🎙️ Listen now: Spotify, Apple, Amazon

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 straight fight, so he doesn’t try. Instead, he turns the game into a race to 100 points, trades units for board position instead of value, and nearly pulls off the upset. The guys turn it into a full discussion of playing as the underdog versus the overdog and how knowing which one you are should change your win condition.

Along the way they cover:

• The boat race strategy — Erik’s son writes off killing Custodes entirely and instead sprints for 100 victory points, forcing Erik to play a perfect final three turns just to survive
• Trading for board space, not points — why sacrificing Fuegan and five Fire Dragons on a bad points trade made total sense once you realize he was trading for tempo and secondary pressure instead
• Cousin Josh’s quadruple C’tan callback — the guys connect the dots between Erik’s son’s plan and Josh’s own C’Tan spam overdog strategy from a prior Necrons game
• Overdog vs. underdog theory — Erik and Steve build out a framework for identifying which one you are before the game starts
• Strategy vs. plan — Cousin Josh admits he never plans while the guys work through the difference between a rigid tactical plan and a flexible overarching strategy
• Next Barnhammer teaser — Erik pitches deliberately assigning underdog and overdog roles at the next event, while Steve makes his pitch for a hobby-focused episode

Whether you’re here for the underdog theory or just want to hear a kid race his dad to a nail-biter finish, this one’s for you.