How to film a tabletop battle report

You do not need a studio. A phone, a stable mount and decent light will get you a watchable battle report. The trick is planning what you film before the first die comes out of the bag.

1. Lock down an overhead camera

The most useful shot in any battle report is a fixed top-down view of the whole table. Viewers use it to keep track of where everything is. Mount a phone above the table on a boom arm or overhead stand and leave it recording, or take a still after every activation. Use a second phone for close-ups.

2. Light the table evenly

Two soft lights at opposite sides of the table get rid of the hard shadows that hide models. Do not mix daylight from a window with warm bulbs. The colours will shift as the clouds move.

3. Get the sound right

Bad audio loses viewers faster than bad video. Clip a cheap lavalier mic on the narrator, or play quietly and record the narration afterwards over the edited footage. That second option is often easier and sounds better.

4. Film every activation the same way

Bolt Action is a game of dice draws, so make each one clear. Show the die coming out of the bag, say the colour and the order (for example "Fire" or "Advance"), and then show the move or the shooting up close. Keep it consistent and people can follow even a big game.

5. Photograph the end of each turn

An overhead still at the end of every turn makes the written report easy to put together. It also gives you thumbnails and social posts.

6. Edit for viewers, not for the record

• Cut measuring, rule look-ups and dead time.
• Add a title card for each turn and YouTube chapters in the description.
• Show both army lists on screen at the start and paste them into the description.
• Use royalty-free music only. YouTube's Audio Library is a safe source.

Free editors like DaVinci Resolve or CapCut are more than enough.

7. Respect the people and the rules

Ask everyone at the table before filming, and do not show pages from the rulebook or army books on screen. Unit names, points and your own explanation of what happened are fine.

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