Nice to 'meat' Blog For The Blood God
Nurgle consorts with Khorne
Dean Sinnbeck will be reprising the role of Captain for Team Australia at the World Team Championship (WTC) in 2025.
He is also the man behind Blog For The Blood God (BFTBG), a tactics, strategy, battle report, interview and review channel that focuses primarily on World Eaters, Chaos Space Marines and general Warhammer 40K tactics and strategy.
As an enthusiast of Papa Nurgle, and impressed with Dean’s leadership in competitive 40K, I reached out to ask a few questions. No sacrifices were required and he obliged.
A conversation with Dean Sinnbeck of Blog For The Blood God
Q: Of the chaos deities represented in the grim-dark 40K universe, what appealed most about aligning with Khorne?
A: There is a certain honesty to being a faction dedicated to slaughter and carnage in the 41st millennium. I always hated phoney Imperial forces acting like the good guys while conducting acts of utter corruption and evil. At least the followers of khorne are honest!
Q: What are some of your favourite stories and characters in the lore?
A: I really enjoyed the Chosen of Khorne audio drama that followed a war between two World Eaters warbands. I won't spoil it but I will say Khârn is a fucking boss in that book.
Q: I'm blown away by your narrative campaigns on YouTube. The First War for Armageddon is an absolute delight to behold. When there are more units on the table than terrain you know you're in for a good time. That must've been exhausting to play let alone film?
A: It took several weeks haha but it was absolutely worth it. What is the point of spending years building up a force that large if you don't occasionally pull it all out for a monstrous battle!
Q: Of all the narrative games you've played are there any memorable or cinematic moments you would like to share?
A: There are too many to count. Luckily most of them were caught on camera so I can relive them over and over! I look forward to being an 80-year-old in a nursing home watching my old battles from back when I was 30! It's going to be so good!
Q: You recently led Team Australia as Captain at the 40K Olympics or rather the WTC in Belgium. What was that experience like?
A: It was my second year attending, first as a coach and now as captain and I have to say it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I can't wait to go back again next year! I highly recommend everyone try to get involved in some way as a truly is an event like no other.
Q: The WTC Teams 40K format is interesting in terms of the scoring and the differential which incentivises players to disrupt their opponent rather than simply min-max for primary and secondary objectives. How does this affect the gameplay dynamic compared to a typical singles matched play?
A: It has a huge impact. Every point you deny your opponent is effectively one you score yourself, so denying your opponent is a huge priority in list building, as opposed to singles where you kind of ignore them and just max your own score.
Q: It is fascinating to hear you talk about the lists Team Australia brought to WTC particularly the 30 terminators. Clearly there was a concerted effort to outwit the other competing nations by subverting expectations. As a casual Death Guard player that elite lineup terrifies me. What can you say about the theory crafting process?
A: It is a highly iterative process with lots of long nights theory crafting, testing and scheming haha. I broke it all down on my channel recently but it is essentially one of the major reasons team events are so fun, as you really can flip the script and go left field hard.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to mention about WTC, Team Australia?
A: Just that we have some major plans for 2025 so keep your eyes peeled to the FB page and website www.teamaus40k.com.au for updates.
Q: For anyone looking to play 40K more competitively what would you advise? Your masterclasses on the various Chaos detachments are quite insightful, too.
A: I think passion and perseverance are all you need to become a serious competitor. If you stick with it and give it your all you WILL learn, grow and sooner or later great success will come.
Q: Do you have any interest in the new Boarding Actions game mode?
A: Not particularly. If there was a local community for it I would certainly give it a go. I wanted to get stuck into Kill Team but it never took off locally unfortunately
Q: What is the silliest list you have ever taken to an event?
A: Oh man that is a tough one. I'm well known for being the guy with the silly list. I took three Land Raiders in my 9th ed. World Eaters, that was fun. So was the three Lord of Skulls and Angron list. Thirty Terminators was probably the wildest given the seriousness of the event.
Q: Are there any local 40K events coming up that we should be aware of?
A: The Oceanic Championships is coming up and I will actually be featuring as guest host on the Risky Rollers YouTube channel streaming every round of the event live.
Q: Tell us all about your merch!
A: We have really cool dice, objective markers, gaming mats, terrain, shirts and apparel, all types of goodies, check out www.BlogForTheBloodGod.com for a full list.
Q: How can we support Blog for The Blood God?
A: Patreon is the best place. I offer multiple tiers so if you just want to say thanks its a great way to do it, or the higher tiers unlock one on one coaching, list writing and regular calls so either way. Also by liking subscribing, commenting and sharing videos! It is all great.
A good read, nice to see competitive 40K growing so much!