![Make Your Own Star Wars: Legion Heroes! Rebel Agent & Officer Set Review [7 Days Early Access]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/12/unboxing-atomic-mass-games-star-wars-legion-rebel-alliance-agent-_-officer-coverimage-225-127.jpg)
The Weekender XLBS: The Warhammer 40K Auditions Are Go!
May 25, 2014 by warzan
For some website features, you will need a FREE account and for some others, you will need to join the Cult of Games.
Or if you have already joined the Cult of Games Log in now
What difference will having a FREE account make?
Setting up a Free account with OnTableTop unlocks a load of additional features and content (see below). You can then get involved with our Tabletop Gaming community, we are very helpful and keen to hear what you have to say. So Join Us Now!
Free Account Includes
- Creating your own project blogs.
- Rating and reviewing games using our innovative system.
- Commenting and ability to upvote.
- Posting in the forums.
- Unlocking of Achivments and collectin hobby xp
- Ability to add places like clubs and stores to our gaming database.
- Follow games, recommend games, use wishlist and mark what games you own.
- You will be able to add friends to your account.
What's the Cult of Games?
Once you have made a free account you can support the community by joing the Cult of Games. Joining the Cult allows you to use even more parts of the site and access to extra content. Check out some of the extra features below.
Cult of Games Membership Includes
- Reduced ads, for a better browsing experience (feature can be turned on or off in your profile).
- Access to The Cult of Games XLBS Sunday Show.
- Extra hobby videos about painting, terrain building etc.
- Exclusive interviews with the best game designers etc.
- Behind the scenes studio VLogs.
- Access to our live stream archives.
- Early access to our event tickets.
- Access to the CoG Greenroom.
- Access to the CoG Chamber of Commerce.
- Access the CoG Bazarr Trading Forum.
- Create and Edit Records for Games, Companies and Professionals.
Happy Sunday guys, liking the fact the shows this weekend went out so early (both days) because I get to watch them before I go work, so keep doing that please! May have to get the old webcam out for this auditioning, my stache fancies airtime lol.
6am (UK Time) is the new standard – unless something goes wrong! 🙂
Sweet! Can digest the content while I work!
Nice to see Justin has a detachable Deck…..think there was a song about that….:-)
The new content sounds great, glad to see you are expanding the backstage content too.
Barry Lyndon is the film you were talking about… In my view one of Stanley Kubrick’s best
That’s the one!!!
Everyone should watch this film – it’s bonkers!
Kindly sent to me by Allesio Cavatore – who is also bonkers 😉
Warren,
The film Barry Lyndon starring Ryan O’Neil is set in the Seven Years War 1756 to 1763. This is around 40 years before the start of the Napoleonic Wars which ended in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. It has some great battle sequences but is not Napoleonic.
The DZC content coming up is something I’m really looking forward to, great show guys as always.
Great opening to the show. Even though it was Saturday for me…Happy Sunday.
The bar has been set for the intro. I expect a full song and dance routine for next week’s XLBS intro 🙂
You guys should check out eternal crusade it’s a 40k game being made and looks really good
Great vid again guys.
Another interesting XLBS guys… you are getting a good mix of discussions and with all these shows and I really hope you keep it, as I would hate to see a 40k over saturation (i will never get into that game) A schedule may be useful so we have a place to go a see when new shows are being posted?
@warzan I know that you love Bolt Action… however can you consider looking at Chain of Command? All you need is the rule book you can use you BA armies…if it helps I will even buy it for you…
I agree that the wide spectrum of content definitely sounds better than a “40K channel.” The DZC and Flames of War shows sound particularly interesting, as well as the Infinity and Bolt Action.
We will always be a wide spectrum independent source of gaming entertainment. That’s just who we are.
We’re just readdressing an imbalance at the moment, with nearly 2 years of no GW related videos.
So we’re just getting back into the swing of it. 40K will be spun out into it’s own show just like the other main games we feature.
I never thought I would do ‘blind buy’ collectable card games after enjoying the Fantasy Flight Games LCG system but I have bought into Marvel Dice Masters in a big way.
It’s incredibly cheap and that’s the real boon to it. £1/$1 for a pack with two dice and two cards and a starter ‘pack’ that comes in around £10 and you have a game that is just made to suck the money out of your wallet.
However – it’s not just a pay to win with MDM. You might draw a great card and get the dice to play the hero but you’ve still got to roll the dice, roll the energy to field him/her and try and get past the other tactics and heroes the opponent has in play – it’s a great game and well worth checking out if you are into your Marvel heroes.
BoW Ben
Those are some nice Brits!
Great to hear about the 40k coverage. Ive a couple of mates that Ill pass this onto.
Best intro yet, if nothing else because Justin “actively” took part in it 🙂
Looking forward to these new “XLBS” shows and John’s Normandy VLOGs
Justins card game seems to place a lot of emphasis on rearguard action.
Great show as always guys. Always happy to hear about new content coming our way.
FoW: Battle of Tali-Ihantala? Can’t wait.
Something on the episode last week.
I’ve found this on static grass applicators. I’ve made one but it broke down before I used it.
Might be worth a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSr2ZNOn4yc
I like that. As an added bonus it looks like I might be able to add electrocution to my list of hobby injuries.
I’m soooo excited about John’s @johnlyons V-Log from Normandy. We aren’t able to go during the actual landing weeks in June, but we are going to Normandy in early August. As I’m not quite the History Buff my other half is, I’m excited to get first hand tips and info. This website has bee a great “go to” for me and anyone planning a trip to the region…http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-tourism/main-menu/calendar-of-events/70th-anniversary-of-d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy-849-2.html?source=tetiere. Also we found a GREAT up and coming tank museum the “Normandy Tank Museum”, that not only has great displays but also offers tank rides in modern and WWII tanks… http://www.normandy-tank-museum.fr/?lang=EN
Whoa. Finns vs. Soviets? That could mean . . . several things, depending on exactly when in the WW2 timeline you guys decided to play.
“Winter War” 1939-1940: This is the famous one, and the one where the Finns got their fearsome reputation. I doubt @warzan would want this since there are no T-34s, just a lot of T-35s, T-26s, T-28s, and other relatively poor Soviet vehicles. The entire Finnish Army had six tanks in this war (1920s era), but an absolutely fantastic infantry base including their famous and deadly ski troops. The Soviets just get shredded the whole time, but at least you’d get to use that great winter board!
“Continuation War” 1941: The Finns participate (halfheartedly) in the initial German invasion of the Soviet Union (Barbarossa). They were supposed to attack Leningrad (St. Petersburg) from the north but only took the territory lost to the Soviets in the 1939-41 war. again, infantry and artillery, very few tanks on either side (Finns fielded some old Soviet junk captured during the ’39 war) and the Soviets are still nowhere in the Finns’ class. Summer tables, though. Lots of subarctic wilderness and swamp.
“Continuation War” 1944: Nothing much happened on the Soviet-Finnish line for two years, it settled down almost into a World War I type trench war. When the Soviets finally pushed back against the Finns in 1944, the Finns collapsed in a matter of weeks. This was the Soviet army that really had their S**T together, and had already largely crushed the German war machine. T-34s, T-34/85s, the lot (no IS-2s, to my knowledge, these were all in Poland the Baltic States). However, the Finns finally had some “real” tanks as well.
Yes, yes, yes, @warzan, starting 1943 the Finns fielded StG-IIIs, so watch out! Not sure if the FoW army lists give them (I would expect that they do, FoW tends to give a gaming army MORE than they really had historically), @lafayette might take this opportunity for a little payback!
“Continuation War” 1944 it id then 😉 that ok with you @lafayette??!?
“Collapsed in a matter of weeks” might be a bit misleading here, considering that after promising start the Soviet offensive met stiffening resistance by the Finns and ultimately ended in stalemate. Another Soviet offensive of similar scale would have most likely resulted in the said collapse, though and Finland quickly entered ceasefire negotiations with Soviets.
So yes, the Soviet army in 1944 was a whole another beast.
And speaking of StuGs: http://www.andreaslarka.net/sturmi.html
Yup Continuation War it is… and yes the Stumi are an attractive model (not to mention REALLY great at killing everything) but I have my own ideas on what Im taking for FOW….
My Bolt Action Finnish army on the other hand…. muhahahahahaa
I thank @drowningharvey for his correction, which is well taken. Thank you, sir! “Collapse in a matter of weeks” might have been a bit over simplistic. I’ve checked my David Glanz and Alexander Werth sure enough . . . June, July, by August the large battles were over and by September the Finns were out. So I amend “weeks” to “months.” Whether or not the Finns “kept the field” for what was ultimately a political capitulation instead of a military one is a matter for discussion, but probably beyond the purview of planning Flames of War games. 🙂
I’ll admit this much, though. The Finns must have been in pretty good shape, given their campaign against the Germans of all people immediately afterward.
Also, @lafayette , I was certainly not trying to “pick your army” for you. 🙂 You are the man when it comes to FoW. I was trying to whet @warzan ‘s interest with the Finnish StG-IIIs. Fighting AGAINST they Nachtwulf? But hey, perhaps Warren is the perfect guy for that, perhaps he knows StGs so well that he knows all their weaknesses as well?
Suffice it to say I’m really interested if this campaign gets off the ground and running.
Checked a few more sources, and found some notations about the Battle of Ilomantsi (July-August 1944). Yep, stopped the Soviets cold, and according to at least some archives, compelled STAVKA to accept a heavily pro-Soviet negotiated peace with Finland rather than an outright occupation. So yeah, I guess it generally was a draw, at least in the field. Perfect wargaming material! 😀
That was a great Sunday opening, very harmonious, lol. 😀
It was great seeing John’s Bolt Action minis, it would be great to see more of them. 🙂
Can’t wait to see John’s footage from Normandy
Happy Sunday!!!
Hey John, make sure you swing by hill 112 and the 43rd Wessex memorial while you’re over in Normandy 😉
Speaking of WW2 gaming and Normandy –
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.664607246926065.1073741965.117420101644785&type=1
Following John’s suggestion to get he gist of Vanguard, I watched the first episode on Youtube.
What a waste of 24 mins that was!
This is the sort of stuff my Granddaughter used to watch when she was 12! I thought it was American junk then and my opinion still stands.
I cannot see anything in this games setting to appeal to me, so I will not be wasting hard earned cash on this rubbish.
Once again are BOW trying to appeal to the kids out there? I think they have a plethora of stuff to get into of a similar ilk, so why? why? why?
At this rate, my backstage support is rapidly dissolving.
Let’s hope that things will indeed improve in the coming weeks, but please no more 12 year old entertainment, there is plenty of that crap on the many channels of s**t and youtube already!
So there was absolutely nothing in the rest of the 40 min episode that you had any interest in? And nothing of interest in any of the Backstage videos we put out this month so far?
Then you could look at all the free content that was out out this month that your (and everyone else’s) backstage support makes possible … nothing of interest in there either?
When we talk about what gaming things people have got up to, we always run this risk that they may not be playing something popular (or in fact any good at all) but that is the game the two chaps happened to be playing this week. 🙂
Not my cup of tea either, much prefer blowing shit up on the tabletop with tanks 😉
there’s a lot to be said for being able to appreciate the value in something even if you don’t like all aspects of it. For example I can appreciate the historical gaming bits even though it is highly unlikely I will get around to playing one with funds & time both playing a factor.
Agreed @number32 I’m only a 40k player but I still happily pay for backstage because i watch most of the content whether I’m into it or not and I believe BOW is a positive thing for the community. I certainly not one of those people that try and dictate what should be shown, by complaining/making negative comments when content is shown that I don’t have an interest in… (coughs) you know who you are…
Whilst I agree with all the sentiments included in the replies to my posting, I am still entitled to an opinion of my own, which I duly expressed.
To close on this comment trail, I do still enjoy in the main, the content produced by all the guys at BOW, but I was giving criticism where I felt it required.
We cannot all be like politicians all the time and ‘bleat’ along with all the rest!
A sincere thank you to Warren et al and a sincere apology to anyone who may have been upset by my comments.
Regards
Brian Bunker
I also believe in putting your name to comments if they are presented in all good faith and sincerity!
No problem Brian
If you think a game is crap, feel free to say so! But remember the position we find our selves in…
you can please some of the people most of the time… most of the
people some of the time… but you can’t please ALL of the people
ALL of the time!
– John F. Kennedy
Shoot the game… not the messengers 😉
I don’t think anyone would deny you your right to express your opinion on any aspect of the coverage. I’m equally sure that the BoW team welcome feedback on what they do. It did come across in your original post like you were extrapolating your dissatisfaction with that one segment across all of the Backstage content. If there were more examples of recent Backstage content that you felt didn’t deserve airtime then that didn’t come across in the post. If there aren’t then some of the comments came across like an overreaction. None of this is intended to be criticism, just letting you know how the post came across to me 🙂
Ben Clapperton 🙂
Like your advice, blow the hell up with tanks…..
ppl need to man up with the new ed of 40k too and play turneys unbound… lol
Brother G
Pretty sure I called the anime awful in this episode. I used it for the game rules, nothing more. 🙂
The guy was called Upham he is a double VC winner 😀
its always really interesting hearing the stories behind the VC’s. A relative (by marriage) had won one and its nice to know the history behind it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLe6-Qr6xkY
ahem Normandy… yeah been there a few times such a great place. If VERY humbling
Oh yeah for XLBS, that is me at 0:24 ish seconds
Jeez Dave, you look like a badass there!! Can’t wait to watch that show!
Any plans of coverage of Dystopian Wars 2.0 – front or backstage ?
You know, I’ve started watching BoW by mistake a couple of years back looking for something to do online while I was getting my physical rehab at the hospital when I got back from Afghanistan in 2009. I started watching On the Table (a show that I miss a lot) and I was HOOKED ever since.
I don’t need to say that I have been a Backstager and I really have enjoyed the amount of videos and information you guys have supplied this past years.
You guys have an awesome team, you have kept me sane this past few years, trust me, it hasn’t been easy.
Thanks.
A Fellow Gamer
Brother G
@goochman70
What we do is pretty silly and fairly trivial in the grand scheme of life. That being said we do this to try (in our tiny way) to make the world a slightly better place. That sits better with us than some fancy corporate mission statement 🙂
I’m glad we’ve been of some small assistance to ya over these years, and we’re rooting for ya in the weeks, months and years to come 🙂
Thanks Warren, that means a lot to me.
You guys make a great show keep it up but please give some wheatties to Roman everytime I see him his voice gets lower and lower. LOL 🙂
Pm. Me with your address I’ve been meaning to send you guys a little something from this side of the pond.
Brother G
Just for the entertainment value, here is a kiwi talking about his Deck…..enjoy (not a card Deck thou)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bg586-wl38
Hope the link works.
This idea of ‘mini-series’ and topical gaming shows are a super idea.
The Infinity show (& the possible Bolt Action concept) is music to my ears. =D
Warren hit the mark for me about Magic the Gathering. I think in essence Magic is a fun and well designed card game, but suffers from all the foibles of any CCG.
Nice little fact about the Firefly radioset, something I didn’t know. Justins WWII trivia knowledge is impressive. =)
As a side note, I was going to sell my Bolt Action figures because I didn’t have time to paint, let alone play with, them…but after seeing Jono’s Brits I am have decided to keep them and jumped online to order the Bolt Action rulebook!
Warmachine Tactics is also something I can’t believe I missed on Kickstarter… =(
Given that M:tG is quite possibly the most successful tabletop game of the last twenty years in terms of player base and revenue, I’m not sure it suffers from anything lol.
I’ve only played Magic a handful of times and I’ve never spent any money on it, but that’s more because I didn’t care for it as a game rather than any issues with CCGs. I’ve had my CCG years and even accounting for buying multiple boxes of each new set and buying individual cards on the secondary market so I had every card in the game, I still spent less money than I do on minis. I appreciate that may not be the case with Magic for which I’ve heard horror stories about how much individual cards can go for.
Fair point in terms of player base/revenue, but all CCG games have that element of uncertainty in what you are purchasing (as pointed out by Warren).
Sure, mini games can cost as much, and frequently more, but you know exactly what you are getting – MageKnightesque games excluded. Miniature games make a more tangible product, the old ‘paper vs plastic & metal’ argument, but still minis always had more value to me than cards – especially random cards…
Horses for courses naturally. =)
I always knew exactly what was I getting, which was every card in the set. No-one who seriously plays a CCG buys random boosters and builds their collection that way. When a new set comes out they buy several boxes of boosters, usually with friends so they can split cases and save money. I used to get my boxes around 60% of RRP. Three or four of them would give me every card in the set barring a handful of rares, which I would pick up off the secondary market. At any given time I could build any deck, having three or more on the go at once without little card sharing between them, and all for an outlay way under what I spend on minis. There is no actual uncertainty for the CCG player, just a mountain of common cards lol.
*with little card sharing between them
Once again, I accept that this may not be as cheap or easy with Magic.
Good show guys, the new shows sound great look forward to them coming out!
Enjoyed the show, not bad harmony chaps. Always like seeing John contribute his expert historical knowledge. I’m looking forward to the Normandy stuff and the FoW and BA coming up. I might even watch the 40K stuff too.
Great show, and looking forward to the new programs. I like that you are developing an programming schedule. That is great and with the XLBS material I feel backstagers are really getting a bang for their buck.
Another great Backstager guys, loved the intro. As always a great spread of gaming news and reflections from the guys in the know.
Good luck with the 40K interviews…if you ever do one for Warmachine/Hordes then I’m in 🙂
@phalanx58 I am in total agreement that not everyone is going to like all that is presented. You might enjoy a certain game or genre that others might think of as “rubbish” but in the end this site and it’s programming was designed to broaden and enlighten us to the many different aspects of the hobby.
As far as being a member of Backstage I find for the little amount that we pay each month you get quite a bit of really great programming and by the sounds of it there is much more coming. So my only thought is grab a cup of coffee or tea, whatever your preference and sit back and enjoy the fun that is brought to you each week by these hard working gentlemen.
As for me, I have only played 40K once and did not care for it, but the excitement that Warren and the guys have show, might be enough to at least look into it.
Happy gaming
Loved the show this weekend! I have to throw my 2 cents in regarding Magic… first and foremost, I want to go on record that I am a non-smelly Magic player-lol! Now that I’ve that cleared up, Warren, I thought your point about not liking a blind buy was a valid one. Here’s my argument for the other side. I have gotten to where I do not buy boosters one at a time any more. When a new block (Theros, Nyx, etc) comes out, I preorder a box (or 2) from my FLGS. When you preorder you get a price break, and though it is still a blind buy, your odds are more controlled. My goals in these purchases are to get as complete a set as I can and to be able to build a couple great decks-both of which have been pretty easy this way. To be fair though, I’m an equal opportunity Magic player that doesn’t show particular loyalty to certain colors. That being said, I’m not opposed to trying other card type games. Maybe I will take a look at Vanguard….
At 34:40 …
Damn! I JUST got rid of my 17 lbr on Ebay. It was taking up half my garage for years before I finally traded it for a truckload of George Foreman grills and ShamWows. 😀
One quick post about the Napoleonic tactics and how “stupid” they were … sure, they look pretty silly now, lining up in big blocks and just marching toward each other. A few points, however:
1) The weapons tech of the day was so poor that this was the only way commanders could possibly concentrate any kind of real firepower on any part of the field. You couldn’t shoot from all across the field and focus on a single point, you had to mass as many muskets as your could AT that point.
2) The weapons tech of the day was also so poor that you could do this and NOT take that many casualties. Too many Hollywood movies have lines of muskets shooting at each other and dozens of men falling with each salvo. Until the lines got VERY close, that just didn’t happen in most cases, so the tactics weren’t quite as suicidal as movies can sometimes make them seem.
3) The communication tech of the day was basically non-existent, packing men together like that was the only way for commanders to control significant numbers were horns, drums, flags, and yelling were your only “internet.”
I don’t profess to be a Napoleonic expert, but perhaps some other BoW backstagers ( @redben , @huscarle , @torros ) can back me up a little when I say that a great many of the terrible casualties suffered at battles like Waterloo were inflicted by artillery and bayonets/melee combat rather than massed musketry, especially at ranges exceeding 100m.
All that said, once technology took a couple of relatively small steps forward, we see the casualty rates even in small battles go through the roof (American Civil War, Prussian Unification, Franco-Prussian War, etc.). Post Industrial Revolution armies were still using Napoleonic tactics, and yes . . . then the tactics were true insanity and changed in most armies. This is why so many late American Civil War battlefields bear an uncanny resemblance to World War I trenches.
Anything after the 17th century is sci-fi as far as I’m concerned so I’m not up with Napoleonic-era tactics. I assume that muskets hadn’t gotten that much better over the course of the 18th century, though obviously the bayonet meant you could field everyone with one. Even I’m aware that the American Civil War saw the technology overtake the tactics and turn the battles in killing fields.
its not the size of the Deck, its how you play it!!