fact, I have having problems thinking in English right now and not in TransAct SQL. If you get that joke, you should understand. Point being I am just super busy at work and I have a back log of articles building up that I will try to get out this weekend. So the 'ol EvilEd209 is alive and well, just grinding his gears right now.

Thanks guys!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

Tyranid FAQ Released!

Finally, FINALLY, the Tyranid FAQ has been released for Codex Tyranids and I have to say it is by far one of the best, most straight forward FAQs I have ever read from GW. ***Applause all around for doing something right*** No ambitious rulings, no shaky or contradicting findings, simple "If this happens does this happen Questions" with a solid Yes or No answers. Now while I might disagree with a few things in here, it at least answers almost all of those crazy questions that came up when this codex launch

Some of the High Points of this FAQ as I saw it:

1) Tyranids with multiple CC Weapons do get the benefit of both of them at the same time, so Yes, lash Whip and Bone Sword are used simultaneously and work together. Duh.

2) Multiple Hive Commander Abilities DO NOT Stack! So no 2+ to Reservers from running two stock tyrants. Also, no two more outflanking troop choices either. Thus, no real reason to run two basic Tyrants.

3) Yes, even though the Main Rulebook says so, and I have no idea why this was ever in question, having Wings do permit the unit to deepstrike. DUH for those how said it didn't!

4) And a big Surprise here, Hive Guard who fall into Instinctive Behavior can not fire at things they do not have LOS of, despite the fact their gun can. Ok, I can live with that.

5) Yes the Mawloc can choose to Deep Strike onto a point occupied by an enemy model and blow them all to hell. This makes the model just a bit cooler.

6) I do not get this one at all, of all of the rulings here, this one makes the least amount of sense to me. If a Tyranid unit takes a Mycetic Spore, can it choose
to deploy normally whilst the empty Mycetic Spore deep strikes on its own? The shocking answer... No? NO! Why not? But Drop Pods and Rhinos and every other dedicated transport can? Ok... whatever. Bad call... but I'll live with it.

and of course, how could I go without commenting on this one:

7) DOOM is nerfed!!! Or clarified if you will. Yes you do get a cover save from the woundd his life leech ability inflicts and No, it does not effect units in transports! Ok, two comments. Cover saves from a special ability that does not draw LOS or targets a specific unit??? I disagree but this is how I have been playing it so no big deal. Second, I never really bought into the idea that it effected units in transports. So really wishful thinking by some power gammers if you ask me. For starters, the main rulebook states that psychic powers do not effect units in transports so to me this is a no-brainer. Too many problems would come up if it did. Like does the unit have to take a moral check if they take 25% and if they flee, where to the flee to?

Does this lessen the unit... I don't think so. Most civilized players have been playing it this way anyway.

Overall... great FAQ! Good job GW!

40K Radio to Rise From the Ashes!

So, in my standard catching up on all of the goings on in the 40K world after the long vacation, I came across the old 40K Radio website site. It has changed slightly, for those who haven't been paying attention, and it looks like the show will be staging a rise from the ashes after its rather sudden and instant death.

All that Spencer has posted on the site it the following:


"Interesting Things Ahead!
By Spencer · Comments (105)

Stay Tuned….."

Once you dig into the comments you'll find out that Romeo from Battle Foam, a fantastic product by the way, posts the following in the comments:

"Hello guys,

Romeo here from Battle Foam.

I noticed my name on here so I thought I would stop in and say hi. I can not comment on any inside information except to say that 40K Radio will be back!

It will be as exciting as ever and the new show format should make everyone very happy.

I would also like to say that Spencer has really put his heart and soul into the future of 40K Radio and will always be a part of it in some way.

I can also say that the new format will feature a great cast and amazing content. We hope to bring the community of pod casts and hosts back together in a new and exciting way.

Lastly the show will be a community friendly show promoting what we all love, 40k and the warhammer hobby.

I personally have a relationship with most hosts from various pod casts across the net. Because of that they will all be part of the new format in some fashion.

Please be patient with us during this transition period and look for the show to release its new episodes very shortly.

Long live 40K Radio, and long live wargaming pod casts!

Romeo
Battle Foam
Protecting Your Army (Shameless plug, lol)"


So these revelations raise many questions. Question number 1: who will be on this new 40K Radio show? Chances are Scott and Chipley will not be associated with the show whatsoever, and I am sorry to say that unless they each get their own projects, we will no longer hear from the boys. A damn shame I might add! Spencer, however, I suspect while he may not be an "on-air" personality, will have plenty to do with this new 40K Radio show. Hell, there's still money in it! If I had to guess, and I did state this in my prior 40K Radio post, George Miller would be a good guess as to who would be on this new show. As to the rest of the cast, I can not say. My hope is that they would learn from prior mistake and keep Jar Jar a silent member of the cast.

Question Number 2: What Great Cast and Content? Even the host of the former 40K Radio had admitted that the content of their show had dropped sharply over the last dying months. This new show promises new and exciting content. We will see about that.

Question 3: "We hope to bring the community of pod casts and hosts back together in a new and exciting way." This one intrigues me the most. As some of you know, 40K Radio did not have the best reputation when it came to other 40K Based podcasts. One , the War Banner hosted by the former 40K Radio host and co-creator Phil Johnson, who left the show with no formal explanation I find it hard to believe would ever work with 40K Radio again. I am curious as to how the 40K Radio Nation will reach out its arms to a community that feels most of them are elitists, money grubbing assholes who do not deserve their respect.

We will see where this new 40K Radio goes and how it is. I will keep you all posted!

40K News: Stomach Flu Takes Outs Blogger!

Hey gang, I wanted to give you all an update and let you know that I am not slacking on the content here at the blog. We here at the EvilEd209 Garage have been hit with a nasty stomach flu which has just wiped me out. It started with my 2 year old and it finally spread to my 5 year old and the baby, 8 months old. Shortly there after the kids were kind enough to share this lovely virus with Mom and Dad. So we here at the garage have not been of the best of health lately.

We are also planing a family vacation to the San Fransisco Bay area starting next week. So my hope is that we are all healthy and ready for the plane trip from Pittsburgh, PA to San Fransisco, CA with three kids! Yea! I will do my best to keep the content coming but it might be thin for next week.

I have more 40K Tactics 101 articles coming, more army lists, more hobby stuff as the Eldar are still screaming my name.

So be patient and be ready for some fun stuff. Off to the bathroom, again!

Thanks guys!

R.I.P. 40K Radio 2007 - 2010

Time of Death May 24th, 2010

Well, as I predicted about a week ago on this blog folks, 40K Radio is officially no more. Apparently the backlash of losing Scott and Chipley to an ego trip, coupled with the return of Jar Jar the Racist Hobo, and some rather disgusting personal attacks on Spencer and his family (too low guys, seriously, attacking someone's miscarriage is just disgusting and you'll all burn for it), has been too much strain for the 40K podcast that started it all. Spencer Harding has officially posted what appears to be the final post on the 40K Radio website:

What a long crazy journey this has been! I want to thank each and everyone who listened to the show. You truly made it an enjoyable experience. Meeting you all at live events or on the chat or on the phone has been amazing. It is something I will never forget. In light of recent threats to myself and my family I have decided to close down the show. I did not start this to allow people a platform to attack my family. This is a show about little toy men….moving on little toy worlds. It was supposed to be fun. Personal attacks and threats take that fun away.

I will miss all of you.

Thanks for listening.

The show and all of its contents are for sale. If you are interested please send me an email.

So now a few questions of course will arise with the death of 40K Radio. For starters, and I think most importantly of all, what about the money??? With well over 1,200 Freebootaz chipping in $25 a year (that's $30,000 BTW!) will this money be returned to those who did not get what they paid for?

What about the sponsors who put in their money for air time, will they ever see a return on that investment?

Will the forum still stay up to those who paid into it or be moved to a more public forum?

Will someone buy the show from Spencer (at an inflated cost I am sure) and continue the show and its traditions? My guess, look for George Miller and Maldus to buy the show... just a guess.

Would Spencer sell the show to Scott, Chipley, and Phil?

Or is the show that started it all (with all due respects to Jeff over at Podhammer who is the real innovator) doomed to die a quick and painful death after some swift and ill conceived decision making? Coupled with an internet coward launching disgusting threats toward Spencer and his family?

I know I have been part of the vocal fans not too please with the direction of the show has been going lately. And the loss of Phil, the first straw for me, and now Scott and Chipley's one-show suspension that lead to their leaving the show, the last straw as it would appear, have shown that the show has been on a downward spiral toward this end for some time now. I have been critical of the show, yes, but out of a love for what it used to be. I personally criticized the show's content and decisions, but never crossed the line to dig into someone's personal life. I have criticized the show, but, as a fan, not a hater of Spencer, the staff, or the show. Only in the hope that my voice would be heard and changes be made to better the show.

I want you all to know I loved 40K Radio, and this announcement brings me no matter of joy. I am saddened today by the loss and I am happy that I was able to listen to the show from beginning to end (save for the episodes I had to pay to listen to!). All of the laughs, all of the tactics in their early shows, and all of the fun of 40K, made better with Spencer, and Phil, and later Scott and lastly Chipley. It is a shame it came to this, that people couldn't be grownups and deal with their issues. That some douche had to make attacks from behind a computer screen.

I will miss 40K Radio, I will mourn it. Lucky for me though, there are several other great 40K podcasts out there on the internet, Dice Like Thunder, 11th Company, Imperial Vox Cast, the Warbanner, and the Gamers Lounge. And I am sure in the wake of this demise, others will spring up from the ashes.

I hope this is not the last we will hear from old Eire Pa. Maybe one day, Spencer and Scott and Chipley and Phil will patch things up, hold a 40K Radio reunion, get back on the air and bring the show back to us. I hope for this. I really do. I hope that the guys can work things out and be friends again, regardless of the show.

So, when you roll dice the next time, close your eyes and remember the first time you heard 40K Radio. Remember how cool it was to find out that you were not alone in your geek-dom. That there were these guys out there on the internet who have a radio show and are just as geeky as you! That there were other guys and girls all around the world, like you, rolling dice, painting minis at obscene hours of the night, and playing with little toy soldiers, just like you. Guys out there that made it cool to play 40K. And remember 40K Radio... fondly.

So long guys... thanks for all of the tactics, all of the overviews and interviews, all of the stories from the battlefield and the laughs, the fun of being on your show, and for all of the memories. I will never look at this hobby without thinking about 40K Radio. What Phil, or Spencer, or Scott, or even Chipley had to say about this unit or that. Tactics learned, friends to be had, and memories to keep. And my hobby is a little bit emptier today without 40K Radio. I wish you could have worked it out... and I wish you a very fond fare well.

Situational Awareness - The 11th Company

Ok, so I admit it, I am way behind on some of my 40K Podcasts. I listen to so many, dropping one real big one lately due to some major douche-bag running the best co-hosts off of his sand hill. One of the up and comers, as far as 40K podcasts are concerned, that has really grabbed my attention is a Podcast out of South Carolina called the 11th Company.

http://www.tangtwo.com/11thCompany/News.html

In their recent episode 12 (recent to me anyway, I think this was taped like 5 weeks ago) they had a fantastic conversation about Situational Awareness in 40K. Dealing with not only knowing where you are and what is around you, but where your opponent is and what he/she can do as well.

I will not attempt to try to do a better job then they did, this segment is fantastic and I highly recommend heading over to the 11th Company and taking a listen for yourself.

Dice Like Thunder and Blood of Kittens

First I want to thank the boys over at Dice Like Thunder for the shout out on this week's show. I really appreciate it guys! I love your podcast, I really love your forum and I will continue to listen with enthusiasm!

Second, I wanted to point everyone (well, let's face it, his blog is more established then mine and I am a big fan!) to a fellow blogger who wrote a much more detailed and informative article on the whole 40K radio break up. The Blog is called Blood of Kittens and you can find the article here:

http://bloodofkittens.com/?p=3444&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BloodOfKittens+%28Blood+of+Kittens%29

I was happy to be informed!


Love your blog man!

An Early Bow Out of 'Ard Boyz... Round One.

Well, this did not go according to plan yesterday in round one of the 'Ard Boyz Tournament. I had loads of fun, met some good people, and some real ass-hats as well, and in the end I failed to place at 'Ard Boyz 2010.

So here is my overview of my first 'Ard Boyz Tournament!

ROUND ONE:

My fist round match up was against Chaos Space Marines running a double Lash Deamon Price list. I smiled when I got first set up and distributed my forces on to the field of battle. Because, aside from the Princes, it was an all mech list with two Land Raiders and I eat those for breakfast. Heck, even when he stole the infinitive I was not concerned.

So first turn, for whatever reason, he lined up both of his Princes in-front of my hormagaunt wall. I believe his plan was to lash them in and take them out in one round of combat. Well, toxin sacs showed him differently! He fail to lash with one Prince and the second on only pulled the squad close enough for one prince assault. No big deal, he whiffed on four attacks and only managed to kill one hormagaunt! My turn... :) My boys managed to hit him with three wounds and it quickly became apparent that he had made a drastic mistake. By the end of my turn one, the first Deamon Prince was dead and the second was at WS & BS 1 (thanks to the Hive Tyrant) and had taken two wounds to Gargoyles. By his half of round two, both Princes were dead. Score... well sort of.

You see the guy I played was good, and a hell of a nice guy to boot and he powered on. I held three of the five objectives for most of the game and on turn three he unloaded every unit from every transport and tried to gun me down in a hail of bolter fire. It almost work! But in the end he picked the wrong targets, two squads of Chaos Space Marines fired at a Trygon and did nothing (only to be charged in my turn and get wiped out), The other squad decided to not fire at my second squad of hormagaunt so that the could charge them (20 attacks at I5??? Ok, sure I'll do that) and They died almost without get in one attack... I think the powerfist survived that first round.

In the end I was killing the guy and he knew it. On the last turn, Turn 4 called due to time (2500 is just too much!), he pulls a desperation move and tank shocks his land raider on to one of the objectives I held and a busted up rhino on to another, giving him a two to one advantage. He had managed to break up my synapse base on the left side of the board and grab two objectives. I had hopes of charging the one squad with a Trygon but his fleet roll was less then spectacular and my Zoanthropes managed to perils themselves to death before dropping 2 STR 5 AP3 templates on to a juicy squad out int the open hold the other.

In the end, my hive guard failed miserably in blowing up the rhino, even when charging it, one lost objective, and my Tervigon could not manage to hit the braod side of a Land Raider and I lost that one too.

He beat be 2-1, he scored 900+ Victory points to my 1700... Totally one-sided game, save for the loss I took. But I smiled. I really liked my opponent, It was a great Tactical game ( I learned the power a tank shocking rhino on the last turn) and I knew I was still in the running at that point. So good game!

Final Result: (0-1-0) 10 Battle Points and 1721 VP

More to come...

Scott and Chipley Leave 40K Radio!

So it has come down through the grapevine that after some sort of 'suspension' that Spencer was trying to hand out to the boys for not playing 40K in some time that they have decided to leave the show.

I have to say that it is my firm belief that 40K radio is now dead to me, and soon on its way out the podcast door. The two major reasons I loved 40K Radio was for my man Phil, and Scott. Spencer always seemed to have that, ‘Too cool for the room’ air about him, even when I was on their show on Episode 31. I was Necron Warrior back then. I have since left my 40K Freeboota persona behind as Phil’s departure pissed me off. Oh and that I learned that the boys over at 40K Radio have started to turn a profit that is not being re-circulated back to those who are dumb enough to join their forum.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure to meet Phil Johnson, he is a man among men! He really is. And Scoot was as well. I have not had the pleasure to meet Chipley but I am sure he is a good guy too. My point is, how is 40K Radio better without these men and better with Spencer at the wheel?

I made a few comments in the show notes of Episode 78 which must have hit home with Spencer as he deleted them all and closed the comments for public viewing. So, since I too have access to the 40K Public, I am going to reiterate what I said there to him that hit that cord:

“Spencer, I understand where you want 40K Radio to go and what you want 40K Radio to be. We all want that, we all want 40K Radio to be the best damn podcast out there. But how does this help that? Yes, I get what you are saying. That the boys not playing 40K in like six months is a big deal, but, is loosing the ‘professional’ relationships, let alone the friendships worth it? While I realize you are the host, and you make the big decisions, 40K Radio is not just you. 40K Radio is you and all your hard work, AND Phil, AND Scott, AND Chipley. What does it say about you if you get your podcast to the place where you want it to be by stepping on the necks of those who helped to get you there?”

This post must have pissed him off and he closed the comments down.

I loved 40K Radio, I really did. It helped me come into my own in the game; it was fun, tactical, and educational. I even drank the cool-aid and became a freeboota. And even after Phil left (who I can now just call if I want too) I still listened. But what has it become now? One giant commercial for this product or that fitted in where Spencer’s ego is not. He pushed Phil out, now his attitude has pushed Scott and Chipley out. Now we have the Spencer and Racist Hobo show. And I do not want to listen to that.

I am done with 40K Radio. R.I.P. Time of death, just after Scoot quit, and diagnosed terminal when Phil left.