GW changes, yet still stays the same. Explore the endless cycle of rules, news, and meta trends in this essential Warhammer 40k podcast episode
Another Long War Two-Fer is here: Keep those hobby muscles strong with this week’s webcast and the latest exciting podcast of tabletop wargaming awesomeness, mostly centered around Warhammer 40k.
The Long War: Episode 526
Article Table of Contents:
Show Summary:
This week, the crew talks Quest Con, Mike Haspil’s first games of 11th Edition 40k, Space Marine releases, GW takedowns, Space King hitting $5 million, and why people keep coming back to Warhammer even when Games Workshop gives them plenty to complain about. Here are the key takeaways, section by section:
- 00:00-05:30: Rob Baer, Kenny Boucher, and Mike Haspil open with Florida internet problems, Rob’s sports-bar terrarium, terrible YouTube thumbnail faces, and the difference between being a sellout and a shill, before shouting out Wyatt’s Challenger Cup team and explaining why he’s missing this week’s show.
- 05:30-09:55: Kenny recaps Quest Con and the growing Solar Crown painting competition, which was up around 20% and packed with strong entries, vendors, classes, and hobbyists. His wife turns their booth into a Pokémon trading hub, while Noah wins Kenny’s “model that slaps the hardest” award with a pewter Lukas the Trickster.
- 09:55-16:05: Haspil finally gets his first game of 11th Edition 40k in and comes away surprisingly positive, especially about the improved app, synced army lists, mission tools, Grey Knight changes, Paladin Apothecaries, and the option to run everything digitally or stick with physical cards. He still thinks Dreadknights need help, and Vortex of Doom got hit too hard, but for beer-and-pretzels 40k he had a blast.
- 16:05-24:35: That enthusiasm runs into Haspil’s frustration over GW sending huge chunks of his collection to Legends, especially armies he spent years buying, building, and painting to actually play. The crew talks about aging out of hardcore tournament travel, building armies more slowly, and how newer fans are now pouring in through lore, Space Marine 2, Total War: Warhammer 40k, Dawn of War 4, and upcoming animation projects.
- 24:35-29:20: The news desk starts with the new Space Marine Codex, datasheet previews, and another wave of multipart kits, including Intercessors, Vanguard Veterans, Outriders, a Captain on Bike, a new Landspeeder, and fresh characters. Rob runs through the prices, including $67.50 Intercessors and Vanguard Veterans, $68.50 Outriders, a $60 Captain, and the returning $60 Rhino.
- 29:20-34:55: Games Workshop’s latest MyMiniFactory takedowns turn into a discussion about how third-party creators describe Warhammer-compatible products, with Rob arguing that the wording itself is increasingly becoming the battlefield. Things get stranger when one takedown is apparently signed by “Mal Reynolds,” while Kenny recounts how Grim Rod Studios told him they paid thousands after getting hit over product terminology.
- 34:55-36:40: Space King blows past $5 million on Kickstarter and keeps looking like one of the biggest hobby crowdfunding stories around, including thousands of backers who were apparently brand new to Kickstarter. The timing makes GW’s increasingly aggressive IP enforcement look even more awkward by comparison.
- 36:40-39:35: The Black Library website is officially gone, a traditional new dwarf faction leaks ahead of GW’s autumn preview, and Rob sees a pattern in how Warhammer reveals are changing, with what increasingly looks like one major seasonal preview each quarter backed up by smaller Monday reveals.
- 39:35-43:35: Space Marine 3’s developers publicly say the game won’t use generative AI, kicking off a wider discussion about what “AI” actually means in video games, since gameplay has used AI-style systems for years while the current controversy is really about replacing writers and other creative work. Rob also reminds everyone that another round of GW price increases hits September 21.
- 43:35-47:20: The main discussion asks why Warhammer players stay attached despite price hikes, Legends cuts, and decades of complaints, with the crew landing on the mix of lore, gaming, modeling, painting, and the memories people build around it. Haspil points out that he and an old friend still remember specific dice-roll moments from games they played 15 years ago.
- 47:20-52:20: The crew argues that Warhammer’s biggest advantage may simply be that you can find somebody to play almost anywhere, something most miniature games still struggle to match. Battletech, Marvel Crisis Protocol, Star Wars Legion, and Warmachine all get mentioned, but 40k’s community reach, faction identities, leagues, and steady flow of new players keep it in a different class.
- 52:20-52:59: The show closes with Rob admitting that new Legion of the Damned models could absolutely reactivate the hobby chip in his brain, before Haspil sends everyone home with Transformers nostalgia, Starscream’s coronation, Galvatron, Leonard Nimoy, and the immortal verdict: “This is bad comedy.”
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