40K Fireside
40K Fireside
Fireside Podcast
Current rank 1 and 2 ITC David Gaylard and Vik Vijay have begun hosting the 40K Fireside Podcast! We're both multiple super major winnings and we tell our perspectives on the game in our conversation-based podcast.
A really positive 11th edition launch - 35 games in.
Vik and I sat down to talk through 11th now that we’ve got most of the rules, even if points are still the missing piece. Dave is about 35 games in, while Vik is coming at it from the “read the rules, built lists, haven’t played yet” angle.Short version: we’re pretty positive. Not in a “GW nailed everything” way, but this is a much stronger launch state than we expected. It feels like there’s already a real game here.1. Scoring feels very differentThe old 10th edition plan of “hold my expansion, deny yours, win on primary” doesn’t really work the same way anymore.Because missions are asymmetric, throwing a unit away to deny points can also give your opponent points somewhere else. Games seem higher scoring overall, and pushing big differential feels harder unless you properly run someone over.2. Dispositions are a big win gameplay wiseThe disposition system feels like one of the best parts of the edition. It gives list building more texture again.Purge pushes you toward killing and aggression. Recon feels the most like normal 40k. Priority Assets seems solid for singles. Disruption is the one we’re least sold on right now, because it often asks you to kill something and do actions, which can get awkward.That said, we don’t think you should pick a bad detachment just because it has a better disposition. The detachment is still the main thing, but disposition definitely changes how you build the last part of your list.3. Hidden is better than expected (now that is 12" - go to ground)At first, 15" hidden didn’t sound that impactful. But with Go to Ground bringing it to 12", it matters a lot more.It changes how units stage, how objectives are held, and how you force your opponent to come closer before they can interact. That’s good.It doesn’t solve everything though. Slow six-inch melee infantry still looks rough unless it has real delivery, advance and charge, miracle dice, ingress, transports, or some other trick.Move blocking has changed shapeOld-style move blocking is much weaker. You can’t just put five models an inch in front of a tank and expect it to be stuck forever. Vehicles and monsters moving through infantry is a good change overall.But move blocking isn’t gone. It’s now more about:using 2" engagement range properlyblocking where models can enddenying access to terraintagging things awkwardlyusing the fight phase and pivot wellTwo-inch engagement range feels huge, and good players are going to get a lot out of it.Vehicles and transportsVehicles are better, but we don’t think the edition is just “fast gun wins.” Cover matters, minus one to hit is strong, hidden matters, and shooting without ignore cover can feel rough.Transports are one of the areas we’re less positive on. Base-to-base disembarking is a massive change (when destroyed), and losing a transport in the wrong place can expose the unit inside immediately. Drukhari especially feel like they need to relearn a lot of old staging patterns.OverallWe’re genuinely impressed. There are still worries around slow melee, map balance, transports, and whatever points end up doing, but the foundation feels strong.Most factions seem to have something playable, games feel less deterministic, list building is more interesting, and universal terrain is a huge win.For a launch state, this is probably the best 40k has felt in a long time.
Jun 16
56 min
Guard Disposition Breakdown
Hey everyone! The Guar detachments + dispositions have been released so I'm giving it a read through and giving my initial impressions :) Enjoy! let me know what you think is strong, what you're interested in testing too!
Jun 11
22 min
What's looking GREAT for early 11th edition
Here's a quick video I've done after a game I've played recently. These shooting change are massive, the mission changes and the terrain changes are all making for good fast shooting being powerful!
May 28
13 min
Part 1: Summary of 11th Edition Warhammer Changes
In this video I go through the key 11th Edition Warhammer 40,000 spoilers confirmed so far by Games Workshop.I cover the new detachment points system, changes to list building, enhancements becoming unit upgrades, character updates, asymmetric primary missions, force dispositions, terrain-based objectives, and the changes to secondary scoring.This is part one of my 11th Edition breakdown, aimed at getting you quickly up to speed with the biggest changes and what they could mean for competitive 40K.Chapters:00:00 Welcome to 40K Fireside00:57 11th Edition Spoilers Overview01:30 Detachments and List Building05:42 Enhancements and Characters07:42 Asymmetric Primaries Explained10:37 Terrain Objectives and SecondariesCheck out our E-courses for competitive Warhammer at https://40kfireside.com#warhammer #40kFireside #firesidepodcast #firesideJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyYYtA8JdF-04NKO7ZmORkQ/joinFor Business Inquiries: [email protected] and DavidPart 1: Summary of 11th Edition Warhammer Changes
May 11
14 min
Using GW's revealed rules to demonstrate the fight phase
PlayHey everyone, we're back! David and Vik are excited about 11th edition launch so we thought we'd do a segment on the fight phase.We've had the majority of the rules shown by WarCom already, and it's easily enough to demonstrate some of the new things you can do.The key takeaways are:- no mention of base-to-base requirements- engagement range is now 2"- you roll your charge before performing the charge move- models need to end within 1", or 2" of the charge target- the OVERRUN ability is game changing becuase it allows a second pile in, so your units can move REALLY far!Let us know your thoughts, if you're getting a bit of anxiety around keeping up with the 11th edition rules, stay in tune, because we're going to be covering all the parts in this short-form playlist :)
May 1
11 min
Can Machines Simulate 40k?
Can Warhammer 40,000 actually be simulated?In this video, I break down one of the hardest problems I’ve been thinking about for a long time: whether it’s possible to simulate 40k to a meaningful standard, and where you would even begin.I cover a bit of my own background in machine learning and competitive 40k, some of the previous work I’ve done with Atlas, and why I think this is such a fascinating challenge. We look at earlier game-solving milestones like chess, Go, and StarCraft II, what made those problems solvable, and why 40k is awkward in a completely different way.In particular, I talk through:- why chess is tidy and discrete, while 40k lives in a messy continuous feature space- why movement, angles, footprints, terrain, and exact positioning make 40k so difficult to model- how randomness and hidden intent explode the complexity even further- why deployment is probably the best place to start if you want to build a useful simulation engineThis isn’t really a video about “AI magic.” It’s more about the real engineering and tactical problems underneath trying to model a game as complex as Warhammer 40k and why even getting part of the game right, like deployment, could already be incredibly useful for helping players improve.Would love to hear what you think
Apr 3
25 min
April's 40k Update - 5 Great Changes!
Going over 5 important changes for the April update!
Apr 1
24 min
NEW Ceramite Sentinels Detachment
Hey everyone,April fools, SM gets a new detachment - not a joke it seems!A quick recap on the new Ceramite Sentinels detachment. In short, it gives more-or-less your entire army, when it activates, RR1's to hit and wound - pretty nice effeciency buff. But that comes at the cost of not playing blades/gladius to get combat doctrines.Bobby G seems pretty sweet with RR1's to hit and wound, one of his big downsides (same as C'tan really).There's a few good enhancements, 2+ get back up on Gravis Cap, fallback shoot and charge on something like terminators perhaps?The stratagems are pretty solid, this one has its own 'storm of fire' but instead it gives LETHAL + SUSTAINED (pick 2 if entrenched) - this seems great on units that will be ENTRENCHED on your turn..... Desolation Marines! (Quite nice on WTC with plunging fire too).What's really interesting to me though is that this detachment is kinda baked into two-halves. The normal stuff - Rerolls, and then then Entrenched half.With the new rumors on how detachments will mix, I suspect now that you'll be able to mix half a detachment with half another one, and in this case, you'd get the ENTRENCHED ability, and their respective stratagems, and be able to plug that into another detachment - potentially something to look forward to in 11th edition!
Apr 1
19 min
Analysing the NEW EDITION reveals!
Hey everyone,I've done some more editing on our podcast video - hope it comes out good.Vik and I sat down to discuss 12 important points of the new 11th edition reveals.We're happy to see codexes roll onto 11th, and we think that means the datasheets will stay basically the same. The new detachments (70) leave a lot of room for inbalance, and we're curious to see how all this new game content will interplay with the new scoring mechanisms that are impacted by your faction of choice.Terrain and objective markers, David is not a huge fan but Vik is, what's your thoughts on this?The fight phase has been a mess for more-or-less all of 10th edition, with some large changes coming, what do you think the fight phase could look like now, are the charge changes a nice QOL? Will the new 'pile in at once' mechanics prevent players from having good combat phases?Enjoy,Vik and David
Mar 27
1 hr 6 min
Atlas Overview
~Advertisement for Atlas~(A project I've launched recently that has been doing really wel!)
Mar 24
19 min
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