Shop Talk: The Cross-section of a Meta

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk, I sit down with Travis and Seth, two of the most accomplished Warmachine event organizers in North America. Travis is from the Mid West and Seth from the East coast so it felt like we had representation from across the continent which felt super cool. We chat about running great Warmachine Steamroller events. We swap stories and advice and give some good ti...

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Luke who was the Captain of team Canada Frederick Banting at the World Team Championships 2025 in Ronneby Sweden.  We've followed Luke's progress as a developing player over the years and I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to recount his team's WTC experience this year.  We chat about the team selection, travel out to Europe and go...

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, a...

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 we...

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 measu...

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 though...

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...

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...

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...

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 f...

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...

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 t...

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...

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 memb...

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 memb...

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 Go...

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 re...

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 prep...

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 Championshi...

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 m...

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 nerd...

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...

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Cory, one of the team members for Canada at the World Team Championships. We chat about the lead up, travel, and give a round by round replay of the event in Copenhagen this past fall from the perspective of our hometown hero.  We end of with some plans and aspirations for next year. If you are interested in helping or pursuing team Canada's...

Hey Nerds. On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Patrick, who lives in the far off land of Halifax, on the eastern coast of Canada.  Patrick was an active miniature wargamer in Vancouver for many years until he moved back east a few years ago. We chat about wargaming in a remote but commercial city, balancing family and wardollies, and cover legacy legion and a bit of Kymera (khymera? Chime...

Hey Nerds.  On this episode of Shop Talk I sit down with Luke, who has gone from returning casual to practiced competitor in just a few short months.  Luke has attended most of the events we have been holding out here and has made practice and participation a priority. We chat about directed practice and his perspectives on using events to incrementally see success.  Wish him luck in his attempt t...