VLOG: 40K Battle Reports & Bolt Action Plans!
January 14, 2015 by dignity
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Looks fantastic with what you guys are doing for the 40K stuff, could see a narrative weekend of a BoW event on it 😉
Wink wink nudge nudge
I’ve just ordered my first Bolt Action stuff and it’s all BoW’s fault 😀 can’t wait to delve into it. Good job guys!
I was initially underwhelmed when first hearing the idea explained. On reflection, I think that’s in large part because I have no interest in 40K, so I tried to project the idea onto a different game and think of it in terms of Gotham City. If it’s simply a case of using a name instead of saying “hill”, then I’m not sure I’d find that very interesting. If the landmarks were used narratively then that would more interesting, as long as it wasn’t just a scenario in which you “capture mount X” instead of “capture the mountain”.
I think with most things what you tend to find is the more that they are used as a location they will develop more and more as they gain a reputation. Such as crime alley in Gotham makes you think of the previous things that have been on there so seeing battles happening around the same land marks should really build a history of the table rather than the spot 2 armies happened to meet in.
In the case of crime alley, one very specific and narrative thing happened there. It’s exactly the type of interesting narrative that makes a landmark engaging and you can return to it to build on the narrative. If it’s Mount X which was captured by the Blood Angels in the second battle and then by the Dark Eldar in the fourth battle then not so much. At least for me, anyway.
I don’t think we (or at least I) are far from your position on this, the landmarks have to be meaningful and in my opinion even potentially have some impact on the game, either through their physical design/location or by inclusion of some map specific landmark rules.
At least in my mind, they are not just names…
Yeah absolutely, a name doesn’t mean much, i could imagine some really cool rules around the corpse of the hyrophant, the imagination can run wild. That having something that actually impacts what is happening around that area of a map is a key factor.
Scenario-specific rules are nice, but the on-going narrative is more important. Otherwise it just all gets a bit Hamburger Hill. The corpse is potential goldmine of story ideas. Why is it dead? What happens as it decays?
So this is nothing for nothing, but my 2p – I agree with Ben completely. I’m excited for terrain based games – recognizable locations and set maps is a great idea and brings a depth to the entertainment of watching. I think you’re firing the right caliber, at the right target, but… and I hate to say this… I think your aim is a little off. I get the idea that video games are a bit of an inspiration as they constantly use set maps (as you mentioned) and they do play reports that get lots of hits compared to… Read more »
Would be interesting to see the maps actually change, to represent damage to the scenery itself, few dead bodies about, buildings gradually getting toppled, repaired, and toppled again.
The first thing that came to mind when you were explaining your concept was historical battles and how the major landmarks and locations are always named. This allows people to easily follow what’s going on in the battles once they familiarize themselves with the places where to battles take place.
All in all this sounds like a great idea and I can’t wait to see how it actually works when all is said and done.
Looking good, always nice to hear the progression thats happening behind the scene. Hope you put some audience participation elements into the Bolt Action serie. Alot of us have chosen to make 2015 a BA year and is starting our armies. Would love to be able to build and create that together with you guys infront of the camera.
yes to that!
for me BA is Blood Angels but will be following along in spirit as so far I have resisted Bolt Action though have been tempted several times.
then we must try harder 🙂
found myself a couple of times on the Warlord website 😉
I looked, but I couldn’t see any space Marines 😉
Awesome. Definitely looking forward to the upgraded gallery content / functionality. 😀
Woooo!! 40k!!! 😀
Father Grimnar arrived on his Sleigh very early indeed 😀
Don’t mean to come across too sarcy, but on what basis was the decision “in the whole world of table-top miniature gaming, what the internet needs most are more Warhammer 40k Batreps!” reached?
I know you’ll do a much better job than most if not all alternatives out there; but there are plenty of other systems that could benefit from more exposure. I personally don’t watch batreps as some sort of “Match of the Day highlights”, to me they’re an excellent means of assessing a game before I invest a shedload of hobby cash in ot.
…
I think one of the big problems with the stuff online is that majority of it is poorly filmed, poorly produced and is usually from a competitive viewpoint. Seeing more narrative battles in a popular system done at the quality that the BoW team achieve will be fantastic. The Bolt Action and 40k areas that will be covered will be great for the pulling power of the site and may help continue to grow the community here. Focusing on smaller less popular games means your never cover the mainstream stuff. The best aspect for the team is to keep going… Read more »
Agreed mate, the production quality that BoW puts out is going to take these reports to the next level, I’m really looking forward to these.
Because awesome sauce.
i am hoping you will have a jungle board with swamp etc, a real challenge that affects both movement and shooting. you could also have certain areas populated with the local nasties which make an automatic attack each turn when troops are in a part of the board where they live, failing that each player must roll each turn on a d6 based event table to simulate the unexpected on new ground whilst hunting the enemy.
lots of ideas potential unlimited lol
As for site developments i think that when one of you guys first venture into a new game or system it would be both beneficial if a vblog showed the transition warts and all to that game, what to look at when deciding on the game, what faction, army or force generation is like (simple hard etc), to actual gameplay. Also a number of recommended stockists, any discounts or deals available and what core models to get to learn the gameplay without doing the usual trick of buying a mini you cant use during lower pointed skirmishes just because it… Read more »
I’m loving the amount of thought you are putting into these battle reports guys, the fact that you are play testing them before filming as you would for a tournament shows the level of commitment you have to making sure they’ll come out looking professional and that hopefully the narratives and maps work well. That board also looks varied enough that hopefully multiple plays won’t turn out the same.
This got me really excited for some 40k content even though i dont really play it. The ideas you have regarding maps are great!
I very much hope you’re not going down the ‘this group moved forward and shot at that mob and killed 3’ route that so many other use. It’s an absolute borefest and doesn’t involve you in the action at all.
Idea for dice rolling: I recently picked up a circular casino dice rolling “tray” that is lined with green felt. The idea I have is to place a tray like this to the side of the game table on a pedestal with a dedicated camera pointing down at the tray. This camera would effectively be called the “Dice Cam”. This would be a constant video feed located in the bottom right of the screen during a battle report to show all of the rolls. This will also prevent the dice from shooting off of the table and also knocking down… Read more »
Great idea!
Like it!
Just a suggestion here why don’t you make a downloadable fictitious continent map with a grid so other people can follow the action / tide of battle so battles can be fought on each section and over time one or other side win’s control of the continent/planet. With the Nid section being exchanged to be the Chaos section for Warhammer battles?
I like the idea other players can play the same battles to see if they can claim the planet then as well.
Beasts of War: The only gaming site that dares to use a heirophant model as terrain!
I have to say that I quite like the idea of having named landmarks on a reusable board – definitely gives it that Halo map feel.
Cool approach to the landmarks. It really will add a lot to the narrative and make the board feel like a real place with history. And cannot wait to see the BOLT Action series.
I’m pretty new to the website… and so far love everything about Beasts of War… I’ve been working through old weekenders and XLBS and all that…. Have there been any battle reports yet? I watched a video a while back where Warren showed off that oil rig deep sea platform and I was excited to see the game he mentioned… but I haven’t seen it anywhere? Am I just not aware of were battle reports are or have there just not been any yet? (Also a while back there was Justin playing Wild West Exodus… is there going to be… Read more »
I recommend the flames of war vids, they are pretty good!
So far no 40K battle reps. There have been some demo games of other systems but no proper battle rep. That deep sea platform was for a 40K campaign that they have been talking about for a long time. Maybe now we will see some of that come to life.
I’m not going to vote against batreps but they do not interest me at all, moreover a 40k batrep. I can’t envision why naming your terrain will help change that but I’ll give it a try. I hope you can make it interesting. Maybe downplay the batrep and do discussions or interviews over the game? Maybe do a comparative batrep that show how turns would differ with different rule sets(ie Here’s what happens if we use 40k, now Warpath, now Dust, etc…)
I don’t know, just trying to help.
Looking forward to some battle reports, and like the idea of reusable maps. On this specific one I suggest that the fallen biotitan is moved in a bit… It’s crying out for people to fight around it, but it’s poked up against the board edge, so likely to get ignored. Having said that, I’d also like to see the special locations spread out a bit _less_ evenly. Real locations aren’t generally evenly distributed around an area, and at the moment it looks like most of yours are on the centre line of the board. Just spreading them out a bit… Read more »
The key to unique (and good) battle reports is painted armies, evocative terrain and good pacing. Most battle reports have below par terrain. I think you’ll be fine on all three points.
Naming the sections of the board would give them a history and maybe troops would come to fear certain areas! This could come in useful for narrative battles and campaigns.
I like Lloyds idea about special rules affecting the terrain… Death worlds spring to mind!
I’m very excited to see where you go with this and as always I look forward to the excellent terrain you guys make.
well that was kick in nuts…..really ashamed at myself and embarrassed seeing that Biotitan all i say is sorry warren…as for the Batreps really looking forward to it and love the ideas coming from you guys i for one am very keen to see what you come up with
loft should be called mesa
I’m really looking forward to this. Can’t wait to see where it goes.
I am very interested to see what you come up with the 40K battle reports.
I’d be interested to know what level these reports will be aimed at? As someone who hasn’t played 40k for around 15 years I have no idea about the current state of the game or rules but it still interests me.