Podcasting: World's End Radio

After I had been listening to 40k Radio a while, they started talking about this hobby network they had created. It had the D6 Generation, Podhammer, and this other site, 40k Radio. I didn’t really give D6 much of a chance, because I wasn’t much interested in general gaming. I didn’t give Podhammer much of a chance because I wasn’t much into Fantasy.
I did, however give World’s End Radio a chance because they were supposed to cover not only 40k, but Battle Fleet Gothic, and Epic 40k, both of which I was interested in. The first episode I listened to covered the rules of BFG and this game called Blood Bowl which appeared to be a cross between Fantasy, American Football and Rugby.

One thing that struck me right away was some of the differences between 40k Radio and WER. Luke and JJ have a G-rated show. Now I’m not stickler with foul language, I use plenty pretty much every chance I get, but it is nice to listen to a Podcast every once in a while where they go out of their way to keep it clean. I can really respect the World’s End boys for that.

Another thing that really struck me is that these guys were REALLY into tournaments. They run tournaments, they play in tournaments, they help run tournaments, they help play in tournaments. In short, the like their tournaments. I am not a tournament player, but I did find it interesting to hear their battle reports from the tournaments. I enjoyed hearing what the meta-gaming was like in their neck of the world, and I was struck by how these guys were able to play hard in “friendly” games and trash talk in competitive games and not let it affect their enjoyment of the game itself. Unlike what it seemed in my neck of the woods, or even what I had seen through the lens of listening to 40k Radio, these guys looked for a hard fought game more than a win (not that they weren’t looking for a win).

I’ve been listening to WER ever since, and I’ve really enjoyed it. They talk a lot about Blood Bowl, and they have sorely tempted me to buy a team, if I only had some people I could play on a regular basis, I probably would. But they also talk about all the specialist games and even Lord/War of the Ring(s). There are times when I have skipped certain sections that I wasn’t particularly interested in listening to, but for the most part, I enjoy their take on quite a few of the different games.

As with a lot of gamers, JJ in particular has not been pleased with the release of 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle. In one of the last few episodes, he pretty much swore off the game, and it really wasn’t that much of a surprise to me. The show has been looking at other game systems more and more in the last few months, particularly Malifaux by Wyrd Miniatures. While these games don’t really appeal to me (I can only afford so much plastic/metal crack), again, it is fun to listen to them discuss the games. Plus they still play Blood Bowl and 40k.

World’s End Radio doesn’t seem to get all the interviews that 40k Radio and Podhammer gets, but they have had their fair share of people in the gaming industry on their show. All in all, a top show.

Next time, I’ll move on to the next Podcast I started listening to on a regular basis, Podhammer.