tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post7102945989139249715..comments2024-03-25T18:56:22.992+11:00Comments on The Tactical Painter: How I write a Chain of Command game reportThe Tactical Painterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-47121217806455221212023-08-14T10:39:14.816+10:002023-08-14T10:39:14.816+10:00Thanks, I've tried to get that balance right a...Thanks, I've tried to get that balance right as much as I can so that readers can follow the action but without bogging it down with more detail than needed. Pleasing to know that works for you, so many thanks for the feedback, it's rewarding to know the effort is appreciated (and enjoyed!). The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-16019406563331354032023-08-12T06:14:49.455+10:002023-08-12T06:14:49.455+10:00That's a great summary.
Your AARs are among th...That's a great summary.<br />Your AARs are among the best in the blogosphere.<br /><br />If I were asked why I'd cite:<br /> * Excellent story structure, providing context for the chain of events.<br /> * Great photographs providing clear pictures of the units described nearby.<br /> * Sufficient detail describing key events. Without falling into a chain of "B section rolled 2,2,2,5,5,5. And then A Section rolled 3,4,5,2, 1. And then the corporal rallied the Bren team. And then ..." (ie Excellent spacing of text and relevant pictures).<br /><br />SteveHolmes11https://www.blogger.com/profile/17392212343858957364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-5958899449453842492022-04-09T10:16:02.429+10:002022-04-09T10:16:02.429+10:00Thanks Stew, that’s really nice to hear. I never t...Thanks Stew, that’s really nice to hear. I never thought I took that many pictures, it was only when I came to regularly deleting them from my phone and the iPhone asked me to confirm ‘do you really want to delete 200+ pictures’ that I realised quite how many I take.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-5360421586498348742022-04-09T10:13:36.067+10:002022-04-09T10:13:36.067+10:00Yep, you were absolutely right, the feedback and t...Yep, you were absolutely right, the feedback and the number of page views since I published it certainly indicates the level of interest. You can certainly take credit for that and I’m only sorry it took me so long to realise!The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-17615087507168102542022-04-09T10:12:03.365+10:002022-04-09T10:12:03.365+10:00Thanks Pat.Thanks Pat.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-13531905673965809222022-04-09T10:11:48.445+10:002022-04-09T10:11:48.445+10:00Thanks and your not the first to mention how you e...Thanks and your not the first to mention how you enjoy the insights into the decision making process, perhaps I should have made more mention of that. The comments have given me great feedback and helped me understand what people get out of these, thanks again.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-39164084719579156212022-04-09T09:17:27.856+10:002022-04-09T09:17:27.856+10:00Thanks for the post explaining the nuts and bolts ...Thanks for the post explaining the nuts and bolts of how you produce your AARs. You have the best on the internet as far as I’m concerned. 😀<br />Hard for me to imagine taking 200 or more pics during a game. And I always seem to have a pic or two with dice in it. Stewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00340930167419307092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-60102133117616752262022-04-08T23:59:58.837+10:002022-04-08T23:59:58.837+10:00I hate to say "I told you so" but as i h...I hate to say "I told you so" but as i have been bugging you over several years now to write up your process and your readers will thank you. You felt that there would be very little interest! 19 comments says a lot (I know some of them are your replies) but I bet that there are many more of your readers appreciating this than reply. I am certainly going to try to do better using your methods.<br />Thankyou againDick Bryanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08243435682283381550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-33649327747523409302022-04-08T23:21:28.288+10:002022-04-08T23:21:28.288+10:00Excellent walk through of your process - thank you...Excellent walk through of your process - thank you!PatGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00379668269395518541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-31244978049964624052022-04-08T11:04:39.197+10:002022-04-08T11:04:39.197+10:00This is a very useful post. The letter replacement...This is a very useful post. The letter replacement in notes in not something I would ever have thought of doing but is genius. <br />I do enjoy reading your AARs, they are the best ones available and the most enjoyable since reading Battle Reports in White Dwarf magazine in the 1990s. The problem with those is that whilst they got the narrative arc and photos done very well, they never got in to how the rules affect the decision making process which you have nailed without ever slowing down the narrative aspect.<br />Anyway this post gave me a few ideas, so thanks!(Kym) + Warburton + (Classic40K) https://www.blogger.com/profile/17333928965917754588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-22297424877282406672022-04-08T08:44:40.514+10:002022-04-08T08:44:40.514+10:00Ashley, a film adaptation is a mixed blessing, be ...Ashley, a film adaptation is a mixed blessing, be prepared to let go of your baby and have someone mutate it beyond recognition. By the time the new writer has written the screenplay, the director has imposed their ‘vision’, the producer has trimmed the story to fit the budget and the actors have ‘interpreted’ the characters you’ll be broken hearted. My best advice to people in that situation is often just to take the money and run.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-11958227356785838592022-04-08T08:40:30.170+10:002022-04-08T08:40:30.170+10:00No doubt about it, there are no real shortcuts, li...No doubt about it, there are no real shortcuts, like most things it’s just as much perspiration as it is inspiration (to paraphrase someone else).The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-84716287567393292752022-04-08T08:38:55.810+10:002022-04-08T08:38:55.810+10:00I get it! Why go to the trouble of creating good t...I get it! Why go to the trouble of creating good terrain and populating it with your lovingly painted miniatures to then have someone treat it as a giant coaster for their canned drink.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-20355482263250305812022-04-08T08:36:54.492+10:002022-04-08T08:36:54.492+10:00Thanks Rob, yes I should have mentioned that, as I...Thanks Rob, yes I should have mentioned that, as I often like to know what other players are thinking and why they’ve done what they’ve just done.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-31413712186272902212022-04-08T06:36:58.069+10:002022-04-08T06:36:58.069+10:00Ohhhhh - so the secret is that you work really har...Ohhhhh - so the secret is that you work really hard at it! Your film background definitely shines through. I really enjoy making AARs as well as they serve as a fun reminder of games played; kind of a gaming history. But I just haven't done it lately due to the time required. Thanks so much for this insight into your process! Nicholas Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11750294903050480971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-56099439588028794272022-04-08T04:46:21.626+10:002022-04-08T04:46:21.626+10:00Appreciate you writing this up. Pleased with the s...Appreciate you writing this up. Pleased with the similarities I see to my own process, but probably not surprising since I look to your blog as the gold standard for battle reports, along with less active blogs like Tiny Hordes. That's a good trick with the text replacement shortcuts, I'll have to remember it. Keeping clutter off the table (or more accurately away from the edges of the gaming mat on a larger than 6x4 gamestore table) is something I try to keep aware of. One game I had a player insist on putting his drink in a then-unused portion of the table, and it just drove me nuts. I don't even think I was writing a battle report for that one, but I just couldn't believe it.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12389557305426370469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-34577950143786463102022-04-08T01:26:50.570+10:002022-04-08T01:26:50.570+10:00I once imagine I would be a director, but while th...I once imagine I would be a director, but while that goal never came to a fruition I did end up writing my stories. Maybe one day they will be adapted for either the small or big screen. Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13666947574653683678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-61543261234260100982022-04-08T00:03:55.819+10:002022-04-08T00:03:55.819+10:00Not surprisingly the 'secret' seems to be ...Not surprisingly the 'secret' seems to be planning, preparation and perspiration – no wonder good AARs escape me. I think you also must credit your description of what you’re thinking and why you try the moves that you do. For me it is the clear discussion of the decision-making that engages me – reading how you get disheartened by a bad run of luck but then either sticking to your guns or coming up with a new approach to snatch a win from the jaws of a defeat – well sometimes… Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09945117682726535259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-46627624600951152022022-04-07T23:43:35.882+10:002022-04-07T23:43:35.882+10:00That was great! Thank you so much for doing it. I ...That was great! Thank you so much for doing it. I immediately found the difficulty that I had in doing this - not enough photos of a clean set up. Your experience in the film industry shines through. I had a sense of it when reading your reports, but couldn't put my finger on it, but when you said that the light came on! It is obviously just as much work (if not more) as putting on the game in the first place. I think my major problem is that 90% of my games are with 4 to 6 players, Getting one understanding player is tough enough, getting 5 - impossible. Thanks Again.Dick Bryanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08243435682283381550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-76922744160815165912022-04-07T20:12:08.388+10:002022-04-07T20:12:08.388+10:00Thanks Ashley. Funny thing but I've never look...Thanks Ashley. Funny thing but I've never looked at it like a separate aspect of the hobby, but now you mention it, I think you hit the nail on the head. In all honesty I focus on it just as much as I do other separate aspects of the hobby like researching history, painting miniatures and playing games so it makes perfect sense to see it that way.<br /><br />As for the narrative it almost begs to be told and I can see it forming as I'm putting the draft together. I think while we're playing I'm very focussed on mechanics and tactics, it's only afterwards when I reflect on how the game went do I begin to see how there was a definite narrative flow to the way things unfolded. I hardly need to tell you, there's a great satisfaction in writing it.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-44397600983224763132022-04-07T20:05:49.410+10:002022-04-07T20:05:49.410+10:00Thank you.Thank you.The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-32471829024805005502022-04-07T20:05:30.674+10:002022-04-07T20:05:30.674+10:00Yep, it's always bugged me. Why make beautiful...Yep, it's always bugged me. Why make beautiful terrain and miniatures only to spoil the effect?The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-25924855339738925142022-04-07T20:04:59.411+10:002022-04-07T20:04:59.411+10:00Thanks!Thanks!The Tactical Painterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980190745315043364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-51602957963693655562022-04-07T19:33:19.159+10:002022-04-07T19:33:19.159+10:00That's an impressive amount of work, and it fe...That's an impressive amount of work, and it feels like it has almost become a separate aspect of the hobby, like when people focus on terrain, or painting figures.<br /><br />Colour me impressed at the attention to creating the narrative. As someone who has written a handful of novels I admire the focus and quality of the end result. Thank you for sharing these wonderful ideas. Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13666947574653683678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7861229654080360536.post-61365822150652386542022-04-07T17:48:06.351+10:002022-04-07T17:48:06.351+10:00Excellent article once again!Excellent article once again!Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11393294514028719491noreply@blogger.com