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.

PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL!!!!!

It dawned on me one day that I love watching BatReps - but nowhere on the web is there any videos of a BatReps that really grab people and make the game exciting. So I've decided to take this one step further - I want to try filming a few BatReps and edit them, much like in Major League sports - make them appeal to a wider audience and really change the game up. More importantly - I need your help Dakka! Here is what I'm thinking...

- All BatReps must be filmed at a good angle that the audience can see the entire board at all times, with potential to zoom in during charges/assaults. I'm thinking a top-down perspective, right in the middle of the board would be best for this.
- Editing on the BatReps will show sidebars in the corner, much like football or baseball - showing team name/army, the army's logo, colors, crest, etc., and kill points/objectives captured, depending on the game.
- Actions of the army as they battle will be done in post, including arrows showing the motion of the armies, explosions and such for template weapons, gunfire, etc. etc.
- Possible commentary? Though most of the effects would be done in post production, I would like to include commentary during the game discussing the player's moves and such, all done during the game and announcing major results like casualties, roll results, etc.

Doing a batrep in such a manner would require somewhat tourny-like rules, such as these;

- Each player will have a time limit for their Movement Phase - im thinking 5 minutes. This makes the players think on their feet - much like a real war would! (Trust me on that, I'm a veteran - Shout out to all the selfless veterans on Dakka!) and also keep the game's overall time shorter. I've seen even 1000 point games take over 3 hours because of distractions, starting and stopping their turn, etc.
- Games will have a deciding official over contested rules, rolls, etc. to keep the game going.
- Shooting and Assault phases will have no time limit.
- Players will roll dice in a special dice box of sorts, perhaps off to the side and also on camera - though we could film the dice box and put it up in post as a small box on screen, or even do scrolling text bar across the bottom that shows the results.
- Perhaps allow each player a 'Tactician' - an additional player that doesn't play, but watches and offers advice during the game, suggesting actions, giving support, etc.

So in theory, the game will flow like this;

BatRep Format

- Scenario Introduction - BatReps will begin with a little fluff-filled, fun scenario read off by the announcer!
- Player / Army showcase - We're introduced to each player and take a second to showcase their armies. We give them a quick interview with what their strategy will be.
- Army List overview for each player.
- Board flyover, special terrain pointed out.
- Official roles for mission type and deployment. Also rolls Night Fighting Rule.
- Players roll off to see who goes first. Deployment zones selected.
- Objectives are placed. In the event of an odd number, the Official places the additional objective.

- Deployment
- Player attempts to Seize the Initiative
- Turn 1
- Turn 2
- Turn 3

- 10 minute Intermission. Discuss the battle with players.

- Turn 4
- Turn 5 - Official roles to see if game continues
- Turn 6 - Official roles to see if game continues.
- Turn 7 - Game over.

- Post battle interviews
- Post battle breakdown


Now I've noticed Miniwargaming.com does a similar style of BatRep, with the overlays, which is all fine, but I'm talking about a completely different style all together. Rules should be tweeked to keep the game flowing quickly, and the commentary can be done live during the game. The camera will stay static during movement phases, and shift to the best or most dramatic view for shooting / assaults. Again, we can add some cool effects in post production to make it more exciting. I know you could also nix the movement phase time limit and just edit it to cut the gaps beftween and/or speed up the movement phase and just do commentary in post. However, i'm thinking about doing this live and streaming it - tell me what you guys think!

Tell me, would running a game in this style, for BatReps appeal to more people and help the hobby? The goal here is to really spice up the quality of BatReps on the interwebz and hopefully attract more players to the game - hell, if they can make gak like DOTA and HAN competitive and stream them live and thousands of people tune in to watch, why cant we do this with 40k?!

PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEE guys! even if its just ' oh shure, I'd watch that' or 'nope, dont care' in the comments section, please give feedback. I'd love to really have this idea take off and actually do a few batreps in this style and see if it works - but i need YOUR help Dakka! Before I dive balls deep into recording a BatRep and putting all this time and effort into it, I need to know that this is what people want - a high quality BatRep. I need that feedback, i need your suggestions, good or bad, whatever, just please comment or atleast vote in the poll. This BatRep will take time to whip up, and I have the majority of the means to make it happen.

Sounds like a good idea, however I'm not sure about the time limit for movement (you punish some armies more than others and say there's a horde tyranids against a tau army, the nids need ages to move but don't spend time shooting, while the tau player doesn't move and then spends half an hour shooting the crap out of his opponent)

Also I wouldn't keep the whole batrep with a view of the whole field - it's too high up. The only time I've seen someone do a good one like that is this:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=omm92ZiAK-s

Another example that's similar to your idea is this:

http://riderofthecosmicserpent.blogspot.ru/2013/08/batrep-eldar-vs-spacemarines-whitescars.html

Just make Banter Batreps like the ones from miniwargaming.

I'm not sure if you're trying to appeal to more general audience if you have to show dice rolls. Maybe you could try to make it more action packed by giving closeups from the firing units perspective and then show the opponent removing figures? Like just an action summary at the end of each phase? Not exactly sure how you'd do that, but I'm not sure someone just happening across 40k bat reps appreciates the dice rolling like those that play the game.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Yeah, this style of batrep is aimed at appealing to a wider audience - ya gotta think, if they can make boring ass gak like online gaming competitive and enjoyable for people to watch, why cant we do that with BatReps?!

The video itself would have to be edited a lot, i love the idea for the close ups of shooting/assaulting units, i think it has a lot of creative potential.

Also i don't want to make a crappy Banter BatRep like on miniwargaming - the goal is to put a little production value into these - something every batrep is lacking in.

I don't want to do BatReps like anyone else out there, thats the point - something completely original and new that appeals to a wider audience and really opens the hobby up to more players, but also something indepth enough for the older players to watch and talk about.

I am not fan of video battle report i prefer widely the test/photos reports (the best are Jy2, Gordy2000 and Arbitorlan) but of course if you enhance the quality/interest of the video, it will be a very great thing !

Hey guys, just wanted you all to know that I did get a camera and I'll be talking to my good friend that owns the local hobby shop and kickin the idea around a little more and hopefully going through with this.