Shop Talk: The Cross-section of a Meta

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Warmachine YouTuber Ice King who has been a fellow dusk player and hobby enthusiast that I've shared some conversations with as of late. We chat about a wide variety of things mainly focused around balancing hobby time, competitive practice and the burn out cycle that can come with deep investment in a hobby. We cover painting philosophy, army painting vs model painting and share some perspectives. I'm very happy to have got one of our chats recorded. Check out Taylor's work on YouTube. https://youtube.com/@theice_king?si=_xsaB41BHwBxbcSJ

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Patrick, an old friend who lives on the opposite side of the country. I took this opportunity to catch up with him and what is going on in the small but very active Atlantic Canada meta. We end up chatting a bunch about Shadowflame and looking back at where we left the discussion a year ago. Patrick attended a team event in Ottawa a few weeks ago and we chat about match ups, games and the overall experience with Canada's first cross country event of Mark IV.Cheers folks. We are looking forward to promoting more Canadian events and travel.

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk, I sit down with Lars the creator of Wartable. Wartable is a wargaming simulator website that has become popular to play Warmachine online. We chat about the birth of Wartable and the popularity it gained during the pandemic and beyond for online play as well as the community it has spawned over the last few years. We chat about dice, randomness and measurements. We discuss some of the pros and cons of online play as well as some of the very cool concepts and ideas that have come out of Wartable.I really enjoyed thos conversation and this opportunity. Im am excited to share this with all of you. Best.mario

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Alex Kosma who is a fellow West Coast community member, Podcaster and accomplished competitive player. Alex was a host of the Dominate for Two podcast and has represented the USA in several WTCs. We warm up chatting a bit about Brinebloods and discuss their position in the 2025 metagame. Alex took Brinebloods to WTC 2024 and has some thoughts to share about the evolution of the army in the last year or so. The bulk of the episode is a discussion about the history of knowledge transfer in Warmachine and how it interacts with player development. We discuss how this phenomenon has ebbed and flowed through the various editions and postulate on how media and travel interact with the speed and intensity of knowledge growth. We chat about the state of knowledge sharing and the fate of preserved and renewed knowledge in the community and get excited for the media Renaissance we believe we are experiencing right now. This was a deep and fulfilling discussio. I truly feel what we were able to capture was an idea that really needed to be recorded and put out for people to experience especiallynow in this toime and space. I am really proud of this podcast and I hope you all enjoy it too. Cheersmario

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Tom and Peter, two pillars of the community, to chat a little about 3D printing as it pertains to Warmachine. We chat about the updates to the subscription for the Warmachin app as well as the new My Mini Factory subscription, announced during the keynote address at Adepticon. We discuss our thoughts about this new direction, and break down how we think this is going to impact SFG and the hobby community. We move into a discussion about terrain at the WTC as both my guests are on the administrative team for this year's event. This was a really fun chat with some seasoned podcasters. Check out these folks on social media if you have more questions. Links below. They are super awesome people. Cheers and happy printing. Tom Wiggins Video on 3D printers:https://youtu.be/crRJM-QoRVo?si=kRdLC6nipgOHmunIEuromachine Cephalix Cadre Speed Painting:https://youtube.com/@theeuromachinepodcast?si=EMRLXwCv_oTXPfKa

Hey Nerds.On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Will who is a BC local from Kelowna BC. Will has been a long time Warmachine player helping his local group return to the game over the last year or so. We turned on the paint cams for this one and recorded live. We chat about returning to Warmachine, converting and painting Will's "underwater Khymera", being a dad and playing Warmachine and a host of other topics. I had a lot of fun making this one. Apologies for the audio. I am still working out the voice filters on OBS. The youtube video can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/live/jy1X6EZkuoE?si=qJRIAZnFbaGRW24a

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Tyson who is a long time community leader from northern California. He is the head organizer for Warmachine at the Las Vegas Open and the engineer behind some of the most iconic tables in the history of the game. We chat about the history of community in the area and the birth of LVO as well as the philosophy and execution behind the tables and terrain that people have fallen in love with at the con. Check out his new endeavor with 3D printed terrain at Terrainiacs https://www.facebook.com/share/15uUkWHd25/?mibextid=qi2Omg. 

Hey Nerds. Welcome to Season 2. Same great show, different inspiration. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down Cory, who attended and happened to win in the finals of the Warmachin event at the Las Vegas Open Sunday January 19th 2025 playing Khador 5th Division of all things. We chat about lists and lead up before we go through his games. We chat a little about the January update and looking forward to Steamroller 2025. It's always a good time when Cory is on the mics. If you haven't checked out LVO I highly recommend it. Look forward to more coverage soon. Best. mario

Hey Nerds. On this special bonus episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Joseph from Tyrants on the Field to digest and discuss Steamroller in the year 2024 in anticipation of the new packet dropping shortly. Joe is one of the other content creators that I have met through doing paint and chat hangouts on discord. He and I have very similar ways of seeing and discussing the game and I really wanted to get some of the topics we have been discussing into a recording. We chat about many of the successes and failures of Steamroller 2024 and dive pretty deeply into opinions and speculation. I had a lot of fun with this one. I will see you all in the new year. Peace and love kids. 

Hey Nerds. On this very special collaboration project, I sit down with some of the other Podcasters and media people of the Warmachine world to discuss a few topics surrounding the game and where we are at as a community. This state of the game broadcast was a very fun project to be a part of. You may recognize a few of the people involved as most of them are actively talking and engaging with the community.  We discuss community growth, Steamroller generally as it pertains to this new 2024 format, and go over some constructive criticisms for narrative play, the barrier to entry and share some ideas for running events. I was honored to be part of this Clash of the Casts endeavor. I hope you find some value in what we had to say. Peace and love kids.

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with David, Luke, Bryan and Andrei to discuss our experience playing in the North American Wartable League last month. This particular 4 week league was held as a WTC style 5 person Team event. We discuss the team formation, lead up and describe our games round by round. We had a phenomenal time discussing all kinds of topics as a team, sharing our knowledge and rooting for each other. This team has truly been a beautiful experience and I had hoped to share a little bit of that with all of you. 

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I put together some of the shorter WTC wrap up interviews I did with the remaining members of team Canada. I chat with Alex, Luke and Steven about their experiences in Duesseldorf. We discuss their trips, their lists, do a few game recaps and then finish with some overall event thoughts. Hopefully these stories will inspire next year's potential team members and share some cool stories with our international friends. Cheers everyone ad thank you for your support. 

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I put together some of the shorter WTC wrap up interviews I did with the remaining members of team Canada. I chat with Neil, Aaron and Geoff about their experiences in Duesseldorf. We discuss their trips, their lists, do a few game recaps and then finish with some overall event thoughts. Hopefully these stories will inspire next year's potential team members and share some cool stories with our international friends. Cheers everyone and tune in next week for part 2!

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Warmachine legends Cory Doyle and Marc-André Leblanc to discuss the 2024 run at the World Team Championships by Team Canada Goose. We chat about team creation, army lists and strategies before we dive into all 5 exciting round of the tournament this year. I am extremely proud of both teams this year but was especially impresse with team Goose's perseverance after facing the event winners in round 1. I'm pleased to have had this discussion. I hope you enjoy it. 

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Mark, one of our friends from the far off land of Edmonton Canada. Mark is a long time Warmachine player, Podcaster and this year was the captain for Canada WTC Team Moose. I've been bugging Mark to do an interview for quite some time, and everything fell into place for this one. We chat about the Alberta Warmachine scene and do a little recap of what the area looks like now.The bulk of the episode goes through WTC 2024 from the perspective of one Canadian. We go through lists games and overall thoughts from the event. I had a blast recording and I'm even more proud of our teams after doing this interview. Cheers folks and I hope you enjoy. 

Hey Nerds.On this special bonus episode, Neil, Dave and I decided to turn on the mics in the car (all hands free of course) on the way back from a steamroller we traveled to in Seattle. This is the first time our little crew of miscreants has driven to an event together in quite some time. We chat about our lists and our games and do a little check in with our local WTC celebrity to see how preparations are going for the big event in a few months. I'm super happy with this one. I think we might try it again. I may not invite the 4th member of the cast back (Dave's Windshield Wipers) next time cause he's bad at interrupting. In hindsight, using Amazon mics in a car on a highway in the rain has its inherent challenges for which I apologize. Cheers kids. 

Hey Nerds. On the last episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Neil, who is one of my oldest friends and a recent addition to the Canadian WTC Team for 2024. Neil has been my greatest supporter through this podcasting adventure and is more involved than ever in the Vancouver Warmachine meta. We chat about all the cool stuff Neil has been involved in this last year including the Cascadia Championship Series, the application process for WTC (and the implications of being a team member), and helping to run our local journeyperson league and steamroller circuit at our shop. Near the end, he turns some of my usual interview questions on me and I get to share the inspiration for some of them, as well as my own take. I also have some thank yous. This is not the end for me, although it is for Shop Talk. I plan to keep sharing, playing and creating.  Come check out our YouTube channel where we stream games occasionally. https://youtube.com/@thedescriptivebaker?si=BT8DgGcWYDXx4Hz1I truly hope that you enjoy listening as much as I have enjoyed creating. Peace and love kids. mario

Hey Nerds.On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Alex, one of our players from the Greater Vancouver area. Alex is a Warmachine veteran that has been part of the community for a long time, as a player, an organizer and a Podcaster. We chat a little about some of the armies Alex has experience with and some of his perspectives. We cover the Cascadia invitational event that took place last month, the culmination of 9 months of qualifying events this year. Alex ended up winning the event with Infernals this year and we discuss his strategies and games in the event. All hail Alexander Lee Franz Melanson, High Lord Mucky Muck, Grand Warmachine Poobah of the Cascade Mountain Range for 2024. Cheers kids. I hope you enjoy. 

Hey Nerds.This recording is a less traditional Shop Talk episode that I did with Dan from Tried and True. It's an extension of a discord discussion we felt would function better over voice. We chat primarily about Steamroller 2024 and our thoughts and opinions about the upcomming document. Its a little rambly and a lot tangential, but I had fun making it with my internet pal. Just a couple nerds with unabashed opinions. Hurray!Cheers kids.

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Loren who is the organized play and playtest manager for Privateer Press. Since Loren is local to our wider meta here in the Pacific Northwest, it was a natural fit. We chat primarily about the steamroller 2024 preview that was shared on the community hub at Warfaire Weekend, and go over some of the goals, and changes to steamroller moving into the future. We discuss terrain and objectives, and I ask some more abstract questions about how the document is going to address some of the big issues in event play right now and moving into the new year. I was extremely pleased with this discussion and am excited to play more of the new steamroller.I hope you enjoy.