35 - Nobody Told Me the Dice Hit Back

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]

36 - Our 10th Edition All-Star Game

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] In this episode of the "Grown Men Playing With Toys" podcast, Erik emerges from his mad science cave with an idea to help Steve with the end-of-edition doldrums. The result is the most creative thing they've attempted yet.....the GMPWT 10th Edition All-Star Game. The rules are simple.  1. Pull from up to three factions within the larger groupings of Imperium, Chaos, and Xenos 2. Faction 1 units get access to their army rule but no detachments rules, stratagems, or enhancements 3. Faction 2 units get access to a single detachment's rules, stratagems, and enhancements 4. Faction 3 units get access to a single wild-card stratagem from any of their detachments.  5. Build your team not around what's strongest, but around what has a story. that reminds you of 10th edition.  6. Put it all on the table and see what happens. Along the way they cover: * Hold Our Dice, One Last Time — why the end-of-edition doldrums are real, and why the best cure is the silliest possible idea executed with full commitment * The All-Star Game Format — how Erik built a three-faction list structure that keeps things competitive, legal, and just chaotic enough to be fun * Team Chaos — Fulgrim, Fabius Bile, Cultists with a grudge, and a Knight Rampager with a stratagem that makes him everyone's problem even after he dies * Team Imperium — Whoopsie Daisy the Grand Master who cannot make a five-inch charge, Crowe and his Purifiers, and enough tanks to give Steve Ironstorm flashbacks * Team Xenos — Necron warriors that refuse to stay dead, dwarves coming out of their box of shame for one last shot at redemption, and Tyranids that all blow up * The Dating Show — Steve picks his team live, on mic, and pretends it was a difficult decision Whether you're in the end-of-edition doldrums, a die-hard fan of models that have Deadly Demise, or just someone who wants to hear two grown men get genuinely enjoy a silly but strangely nostalgic idea.....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]

35 - Nobody Told Me the Dice Hit Back

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] In this episode of the "Grown Men Playing With Toys" podcast, Erik shows up to record still licking his wounds, this time from a rough road race -except this time his own son quoted the podcast back at him like a tiny, devastating life coach.   Steve is delighted. Erik is not sure how to feel about that. What follows is an off-the-cuff deep dive into one of the most underrated reasons we play this game in the first place — the test. Not the winning. Not the math hammer. The test and what it says about you. Along the way they tackle: * Hold My Dice — why we voluntarily sign up for hard things.....on the tabletop, behind the mics, and on the pavement * The Bags Don't Hit Back — what list hammer and math hammer can't prepare you for and why that's actually the point * Dice Gods, Dice Demons — the completely irrational and deeply relatable ritual of switching dice mid-game and blaming the French judge when it still doesn't work * Concede or Commit — what a Votann vs. Chaos Knights blowout taught one of us the hard way about why staying in the hard thing is a part of the test * The Clock Is Also Your Opponent — time as a resource, a weapon, and an excuse all at once Whether you've ever switched dice out of pure superstition, rage-conceded on turn three, or just needed someone to remind you that showing up to the starting line is already passing the first test — this one is for you. Check out our other content: https://gmpwt.blog/ [https://gmpwt.blog/] | https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]

34 - Pantheon of Woe: Population.....Me

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2528461/fan_mail/new] In this episode of the "Grown Men Playing With Toys" podcast, Erik confesses to a crime against his own hobby — being a grouch for two days because he played poorly in a game that he was playing against himself. Steve holds it together long enough to let Erik tell the story......Barely. What follows is a full autopsy of a Necrons vs. Ultramarines battle report that had no business being as close as it was.....until all of the sudden it wasn't close anymore. Erik walks us through every decision point, the impulsive miscalculations, and every moment where the Necrons had the Space Marines exactly where they wanted them before snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Along the way they tackle: * Quicksand — why some games don't go wrong all at once but instead feature a slow build up of mistakes that can bury you * The CP Economy is Undefeated — one impulsive re-roll and a cascade of consequences that would make an accountant weep * Deathmarks: Gone But Not Forgotten — the minor unit that haunted an entire game from the comfort of strategic reserves * Split Personality at Its Finest — the unique psychological torment of losing and knowing exactly whose fault it is * A formal apology to Cousin Josh — this one's real Whether you've rage-quit a game, tilted at a tournament, or just love watching a perfectly laid plan unravel one CP at a time, this one is for you. Formal Battle Report of the game in question: https://gmpwt.blog/2026/05/12/necrons-awakened-dynasty-vs-ultramarines-blade-of-ultramar/ [https://gmpwt.blog/2026/05/12/necrons-awakened-dynasty-vs-ultramarines-blade-of-ultramar/] Check out our other content: https://gmpwt.blog/ [https://gmpwt.blog/] https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]

33 - There Is Only War... and Middle Child Syndrome

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 do something they probably should have seen a therapist about first — they apply the science of birth order psychology to the entire Warhammer 40K universe. The guys break down the stereotypes of oldest, middle, and youngest children and then systematically sort every faction in the game into one of those three buckets. Spoiler alert: some feelings may have been hurt in the making of this episode. Along the way they tackle: * The Big Three — why the Imperium, Chaos, and Xenos super-factions map almost perfectly onto the birth order archetypes, and why it works both in lore AND on the tabletop * Daddy's Best Boy — The unambiguous oldest child of 40K and why everyone else is basically wearing their hand-me-downs * The Forgotten Middle Children — They're here but didn't think anyone noticed * Youngest Child Energy — They're trying so hard to outshine their older siblings while also enjoying (expecting?) being babied by GW. * Lore vs. Tabletop — why several factions have a split personality depending on whether you're reading the books or rolling dice * A formal apology to Cousin Josh — just kidding, there isn't one Whether you're a firstborn who color-codes their army list, a middle child who plays Orks while munching on a choice crayon or two, or the youngest who expects GW to buff your faction at every dataslate — this one is for you. Check out our other content: https://gmpwt.blog/ [https://gmpwt.blog/] https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys [https://www.youtube.com/@GrownMenPlayingWithToys]