Warhammer Podcasts

One of the developments that has really improved the hobby, for me at least, is the rise of Warhammer podcasts.

My current favourite is the Bad Dice podcast (www.baddice.co.uk), a British show run by Ben Curry and Ben Johnson. Both of the Bens are experienced tournament players and are part of the English team for the European Team Championships. The show follows a regular format running through news, their gaming weeks before settling on a major topic or interview. The Bens are insightful and very switched on to the latest developments in the tournament world. They manage to produce a weekly show and maintain high standards both in content and sound quality.

The second big British show is Heelanhammer (www.heelanhamer.com). Produced by Dan Heelan and Wayne Kemp the show follows the familiar podcast format outlined above. Dan is also a member of the English ETC team while Wayne is less of a competitive gamer. When the show started it ran a pretty equal mix between gaming and hobby aspects. Over the past three months I'd say the hobby aspects have probably halved and as a result the show IMO has suffered. In saying that I still believe it is a quality product but the hobby aspects it covered were a point of difference from its competitors. The banter between Wayne and Dan is excellent and the shows are of excellent quality. Still a must listen for me.

The original Warhammer podcast was Podhammer (www.podhammer.net) run by Jeff Carroll out of Newcastle, Australia. The show has been going for three years now and it has helped define wargaming podcasts and, importantly, inspired others - not least the two shows above. Podhammer has a crew of regulars, most from the Newcastle gaming community and it is clear to all the rapport this group has. I find the contributions by Kendall Williams and, in particular, Steve Gibb very insightful. Steve is an excellent gamer but is also an original thinker - which can be rare in these days of the internet.

Not dedicated to Fantasy, but the fourth of the shows I listen to is World's End Radio (www.worldsendradio.com). Luke Retalek produces this out of Perth, Australia. The Warhammer content is always of a high standard but they differentiate themselves from the others by looking at other aspects of the hobby, tournament gaming etc. I find something in all their shows but if your focus is solely Fantasy then it is easy to pick and choose.

The final show I listen to is Mandollies (www.madollies.net)run by John Lampe out of Canberra, Australia. While the show is largely NSW tournament focused and split between Fantasy and 40k, the real strength of the show can be some of the guests that John has on there. Jeff Galea has made some significant contribution in terms of interviews and I hope that the show will continue to include similar content in future.

The easiest way to get any of these shows is to subscribe to them through iTunes. This is a free service and by having a subscription you get the latest show downloaded as soon as it is available.

If you do enjoy the various shows then I would urge you to support them. All of them have the ability for listeners to contribute financially to the running of the show whether it be through donations or a subscription to additional content. While a few have commercial sponsors they are definitely labours of love from owners. Good quality sound equipment costs money after all and the listeners benefit from their investment.

As I said at the outset the arrival of Warhammer podcasts has greatly increased my enjoyment of the hobby. They are excellent to listen to when painting etc and can provide real insights and motivation.

If there are any other podcasts that I'm missing I'd love to know so drop me a line.