The Samurai Gunslinger

Title:   Podhammer

Author: Jeff Carroll

Affiliations: Miniatures Wargaming Union

Genre: Miniatures Wargaming ( Warhammer )

Number of Episodes: 10 ( As of date of review )

Frequency: Biweekly (Approximate)

Rating: Four Out of 5

Description: Podhammer is a bi-weekly podcast about Warhammer Fantasy. The show covers everything from latest news & releases, tournaments & painting.

Review: As a miniatures wargaming podcast, Podhammer has a very narrow appeal and if you are not familiar with the tabletop game, this podcast will not be of interest to you. If you are a player, or a fan however, this podcast is a wonderful resource as well as highly entertaining.

Each episode, Jeff takes on a new topic and explores it in great depth and detail. He has covered new army books, his own new armies, major tournaments in his native Australia as well as interviews with other gamers and tournament organizers. In all cases he leaves no stone unturned in his attempt to cover every aspect of the subject at hand.

The format of the episodes is relatively static, with segments for Warhammer news, updates on Jeff’s personal Warhammer experiences as well as information on the upcoming MMORPG Warhammer, Age of Reckoning. Each episode ends with a standard listener feedback segment.

Although his audio quality has been occasionally erratic, the production values have been above average overall and the quality as a whole has improved. The main problem has been his interviews in the field, usually done at tournaments or local gaming stores. The interviews themselves are excellent, and highly entertaining, but Jeff has struggled to maintain quality audio. Given the difficulty of getting good audio samples in an open public environment, even with pro level equipment, it is understandable that some of these segments have had spotty audio quality.

One point that should be mentioned is that Jeff is VERY Australian. As a result his accent as well as those of his guests can, at times, be a little hard to understand for those of us living outside of OZ.  Personally, if find this to add to the feel and uniqueness of the podcast as it expresses the global nature of the hobby, but some might have difficulty understanding the local lingo enough for it to be worth mentioning.

Overall, as a fan of the table top game, I have found Podhammer to be an excellent listen, and look forward to each episode. Jeff is clearly dedicated to improving both his own delivery as well as the programs production and audio quality so it should only get better from here. If you like Warhammer, or table top games in generally, I highly recommend you give Podhammer a listen.