Apocalypse Tactica - How to write a 40k Battle Report
April 26, 2008Today’s post isn’t strictly about Apocalypse or 40k, it’s about writing about Apocalypse and 40k. Like many 40k players, I love battle reports. It’s fun to pore over them and look for little bits of information that could prove useful in my own games.
The battle reports detailed in official GW products are meticulous and extremly useful. My own battle reports have much less detail, since I’m usually so busy playing the game that I’m not taking notes on every single move.
As a result, I end up writing battle reports that tend to be more narrative. If you think about large battle scenes in movies or even a sports broadcast, you’ll notice a few common threads.
- There’s a lot of focus on the set up. Before the forces of Mordor charged Gondor, you got just enough of an idea of how the forces were arrayed so suprises made sense when they occurred. What do I mean by this? Well, you knew Gondor had defenses on the walls, so it made sense to those catapults chucking huge rocks at the invading army.
The same goes for writing the introduction to a battle report. I try to give readers an idea of what kinds of units each side has, especially the ones that wound up playing key roles in the battle. However, I don’t think it’s necessary to run down each unit and their points value. It would take forever, especially if you’re writing an Apocalypse battle report. Besides, the reader wants to get to the good part.
- In movies, there’s also a lot of focus on the intial clash. You see the X-wings come charging down at the Death Star and the exchange of fire. Then a lot of things get blown up, so much so that upon first viewing it’s hard to keep track of .
I think the same goes for battle reports. You can usually recall with great detail what happened in turn one of a game, but the middle rounds all start to become a blur. As the battle progresses, I try to write about trends that developed in the game. Descriptions of individual unit actions can serve to illustrate and highlight these trends.
- Take care to describe the endgame. We all love the dramatic set up. Bottom of the ninth, two out, two on. Full count and here’s the pitch….
You can do the same thing when it comes to writing battle reports. If there’s a showdown at the end of the game, or a critical move that claims and objective, make sure it’s applauded and given proper notice.
- Don’t tell me about the pain. In the end, it all comes down the dice. You may have the perfect list with the perfect plan, but if the dice are hot in your opponent’s hand you’re dead.
However, because I’m trying to capture the feel of the game, I try to avoid writing about specific dice rolls as much as possible. This is especially true of rolls to hit and wound. I think it’s more interesting to read about a hail of storm bolter fire instead of counting how many times you made a 3+ on your roll.
The exception is dramatic leadership checks. There’s just something about a battered unit standing up and coming back for more that makes for interesting reading.
And that’s about it. These guidelines won’t work for everyone, especially readers who want to count up victory points. I definitely would not recommend this for someone writing for a professional gaming publication. But I’m simply trying to create a narrative record that will let me and my friends go back and re-live some truly great moments at the gaming table.
