As I’ve posted recently I’ve gotten into tabletop wargaming.  Mostly Warhammer 40k.  I love building the models, I love painting them, and as I’ve found out recently I truly enjoy playing the game.  I had been putting off working on my armies and playing the game until recently when, while searching for some battle tutorials I came across “Dreamlike Gaming” on Youtube.

I watched a series of Dark Vengeance unboxing and battle reports and became addicted to their videos.  I’ve seen lots of videos recently as I’ve tried to get up to speed with 40k and tabletop wargaming but these are by far my favorite.  Many videos like these are made by reviewers or wannabe reviewers and one thing I’ve noted about “critics” recently is they tend to only know how to be critical.  It could be the snarkiness inherent in the internet culture but you never hear glowing reviews anymore, I think because people find it easier or trendier to dislike things.  What appealed to me about the Dreamlike videos I watched, most of them from Tom, Mark, and Stu (good luck with your future projects!), were these are guys who really enjoy playing the games they play.  They aren’t critics with another company, these guys are the company (or at least a big part of it) and the reason they’re in the business is they love to play.  Win or lose, they truly capture the experience of playing games with your friends in a perfect way.

They also aren’t experts.  They’ll stop and review the rules.  They get some of them wrong and let you know about their mistakes in conclusions or in following videos.  As a starting out player this makes the games feel less intimidating.  Everyone can get the complex rules to these games wrong, or sometimes forget to roll their “gets hot” when firing plasma guns!

The videos are simple, raw, and surprisingly hilarious.  From Stu’s absolute domination during his first swing with High Elves against Tom’s poor Ogre Army, to Tom’s dealing with the “shenanigans” of the Grey Knights against his doomed Chaos forces (that report is full of terrific moments, his description of Abbadon’s Talon of Horus as a “space marine killy claw,” his declaration that his ONE remaining chaos terminator “fancied himself next warmaster,” and the endless combat between said terminator and the Grey Knight Justicar).  These guys love to play games and it shows, and they also have great video personas.

Black Legion vs Grey Knights.  I love this one!

Just watching their battle reports got me excited about playing with my new armies and even has me looking into Warhammer fantasy as well, something I never thought I’d do.

The above video is a whole playlist.  Hit play when the next vid pops up for lots of fantasy battle report videos!

They aren’t slick, expensively produced videos but they ARE remarkably effective at showing you how to play, not just with the rules but with the attitude of a gamer having fun, letting friendly opponents correct mistakes, always shaking hands, and having a good laugh whether you got the victory points or not.  If you’re a beginner like me or just a gamer looking to see some fun battle reports and watch some gamers having fun I say check them out.  They’ve got a store too, and if you live in the UK (I don’t so you guys have reached across the pond all the way to Tennessee!) check that out too.

I’ve recently completed the first incarnation of my two 40k armies and I’ll be posting pics of their newly constructed, unpainted masses soon and will do updates of my painted versions as I complete them.

I’m glad that REAL social gaming seems to be coming back and is a growing community.  As Wil Wheaton would say, “Play more games!” and as Tom would say, “Keep it dreamlike!”

http://www.dreamlikegaming.com/

http://www.facebook.com/DreamlikeGaming

Also, check out my other Warhammer-related posts!

Illustrator Blood Angels

Balrog Painting

Black Reach Orks

Warhammer Fantasy Presents