The Independent Characters is a show focused on the universe of Warhammer 40,000. However, for one of the first times ever, we are going to take a slight tour and perhaps a dimension hop to discuss an Old World topic!

In this episode of The Independent Characters, we dive into the crumbling streets of the City of the Damned with Episode 260: Mordheim - Warbands and Wyrdstone.

Carl, Josh, and Jody explore the gritty skirmish game that captured the imaginations of Warhammer Fantasy fans back in 1999 and still lives on through a passionate community today. We’ll break down the core mechanics of Mordheim, how warbands are built and evolve, and what makes its campaign system so enduring.

Then, we recount our own recent two-day campaign weekend—hosted by Jody—where warbands clashed, wyrdstone was hoarded, and lasting stories were forged in the ruins. From preparation to final battle, we share the triumphs, tragedies, and unforgettable moments of bringing this classic game back to life.

While this isn't our usual content, if you're a veteran of the old world or just discovering Mordheim for the first time, this is an episode not to miss!

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress
• 0:21:35 - Mordheim: The Foundations
• 1:08:35 - Mordheim: Campaign Experience
• 2:22:00 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• War on The Shore 2026
• Adepticon
• Hexengarde Mordheim Terrain
• Broheim Necromunda Community Resources
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 259 is finally, our Show of Force episode about The World Eaters! To help us out, we have brought in World Eaters expert Brian Harvey, to help us understand what the Sons of Angron are all about... and what makes them such a fantastic army.

If you aren't aware of what our Show of Force Episodes are all about well here is your answer:

Show of Force is an ongoing series of episodes we will spread out through our releases of The Independent Characters. These shows take a look at each army in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe and seek to answer the question 'Why should you collect this army?'

As we have said from the beginning, we don't do "Codex Overviews" this is more of a celebration of the hobby from a specific point of view.

WARNING: These episodes can be dangerous to your wallet. Please listen responsibly!

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress
• 0:56:55 - Show of Force: The Red Tide - Pt 1
• 2:40:15 - Show of Force: The Red Tide - Pt 2
• 3:18:00 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Adepticon
• Lost to The Nails Podcast
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 258 of The Independent Characters discusses the future of Narrative Warhammer 40,000!

With the rumors and timetable of a new edition of Warhammer 40,000 ramping up, Episode 258 sees The Independent Characters discussing where we would like to see the focus of narrative style games shift.

This episode contains round-table speculation on what Crusade (or its successor) might look like in the next edition, plus a wish-list to Games Workshop for more social, story-first support.

Additionally we have an interview with the founder and creator of the Rapid Fire Dicebox! This is a really great product that I have seen in person and really thought it was thematically clever. I neglected to lead into the interview - but it comes just before the show closing.

We hope you enjoy Episode 258.

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress, & Games Played
• 0:54:00 - The Future of Narrative Part 1
• 1:42:45 - The Future of Narrative Part 2
• 1:42:45 - Interview: The Rapid Fire Dice Box!
• 2:54:00 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Adepticon
• Goblin Hobbies - Makers of the Stampin' Plates
• Maelstrom Mixer
• Rapid Fire Dicebox
• Rapid Fire Dicebox Kickstarter
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

This episode of The Independent Characters starts off with the usual segments. With Josh out of town, Chelle is stepping in to discuss elite choice, hobby progress, and games played.

Then we pivot to discussions with on of the folks who have created and organized this years Maelstrom Mixer, a large narrative event in San Jose. Brett joins us to discuss what it took to put on the event, what they learned from previous years, and where it is going in the future!

Carl attended last year and had a fantastic time. So we will talk about the event, but also pull back the curtain on how one runs something like this.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress
• 1:02:20 - The Maelstrom Mixer
• 2:21:45 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Adepticon
• Goblin Hobbies - Makers of the Stampin' Plates
• The Imperial Truth Podcast (Greg Dann's Charity discussed)
• Maelstrom Mixer
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 256 of The Independent Characters is a long one... and we even reigned it in! We had a lot to talk about here.

We revisit episode 72, where we looked deep into the history and current issues of White Dwarf. In this episode we bridge the gap between episode 72 and now, in an episode we titled White Dwarf: Now and Again. Nearly 12 years have passed since our last coverage of this topic and it was due for a refresh as White Dwarf itself seems to have gone through many refreshes.

To help us with this discussion, we are joined by Campbell from the 40k Badcast again. He always brings some great insight.

We hope you enjoy Episode 256... and are here for the four hour episode!

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress
• 0:44:35 - White Dwarf: Now and Again Pt 1
• 2:52:35 - White Dwarf: Now and Again Pt 2
• 3:46:10 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Adepticon
• Goblin Hobbies - Makers of the Stampin' Plates
• Creature Caster
• Arsenal Miniatures Game
• Bushido Miniatures Game
• Maelstrom Mixer
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 255 of The Independent Characters is all about our experience at Adepticon 2025! We are back from Milwaukee and along with Josh, Chelle, and Carl will be a host of interviews with those of us who went to AdeptiCon in 2025.

We had to repost this since Chelle decided she wants to join this episode. She says that she has "Things to say" about AdeptiCon. What that is... is any of our guesses!

We will talk about the events and classes we attended as well as the people we met and spoke with. Finally we will give our opinions on this years AdeptiCon and how it performs in it's new location!

We hope you enjoy Episode 255.

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice
• 0:12:45 - Hobby Progress, & Games Played
• 0:54:00 - Adepticon 2025 Review
• 1:42:45 - Interview with Blake & Ed of LAtCS
• 2:09:45 - Interview with Craig & Skye
• 2:35:45 - Interview with Travis of LAtCS
• 2:54:00 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Adepticon
• Goblin Hobbies - Makers of the Stampin' Plates
• Creature Caster
• Arsenal Miniatures Game
• Bushido Miniatures Game
• Maelstrom Mixer
• Basement of Death (the Space Hulk guys!)
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 254 of The Independent Characters brings in a couple of amazing guests to join us in The Warrior Lodge! First we have Liz Apke, prolific painter and awesome IC's Community Member. You're going to love what she has to say about the Grand Narrative.

We also bring in Troy Weis. One of the amazing event coordinators of the now famous Space Hulk event at Adepticon and one of the hosts of the Playin' and Slayin' Podcast from the Basement of Death guys.

There is some really great conversation this episode. Some things that made our hosts really stop and consider different opinions here. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did recording it.

Welcome to Episode 254

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress, & Games Played
• 0:45:10 - The Warrior Lodge - 6 Questions!
• 2:16:05 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Goblin Hobbies - Makers of the Stampin' Plates
• Maelstrom Mixer
• Playin' & Slayin' Podcast
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 253 of The Independent Characters explores the age old questions of 'How do you get your significant other into Warhammer 40k?'. To help us explain her journey into the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, we are joined by Chelle Tuttle. For those who don't know by now, Chelle is Carl's wife and has had an on again, off again relationship with 40k. She is also managing all of the tracking of everyone's hobby progress in the Hobby Progress Challenge for 2025. For which we are very grateful!

While we take a trip down memory lane on her exposure to the game, we also get some insights on what worked for her, to get her invested in the game. I want to thank Chelle for taking the time to join me on this discussion as I know this is a bit outside her comfort zone.

We hope you enjoy Episode 253.

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Elite Choice, Hobby Progress, & Games Played
• 0:18:30 - Introducing your partner to 40k
• 1:29:20 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Goblin Hobbies - Makers of the Stampin' Plates
• Maelstrom Mixer
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

We are joined by two very special guests for Episode 252! Welcome David and Adam (known as Chaos Dave - or Wargaming Dave, and Uncle Adam of Tabletop Minions fame) who are here to talk about the growing influence of online content in our hobby. How does it impact your gaming for the positive, the negative, and what can be done better from both a producer and consumer side.

Many people think that content production is all about the fame, glory, and swimming pools of money. I mean, it is. But that really isn't the actual goal of most content producers. Most are incredibly passionate about their gaming, whether that is 40k, Ravaged Stars, Reign in Hell, or Trench Crusade. Expect to hear the thoughts of these two very successful content producers about how they see their role within the hobby space and what responsibilities content producers have, and why you should (or should not) listen to them. You will get a unique view of what goes on behind the scenes for most productions!

We hope you enjoy this discussion!

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro, Guest Intros, & Elite Choice
• 0:23:30 - The Influence of Online Content: Pt 1
• 1:08:30 - The Influence of Online Content: Pt 2
• 2:22:30 - Interview: Dave Taylor on 28 Collected Kickstarter
• 2:46:00 - End of Show

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• 28 Collected Kickstarter
• Tabletop Minions
• Miniwargaming Dave
• The Army Painter
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library

Episode 251 of The Independent Characters takes a deep look at Warhammer 40k and how it is played in both competition, more casual play, and why it matters. How this impacts not only the types of units considered 'good' by those folks on the Internet, but also how the game is played by different sets of players and how it may shape new players approach and introduction to the game. To bring differing views on this, we once again have Campbell McLaughlin joining us to help us understand the importance of the tournament scene standpoint.

We hope you enjoy Episode 251. There is a lot to unpack here, and we hope you get out of it as much as we put into it!

Time Stamps:

• 0:00:00 - Show Intro and Elite Choice
• 0:09:30 - Hobby Progress & War on The Shore
• 1:26:30 - Why Terrain & Layouts Define 40k
• 2:06:40 - Final Thoughts and show closing

Relevant Links:

• The Independent Characters Patreon
• Tablewar! - SPONSOR
• Herrick Games & Hobbies - SPONSOR
• Grimdark Compendium
• Games Workshop
• The Black Library