Start the game already!

Start the game already!

By Christian TothLeisureVideo Games
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Start the game already! episodes

  • [GER] Tafelrunde #26: Bloss nur zwei Spiele spielen

    Willkommen zur 26. Tafelrunde! Felix und Christian kommen erneut zusammen und sprechen über den vergangenen Monat. Für Felix ist die Zeit schnell vergangen, für Christian ging es langsam, denn der Urlaub kommt erst in zwei Wochen. Felix hat seine Zeit in Stronghold gesteckt und kommt von dem Spiel nicht los. Christian hat ein neues Elo High erreicht, nur um danach in Grund und Boden gestampft zu werden. Es gibt viel zu erzählen und wir freuen uns, dass ihr uns zuhört :)

    Viel Spaß beim Hören!
    Felix & Christian

    Unterstütze unser Projekt hier und höre deutsche Versionen aller englischen Podcasts:
    steady.page/de/startthegamealready/

    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK

    Musik: Joey Jojo vom offiziellen AoE II: DE OST.

    1 hr 21 min
  • [ENG] Interview: Chris

    This is the complete Interview with Chris (IamChris), a legend of AoE II eSport history. Chris war once considered the best player in the world and has witnessed pretty much every phase of the development of competitive Age of Empires II. The main focus of our conversation revolves around the Hun Wars and Chris shares both his knowledge and memories about this topic. But before we got to that subject, we also talked about what Age of Empires II was like back in the day and specifically, how Chris percieved the pro scene and how his career as a pro player has developed. I had a great time talking to Chris and hope you'll enjoy our conversation!
    Chris

    Links to I am Chris:
    twitch.tv/iamchris_age2
    youtube.com/@IamChrisAge2

    Podcast:
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK

    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/

    Music: www.purple-planet.com

    1 hr 13 min
  • [ENG] Hun Wars
    The Hun Wars were played between 2000 and approximately 2016 and are by far the most frequently played matchup in Age of Empires II history – to this day. In this documentary, I attempt to recount how the Hun Wars came about, how they changed over the decades, and what led to the end of the Hun Wars just under 10 years ago. To do this, I brought two veterans of the game, Andre (Slap) and Chris (IamChris), in front of the microphone, who told me in detail about the good old days of the Hun Wars. It quickly became clear that my image of these mirror matches was far too one-dimensional. I hope you enjoy this nostalgic trip into the past of Age of Empires II eSports.
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/
    Podcast:
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Koven-Interview: https://members.tripod.com/legionx_black/cerpioclan/id42.html
    External audio sources used in this episode:
    SMB about Hera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKSN41zJ40
    T90 about Hoang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhZ5hwHhgc
    Nili (Outro): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mKCyF7eIgQ&t=12s
    49 min
  • [ENG] Campaign: Montezuma #3 Quetzalcoatl
    Episode 3 of the Montezuma Campaign leeds us to confront the Spanish invadors and their allies, who a threatening the Tabasco. This mission is considered the hardest of the campaign if you want to save Tabasco, especially because there's quite the distance to overcome before you can help your ally. Challange accepted, also I want the achievement you get for saving Tabasco, so I'll be telling you how I succeeded on the hardest difficulty. Apart from that, this mission is loosely based on the Battles of Centla (March 14, 1519) and Nautla (October 1519), during the Spanish conquest of Mexico and there are two ways of finishing off the Spanish: Either by conquest or by taming their horses. Unfortunately, because of my ungrateful allies, I was forced to take the difficult path,
    Chris
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Music: Aztecs Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack
    23 min
  • [ENG] Campaign: Montezuma #4 La Noche Triste
    In Episode 4 of the Montezuma Campaign, it is our duty to retake Tenochtitlan from the Spanish forces under Hernan Cortez, who hast taken emperor Montezuma II as a hostage and uses him as a puppet to control the city of Tenochtitlan. This beautiful city was built on an artificial island on the west side of lake Texcoco and showcases this early campaign in all it's beauty. We'll first have to gather our forces, we get to kill an enemy priest with jaguars and there's also an easter egg involiving Ornlu the Wolf to discover, but first and foremost we need to drive out the Spanish from our beloved home. I hope you're enjoying this series!
    Chris
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steady.page/startthegamealready
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Music: Aztecs Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack
    34 min
  • [ENG] Magazine Ep. #03 August 2025
    Welcome back to a new edition of the magazine! There’s once again a lot of news to cover from the past month, and here’s the program:
    In the News section, we’ll talk about Regicide Rumble VI, Jordan joining Onimaru, the Public Update Preview, the Town Center Tango 2 drama, layoffs at Capture Age, a tournament announcement from GL, and the current status of the LingYuan Cup qualifiers. Then there’ll be a brief look at Franchise News regarding esports tournaments from Age of Mythology and Age of Empires IV.
    In the Game News, I’ll tell you about my time playing Stronghold Crusader DE and Wandering Village, and I’ll briefly introduce two new city-building simulations that are set to be released at the end of August.In the Podcast News, I’ll mainly be responding to a few emails I received. And finally, as always, there’s the Tournament Outlook for August 2025.
    If you’re enjoying the program and like my other podcasts too, you can support me and the podcast on Patreon or Steady. Both platforms offer different tiers depending on what kind of spare change you have each month. But you can also support me for free by telling others about the podcast, sharing the episodes, and giving them a positive rating on Spotify or wherever you listen. Please enjoy this episode of the Magazine!
    Chris
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/
    Timecodes:
    00:00 Intro
    01:55 News
    18:02 Franchise News
    20:15 Game News
    24:47 Podcast News
    39:45 Tournament Outlook August 2025
    Links:
    Regicide Rumble VI Final: https://youtu.be/qv40NSUMz7E?si=yJhSIk7CrnUc2MML
    Quintessiential Cookout: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/Quintessential_Cookout
    TCT2: https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe2/comments/1lxn2dx/town_center_tango_2_cancelled_after_finals/?tl=de
    Capture Age Layoffs: https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/1m80oak/age_of_empires_support_studio_captureage_lays_off
    Sudden Dessaster 2: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/Sudden_Dessaster/2
    LingYuan Cup: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/LingYuan_Cup
    Midweek Madness: https://liquipedia.net/ageofempires/Midweek_Madness
    Daniela's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe
    47 min
  • [ENG] Campaign: Montezuma #2 Triple Alliance
    Welcome back to the Montezuma Campaign! In this episode, we'll finally meet our nemesis: Hernan Cortez. But before that, we need to rally our allies in order to defeat our sworn enemies and capture as many human sacrifices as possible to appease our gruesome goods.
    Chris
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Music: Aztecs Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack
    25 min
  • [ENG] Campaign: Montezuma #1 Reign of Blood
    This is the kickoff episode of the Montezuma Campaign in Age of Empires II. I played all six missions of the campaign and delved deep into historical research, and I would like to share the results with you in this short campaign series. The Aztec campaign was released with the release of The Conqueror add-on in 2000 and tells the story of the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan and the fall of the Aztec Empire during the reign of Montezuma II in the beginning of the 16th century. This first mission has no real historical background but offers insights in how the Addon had been promoted before it was released. There's a lot to uncover and I hope you'll enjoy this series!
    Chris
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Music: Aztecs Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack
    23 min
  • [GER] Tafelrunde #25: Sehnsucht nach Burgen
    Willkommen zurück zur Tafelrunde! Wir kredenzen euch drei Spielethemen in dieser Ausgabe: Age of Empires II, Stronghold Crusader: DE und Wandering Village. In Age of Empires sprechen wir darüber, dass die Hoffnung auf das nächste Update sehr groß ist, wir aber auch erst sehen müssen, was kommt, bevor wir es glauben werden. Stronghold Crusader ist in der Definitive Edition ein echter Hingucker und unter Spieler:innen sehr beliebt, aber Felix und Christian haben sich den schweren Koop-Pfad genauer angesehen und ihr Zwischenfazit lautet: Das fühlt sich nicht wie Stronghold an. Deswegen ist Christian dann in die friedliche Welt der Städtebausimulation abgedriftet und hat sich nach dem lange ersehnten Release von Wandering Village auf den Rücken einer gigantischen Kreatur begeben, um dort eine Zivilisation aufzubauen.
    Viel Spaß beim Hören!
    Felix & Christian
    Unterstütze unser Projekt hier und höre deutsche Versionen aller englischen Podcasts:
    steady.page/de/startthegamealready/
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Musik: Joey Jojo vom offiziellen AoE II: DE OST.
    59 min
  • [ENG] Civilizations #02: Huns
    From all of the many civilizations in Age of Empires II, Huns are probably the ones having the greates impact on the game. They have been played for many years in the Hun Wars and coined the term "Huns are Huns". In this podcast, we'll do a deep dive into what actually makes huns the huns we know and, spoiler, have always known. There is a lot of nostalgia involved for some players and others may find the huns a little lackluster for good reason. Also: why don't they have stepplancers? There's a lot to uncover when talking about the Huns and I hope you'll enjoy this episode!
    Homepage: www.startthegamealready.de
    Discord: discord.com/invite/SYp9dCXYsK
    Support the Podcast on:
    Patreon: patreon.com/startthegamealready
    Steady (german): steadyhq.com/startthegamealready/
    Timecodes:
    00:00 Overview
    06:15 House Bonus
    17:50 Team Bonus and Cav Archers
    25:41 Trebuchets
    31:10 Tarkan, Marauders & Atheism
    40:52 Strategies and army compositions
    56:13 Huns are Huns
    01:11:21 Campaign: Attila the Hun
    Music: Huns Intro Music and "Operation Monkey" of the official AoE II Soundtrack
    1 hr 21 min

About Start the game already!

From the publisher's feed

Podcast about all things Age of Empires II: eSport, History, Campaigns, Strategy Talk, Civilizations and much more! This feed contains mainly English epidoses with the occasional german episode…