Grown Men Playing with Toys

Grown Men Playing With Toys is a Warhammer 40,000 podcast about getting better at the game without it feeling like a job or chore.

Join longtime friends Erik and Steve for practical discussions of strategy, list building, painting, and the lessons learned from games that went brilliantly.....or spectacularly wrong. Drawing on their systems engineering backgrounds and different approaches to 40K, they explore where casual and competitive play meet, with plenty of stories and friendly disagreements along the way.

This is a podcast for players who enjoy thinking seriously about their toy soldiers and laughing with the friends across the table.

They said we were too old. We said, “Hold our dice!”

Podcasting since 2025 • 51 episodes

Grown Men Playing with Toys

Latest Episodes

51 - Show Me the Doctrines!: Breaking Down the New Space Marine Codex

The Space Marine codex is here and Erik is more excited than he's been about anything not named Emperor's Children. With Cousin Josh along for the ride, the guys dig into how swapping Oath of Moment for combat doctrines changes the way Erik bui...

October 04, 2026 • 1:12:50

50 - Hold On to Your Butts: Riding the 11th Edition Codex Rollercoaster

Erik opens with a feeling of the day that turns Steve's stomach. With the Orks codex out, Space Marines days away, Custodes about to be on preorder, and balance updates coming fast, 11th Edition feels like the top of a rollercoaster's first hil...

September 27, 2026 • 59:20

49 - Michelangelo vs. the Assembly Line: Three Perspectives on Painting in Warhammer 40K

Cousin Josh joins Erik and Steve for a full hobby episode on the painting side of 40K. Erik sits at the assembly-line extreme, Steve at the masterpiece extreme, and Josh in the middle, where the guys hypothesize that most of the community lives...

September 20, 2026 • 1:22:30

48 - Burning Bright: Playing as the Underdog in Warhammer 40K

Cousin Josh joins Erik and Steve again as they break down a game between Erik and his oldest son that turns into a masterclass on underdog strategy. Erik's son, fully back into 11th Edition, decides he can't beat his dad's Custodes in a straigh...

September 14, 2026 • 1:03:47

47 - Shake the Snow Globe: A Check In On Some Of Our Favorite Factions

Cousin Josh joins the chat (literally) for the first time, heckling Erik and Steve from the sidelines while they take a step back from the week-to-week to talk macro direction of where their favorite factions are headed. The guys trade pe...

September 05, 2026 • 1:16:07