Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Trying to stay positive...

Do:
- Try to have one good wide-view picture per turn (or per important turn), with one or two supporting shots of interesting action if warrented.
- Use fully painted models and decent terrain if at all possible.
- Assume your readers can figure out what different colored blobs on a distant table are. Either show some close-ups of the units along the way or lable them somewhere along the way.
- Tell a story if you're good at it. Makes it more interesting.
- Comment on other people's battle reports. A good one takes a lot of work.

Don't:
- Post a pre-batrep poll asking who's going to win. It's a waste of your readers time. Just post the dang batrep.


I don't prefer video batreps, but that's not a don't, just a personal bias.

DO:

Include more cow bell.

DON'T:

Include less cow bell.

The worst reports are one sided games where one opponent trashes the other player... Typically you know how it's going to play out five minutes into the report. My favorite reports feature beautiful armies played by competitive gamers that come down to the end of a game for the win. Obviously for multi reps in a tournament report you can't expect every round to be a tight game. Reecius does great reports - there's always some good humor and in between turns there's lots of tactical discussion. Written reports with good pictures are the best as they can go into more detail. I don't care for opinions telling us what's bad for the game and I think they take away from the report.

From a personal experience, I'd like to add the following:

Before making a battle report, make sure your opponent knows exactly what it will mean for the game that you're making a battle report. I once played a game where my opponent got annoyed by me whipping out my camera to take a picture every time, even though he agreed beforehand. I stopped taking pictures halfway through turn 3 because of it, which is a shame.

DO: Take the time to post a battle report.

DONT: Listen to the haters.

Some of us read/watch them regardless of format, and appreciate the time/effort it took to write it up.

Cowbell.. Lol.

I think videos are the worst way to do it. I'd rather read for 10 minutes than watch for an hour.

 poppa G wrote:
I think videos are the worst way to do it. I'd rather read for 10 minutes than watch for an hour.

You're right on the time aspect. Video reps need to be 20 minutes or less. If they're shorter than 14 minutes (for a full game) then the action isn't getting enough justice. One rep just posted (by good players) clips through turns pretty fast, but without any analysis, leaving a dry taste. I know what happened, but I would like to have had *some* comment from the players on their decisions.

Then again, maybe smarter players than me can 'see between the lines'.

For players with tastes toward narrative, I don't lean that way, so I dunno if longer video BRs that have fluff are more your speed.

I will advocate for both still pic *and* video BatReps. Perhaps video reps, with the commentary, cater to competitive players better/more. Still pics can serve both tastes well, I think.

As I started reading this thread I thought I'd just post, "Do Still Pic BatReps like jy2," but someone beat me to it. Jim has nailed the format for it.

Vids:
Reece does the most efficient and enlightening video BRs; you get some expert analysis on strategy and tactics and self-effacing humor to enjoy watching. The guy knows not to take himself too seriously. Technically, they're well done; except for the damned city bus's noise (a great running joke ), the sound & camera (lack of shake) are good. Seize & Game Ends dice are often included. Reece (and opponents) add just the right amount of strategy analysis, at Turn's end with short EndGameWrapUps.