… "And then one day you find ten years have got behind you…"
Ten years has certainly passed with alarming speed since I started this blog on 6 January 2013 as a record of my wargaming projects. Who knows how many projects I have undertaken in that time…50, 75, 100 …I certainly don’t know and it would be too frightening to count, but they have all appeared on these pages.
Statistically there have been more than 430,000 visitors, of which perhaps 150,000 were bots and other web crawlers, although it is a small number compared to some blogs. In all there are 770 posts to date, again a light number compared to some, but a respectable total all the same. It is interesting to note that the most popular post (with the highest hit count) is the “Building of SMS Kaiser” - just why there should be such interest is a mystery to me.
Of all the projects undertaken over the ten years the most satisfying was the First Carlist War project, with its colourful units. The Crimean War armies would come a close second.
The posts that I had the most pleasure writing (in no particular order):
- News from the Front 3 - my visit to the battlefield at Froeschwiller in 2018
- Von Bredow’s “Death Ride”
- The Retreat From Moscow game - it was such fun and I kept it a complete surprise until game day
- Five Games in Five Days - Part 2 - the WSS game was the most spectacular I have ever played in
Congratulations on reaching the ten-year milestone, Mark! How many figures have you painted in ten years?
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure to stop in and see what latest unit or game is front and center.
Very well done!
Thank you Jonathan. I don’t have an exact count on the painting for the ten years, but given that the current inventory stands at a little over 17,000, I reckon somewhere between around 12,000 - 14,000 were added during that period.
DeleteWell done on the decade of blogging Mark, I am a couple of years behind you, having my maiden post in August 2016, after a modern Afghanistan game with Andrew in the local scout hall!
ReplyDeleteIt's always a bit of a mystery to me why some posts garner a lot more interest than others.
I certainly hope blogs are still" a thing" in another ten years, I think my gaming experience would be the lesser if I could not "show and tell" on a regular basis! I guess it's up to us all to keep using Blogger so Google don't remove it......
Thanks Keith. Sadly I think that blogs will go in time as other mediums take over.
DeleteCongratulations on ten years Mark. It will be ten years for me in May, and while I have been useless at recording games I do enjoy looking back at the projects I have completed over that time and find that blogging can be very useful as an aide memoire. I remember those posts you have outlined with great clarity, so keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteLike you I often refer back to entries, sometimes just for nostalgia and other times to recycle ideas for games…maybe the same scenario for a different over period.
DeleteHere's to the next 10...and more 🥃!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stuart, I may have a dram tonight for a quiet celebration.
DeleteCongratulations on 10 years and thanks for continuing to share your table.
ReplyDeleteThank you Norm. I hope there is much more to share in the future.
DeleteCongratulation looking forward to the next 10, Tony
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony. I am certainly looking forward to a lot more gaming in the next ten years.
DeleteCongrats on 10 years. That’s a long time and I hope that blogging has enhanced your hobby. Probably has, as you’ve f do one it for so long. Lol. I don’t know if I got 10 years in me. Happy new year as well. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew. Happy New Year to you too. I do think that blogging both enhances and supplements the hobby. By very nature it can be a very solitary hobby while we prepare for battle (and let’s face it that can be 90% of the time), and it brings us into contact with interesting gamers from all around the globe that we would not ordinarily meet - like yourself. I was reflecting on an earlier post of yours about posts that could be classified as “look what I have done” posts and it reminds me of a time, decades ago, when we would have Friday night games and would bring along our latest figures for a bit of show and tell. It was an integral part of the evening, standing around “ooo-ing” and “aah-ing” at the little men. The comments were always encouraging and helped to keep up the motivation. I guess that blogging allows a virtual show on a broader scale and helps to maintain motivation when time to meet for gaming is restricted by our too busy lives.
DeleteWell done on 10 years Blogging Mark and I look forward to many more posts from you in the coming years:).
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. I think I have a few good years in me yet…
DeleteCongrats on the decade of blogging, yours is one of my favorite blogs. I'm of course jealous of all your many painting projects, I have never and will never be able to match your ability to churn out such impressive armies. I also enjoy the AARs very much. Here is to many more years of blogging.
ReplyDeleteI also agree blogs have allowed us in this niche hobby to see what others have done and are doing, share and steal..oops borrow cool ideas, etc.
There are two great sayings that we wargamers should live by “ there is no such thing as a new idea” and “good artists copy, great artists steal…” so share, borrow or steal away!
DeleteCongratulations on ten years of blogging Mark…
ReplyDeleteI am always impressed by your output of toys and games and look forward to seeing what you do in the next ten.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly, although the thought of what age I will be in ten years….
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