S04E05 - Barney Purple?!?! What Were You Thinking?!?!?

Mar 11 2010

S04E05 - Barney Purple?!?! What Were You Thinking?!?!?

Some times, I like to believe we get a message across to our listeners. This time we teach the dangers of purple order tokens and not cleaning your camera's tape heads. Sorry about the rough audio towards the end, I managed to mess it up bit. I suppose I should say what we are talking about. On this episode we break down Heroscape Master Set 3 - Dungeons and Dragons : Battle for the Under Dark!!!! Actually, add more thing to that message list. Say no to really long product names!!!!!
My Email is
The Tabletop Battlefield's Youtube Channel
In case you needed a reminder on how creepy Barney is.


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Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
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Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford, Ryan Wilke and Sarah

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S04E04 - Instead of Pips or Numbers....We Use EXPLOSIONS!!!!!

Feb 25 2010

S04E04 - Instead of Pips or Numbers....We Use EXPLOSIONS!!!!!

Grind by Privateer Press is in our hands. So far we have loved everything that Privateer Press has produced, but will that continue? We have a tough time keeping it a secret, so it won't take long to find out. Thats alight, there are other reasons to keep listening; like by playing "What is the EVP saying game?". I think he is saying "daggers" and I have seriously no idea where that fourth male voice came from. If you can figure it out, then let me know.

Text Review of Grind

My Email is
The Tabletop Battlefield's Youtube Channel

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Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
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Episode Hosts: xDemonic Voicex, Ryan WilkeKyle Menzies and Jason Rutherford

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S04E03 - Technical Issues....Yeah.....That Sounds Good......

Feb 11 2010

S04E03 - Technical Issues....Yeah.....That Sounds Good......

There was supposed to be two different projects - A Tyranid Spire and a Tyranid Mycetic Spore, but it seems that I encountered some techincal issues with the spire. As a result, we only go the Mycetic Spore, but it is a nice long detailed build and the final project looks pretty good. Don't delay too long in building though, since it requires some Easter related components.

Since I need to fill in some extra space, be sure to tune in next week for our complete review of Grind by Privateer Press


My Email is
The Tabletop Battlefield's Youtube Channel

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Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
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Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford

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Coordinated Deep Strike My ###

Jan 28 2010

Coordinated Deep Strike My ###

The new Tyranid Codex is out and there are a lot of changes. From reduced armor saves to increased wounds and lots of deep striking, tactics are going to change alot. Joel and I took a few hours to play an 1850 point game of Tau vs Tyranids. Now we are going to spend the next 45 minutes talking about what we learned. I'll give you some free tips - Make sure your Deep Strikes are coordinated or the Tau Empire will shoot you up.
My Email is


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Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
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Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford and Joel

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S04E01 - Feel the HORROR......and Ryan, Never Make That Face Again....

Jan 14 2010

S04E01 - Feel the HORROR......and Ryan, Never Make That Face Again....

Welcome to 2010 everyone and welcome to season 4!! We begin the year with our usual set of traditions.

First we take a look back at 2009 and go over some of the highlights of the year.
During that time we also ask the question "Are we still playing the games we reviewed?"
As always, we have our crazy off the wall awards ceremony. Some of the awards we hand out this year are:

Winner of the Race to the Bottom of the Ugly Tree
Feel the Horror!!!
I'm Too Awesome Award
That's Nasty Award

As Always,

• Panic Attack - Robots Invade Montevideo
• My Short Film

My Email is
The Tabletop Battlefield's Youtube Channel(I'll be posting the Light Saber Battle Shortly)
The intro music "Down with Everything" by The Transfer comes from www.podsafeaudio.com


Jason's Twitter Feed
Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
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Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford, Ryan Wilke and Kyle Menzies

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S03E25 - Have a Merry [Censored] Christmas!!!!

Dec 13 2009

S03E25 - Have a Merry [Censored] Christmas!!!!

Whether it is Kyle's language, my opinions about about RTS games on consoles, or Ryan's over excited response to his Christmas present, we all get censored!!! Enjoy this early present and be sure to have an Awesome New Year. Thanks for the three years of support and we will see all of you in 2010 for Season 4 of the Tabletop Battlefield.

Today on the show:
I talk about my experience at Wintercon 2009
We build Miniature War Game themed Christmas Ornaments
We decorate the official Tabletop Battlefield Christmas Trees with those said Ornaments
Assemble a gift guide for miniature war game fans

My Email is
The Tabletop Battlefield's Youtube Channel(I'll be posting the Light Saber Battle Shortly)
The intro music "Down with Everything" by The Transfer comes from www.podsafeaudio.com


Jason's Twitter Feed
Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
Ryan's Twitter Feed

Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford, Kyle Menzies and Ryan Wilke

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S03E24 - That Would Be a Cute Kitten, but.....

Dec 03 2009

S03E24 - That Would Be a Cute Kitten, but.....

Aside from my short, some what funny, and somewhat tragic Thanksgiving Day story, we have some useful information for you. We asked you to vote and the votes are in. Today we talk Monsterpocalypse.

First we check in with what has been happening with the game over the past year and it steps into the ring to face off with World of Warcraft Miniatures for Collectible Miniature Game Domination.


My Email is
The intro music "Down with Everything" by The Transfer comes from www.podsafeaudio.com


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Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
Ryan's Twitter Feed


Paul's Email

Jason,

Just dropping you a line as requested in your last show. Great show, as ever by the way. I'm a regular listener/watcher of your podcast and look forward to it popping up on iTunes. I really appreciate the eclectic mix of games you do, and your unique approach - no one else has done a test to destruction of figure cases!! Great stuff.

Anyhow, to pick up your theme of the "state of the hobby", I have a few points to chuck into the debate that may (or may not) interest you.

Firstly, starting with GW (as the largest wargaming company in the world, one that for many people "is" the hobby, then starting with them makes sense.)

Financially they are doing "OK". Only OK, not great. For the period 2004-08 they were doing lousey and were on a hiding to extinction financially. Last year they steadied the ship, but are still a long way from extinction and really need to improve their business if they are to return back to being a growing company. The attached graph of turnover and profit for the last few years should tell you everything you need to know on that score. If it had not been for the fall in value of the £GB vs the US$ and the Euro then GW would not have seen the increase in turnover they did (GW's accounts are denominated in £GB and so when the £GB crashed last year, sales in the US and the Eurozone were suddenly therefore worth something like 20% more than they had been), and for the third year running turnover and profits would have been static, bumbling along at the same levels they achieved in 2001. They had a few good years due to the LotR licence, but that all finished in 2004, and they've been struggling ever since to rescue the company - they haven't paid their shareholders a dividend 4 years, for instance.

So my prediction is that we will continue to see GW milk their remaining loyal customers for every penny they can. Which means ever higher selling prices, and the constant drive for bigger armies.

Will this succeed or will they fail? Who knows?! I really think they are pricing themselves out of the market now though, so my money is on "fail". Look at the price of the goldswords, the Stank, the new Stormvermin. Can you really see people being willing to pay those prices in the quantities GW need them to? In a recession?

Nowadays there is just so much competition for them - even here in the UK where indie stores are pretty thin on the ground thanks to GW's saturation of the retail market. Look at the likes of Mantic Games (www.manticgames.com ) you can build an entire WFB-ready elf army, out of lovely plastic models for $100. A fraction of GW's price. And Warlord Games (http://www.warlordgames.co.uk/) and Perry Miniatures (www.perry-miniatures.com ) bringing plastic to historical gaming at a fraction of GW's cost to the customer. Is it a coincidence that all 3 games are run by ex-GW staff? I think not! Historical gaming is booming, non-GW fantasy/sci-fi is booming. GW is struggling and stuck in the past.

So, I take your guest's point, that in order to succeed it is necessary for non-GW companies to follow GW's model. But these companies, run by ex-GW staff (some of them very senior - John Stallard, Paul Sawyer, the Perry twins, Ronnie Renton - all "let go" by GW in recent years during the lean times) have concluded that the answer is not charging customers through the nose for the same old crap, but instead offering good value for money and innovation.

And if they go to the wall? So what, another company will be along in a minute. This is 2009 and with the internet start-up costs are low and store frontage is cheap. Look at Wyrd Miniatures/Malifaux and Spartan Games/Uncharted Seas. Companies that have come from nowhere and established themselves as players in the industry overnight. All of them are taking money right out of GW's pocket. GW's dominance is threatened and can only reduce. Whether this is catastrophic for them or whether they survive in a smaller form time will tell!

Privateer Press? That I know less about. Over in the UK the exchange rate has pretty much killed off US imports at any scale, and I see interest in PP tumbling. Combine that with the whole "lets wait and see what MkII is like" thing going on, and PP is pretty much dead in the water over here. Of course in the US things will be very different. I do think they have their challenges though, and the success of otherwise of MkII will likely make or break them. Of course being a private company they don't have shareholders to worry about, so can suffer a few lean years without the level of pressure GW is facing from their shareholders right now. $35 for a plastic warjack is asking a lot of their fans though. We'll see.

I agree with you about Ex Illis. Seems like a bizarre and unworkable business model. I can't see anyone other than some serious geeks getting into it. It'll be a fad which fades.

Arcane Legions? Tricky one. If it is to succeed it needs to become the new Heroclix because of the economies of scale. Will it get that level of take up? I'm not sure. While people will likely give it a go, I see the need for a large table and terrain really being an obstacle for those who like the "clix"/(un-)pre-painted approach to wargaming. In the UK that looks problematical as most clix players were kids playing on school desks. They won't buy arcane legions. In the US though with its network of indie stores, things may be different.

All good stuff.

And for my vote for your next show, I'd love to hear your opinion of Grind. It's a game that on the face of it doesn't interest me (I don't get excited about "sports" games), but PP will have no doubt put a lot of effort into the game as they don't do things by halves, so I'm keen to see what they've done!

Cheers

Paul.

Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford, Ryan Wilke and Kyle Menzies

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S03E23 - One Step Closer Towards the Discovery Channel!

Nov 19 2009

S03E23 - One Step Closer Towards the Discovery Channel!

Yeah for Repackaging! Well, it makes my life easier anyway. Today, I have the entire second series of Green Gaming for you. That is a total of five new projects built from trash. This time around, I build:
A Large Ruined Wall Segment
A Water Pumping Station
A Gun Emplacement with a Rotating Turret
A Crashed Cargo Ship
A Power Generator Station



My Email is
The intro music "Down with Everything" by The Transfer comes from www.podsafeaudio.com


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Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
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Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford

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S03E22 - Daddy, When I Grow Up, I Want to be Just Like Games Workshop

Nov 05 2009

S03E22 - Daddy, When I Grow Up, I Want to be Just Like Games Workshop

So how have things been for the gaming industry this year? Jerry and I look back at the pat 12 months and discuss what Games Workshop, Privateer Press, Topps, and the NECA is up to. Plus we take our guess as to what games will fail in the next year.

Some of the topics include:
Changes to the GW Stores
GW Stores vs Independent Stores
WARMACHINE MK II
Is Privateer Press Becoming Games Workshop?
Why Wizkids Closed and Why it has Come Back!


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The intro music "Down with Everything" by The Transfer comes from www.podsafeaudio.com


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Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford and Jerry

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S03E21 - Standing Still and Yelling For the Roman Empire!!!!!!!!

Oct 22 2009

S03E21 - Standing Still and Yelling For the Roman Empire!!!!!!!!

We would love to be able to do something else, but all we can do is stand still and yell "For the Glory of Rome". Ok fine, we can do other things and on this episode we review Arcane Legions by Wells Expeditions. We made fun of this game a lot because of its tie to Wizkids games. Does it deserve that reputation, or does it give us a pleasant suprise? I'll give you hint....Jason rants about at least one thing[I warned you Wells Expeditions, but you didn't listen!]


Arcane Legions Killing Fields Scenario
Arcane Legions Home Page
My Email is
The intro music "Down with Everything" by The Transfer comes from www.podsafeaudio.com


Jason's Twitter Feed
Steam Username RockoRobotics if you want play some DOW2 or Left 4 Dead
Ryan's Twitter Feed

Episode Hosts: Jason Rutherford, Ryan Wilke and Joel

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