The Independent Characters | Warhammer 40k Podcast (Carl Tuttle & Josh Sawyer)
Explore every episode of The Independent Characters | Warhammer 40k Podcast
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Jan 2014 | Episode 94 - Commission Painting: The Full Service | 02:10:25 | |
Episode 94 of The Independent Characters takes a hard look at Commission Painting. Whether you are thinking of having a model or army painted by a commission painter or painting service, or whether you think you have the chops to become a commission painter yourself, we discuss the pitfalls you want to avoid as well as the benefits. To help us round out our conversation, we also have interviews with Branden from Smells Like Wargaming and Frankie from Frontline Gaming. These are two distinctively different approaches to Commission Painting services and we ask them about how they do business and what others should look for. As usual, we have our Workbench and Games Played segments where we delve a bit into Tyranids as well. Next episode we promise to present you with a brand spanking new commercial for Secret Weapon Miniatures as well as Smells Like Wargaming. So finally people can stop teasing Carl about not having recently attended a class by Mr. Justin! Time Stamps:
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| 16 Jun 2014 | Episode 103 - Dataslate: Technology and 40k | 02:31:03 | |
Episode 103 is a new format for shows, in which we cover topics that are perhaps not lengthy enough to warrant an episode entirely on their own, but can be strung together into several segments. We refer to these as Dataslate episodes. In this episode we have a discussion of the use of Technology and 40k. From Facebook, Blogs, to apps and tablets. We discuss how we have used these various pieces to improve our gaming experiences. We then have a short review of Games Workshops Altar of War book. We follow all of that up with two interviews. One with Dave of Dave Paints. This is the commission painter who has painted Carls wifes Eldar. (The Chelledar) The other interview is with Reece Robbins as we discuss the upcoming Bay Area Open. This has some significant changes and news recently. So if you are interested in going, you aren't going to want to miss this. Of course we have our usual Hobby Progress in which we have... actual Hobby Progress! We hope you enjoy this episode!
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| 04 May 2014 | Episode 100 - The Centennial Special | 03:03:22 | |
Welcome to Episode 100 of The Independent Characters! It has been a long journey for us to get here and we take a brief look back on how far we have come over the last four years. We have an extensive Hobby Progress section (which contains a lot less purchased products!) in which even Geoff has a tremendous amount to talk about! We can't believe it either! We spend some time this episode talking about what you should consider if you are thinking of starting a Podcast of your own. Hopefully this is interesting to people who would also just like a little behind the scenes look at what we do here that makes us think we are unique. In a market crowded with 40k Podcasts, we would like to thank you for selecting ours as worthy of your time to listen to. Thank you for a wonderful four years and here's to four more! This episode is dedicated to Echo and Winston. Our two best friends, who left us way to early. We miss you guys. Time Stamps:
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| 01 Jun 2023 | Episode 216 - Tales of Lore: Rare 40k Materials I | 02:10:55 | |
Episode 216 of The Independent Characters has the group covering rare and coveted Warhammer 40k Materials from the past. Over the years, Games Workshop has produced and released many very cool and specialized products for many of its ranges. The Warhammer 40,000 universe has possibly seen the most of these rare and wonderful products. In this episode, each host has selected one rare item from Warhammer 40k and do a short dive into what the item is, what it means to the Warhammer 40k universe, and then discuss why the item is of interest to them and likely the community as a whole! This is the first in a series around these types of materials. If you enjoy this episode, please let us know! If you want to hear coverage of some specific item, let us know that as well. If you didn't like the subject matter - we REALLY want to know that too! Don't forget you can also watch and listen to us on our YouTube Channel. We hope you enjoy the show. Time Stamps:
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| 19 Jan 2020 | Episode 200 - Retrospective & Updates | 03:34:40 | |
We have finally reached our 200th episode (although somewhat late), and that means it is time to take stock of where we came from, what has changed, and where we are going. We have spent nearly 10 years (April will be 10!) looking at this hobby and at times have planted our stake in the ground and made either predictions, or taken stances. We will see how many of those have held up over the years. Where appropriate, we will provide some updates on some things that have changed. We will also discuss some of our favorite episodes and why they are still relevant. Additionally, we will take a look at where we are going from here. It's a fun episode, and we hope you enjoy it! Time Stamps:
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| 16 Feb 2015 | Episode 118 - Show of Force: The Angels of Death | 03:20:17 | |
Episode 118 of The Independent Characters is our long awaited Show of Force: The Angels of Death! Carl, Adan and Justin spend some time discussing their Hobby Progress and Games Played before we move into the meat of the show. You may or may not realize it, but The Space Marines are a pretty large part of Warhammer 40k (who are we kidding? You know that!), and so this Show of Force takes quite a bit of time to go through. Even with the length of this episode, we are still only scratching the surface of the most popular army in Galaxy! Additionally we get none other than Douglas Johnson of Tablewar fame to join us, and talk briefly about the Tablewar offerings.That's great and all, but you may not realize Doug is also an incredibly accomplished Warhammer 40k Tournament player, with multiple GT's under his belt and several appearances in the Top 16 at the Adepticon finals. Doug also happens to be a huge fan of Space Marines and spends some time with us talking about them in competition. With only five remaining episodes of The Independet Characters, we plan to make the best of them! We hope you enjoy this one.
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| 07 Apr 2015 | Episode 121 - Adepticon 2015 | 02:59:12 | |
Episode 121 of The Independent Characters contains three hours of discussion about Adepticon 2015. Carl is joined by Adan and local gamer Cristian to discuss our experiences at one of the greatest miniatures conventions in the world! In addition we have two great interviews for you. First up is Teras from Geek Nation Tours, who we spent a lot of time with during Adepticon. He tells us all about Geek Nation Tours and how it has changed over the years. Then we have Steve from Modcube. This is an awesome new product coming out which is going to revolutionize the way you use markers on the gaming table. We hope you enjoy the show!
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| 20 Sep 2024 | Episode 244 - 40K Small Unit Tactics | 01:55:00 | |
Episode 244 of The Independent Characters has us joined by Phil Hall, also known as The Glacial Geek (check out his YouTube Channel!). Phil and Carl spent quite a bit of time together during this years Nova Open Tabletop Wargaming Convention and while there we had a lot of conversation around painting, playing, and Kill Team. Phil has agreed to join Carl for an episode all about Small Unit Actions in the Warhammer 40k universe. This includes the new version of Kill Team and a bit about what we hope to expect there, in addition to Boarding Actions. These two unique ways of playing in the Warhammer 40k universe offer very different experiences from both each other, and how other games of Warhammer 40k are played! We hope you enjoy Episode 244. Time Stamps:
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| 17 Dec 2018 | Episode 179 - Clash of The Podcast Titans | 02:15:15 | |
Episode 179 of The Independent Characters brings you a somewhat silly episode. We were lucky enough to have three very special guests. Jason Mullins from the Sons of Heresy Podcast, Adam Fasoldt (Loopy) from the Masters of The Forge Podcast, and Robo Ed from Life After the Cover save! Since Carl had all three of these individuals at his house, he felt it would be a travesty not to record an episode with them! So here you go. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll kiss three buck goodbye! Time Stamps:
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| 13 Oct 2014 | Episode 111- Show of Force: Aspects of The Fallen Empire | 03:05:25 | |
In Episode 111 of The Independent Characters has us covering the enigmatic Eldar in Show of Force: Aspects of The Fallen Empire. We will go into great depth about this historic Warhammer 40k force. We discuss the background, and all the support you can get for the Eldar from Black Library, Forge world and elsewhere before we discuss some of the rules that make this army great! As usual we have our Hobby Progress and games played, where we say a final goodbye to Geoff. In addition to all of that we have an interview with Black Library author, Guy Haley to get his take on the Eldar! It's a great episode and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did putting it together!
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| 20 Aug 2013 | Episode 83 - The Hobby Progress Challenge Update | 02:33:04 | |
Episode 83 of The Independent Characters sees us halfway through The Hobby Progress Challenge for 2013! Some people have completed their challenge already, some are making good progress, and others have completely fallen off the rails (Like Carl!). We talk to some of the folks who have completed or are well on their way to finishing their projects. We go behind their motivations on picking the armies they picked, determine how they kept on task, and see if they have any advice for those who have faltered... After that, we have a Warrior Lodge Segment, where our panel tackles some topic which are being talked about on our forums and the 40k Community at large! We hope you enjoy!
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| 09 Jan 2017 | Episode 146 - The 2016 Warhammer 40k Year in Review | 03:21:23 | |
Episode 146 of The Independent Characters goes back to 2016 to discuss the year that was. First we open with some hobby progress, a dip into our plans for 2017, and then move into a quick interview with Teras of Geek Nation Tours to discuss the Geekend out with Miniatures in the UK tour. After that we launch into a lengthy list and discussion about how Games Workshop treated Warhammer 40k in 2016. What a year it was! Not only do we discuss what products came out in support of Warhammer 40k, we also talk a bit about where we think they may be going this year. Even as we were recording, Games Workshop released the brand new Lord of Change model (and Kairos Fateweaver), and we spend a few minutes trying to catch our breath after seeing that! All of that and more in this episode! We hope you enjoy Time Stamps:
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| 18 Dec 2024 | Episode 249 - Collaborative Wargaming | 02:27:48 | |
Episode 249 of The Independent Characters has Carl, Josh, and Campbell discussing the merits of Collaborative Wargaming. What does that mean? Well you will find out more when you listen, but at it's core it involves working together to improve your gaming experience. Whether you are playing in a Team Tournament, or launching the greatest narrative campaign this side of the Cicatrix Maledictum, you are going to want to take a listen to this episode for tips, tricks, and inspiration! Time Stamps:
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| 13 Apr 2019 | Episode 185 - Champions of 40k: The Powers of Chaos | 04:09:11 | |
Episode 185 of The Independent Characters contains about four solid hours of great content for you! After a lengthy Hobby Progress and Games Played Segment - we dive into our Champions of Warhammer 40,000. This time we explore some of the Powers of Chaos! When we are all done with that amazing topic, we have a discussion with Dave and Mel about their Kickstarter for Terrain Essentials, followed up by an interview with Dan and Campbell of the 40k Badcast Podcast! We love these two guys and I think you will too! We really hope you enjoy what we have prepared for you. Time Stamps:
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| 18 Dec 2018 | Episode 180 - Show of Force: Agents of Change | 03:59:57 | |
Episode 180 of The Independent Characters comes right on the heels of Episode 179 and is set to destroy your ears with four hours of Warhammer 40,000 enjoyment! First we have an in-depth Hobby Progress section with lots of fantastic tangents! Then the fun really starts with our Show of Force covering The Thousand Sons. You knew Carl could talk a lot, but you didn’t know he talks even more when it is his favorite subject! We don’t know if you will want to play a Thousand Sons army after listening to this episode, but we are CERTAIN you will consider it time well spent. We hope you enjoy. Time Stamps:
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| 02 Jun 2016 | Episode 134 - Show of Force: Hammer of The Emperor | 02:48:18 | |
Episode 134 of The Independent Characters is is a return to our Show of Force format. This time around we are covering the Astra Militarum, or as they are traditionally known, The Imperial Guard. To help us out we have a couple of guests. First up is Douglas Neale, or as he is more affectionately known, Replacement Geoff. He plays IG as his primary army and has a love for the army. Additionally we have another Doug! Doug Johnson of Tablewar fame! We go over every aspect of The Imperial Guard, from our favorite models to how to play the army. This is truly the episode for person who loves this army. We work to answer the question, "Why would you want to play this army?" We hope you enjoy this episode of The IC's.
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| 15 May 2023 | Episode 215 - Return of The Independent Characters (Again!) | 02:03:36 | |
Episode 215 of The Independent Characters is the long awaited return of the show!. We used this show to get ourselves back into form and also try out some new features. This is just a fairly open discussion focusing on what each of us have been up to over the last two years as well as what we are looking forward to, especially now that we have restarted the program. Please stick around after the final music to hear a very special song by our friends Doug Neale and Travis Hathcock. We miss you dearly Doug. Time Stamps:
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| 12 Mar 2018 | Episode 169 - Chaos Resurgent: Slaanesh | 02:55:42 | |
Episode 169 of The Independent Characters continues our four part series looking into each of the Chaos Gods. This episode, we are covering Slaanesh. While this Chaos Gods future is somewhat up in the air at the moment, we have high hopes that GW will embrace the deity for all it is worth, and in all aspects. We think you will enjoy this Chaos Resurgent episode! We also include in this episode two different interviews. One interview is with Colin Ward, from Legalized Mischief Productions and the other is from Kat & Caleb of CK Studios. We think there is some great information in both of these pieces. We really hope you enjoy what we have for you in Episode 169! Time Stamps:
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| 05 Sep 2024 | Episode 243 - Crusade: Pariah Nexus | 01:59:41 | |
Episode 243 of The Independent Characters finds Carl joined by Aaron as we discuss the Crusade rules in general, but more specifically how the Crusade Rules for Pariah Nexus offer a unique gaming experience. We will delve into the lore of the Pariah Nexus Campaign before discussing the rules, features, and missions of the Pariah Nexus Crusade book. Even if you aren't interested in Crusade style play specifically, we think you may find the content of this episode interesting! We hope you enjoy Episode 243. Time Stamps:
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| 23 Oct 2017 | Episode 163 - The Extended Warrior Lodge | 03:02:43 | |
Episode 163 sees The Independent Characters return after a short delay due to illness of one of the guest hosts. When we come back though, we come back strong! This episode is an extended "Warrior Lodge". The Warrior Lodge segments are a moderated discussion about topics which are relevant to the Warhammer universe and community in which we all participate. To help us through this episode, we have three special guests who have joined us on previous episodes. Colin, Jody, and Josh join Carl to talk about topics which have been on our minds and possibly the minds of others throughout the community. Then we launch into a special interview with Ross Watson. You may know the name from all of the work on the RPG Warhammer 40k games from Fantasy Flight Studios. Ross is working on a new Warahammer 40k RPG, called "Wrath and Glory" with a brand new publisher. We get a bit of the inside scoop on what is going on with this new game and what we can expect! We hope you enjoy the show. Time Stamps:
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| 25 Nov 2024 | Episode 248 - The Evolution of 40k Terrain | 02:24:35 | |
Episode 248 of The Independent Characters has Carl, Josh, and Campbell talking about where Warhammer 40k terrain originated from, where it currently stands, and where it might be going. Yep! Still new intro music you are hearing at the beginning of the episode. We are going to stick with it for awhile, at least as long as Campbell is guest starring on the show, and see how you folks adapt to it! Be sure to let us know your feedback! Time Stamps:
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| 15 Jul 2024 | Episode 241 - Fostering a Positive Community | 02:24:20 | |
Josh will be on a (hopefully) short hiatus from the show. In the meantime we will have a rotating cast of guest hosts as we continue to move forward. Unfortunately, this puts our video efforts temporarily on hold (except for when we do remote interviews). However, the shows audio content continues! | |||
| 31 Oct 2023 | Episode 226 - The Grimdark Gauntlet | 02:00:42 | |
WARNING! This episode is best experienced on our YouTube Channel! There is a significant visual component to parts of it that really lend themselves much better to video. You have been warned! Episode 226 introduces us to a new show called The Grimdark Gauntlet! We will put our contestants through a series of challenges to determine who can come out on top! With actual prizes on the line... will they survive!? In a universe teeming with endless war, boundless lore, and intricate strategies, only the most dedicated emerge as true champions. Welcome to the ultimate test of Warhammer 40,000 knowledge and fandom! Here, contestants will face a gauntlet of rounds, each more challenging than the last, drawing from the grimdark vastness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the in-depth discussions of The Independent Characters Podcast. From the immaterial depths of the Warp to the echoing voices of our beloved podcast hosts, this game will probe the limits of your knowledge, dexterity, and passion. Only the truest fans stand a chance! We hope you enjoy Episode 226. Time Stamps:
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| 02 Jun 2014 | Episode 102 - Horus Heresy 3: Extermination - Part Two | 02:39:42 | |
Episode 102 of The Independent Characters has us returning to our coverage of Horus Heresy 3: Massacre for our second part of the two part coverage. First Geoff returns to talk about Hobby Progress and games played with Carl. We will see how that has gone. We also touch slightly on 7th Edition here and our initial impressions. But that's not what this show is about... We spend time discussing the mechanics of the Legions represented in this book as well as an overview of the Titan Legions involved and the Mechanicus forces. Then we leap over to discuss the two (yes we said two!) different campaign styles of play that are in this book. Anything that has us playing the game in different ways strikes our interest and this is no exception! We hope you enjoy this episode!
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| 27 Apr 2019 | Episode 186 - Exploring The Cities of Death | 02:20:17 | |
Episode 186 of The Independent Characters is a deep dive into the Cities of Death rules. These can be found in the narrative section of Chapter Approved 2018 as well as a slightly expanded version in the rule book for the Urban Conquest campaign set. This episode clocks in at a more reasonable two and a half hours. Which is a nice change for us from the marathon recordings we’ve been doing lately. Justin and Adan are back and we discuss what has been going on lately with about forty minutes of ‘Hobby Progress’. Carl also spends a little time describing The Somnium Stars Campaign which is launching for Legendary Level Patreon members in June! Then we launch into the main topic - Exploring the Cities of Death. We will tell you why this is the best way to play Warhammer 40,000 ever! (Well maybe). We really hope you enjoy the program! Time Stamps:
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| 01 Jul 2023 | Episode 218 - Aeronautica Imperialis: Then and Now | 01:46:16 | |
Episode 218 of The Independent Characters takes a deeper look at Aeronautica Imperialis. From the games origins, to where it currently stands, we look at the differences and similarities between the older and newer versions of the game. Additionally, we spend some time discussing where the game sits in the pantheon of games set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe and how we think you can best utilize it. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it! Time Stamps:
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| 29 Aug 2017 | Episode 160 - How to Pick the Right Army (Xenos Edition) | 04:02:28 | |
Episode 160 of The Independent Characters covers part 2 of our revisit to the question “What army should I play?”. We hope you are relaxed or have a lot of painting to do, because this episode clocks in at over four hours! Back in Episodes 42 and 43 we ran two linked shows which explored each of the faction (on the surface) and sought to answer just that. At the time, the show notes were so long the hosts decided it would be better to break it up into two episodes. One which was an Imperial Edition, and the other which was a Xenos Edition. Those are some great episodes, but that was all the way back in 5th edition and SO much has changed since then (and some things have stayed the same!) that we felt it was time to update this series. We aim to provide you the definitive guide for looking at all your choices for Warhammer 40,000 armies and making the right one for you. This is part two of these revised episodes, the Xenos and Chaos Edition. On top of all of that great content, we have our Forbidden Lore Segment near the end of the show. This is an hour long discussion with Black Library Author John French about his latest book, Horusian Wars: Resurrection! I was lucky enough to be joined by Geoff Hummel, our original co-host for this great interview. WARNING: Spoilers abound in this episode though! If you are interested in reading this book - you may NOT want to listen to this interview until you have completed it. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 02 Jul 2016 | Episode 136 - So you want to write for Black Library? | 02:00:54 | |
Many gamers feel like they have always had that novel inside of them, if they could just get the time to write it all down... Episode 136 focuses on what it takes for your submissions to Black Library to get noticed. Who knows, maybe you could be the next great Black Library author! To help us out with this we have brought in three experts: Guy Haley is probably one of the most prolific authors in Black Library to date. He writes more short stories and novels than just about any other author today. He also provides us a wealth of information on what the "Do's and Dont's" are when submitting material or pitching ideas, from an experienced writers perspective. We also speak with Justin Hill, one of the newer authors for Black Library (but by no means a new author!) about his experience in getting his foot in the door to write Warhammer 40k fiction. And finally we speak to the legend himself, Nick Kyme. Not only an author for Black Library, but first and foremost, one of the editors behind the portal that Ahriman himself searches for! As an editor, he and his peers are the literal gatekeepers to what does and does not get published by Black Library. He provides a wealth of information about what should go into your pitch for a story, and more importantly what should NOT go into it!
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| 15 Sep 2014 | Episode 109 - From Diapers to Dicebags | 02:44:38 | |
Episode 109 of The Independent Characters is a listener suggested topic from our forums titled "From Diapers to Dicebags". In it we explore gaming and having kids. We look at how you can continue to game when you become a new parent and all the way through them leaving. To help us out with this we have also enlisted the aid of several of our kids and a special guest SRM, from our forums! As usual we have our Hobby Progress and games played, which is quite extensive as we participated in a few events over this period of time! This episode may not be for everyone (yet!) but we think there is some good information in here! We hope you enjoy!
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| 13 Dec 2013 | Episode 91 - Horus Heresy: Massacre - Part Two | 02:23:58 | |
In Episode 91 we continue our coverage of Horus Heresy 2: Massacre! In the first part of our coverage we went into depth about the Legions involved in the book and how the story played out. In Episode 91, the second part of our coverage, we are going to talk a little bit about the Mechanicus and Titan Legion Forces, and then go into depth about some of the rules, characters and campaign that round out this book. Our regular segment of The Workbench and Tabletop discussion that takes place as well. And last but not least, we bid a fond and thankful goodbye to Geoff as he leaves the co-host responsibilities behind. This won’t be the last we see of him of course, but he will no longer be the second chair of the show going forward. We hope you enjoy! Time Stamps:
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| 01 Apr 2016 | Episode 131 - Garage Style Play and Basic Hobby Tools | 02:12:31 | |
Episode 131 of The Independent Characters returns with two great topics! After a large hobby progress and games played update we introduce our two guest hosts for our new segments. Doug (aka Replacement Geoff) is joined by Justin to discuss playing "Garage Style" games. What's the difference between this method and others? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages? Then we get in the Boiler Room with Jason and talk about Basic Hobby Tools. The topic only sounds dry on paper though - as we go into where you can get these kinds of tools and what things to look out for. We are hoping to put out one more episode before our upcoming trip to the UK for Salute and Warhammer World, but it may not happen. Either way we will keep you aware of what is going on through our Facebook page and website. We hope you enjoy!
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| 24 Mar 2013 | Episode 75 - Identifying Your 40k Playstyle | 02:57:31 | |
Episode 75 of The Independent Characters addresses the problem of Identifying your Warhammer 40k Playstyle. To help us out with this, we have our good friend Josh joining us for a good portion of the show. So often players aren't having as much fun as they could have with 40k because they are playing armies or builds within armies that go against the nature of the way they enjoy playing. We set out to identify a few of these different type of playstyles and hopefully point players in the right direction. As the curse of Episode 74 appears to have been lifted, we also have a tremendously long Hobby Progress and Games Played section. There is a lot of good content here though, so we think you will enjoy! Last but not least we discuss the Bay Area Open and some of the struggles this premier 40k GT had in their 2013 outing. We hope you enjoy! Show Timestamps
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| 31 Oct 2016 | Episode 142 - The Extended Warrior Lodge | 02:11:55 | |
Episode 142 of The Independent Characters includes The Warrior Lodge, a lengthy moderated discussion on several current topics. Thanks to our guests for joining us this episode. We are joined by Colin Ward, Justin Keefer and Douglas Neale. You all know Justin by this point. Doug and Colin have joined us on several episodes now and we thought they had some strong opinions on the various topics we cover. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 13 Apr 2018 | Episode 170 - Adepticon 2018 | 03:20:31 | |
Episode 170 of The Independent Characters has us discussing Adepticon 2018. It was through the generous purchases of listeners such as yourselves that we were able to make it possible for all of us to go and meet with various guests that you will hear over the next few episodes (including this one!) After a lengthy Hobby Progress section we will move into a discussion about Adepticon 2018. This is followed up by three separate interviews. The first is with Dave Taylor in support of his Armies & Legions & Hordes kickstarter. You should really check this thing out as it only has a couple of days left as of this recording. Then we move into an interview with Uncle Atom of Tabletop Minions fame to speak about his companies app 'Gamefor' which you may find interesting. And last, but certainly not least, we have an interview with Teras of Geek Nation Tours We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 07 Feb 2014 | Episode 95 - Gaming Clubs | 02:23:10 | |
Episode 95 of The Independent Characters takes a broad look at Wargaming Clubs. Are they useful? How do you find one? How do you join one? And more importantly how do you go about starting one? To help us with this discussion, since we really knew very little about it to start, Adan has done some research on local Gaming Clubs to us as well as discovered some of the history of a club he belongs to, The 40k Fight Club. In addition, we have conducted interviews from around the world to give us a bit of a global perspective on the scene. As usual, we have our Workbench and Games Played segments. We hope you enjoy this episode! Time Stamps:
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| 01 Sep 2023 | Episode 222 - Space Hulk: Expansions Unleashed | 02:02:31 | |
Episode 222 of The Independent Characters delves deep into Space Hulk To help us with this we have brought one of the members of The Basement of Death, Troy! You may have heard us talk about the '3D Spacehulk' event at Adepticon many times. The Basement of Death team are the guys that put this event together. They know just a little bit about Space Hulk and Troy has come here to share his knowledge with us. We will take a short look at the history of Space Hulk, the general premise of the game, its spinoffs, and the various versions. Then we go into depth about what the guys at Basement of Death have done to expand upon it and what they have planned next! This episode is sponsored by our Patrons Kirk Bollinger and Jonathan Walter. Thank you for your help and support. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 11 May 2017 | Episode 153 - The Horus Heresy Book VII: Inferno (Part 2) | 02:39:28 | |
Episode 153 of The Independent Characters brings you the conclusion of our coverage of Horus Heresy Book 7 - Inferno! To help us out with this coverage we have once again enlisted Josh Sawyer on this episode. Josh is a member of our local gaming group and a huge fan of The Thousand Sons, and has helped us pour over this massive tome and has prepared extensively for this episode! This episode we close out our coverage talking about the forces of the Imperium. Meaning the Space Wolves, Custodes, and Sisters of Silence. Last episode saw us cross our 3 MILLION total download mark and we just wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone who listens to the show. It has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 25 Apr 2017 | Episode 152 - The Horus Heresy Book VII: Inferno (Part 1) | 03:56:05 | |
Episode 152 of The Independent Characters begins our long awaited coverage of Horus Heresy Book 7 - Inferno! To help us out with this coverage we have enlisted Josh Sawyer on this episode. A member of our local gaming group and a huge fan of The Thousand Sons. Josh has helped us pour over this massive tome and has prepared extensively for this episode! Before we launch into our coverage of the latest Horus Heresy Forge World book, we spend a few minutes talking hobby progress, the latest on 8th Edition of Warhammer 40k (which had just announced the day before we recorded), and include an interview with Paul Murphy of the Forge The Narrative Podcast - where we ALSO talk about the excitement around the new edition of Warhammer 40k! All in all, it looks like a great time to be involved in this game. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 20 Mar 2017 | Episode 150 - Adapting to Edition Change | 02:56:32 | |
Episode 150 of The Independent Characters is all about dealing with change in the hobby. With 8th edition Warhammer 40,000 right around the corner we are sure to see some people get upset about many of the changes. We talk about some good ideas for how to deal with the upcoming upheaval. We start by taking a look back through changes we saw from 5th to 6th and 7th edition and try to put some perspective around how some changes, that were thought to be catastrophic to the game at the time, really panned out. Building upon this perspective, we talk a bit about good strategies for dealing with change from the point of view of those who deal with this kind of thing on a regular basis. Then we launch into a discussion about what changes we might see ported over from Age of Sigmar into Warhammer 40,000 with this new edition. We hope you enjoy. Time Stamps:
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| 27 Sep 2014 | Episode 110 - Mission Design in Warhammer 40k | 02:50:47 | |
In Episode 110 of The Independent Characters we talk about the process of building missions in Warhammer 40k. Whether you want to create (or leverage!) the ultimate 40k Tournament Missions, or make a really exciting and fun narrative mission for your event or friends, this is the episode you want to listen to We enlist aid from some of the best in the tournament scene at the moment to delve into their different (but somewhat similar) philosophies on mission design and what makes for a balanced experience. Reece Robbins (of The Las Vegas Open and Frontline Gaming) and Mike Brandt (of the NOVA Open and NOVA Open Charitable Foundatin) both join us to give us some insight into how the missions for their respective events were developed. As usual we have our Hobby Progress and games played, which is quite extensive as we participated in a few events over this period of time! That's not enough you say!? Ok then - how about we throw in a long interview with none other than Black Library author, and probably secret Chaos agent, Aaron Dembski-Bowden for good measure!? This is an amazing interview with insight into many things Black Library and his latest novel The Talon of Horus (on sale now!) without any spoilers.
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| 21 Oct 2024 | Episode 246 - Why Campaigns Fail and what to do about it | 02:31:28 | |
Episode 246 of The Independent Characters brings onto the roster Campbell McLaughlin of The 40k Badcast fame to join us! While his regular Podcast partner Dan takes some much deserved paternity leave, Campbell will be joining The Independent Characters army roster on a regular basis. We couldn't ask for a better partner! In this episode, Carl and Campbell talk about the ways that Campaigns, in pretty much any system, fail. We discuss what types of speedbumps campaigns often run into, and how those become dead end streets. Then we take a look at what strategies you can apply to ensure that you campaign is a successful one! Even with some choice edits, this episode rolls in at about two and a half hours. But we think this is a solid topic of discussion and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it! And yes, that is new intro music you are hearing at the beginning of the episode. We are going to stick with it for awhile, at least as long as Campbell is guest starring on the show, and see how you folks adapt to it! Be sure to let us know your feedback! Time Stamps:
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| 02 Feb 2020 | Episode 201 - Surviving the Apocalypse | 02:19:58 | |
Episode 201 of The Independent Characters contains our coverage of the latest version of Apocalypse! The latest iteration of Apocalypse is something both unlike we have seen before AND familiar to long time players of Games Workshop games. Jody and Carl talk about playing through the game, some of the changes and challenges, as well as what their final take on it all is. A solid two hours and twenty minutes of content all about the most beloved... or hated... way to play a game of Warhammer 40k! So sit back and get some hobby progress done while you enjoy the show. Time Stamps:
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| 14 Apr 2020 | Episode 204 - The Warrior Lodge | 02:29:54 | |
Episode 204 of The Independent Characters is as late as we have ever been with a show. The current situation around the world has impacted us here as well (as you will hear on the show), but we finally were able to work out a time to record. A couple of notes however: We obviously had to record remotely, which isn't ever my first choice, but we made the best of it. Additionally, we had to pivot away from our initial topic to a Warrior Lodge for this go around. Without the ability to be with each other in person, we miss out on some of the sharing factor of the previous topic. That's ok though, we will bring it back when things return to a stable state. That being said, I think we have some solid discussion here with Carl, Jody, Justin, and Josh (The three Js!). We hope you enjoy the show and we fully expect to be back on schedule soon, and in fact we have some new ideas we think you are going to enjoy. Time Stamps:
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| 20 Aug 2014 | Episode 107 - IA4: The Anphelion Project 2nd Ed | 02:07:14 | |
Episode 107 covers Imperial Armour 4: The Anphelion Project Second Edition! We talked about the first edition of this book way back in Episode 37 and we are revisiting it now that it has been updated. Get all the ins and outs of the new edition as well as an interview with Branden from Smells Like Wargaming! I would like to take a moment to thank my co-host of many years, Geoff, for all of his service with the show and being a great friend. I will miss you as you move back to Virginia and I wish you the best! We hope you enjoy this episode!
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| 07 Apr 2025 | Episode 255 - Adepticon 2025 Review | 03:00:04 | |
Episode 255 of The Independent Characters is all about our experience at Adepticon 2025! We are back from Milwaukee and along with Josh, Chelle, and Carl will be a host of interviews with those of us who went to AdeptiCon in 2025. We had to repost this since Chelle decided she wants to join this episode. She says that she has "Things to say" about AdeptiCon. What that is... is any of our guesses! We will talk about the events and classes we attended as well as the people we met and spoke with. Finally we will give our opinions on this years AdeptiCon and how it performs in it's new location! We hope you enjoy Episode 255. Time Stamps:
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| 02 May 2016 | Episode 132 - Salute 2016 and Warhammer World | 02:52:31 | |
Episode 132 of The Independent Characters returns after our trip to Salute and Warhammer World The hobby progress section is flowing with all hosts contributing quite a bit of work this last few weeks. This section also contains a lot of good tips and tricks on how you can get more out of your hobby time. Adan and Carl then discuss their recent trip to the UK where they were fortunate enough to attend games at the HATE club, The Overlords, Salute and ultimately Warhammer World! Finally we wrap up the episode with a discussion between Justin and Jason in our continuing series about playing styles. This time we are talking tournament style play. It's an especially long episode to make up for the missing one in mid-April, but we think you will enjoy the discussion.
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| 01 Dec 2023 | Episode 228 - It's not a Battle Report | 02:09:48 | |
Episode 228 of The Independent Characters has us discussing Battle Reports, their place in 40k, and what you can and cannot get out of them. To help us with this conversation we have brought in Nick Froese from PlayOn Tabletop to discuss what exactly goes into the creation of their YouTube show. In addition we spend some time speaking with Adam Abramowicz from The Army Painter to discuss the new line of Speedpaints they have just released as well as talk about his history as a gamer and what else The Army Painter has in store! We hope you enjoy Episode 228. Time Stamps:
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| 02 Dec 2013 | Episode 90 - Horus Heresy: Massacre - Part One | 03:05:34 | |
Episode 90 of The Independent Characters takes a very close look at Forge Worlds latest release, Horus Heresy 2: Massacre! As with the previous entry in this series, the tome is so massive we need two episodes to cover it all. Part one of our coverage will be taking a look at the story that has brought us to this point in The Great Betrayal so far, as well as in depth coverage of the four Adeptus Astartes Legions covered in the book. Namely, The Salamanders, The Word Bearers, The Iron Hands and The Night Lords.
Word of Horus’ treachery escapes Isstvan III and now the Legions loyal to the Emperor mobilise to make Horus and those who follow account for their crimes. However the depth of the betrayal is yet to be revealed.
Aside from our usual Workbench and Games Played segments, we have an interview with Reece Robbins to discuss The Las Vegas Open Tournament as well as his Kickstarter with Tablewar called The MegaMat!
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| 15 Jul 2023 | Episode 219 - Warhammer 40k 10th Ed & Leviathan | 02:22:40 | |
Episode 219 of The Independent Characters takes a unique look at 10th Edition and Leviathan. Warhammer 40k 10th Edition is here and so is Leviathan, the latest huge starter box from Games Workshop. Everyone knows this though. So why cover it? Well with something like this you kind of have to discuss the elephant (or new edition in this case) in the room. However, we decide to approach things a little different here at The Independent Characters. We have brought in Skye Herrick of Herrick Games and Hobbies to talk about what going through a release like this does to an Independent Retailer as well as what may have lead up to it. Rather than go into an overview discussion of the rules and how they have changed, we delve into two exciting ways to play that we are interested in. Combat Patrol and Crusade! This edition is sure to stay with us for awhile, and we hope you do as well! Time Stamps:
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| 20 Jun 2018 | Episode 172 - Show of Force: Deathwatch | 02:51:15 | |
Episode 172 of The Independent Characters is our Show of Force episode on Deathwatch! We have been unable to schedule time to record for nearly a month so we play a little catch up with each other and see how things have been going on the hobbby front before moving into our lengthy coverage of The Deathwatch. After that, we have a short interview with CK Studios to hear how their trip to the UK (and Warhammer World of course!) went, as well as the class they taught there. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 26 Feb 2024 | Episode 233 - The Psychology of Collecting Warhammer 40k | 03:04:28 | |
Episode 233 of The Independent Characters takes an in depth look at the psychology behind collecting Warhammer 40k. We are going to explore the benefits and pitfalls of the hobby and take a look at some strategies for not increasing your "closet of opportunity"... unless that makes you happy! To help us with this we are joined for an interview with Christopher Will, a psychologist operating out of Southern California. We didn't realize how long this episode had gotten as we explored this topic - so strap yourselves in for a pretty lengthy 3 hours of awesomeness! Time Stamps:
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| 05 Sep 2016 | Episode 139 - Horus Heresy Book VI: Retribution (Part Two) | 03:01:14 | |
Episode 139 of The Independent Characters continues our coverage of Horus Heresy 6: Retribution! This is the second of our two-part coverage of this incredible book by Forge World. As you know, last episode Carl lost his voice while recording. This episode we pick right back up where we left off. We complete our discussion around the background and storyline and then move right into the campaign system and description of the Shattered Legions, Black Shields, units and characters. If you liked last episode, we know you are going to love this one! Time Stamps:
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| 24 Jun 2020 | Episode 207 - Rogue Trader the RPG | 02:16:43 | |
Episode 207 of The Independent Characters has us taking a look at the Rogue Trader RPG released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2009. We are joined by Josh, Jody, and Adan as we discuss the Rogue Trader RPG. We take a look at the mechanics and flavor of the game and discuss the advantages and weaknesses of it. We played through a scenario of it prior to recording and have some interesting thoughts and feedback about it. While the game is no longer being published, you can still purchase the PDF versions of it from DriveThru RPG, and it is still a valid game with a ton of potential. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 28 May 2015 | Episode 124 - Imperial Armour: The Siege of Vraks | 02:00:33 | |
Episode 124 of The Independent Characters covers Imperial Armour: The Siege of Vraks! Carl is joined by Adan and we spend a few hours discussing one of Forge Worlds latest releases. This volume compresses the previous three-volume set into one massive tome. We spend time discussing if that was the right move or if too much was left on the cutting room floor! Clocking in at just over two hours long, this is a relatively short episode for us, but we hope you enjoy the show!
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| 03 Mar 2015 | Episode 119 - The 2015 Las Vegas Open | 02:05:57 | |
Episode 119 of The Independent Characters is a short one (at 2 hours long!?). Carl, Adan and Justin spend some time discussing their Hobby Progress and Games Played before we move into the main topic of the show. We spend a good amount of time talking about Carls visit to the 2015 Las Vegas Open and everything it entailed. Additionally we spend a few minutes discussing the current state of competitive Warhammer 40k. We also have a short discussion with James Hakola (aka: Mr Dandy) of none other than Wargamma.com. We find out what is going on with Wargamma as well as the answer to whether Mr. Dandy really does like chimichangas! With only four remaining episodes of The Independent Characters, we plan to make the best of them! We hope you enjoy this one.
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| 29 Oct 2018 | Episode 177 - Show of Force: Executioners of The Emperor | 02:51:03 | |
Episode 177 of The Independent Characters brings you nearly three hours of entertainment! As usual we have our hobby progress section in which we introduce our guest host, Austin Lin. Austin is an incredibly talented airbrush painter, a Space Wolf (and Tau) player, and all around good guy. Then we finally get to the meat of the episode - our Show of Force episode on The Executioners of the Emperor: The Space Wolves! Many people have waited a long time for this, and here it is. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 05 Sep 2016 | Episode 140 - Show of Force: Disciples of the Machine God | 02:49:24 | |
Episode 140 of The Independent Characters continues our Show of Force series. This time it is the Adeptus Mechanicus and Skitarii forces that we cover in depth! To assist Carl, we have brought on two members of our gaming group that play the AdMech and Skitarii forces. Michael and Colin are both very strong painters and players. The wealth of knowledge between the two of them will providde insights that we are certain you will find entertaining. Because we have a new guest on the show, he lets slip with some language you wouldn't normally hear on our program. It's nothing to terrible, but I felt we should warn you up front. It's for this exact reason we carry the explicit tags on all of our episodes. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 08 May 2021 | Episode 214 - Special Episode CK Studios Visit the Astronomicon | 01:02:49 | |
Episode 214 is a less formal episode as Kat and Caleb of CK Studios came to the Astronomicon to hang out with Carl, play some board games, and generally catch up. This episode talks a bit about what we have all been up to, how Covid is impacting everyones hobby but also really focuses around the current Tablewar Charities Auction which is taking place now! Be sure to go check it out. It's for a great cause and there are some fantastic prizes. The auction and drawings all end on May 10th! We hope you enjoy this episode! Time Stamps:
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| 13 May 2013 | Episode 77 – Imperial Armour 12: The Fall of Orpheus | 03:35:09 | |
Episode 77 sweeps through the sector as we cover Imperial Armour 12: The Fall of Orpheus. This is the latest book from Forge World that details a massive Necron invasion (cleansing?) of The Orpheus sector and pits the soulless androids against The Death Korps of Krieg and The Minotaurs Chapter of The Adeptus Astartes! Of course, we have been gone for some time from our normal programming, so we have a massive section of hobby progress to cover (well at least one of us does!) as well as games we have played in the intervening time. This includes Carls visit to San Diego to attend The Broadside Bash. And finally we speak with James Hakola, but you may know him better as Mr. Dandy. He has an incredible new line of resin terrain that we think you are going to be interested in! We hope you are glad we are back, because we are back with a large episode for you to gorge yourselves on! Show Timestamps
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| 20 May 2014 | Episode 101 - Horus Heresy 3: Extermination - Part One | 03:01:42 | |
Episode 101 of The Independent Characters focuses on Forge Worlds latest release, Horus Heresy 3: Extermination! This is part one of our two part coverage of the latest amazing book, and conclusion of the Istvaan Trilogy. In this episode, we go into depth about the lore surrounding Horus Heresy 3. This includes what happens immediately after the events of Massacre and other actions that take place in the neighboring systems. We then discuss the four Space Marine Legions represented in this book. Talking about their history, their disposition of forces during the Horus Heresy and some eximplary battles they have taken part in. Geoff joins Carl for this episode and we will find out if he has completed any hobby progress in the intervening time since Episode 100 as well... We also have an interview with Justin Tan of Arcane Factories about their Kickstarter project which is halfway through its cycle at the time of this release. For some reason audio quality for calls to Canada really suffers when doing these Skype calls. So we have tried to clean it up as much as possible. Please bear with the audio here as Justin has some information which may be of interest to 40k player, and in particular Sisters of Battle players! We hope you enjoy this episode!
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| 06 Jun 2017 | Episode 155 - The New Warhammer 40,000 | 02:31:43 | |
Episode 155 of The Independent Characters provides you with our first impressions of The New Warhammer 40,000! (aka: 8th Edition) While not a totally in depth look at the game, we provide an overview of how it works and what our initial impressions are. We are certain there will be more to come as we get to play more! We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 06 May 2021 | Episode 213 - Special Episode Tablewar Charities | 00:46:16 | |
Episode 213 is a shorter but special episode that really focuses around the current Tablewar Charities Auction which is taking place now! Be sure to go check it out. It's for a great cause and there are some fantastic prizes. However, Carl spends the majority of the episode catching up with friend of the show Colin Ward. We spend time talking about what each of us have been doing and how COVID has impacted the hobby cycle. We hope you enjoy this episode! Time Stamps:
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| 22 Jun 2017 | Episode 156 - Introducing Others To Warhammer 40,000 | 02:15:28 | |
Episode 156 of The Independent Characters continues to explore our early impressions of The New Warhammer 40,000, but the main focus of the show is about how to bring new players into the game. With the release of the new edition, the time couldn't be more perfect for people to join the community. The game is easier to learn than ever, but contains enough depth that older players are returning in droves. After a fairly long hobby progress section, we go over some thoughts and ideas on what you can do to help ease people into playing Warhammer 40,000 and not scare them off! We hope you enjoy the show. Time Stamps:
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| 06 Oct 2024 | Episode 245 - The Warrior Lodge: Big Guns Edition | 02:49:37 | |
Episode 236 of The Independent Characters has us bringing out the Big Guns! We have not only the return of none other than Justin Keefer to the program, but we also bring in Campbell McLaughlin from the 40k Badcast as well as Phil Hall from The Glacial Geek for a round of The Warrior Lodge! We will cover a variety of topics in this lengthy episode. It will be a long episode but one that we feel will bring you more entertainment than its length would imply. We hope you enjoy! Time Stamps:
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| 07 Mar 2017 | Episode 149 - The Hidden Benefits of Warhammer 40k | 02:06:07 | |
Episode 149 of The Independent Characters covers not only the 2 day airbrush class we all just attended, but we also delve into the hidden benefits of Warhammer 40k. A couple of years ago we covered the hidden costs of Warhammer 40k, and this time we look at the other side of that coin. Before we jump into that though, we start off with an interview with Kat and Caleb of CK Studios. We have a discussion about what our expectations are and what the class is going to cover, and then immediately follow that up with our Hobby Progress section which takes place immediately AFTER completing the class. It’s a nice follow up and closure to the whole thing. We hope you enjoy. Time Stamps:
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| 23 Nov 2019 | Episode 197 - Show of Force: Engines of Faith and Ruin | 03:53:09 | |
Episode 197 of The Independent Characters present you with a new Show of Force episode! This time we double stack it and take a look at both the Imperial and Chaos Knights in an episode we like to call Show of Force: Engines of Faith and Ruin. We're sorry, but we thought you said you LIKED long episodes... so this one clocks in at nearly four hours in length! Not only that, we have the return (some would say long overdue) of Justin to the show. After all of that great content, we have an interview with Kat and Caleb of CK Studios, talking about their experience teaching airbrushing at Warhammer World and what they have coming up for 2020. So sit back and get some hobby progress done while we talk all about Knights in 40k. Time Stamps:
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| 28 Jul 2013 | Episode 82 - Zone Mortalis | 03:12:04 | |
Episode 82 of The Independent Characters takes us into the deadly arenas and dangerous combats of Zone Mortalis! Zone Mortalis is a set of rules from Forge World which are free to download from their site. Within this set of rules you will find some of the most deadly close quarters combat of the 41st Millennium! Explore Space Hulks, root out enemies in abandoned mines and sewer systems, and battle against forces inside of secret Mechanicus Bases! We talk about the rules themselves, how this method of play actually works, some alternatives to Forge Worlds incredibly (and pricey!) terrain, as well as some suggestions for those playing AND developing the rules. And just when you think it's over, we pull in Black Library Author Steve Parker to talk to us about his book Deathwatch in our latest installment of Forbidden Lore! WARNING: Spoilers abound in any Forbidden Lore segment, and this is no exception! We hope you enjoy!
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| 15 Jun 2023 | Episode 217 - Underhive Factions: House Goliath | 02:29:58 | |
Episode 217 of The Independent Characters brings you the first in a new series of deep dives into the world of Necromunda entitled Underhive Factions. Taking a playbook from the Show of Force episodes, we are doing a deep dive of the various factions in Necromunda! In this new series you can expect us to look at where the various gangs originated, how they have evolved over the years, where they fit into the overall universe of Necromunda (and Warhammer 40k), and a bit about how they play! For our first in this series, we are tackling the might House of Chains, or as they are better known, House Goliath. We think you will enjoy what we have prepared for your listening enjoyment this episode! Time Stamps:
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| 11 Oct 2016 | Episode 141 - Exploring The Black Crusades | 02:53:33 | |
Episode 141 of The Independent Characters addresses the thirteen black crusades of Abaddon! For years people have maligned the leader of Chaos as a failure. We are here to tell you that is not the case. This episode, in honor of the release of Traitors Hate, we take a close look at the 12 previous Black Crusades led by the chosen of Chaos and then take a deep long look at the 13th Black Crusade. We apologize (again!) for the delays in getting the show out, but Carl was in the hospital for dehydration as a result of the stomach flu. We are back though. Our next episode is already scheduled for recording, so we shouldn't have any more delays. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 01 Jul 2024 | Episode 240 - The Warrior Lodge: Collab Edition 2 | 03:15:43 | |
Make sure you stay through the end of the episode for a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT about our 2024/2025 Hobby Progress Challenge! Episode 240 of The Independent Characters brings on two special guests from the newly reconstituted Life After the Cover Save Podcast. Ed and Travis join us for a great round table discussion! Time Stamps:
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| 02 Jun 2019 | Episode 188 - The Warrior Lodge LIVE! | 02:37:29 | |
Episode 188 of The Independent Characters is our very first LIVE show! And this time around it is an episode of The Warrior Lodge! Our new equipment (thanks to our Patrons) has allowed us to make you a part of our gaming group more than ever before. This time around we are able to have a few luckly listeners join us to give their points of view on some of the topics we discuss. This won't be the last time we do something like this, so we hope you become just as excited about it as we are! We tackle quite a few topics and struggle our way through some new technology, but overall I think we are very pleased with how the entire thing came together. We hope you agree. Time Stamps:
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| 04 Aug 2015 | Episode 127 - The End Times (Final Episode) | 05:17:27 | |
Normally we wouldn't release an episode this long, but this massive 5+ hour episode is bittersweet for us here as it is indeed the final episode of The Independent Characters. We want to thank every single one of you for listening to us over the last few years. It has been an incredible journey and we have enjoyed it tremendously. 127 may be a bit self indulgent as we check in with many of the guests that we have had on the show and find out where they are heading. We tried not to be too repetitive, but some of it cannot be helped when you conduct as many interviews as we have here. We also add a few segments for our final episode that we hope you enjoy. Thank you once again for listening, providing feedback, and generally being the best friends we could have ever asked for. Good gaming! I would also like to just take a moment to thank all of our sponsors over the years. KR Multicase, Secret Weapon Miniatures, Smells like Wargaming, and Wargamma. We made a promise not to advertise products that we wouldn't use ourselves - and these guys provide some of the best on the market. Please do go check them out and at least give them a look, as the show would not have been possible without their support. Farewell! Time Stamps:
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| 03 Dec 2018 | Episode 178 - The Warrior Lodge | 02:44:13 | |
Episode 178 of The Independent Characters brings you about two and a half hours of fun, laughter, and Warhammer 40k. Not necessarily in that order. We have our usual Hobby Progress and Games Played section which goes on for quite awhile as we have three guests in studio. However, the conversation diverges here from time to time and we bring up some interesting points along the way. Then we launch into our Warrior Lodge Episode - where we have a moderated discussion about several topics close to us personally and gathered from the ICs Facebook Group and larger Warhammer 40k Community. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 26 Oct 2013 | Episode 88 - Battlefleet Gothic | 02:22:27 | |
Episode 88 of The Independent Characters is all about Battlefleet Gothic. While all of the specialist games by Games Workshop have been cancelled, we have had this on our schedule to talk about for quite some time. So now that it has been cancelled, we figure why not talk about it!? We have played a bit of Battlefleet Gothic lately, and while we are no experts at it, we are happy to share our experiences and talk about some of the ins and outs of the game. As usual, we talk hobby progress and games played. But in addition to that, Geoff has a very important announcement at the beginning of the show that all our listeners should hear. We hope you enjoy! Time Stamps:
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| 15 Jun 2024 | Episode 239 - Show of Force: Leagues of Votann | 03:25:10 | |
Episode 239 of The Independent Characters has us finally returning to our Show of Force series! This time we are covering the Leagues of Votann! To help us out, we bring in the famous Dave Taylor! Dave has been a fixture in the miniature wargaming scene for over thirty years. A peerless hobbiest, and incredible painter. Dave has a fantastic Leagues of Votann army. As usual, we issue a warning with this type of show to protect your wallets and tread cautiously as our excitement about the army grows! We hope you enjoy Episode 239! Time Stamps:
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| 22 Apr 2015 | Episode 122 - Show of Force: Faith and Fire | 03:23:55 | |
Episode 122 of The Independent Characters covers our Show of Force episode titled Faith and Fire, in which we talk all about the Adepta Sororitas, also known as The Sisters of Battle! Carl is joined by Adan and Jody to discuss as we delve into the lore and function of the Sisters of Battle. We discuss everything about their backstory and how they play in the current edition of Warhammer 40k. Additionally, we have a great interview with none other than James Swallow - the author of three different Sisters of Battle stories (Faith and Fire, Hammer and Anvil, and the Red and Black Audio Drama). Hold on tight, because this is over 3 hours of great content. We hope you enjoy the show!
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| 17 Mar 2025 | Episode 253 - Introducing your partner to 40k | 01:39:21 | |
Episode 253 of The Independent Characters explores the age old questions of 'How do you get your significant other into Warhammer 40k?'. To help us explain her journey into the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, we are joined by Chelle Tuttle. For those who don't know by now, Chelle is Carl's wife and has had an on again, off again relationship with 40k. She is also managing all of the tracking of everyone's hobby progress in the Hobby Progress Challenge for 2025. For which we are very grateful! While we take a trip down memory lane on her exposure to the game, we also get some insights on what worked for her, to get her invested in the game. I want to thank Chelle for taking the time to join me on this discussion as I know this is a bit outside her comfort zone. We hope you enjoy Episode 253. Time Stamps:
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| 10 May 2020 | Episode 206 - The Greying of Warhammer 40k | 02:12:17 | |
Episode 206 of The Independent Characters takes a look at how the hobby is getting older, what the drawbacks and benefits to that are, what we as a community can do to bring new life to it, and how Games Workshop may be approaching an aging player base. A couple of notes however: We obviously had to record remotely, which isn't ever my first choice, but we made the best of it. Once the Shelter In Place orders are lifted, we will go back to recording in the studio while observing safety precautions. I really want to thank our Special Guest - Dave Taylor for joining us in a lengthy discussion on this topic. We meant no offence inviting him to join us on the "old guys episode"! Also do NOT forget you can use the coupon "ICMay2020" with your Tablewar purchases of FatMats, MacroMats, and GeoMats all throughout the month of May for an additional 10% off your purchase! These guys have been incredibly generous to the community over the years and as small businesses are hurting right now, go over there, take advantage of the coupon code and order something for yourself or a friend if you can do so! Time Stamps:
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| 10 Jul 2015 | Episode 126 - Horus Heresy: Tempest (Part Two) | 02:28:15 | |
Episode 126 of The Independent Characters has finally arrived and conclued our two part series on Horus Heresy 5: Tempest by Forge World! Due to scheduling issues, we were unable to get Adan on this episode as originally planned, but Carl is joined remotely by Geoff for a lengthy discussion about the rules, army lists, missions and campaign that make up the Battle of Calth. There is only one episode left after this one, so we hope you enjoy!
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| 13 Jan 2013 | Episode 70 - The 2012 Year In Review | 02:44:47 | |
It is once again time for our Independent Characters Annual Year in Review. This time we are obviously talking about 2012 and how it stacked up for Warhammer 40k and Games Workshop. This was, of course, the 25th Anniversary Year of Warhammer 40k and we will take a look back at every release from Games Workshop, Black Library, Forge World, Fantasy Flight and any other licensee of Warhammer 40k over the past 12 months. Does it amount to a 25th Anniversary? We will let you decide, but of course you came here to listen to our opinion about it! As usual we have some hobby progress to report, however with Carl being sick over the holidays he ended up cancelling out some of the games he had planned to play in. We aren't short of topics in this episode though and we think you guys will enjoy yelling at us through your stereo/iPod/Computer/MP3 listening device of choice, as we walk our way through our first episode of 2013. Thanks for spending another year with us. We wouldn't be here without you! We hope you enjoy! Show Timestamps
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| 04 Aug 2014 | Episode 106 - Swapping Armies | 02:34:04 | |
Episode 106 has us barely standing the heat in The Boiler Room. The Air Conditioning at the studio is broken and things get pretty hot. You can tell we start losing our minds. However, before we do we spend some time discussing Hobby Progress and swapping armies. We also include a discussion Justin and Carl had with Chelle, Carl's wife, about her Eldar (The Chelledar) from Dave Paints. We talk about how she has gotten into 40k, what appeals to her about it, and Justin offers her some advice on playing. This was originally intended to be released as bonus content while Carl was on vacation, but we held on to it until now. Last but not least, we have a Warrior Lodge segment with Aaron, Bryce and Jason. We discuss our impressions of 7th edition now and talk about specific changes to the game. We hope you enjoy Episode 106!
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| 04 May 2018 | Episode 171 - Chaos Resurgent: Tzeentch | 02:48:49 | |
Episode 171 of The Independent Characters sees us return for the final installment of our Chaos Resurgent series. This time around we talk everything Tzeentch! Prepare yourselves for a lengthy and productive hobby progress and games played section and then prepare to be mystified as we cover the topic of our fourth and final Chaos God in a descent into madness! We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 27 Jul 2019 | Episode 191 - The Foundations of Warhammer 40,000 | 04:06:20 | |
Episode 191 of The Independent Characters has us doing a deep dive into the ideas, fiction, fact, and fantasy that spawned the lore of Warhammer 40,000. If you hate long episodes, this one might not be for you as it is over 4 hours of content. But that's what the timestamps below are for! We include our usual Hobby Progress section and then we leap into an interview with none other than Miniwargaming Dave (or Chaos Dave as some call him!). We discuss some exciting things he has done lately and the new Mini Wargaming Bunker you can visit! Then we leap into the main topic of the show for about an hour and a half of solid conversation. This is followed up by an interview with Kat and Caleb from CK Studios where we discuss the entry for the NOVA Open Charity Foundation. An amazing Warlord Titan assembled and painted by some of the best in the industry. Find out how it can be yours! You may also notice fewer advertisements this episode. Thanks to our Patreon we are dropping most advertisers with two exceptions as we move forward. Tablewar and soon, Miniwargaming. We hope you enjoy the show. Time Stamps:
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| 15 Oct 2023 | Episode 225 - The State of the Galaxy | 02:25:25 | |
Episode 225 of The Independent Characters has us taking a look at the State of the Galaxy. This means we are doing a review of the major changes and updates to the lore over the last 10 years or so. It used to be that nothing changed in the Warhammer 40k universe. It was always two minutes to midnight and the clock stayed there. Since 7th edition though, Games Workshop has slowly begun to evolve the lore and move the clock ever forward. We take a look at these changes and what they mean for the future of Warhammer 40k. We hope you enjoy Episode 225. Time Stamps:
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| 10 Apr 2014 | Bonus Content - Dave Taylor Interview at Adepticon 2014 | 00:32:26 | |
I had some time to sit down with Dave Taylor of Dave Taylor Miniatures and discuss his new business as well as spend some time talking to him about his, very different, approach to assembling large Forge World Models! I think Dave does a great job of de-mystifying these models, and provides some amazing advice. I really wanted to thank Dave for taking the time to sit down and talk with me at Adepticon. He's a very busy guy! Please forgive the sound quality here - I did my best to clean it up. Relevant Links:
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| 15 Sep 2013 | Episode 85 – IA Apocalypse and Rapid Release | 02:50:07 | |
Episode 85 is right around the corner and with this one, we fill our third chair with regular favorite guest Adan. But what is this episode all about The game has been changing. The introduction of 6th edition has been met with quite a lot of criticism from the tournament scene over the last year. The fast changing release of codexes and codex expansions is quickly changing the face of the game, preventing any one build or codex from maintaining a lead over another for long. We explore the impact of how this is changing not only the tournament scene, but how this is having an impact on purchasing models & armies for non-tournament gamers, as well as how it is effecting retailers. We also take an in depth look at the new Imperial Armour Apocalypse released by Forge World as well as the new release of Apocalypse Warzone: Damnos by Games-Workshop. Not only that, we have an interesting interview for you from Erasmus, the driving force behind the video The Lord Inquisitor, which has the blessing of Games Workshop and the participation of Aaron Dembski-Bowden. So sit back. Relax. And enjoy Episode 85 of The Independent Characters.
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| 16 Jun 2015 | Episode 125 - Horus Heresy: Tempest (Part One) | 02:38:33 | |
Episode 125 of The Independent Characters covers part one of our two part series about Horus Heresy 5: Tempest by Forge World! Carl is joined by Adan and Geoff for a lengthy discussion about the background, lore and the tale of the Word Bearers sneak attack on the Ultramarines at Calth. We are down to our final three episodes (of which this is one), so we hope you enjoy!
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| 15 Dec 2014 | Episode 114 - Warhammer 40k from Frugal to Lavish | 03:08:50 | |
Episode 114 of The Independent Characters is a lengthy discussion about playing Warhammer 40k both inexpensively and then how to embelish your play to take things to the next level. As usual we have a Hobby Progress and Games Played segment, where we meander a bit and talk about some new developments in the 40k Community over the last week. Namely base sizes and rumors of the 40k End Times. On top of all of that - we have an interview with Caleb Wissenback to talk about how the Las Vegas Open is helping you bring your painting to the next level!
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| 31 Dec 2017 | Episode 166 - 2017: The Year in Review | 02:54:15 | |
Episode 166 of The Independent Characters comes in at around three hours as we go back over all of the releases from Games Workshop of 2017 and complete our annual retrospective. During our Hobby Progress section you will get to hear how much of our 2017 Commitments we failed to accomplish and what we did instead. Then it is on to two full hours of discussion around releases and what they meant to the game of Warhammer 40k, the community, and the company. We hope that all of you are having a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in 2018. Thank you for listening all throughout 2017. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 03 Dec 2017 | Episode 165 - Show of Force: Champions of Titan | 03:56:07 | |
Episode 165 of The Independent Characters is a super-sized, nearly four hour episode! The first thing you need to know though, is that this episode is being released in ADVANCE of Episode 164 as a result of a PR announcement tied to that episode which was delayed. This forced us to delay the release of 164, so we hurried up and released 165 as soon as we could. This episode is our Show of Force covering the Grey Knights! (I know. It's confusing.) To help us through this episode, we have brought on two guys who are incredibly passionate about the Grey Knights. Aaron (also known as Magneto) and Adan. I want to thank them very much for joining us on short notice so we could get this episode out to you guys and not make you wait even longer for Episode 164. Our Show of Force episodes are some of our most positively reviewed content - but just when you think it cannot get any better we top it by bringing on Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Geoff Hummel to complete our Forbidden Lore segment on Black Legion. Aarons follow up to Talon of Horus! It's an hour long interview full of spoilers and fanboy gushing, but we think you will enjoy that! Thank you for your patience as we have dealt with this fumble of timing. We hope you enjoy the show. Time Stamps:
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| 27 May 2013 | Episode 78 - Running Events (Part 1) | 02:24:21 | |
Episode 78 begins a two episode series in which we discuss what goes into, and how to run events. While this will include tournaments, this is not limited to just that style of play. Over the course of these two episodes (78 and 79) we will discuss the thinking behind running events, how to avoid problems that may pop up and how to make your event more successful. We will start off by talking about smaller events, on a personal and local level, and then move into regional and finally national level events. We will have guests that include some of the best in the field and hear their thoughts as to what goes into the event and how you come out the other side unscathed! As usual we lead off with some hobby progress and games played, and devolve into a little bit of arguing about the new Eldar and pricing. We hope you find this topic insightful, informative and inspirational! Show Timestamps
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| 12 May 2019 | Episode 187 - Champions of 40k: Enigmas of the Xenos | 03:14:43 | |
Episode 187 of The Independent Characters contains brings us nearly to the end of our Heroes of 40k series with the Enigmas of the Xenos! We include our usual Hobby Progress (or lack thereof) section and then jump right into our main topic of the show. This is the first episode recorded on our new equipment. I'm still dialing in a few things but I think you will already find the audio quality improvements significant! We really hope you enjoy what we have prepared for you. Time Stamps:
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| 24 Jun 2013 | Episode 80 – Imperial Armour 3 2nd Ed: The Taros Campaign | 02:19:50 | |
Episode 80 of The Independent Characters covers a tremendous variety of topics. As usual, we start our with our hobby progress and (lack of) games played. But then we get right into the main course of the show. Imperial Armour 3 2nd Edition: The Taros Campaign is the first part of our two part main course this episode. We go through the changes between the 1st edition and now, and ultimately let you know why Forge World has released this new book and weather it is worth you buying or not! This is followed up by a very special edition of The Warrior Lodge, we have titled The 40k Widows Club. We have three of the wives of our players in studio to talk about how their husbands involvement in the 40k Hobby has impacted them and what problems and solutions they have come up with. As it turns out we hear from three different spectrums here. A wife who has children leaving the nest, a wife of a tween-aged child, and the wife of an infant child. We learn some interesting things from their perspective. Hopefully they let us know a few things we can do to keep out of trouble. Finally, we have an interview with several members of Behaviour Interactive. This is the studio charged with bringing Eternal Crusade, the Warhammer 40k MMO to life! We hear about their previous experiences and some thoughts behind what drives them and what they are thinking about doing with the game. This is recorded over a conference call, so the audio isn’t the best, but we hope you can bear with it as there is some really great information here. We will work to improve this in the future as we are going to be having multiple interviews with the developers as the game progresses! We hope you enjoy!
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| 30 Jan 2017 | Episode 147 - Show of Force: The Great Devourer | 03:10:51 | |
Episode 147 of The Independent Characters returns to our Show of Force. This time it is The Great Devourer! Better known as the Tyranids. First we open with some hobby progress, then a quick interview with CK Studios about their airbrushing class, and then we move into our coverage of our love/hate relationship with one of the most iconic Warhammer 40k Armies. This is a lengthy discussion of where the Tyranids come from, both in fiction and as it relates to the Warhammer 40k game. We hope you enjoy. Time Stamps:
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| 26 Sep 2017 | Episode 162 - Multi-System Campaigns | 02:49:14 | |
Episode 162 of The Independent Characters takes campaigns to the next level by incorporating other systems into your campaign to represent the different scales of conflict. NOTE: If you are reading this - the times in the shownotes may be slightly off. We will correct that with an update soon. We also have a couple of interviews. First up is a discussion with Todd Kinkade from Tablewar about their new Kickstarter for the GEOMat. We also speak to Greg Rizzer of FanKicks about their Warhammer 40k themed shoe line. We hope you enjoy the show! Time Stamps:
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| 25 Mar 2014 | Episode 98 - Adepticon 2014 Preperation | 02:29:20 | |
Episode 98 of The Independent Characters has the return of Geoff! At least for this episode anyway... We spend some time catching up with the former co-host of The Independent Characters, talk a little about the feedback from Episode 97, and then launch into our discussion of Adepticon 2014 and what we are doing to prepare for this magnificent event! We also take some time to speak with Matt Weeks, one of the primary organizers of Adepticon, before we come full circle and have a conversation with a couple of our friends who will be attending with us this year. Adepticon is always a lot of fun and we highly encourage you to make the trip out to Chicago at some point if you aren't already. Not only is this episode slightly delayed, but we also apparently ran into several sound issues. I have done my best to clean them up a bit. Our apologies about that. We hope you enjoy Episode 98 of The Independent Characters. Time Stamps:
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| 24 Jan 2024 | Episode 231 - Legions Imperialis | 02:46:03 | |
In Episode 231 we are going to take a look at the history of Legions Imperialis. We talk about where it came from, what roles in filled in the past, and what role it fills now. We hope you enjoy Episode 231 as much as we enjoy Legions Imperialis! Time Stamps:
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| 13 Feb 2017 | Episode 148 - The Gathering Storm I: Fall of Cadia | 02:34:15 | |
Episode 148 of The Independent Characters sees us focusing on The Gathering Storm 1: Fall of Cadia. Before we dive into one of the latest releases by Games Workshop, we jump into Hobby Progress and Adan gives an overview of his experience at the Las Vegas Open last weekend. We then jump into the story of Fall of Cadia and how it compares to the original start of the 13th Black Crusade, the Eye of Terror Campaign. We then go into the details of the story, the characters and the ultimate resolution. Afterwards we provide our thoughts around where this is leading for 40k and what our opinion of the book is. We hope you enjoy. Time Stamps:
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| 09 Nov 2019 | Episode 196 - Moving With Your 40k | 03:05:53 | |
Episode 196 of The Independent Characters takes a close look at what happens when you have to move. How do you take your hobby with you? How do you ensure that everything transports safely? And how do you join a gaming group or form one once you arrive? We have our usual Hobby Progress section followed by a solid two hours of discussion around moving with your hobby. Then we launch into an interview with Todd from Tablewar, who is talking about the new Tablewar Charities foundation. We hope you enjoy the show as much as we enjoyed recording it! Time Stamps:
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| 05 Dec 2017 | Episode 164 - The Permutation of Arasys | 02:39:58 | |
Episode 164 of The Independent Characters is late. Super late in fact. Let us explain: As you will hear in this episode we have an interview with Steel Wool - a video game company working on a great new game for Warhammer 40k. Unfortunately, we also talked a lot about this interview and its contents. Their announcement was subsequently delayed due to… reasons. As a result, we could not release the episode or even just remove the interview and release it on time, and in fact released it out of order (Episode 165 dropped a few days ago). We apologize for the delay and we have learned our lesson to never again tie an episode to a PR Announcement of a release! So with that out of the way, let’s talk about what this episode actually contains! First we have a fairly long and meandering Hobby Progress discussion which also weighs in on a few new announcements from GW and other thoughts and ideas about the community. We then move into our (delayed) interview with Steel Wool about their new Betrayal at Calth video game! Trust us when we tell you that this thing is VERY cool. Listen to the interview and you will see why. We then have an interview with returning guests Kat and Caleb of CK Studios. They have some amazing events coming up and we get some insight into what they have going on. Last but certainly not least, we have a short discussion about our home campaign The Permutation of Arasys, which we have been playing through. We talk about the structure of the campaign, how it is going so far, and what our expectations are going forward. Again we apologize for the delays in releasing the show, but we really hope you enjoy what we have for you. Time Stamps:
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