41 - Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off to 11th Steve Goes

41 - Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off to 11th Steve Goes

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] Erik is back from vacation to find that Barnhammer has been played without him.  He's definitely not feeling jealous, FOMO, or left out and DEFINITELY is not punishing Steve for organizing it without him by making Steve lead the episode as a result. Along the way they cover: * Barnhammer 11th Edition recap — first impressions from the play group, why the missions kept every game close, and what it felt like to finally get 11th on the table with friends * Steve's surprise Votann list — Needgaard plus Hearthguard Covenant, deep striking Einheryr, and a brand new way to play an army that had been frustrating him for all of 10th Edition * The Champion, the Dunce Hat, and the Ones — some things never change, and Steve's Votann Champion remains aggressively, historically bad at his job * Cousin Josh goes full aggro — why watching a naturally defensive player come out swinging with Cursed Legion Necrons was the highlight of Barnhammer and what it says about what 11th is encouraging players to do * The Pink Pony Club — Steve teases his fourth army and talks about how he thinks about Imperial Knights like a modern military tactician defending Helm's Deep * Guard, Death Guard, and what's next — why Imperial Guard is calling Steve's name, why Death Guard isn't, and Erik drops a closing bombshell about what he's most excited to play Whether you're here for the Votann deep strike, here to see Cousin Josh channel his inner snapping turtle, or just want to hear Steve put a dunce hat on his champion, this one's for you. 📖 Read Erik's battle reports at gmpwt.blog [https://gmpwt.blog/] 📺 Watch on YouTube at @GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]

40 - I Feel the Need...The Need for 11th

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] Erik is back from the tabletop trenches with a full debrief.  He is two games deep into 11th Edition, has played four factions, and is ready to hype Steve up for an upcoming week of Barnhammer gaming.  Along the way they cover: * First impressions of 11th Edition — Erik's surprisingly enthusiastic early verdict and why going from 10th to 11th feels nothing like the chaos of 9th to 10th * Asymmetrical missions and force dispositions — why playing two different missions at once makes the game feel more dynamic, more narrative, and a whole lot harder to just list-hammer your way through * Raven Guard vs. Grey Knights — Shadowmark Talon meets Hallowed Conclave, Terminators and Paladins finally get their moment, and Erik discovers mid-game that the scoreboard doesn't care how well the Grey Knights are playing 10th Edition. Read the full battle report here. [https://gmpwt.blog/2026/06/24/raven-guard-shadowmark-talons-vs-grey-knights-hallowed-conclave/] * Emperor's Children vs. Necrons — Fulgrim goes absolutely feral on turn one, crosses the entire board, and the Necrons win anyway. Read the full battle report here. [https://gmpwt.blog/2026/06/28/necrons-hypercrypt-legion-vs-emperors-children-peerless-bladesmen/] * Recalibrating your instincts — The autopilot moments, the ingress rule surprise, and why the thing that wins you the game is rarely the unit or combo you built your list around * Rapid fire observations — the new charge rules, activation economy is a thing, lethality, hidden, and why the "and then" moments are alive and well in 11th Whether you're here for the hot takes on Force Dispositions or just want to hear Erik chastise his own Grey Knights, this one's for you. 📖 Read Erik's battle reports at gmpwt.blog [https://gmpwt.blog/] 📺 Watch on YouTube at @GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]

39 - Thanos-Snapping My 10th Edition Lists

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] In this episode of the "Grown Men Playing With Toys" podcast, Erik and Steve dive headfirst into the early days of 11th edition.  Fresh off the MFM drop, deep in terrain mechanics, and (for one of them) staring down a freshly nuked wasteland of 10th Edition lists, the guys approach the discussion from a perspective of "there's a green field of list-building possibilities". Along the way they cover: * The Hidden Mechanic That Isn't — a deep dive into terrain's new Ballistic Skill penalties, the "hidden" rule and why it may not be as good as it looks * Run and Gun, Move Shoot Move — how cover changes are about to reward fast, mobile armies, and punish anyone who can't find a re-roll * Thanos-Snapping the App — app crashes, the gut-wrenching decision to delete 40 lists, and why starting from a clean slate turned out to be a blessing in disguise * Carnival of Excess, Reimagined — Erik breaks down his rebuilt Emperor's Children list and how losing his old lists led him somewhere he never would've gone otherwise * Surprise! Steve Built a List — Steve unveils a Votann Death Star list built around Einhyr Hearthguard deep strikes, double Land Fortresses, and a dare to come take his objectives * To Infinity and Beyond — Erik's list-building bender reaches an absurd, slightly concerning number and Steve has thoughts Whether you're rebuilding your own army from scratch, still mourning your favorite 10th edition list, or just want to hear two grown men argue about whether Purge the Foe is actually the best Force Disposition or just the most comfortable.....this one's for you. Check out our other content: https://gmpwt.blog/ [https://gmpwt.blog/] | https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]

38 - Where's the Beef (List)?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] In this episode of the "Grown Men Playing With Toys" podcast, Erik and Steve take a hard left turn from their planned agenda and end up somewhere much more interesting. The cliffhanger from the All-Star Game has been rattling around in Steve's head, Erik has been 3D printing armies at an alarming rate, and somewhere in there "we lost Dad". Along the way they cover: * Pedal-Down Erik Strikes Again — two armies printed and painted in three weeks, a third in progress, and a theory about force dispositions that has already consumed most of his waking hours * Where's the Beef (List)? — how a single offhand comment at the All-Star Game unlocked Steve's entire 10th edition play style and why he's been accidentally playing stompy robot armies this whole time * The Wonder Mode Manifesto — why the space between editions is the best time to be a 40K player and why both hosts are fully, unashamedly in their feelings about it * Force Dispositions: The Good — agency, modularity, different targets for the Nerfing Eye of Sauron, and why "2DP plus 1DP" may be Erik's new favorite term * Force Dispositions: The Itchy Parts — deck stacking at the table, potential staleness in tournament play, and 3DP detachments getting counter intuitive Force Dispositions * The Army Reveals — three new armies are coming in hot and Steve is already buying paints for a model he doesn't own yet Whether you're deep in your own 11th edition wonder mode, still processing the end of 10th, or just want to hear two grown men figure out that they've been playing the same list archetype for an entire edition without realizing it.....this one's for you. Check out our other content: https://gmpwt.blog/ [https://gmpwt.blog/] | https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]

37 - You Had One Job

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] In this episode of the "Grown Men Playing With Toys" podcast, the GMPWT 10th Edition All-Star Game gets its dramatic conclusion. The lists are built, the terrain is set, the store owner has been recruited as celebrity dice roller, and absolutely nobody is ready for what the Einhyr Champion is about to do to Steve's blood pressure. Along the way they cover: * Roll For Initiative, Lose For Free — why who was going first felt like a gift to both players and why only one of them was right about that * Turn One: Steve the Rhino Hunter — two transports dead, two Deadly Demise rolls courtesy of your guest celebrity roller, and a Winged Hive Tyrant who showed up, looked scary, and then embarrassed everyone involved * Bile and the Chosen: Still Not Your Problem Until Suddenly It Is — why Fabius Bile with 10 Chosen in a Rhino is Erik's favorite unit in 10th edition and Steve's least favorite thing to look across the table at * You Had One Job — the Einhyr Champion and Steve's endless love/hate relationship with him. * The Void Dragon Cleans Up — Cousin Josh's Necron Warriors twiddle their thumbs on their home objective while the C'tan does literally everything * MVP and Magnus Awards — the heroes, the zeros, and one very expensive model who functioned primarily as a Distraction Carnifex with better hair * The 11th Edition Cliffhanger — Steve's MVPs reveal a pattern and a new army might be on the horizon heading into the new edition Whether you're here for the dice fails, the end-of-edition nostalgia, or just want to hear a store owner get genuinely invested in two grown men's war dollies.....this one's for you. Check out our other content: https://gmpwt.blog/ [https://gmpwt.blog/] | https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]