Warhammer 40k Video Batreps

Hi everyone Black Blow Fly here again to discuss the subject of Video Battle Reports. I think it takes a lot of work to produce real quality and often we just take it for granted. Some of my favorite channels are from the United Kingdom:

D6evolution
Grim Resolve
Hellstorm Gaming
Moarhammer
Striking Scorpion 82
Tabletop Tactics
Twisted Dice
Winters SEO

These guys understand what makes for an enjoyable game to watch. I like to see a narrative element along with an exciting game featuring interesting armies matched up against each other with some banter.

Now I’d like to make a brief public service announcement regarding Grim Resolve and they are by far one of my favorites. Sadly their studio was recently broken into and all their recording equipment was stolen. They have created a Go Fund Me site so you can help them get back on their feet again:

https://www.gofundme.com/grim-resolve-youtube-channel-recovery-plan

Here’s one of their many excellent video Battle reports featuring Harlequins versus Renegades, see if you can guess what the comet brings:

https://youtu.be/PDVfuLV5TL0

All of their reports are free, no paywalls for content. Check them out... I think you’ll enjoy them.

Now I’ll cover what I think makes for a good VBR and what doesn’t.

1. Beautiful armies and great terrain.
2. Interesting armies and scenarios versus overly competitive.
3. It’s very important to get the rules right as much as possible... lots of mistakes just ruins it. The channels I’ve listed above are all very knowledgeable regarding rules and when they do make a mistake often they own up to it and correct them.
4. One of my biggest pet peeves are people that have the choice to use a command point for a reroll and instead of just rolling the dice they spend five or more minutes discussing all the reasons why they shouldn’t but then finally they do. It’s annoying at best and really puts a damper on games.
5. My next biggest issue is when people continuously apologize to their opponent throughout the game when their dice are literally on fire or continually draw great cards for Maelstrom games. Lopsided games are not fun to watch.
6. Another peeve is when one player turn takes more than half the length of the entire battle report. There’s a reason why the good channels don’t waste your time showing every dice roll. Good battle reports split the time evenly between both players.
7. My last gripe is when a player wants to go back a turn or more to do some action they forgot such as shooting with a unit of theirs... that’s just poor sportsmanship plain and simple. The channels I’ve listed above play on and just let it go - good sportsmanship on both sides of the table is everything.

What are things you like and what are your peeves ?