Afternoon all,
Some time ago I wrote a post recommending several YouTube channels that I thought were great for watching Battle Reports primarily, but also gave some other good content in general. Today I thought I would re-visit this with some new additions!
The Old
Before I launch into some of the newer channels that I have been watching videos on I thought it worthwhile to mention the channels from the original post and update you on my opinions on them!
TTT has gone from strength to strength over the past year and a bit, Lawrence Baker the primary master mind behind TTT has, for myself, the most professionally made and high quality 40k channel out there. I really do rate his Battle Reports as second to none in terms of production quality, army variety, terrain etc etc. Not only this but he is very lucky to have a willing group of vagabond friends that join in with this menagerie of madness. I think it is very obvious in 30k/40k Battle Reports when friends are playing each other as the banter flows and that is very apparent in TTT.
Additionally Lawrence is a VERY tactically minded player. As a subscriber to his on demand channel (£3.99 a month and worth every penny), there are some tactica videos on there that have really changed how I build my armies and I'm not even a competitive player! Following his logic can help you make a competitive army and be a competitive player but they also just help you make an army that doesn't fall apart immediately. And you know what? That makes your games more FUN too.
I have been trying to get across to play Lawrence or any member of the TTT team for some time but alas life keeps getting in the way!
Winters has a much more narrative approach to wargaming, and having played him twice now I can't emphasise enough how much effort he puts in to make his battle reports, not just a randomly set up series of dice rolls, but an actual story that helps engross you in the 30k/40k universe.
This is incredibly apparent in his narrative dialogue that he presents as he also explains the points of interest in the battle, but what you don't get to see as the viewer is the time and effort Winters' puts in to setting the table up to create an atmospheric battle ground for a story to take place upon. Additionally the fluff doesn't end when the camera turns off, he is a true and proper fluff junkie who you could sit down with a beer or 12 and just talk about the grim dark till the grim dark actually comes!
I have loved both of my games with Winters' and he has been incredibly gracious and helpful to myself and I look forward to playing him again very much,
The Geeks, much like TTT, have exploded over the past year! The content they have been producing has diversified into a lot of 30k battle reports and they have also had a series of collaborative efforts with Winters Seo as well.
The comments above about banter and being able to tell when its proper mates playing each other applies massively to the Geeks. Cheeky digs at each others armies often give me a chuckle and you know that it is all in jest and they are just engrossing themselves in the universe whilst not taking themselves too seriously.
With their out reach into 30k, the battle reports have really broadened out to include many different armies and I am a big fan of the variety of games they play as well as where they play them, with Warhammer World close by they often make use of of the fantastic scenic tables there to have some truly dramatic games.
These are another group of lads I would dearly love to play against!
The New
This pair of North Eastern jokers are another good example of playing to the spirit of the game with good friends. They build in nice levels of narrative and often make reference to the oddities of playing model soldiers that we all know and love. My favourite being "Dare I say anything but a 1..." before that inevitable 1 is rolled!
These chaps also often play with armies and lists that are lesser seen on the internet and are very much not optimised to smash face, giving the content of the channel a very different and interesting diversity less seen else where.
This channel is still pretty young, but I am always pleased to see a new upload from them and would heartily recommend you go and check them out :)
Much like Winters Seo, the Legion focus on a very heavily narrative wargaming style of battle reports. More than anything else I love the level of effort they put into making battle reports inter-connected with several large and small narrative style campaigns on the channel, where the preceding battle has an actual impact on the design of the next game. This makes watching 3-5 videos in a row very easy as you follow an over arching story on a single planet or battle zone.
In terms of the style of armies on the channel there is a nice mix of the more popular formation based armies such as their Tau and Raven Guard lists, but they also have a beautiful Tyrannid army that makes use of many of the lesser utilised creatures that the Hive Mind has to offer.
My final point is that they also have a good amount of 30k games and that all of their armies, both personal and commissioned are stunning and that makes the reports all the more engrossing as you watch them.
Another very young channel and definitely the most unpolished in terms of production on here. But I absolutely lovely the relaxed nature of the videos and the narrative of the game as they go along, with each terrible roll met with groans behind the camera and each 6 cheered onwards.
I am enjoying everything this young channel is putting out and I am really looking forward to seeing what they produce as they go onward. I definitely think they are worth your time and I also think that the more support and subscriptions they get the better their channel will be!
So why not give them a visit and watch some of their great videos :)
That's all from me today, more hobby stuff coming up soon!
Peace out,
Rob
