LOST IN THE BLOG

Meanderings & Musings

For want of a better introduction, a recent post [1] over on one of The Society of Ancients forums got me to thinking, got me to wondering. [2]

To provide a little more context, to establish something like a foundation for this different-from-my-usual post, here is the start of a discussion thread initiated by Dave Hollin [3] in the ‘Books, Magazine & Presentations’ sub-forum, which can be found in the “History” section of the larger Society of Ancients Forum:

        The death of wargaming blogs....

ok, not the death of wargaming blogs in totality per se but more the cessation of 

individual blogs; the whys and the wherefores.

I do a lot of browsing....probably too much. In amongst that I do visit quite a few 

blogs on wargaming in particular and wanted to call out a few things. One, they are 

great sources of information and highly readable in the context of wargaming, 

rulesets, painting and general ancient history. Secondly I find it somewhat sad when 

blogs just suddenly cease to be active. There are obvious reasons to why (death 

being the main one) but was interested in the others to find out. Do people get 

bored of posting things or do they run out of time to keep these things going. Do 

they switch to other hobbies or do they get disheartened du to an apparent lack of 

general interest and/or interaction…….? [4]

As one might imagine, this “rock thrown into a pond” created some ripples. A check on the morning of 11 January showed that the conversation had been viewed 231 times and had generated 31 replies, with the last comment coming from Dave on 03 January. [5] 

In a few previous versions of this post, I included my comments, remarks, and questions inspired by the attention-grabbing subject line and content. [6] In a couple of drafts, I summarized as well as commented on the remarks and responses offered by the other participants in this limited discussion. To be sure, and as referenced in the brief conversation, the subject of wargaming blogs is not new. [7] To a certain if not large extent then, it stands to reason that this attempt to revisit and expand upon my initial comments and remarks will add very little if anything at all of substance to the larger conversation. So stipulated. However, as I remarked to Dave in another sub-forum (‘Currently Reading’), he had unintentionally “put a bee in my bonnet.” [8]

Again, for lack of a better written introduction, the following sections and paragraphs are my attempt to deal with that figurative bee. Given that this particular post represents a significant departure from my usual fare of non-traditional battle reports, [9] I completely understand if the handful of readers who have made it this far decide to stop investing their valuable time and click over to something else that better tickles their wargaming fancy, that better matches their particular interest(s). For those stubbornly brave few who remain, who persevere, I should also note that the following post is something like a jigsaw puzzle. Parts of it were worked on at different times, so there is no consistent timeline. Staying with the puzzle analogy, I had to trim and in some problematic cases, jam a few of the more “challenging” pieces into place. 

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“Crunching” Some Numbers

I have sometimes wondered just how big the hobby of wargaming is. As this blog post deals with the question of wargaming blogs, a related question or questions would ask: “How many wargamers are active bloggers?” and “How many active wargame blogs are there?” I do suppose that one could also inquire about the importance of these questions, or even the feasibility of answering them. That is to ask: “Is it even possible to determine how many wargamers and how many wargaming blogs there are across the globe?”

Stipulating to the facts that I possess no advanced degree in mathematics or statistics, have no specialized training, have no real-world experience, and have no measurable degree of familiarity with these or related categories, it would be completely appropriate to label the following paragraphs as “uneducated guesses.” 

During the course of “researching” this post, I stumbled across a number of what I believed to be helpful sources. For example, there was information gleaned from this dated post: http://shedwars.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-big-is-wargames-industry.html. The current (as of 11 January 2023, anyway) membership of TMP was found at: http://theminiaturespage.com/statistics/members/. I also happened upon results of The Great Wargaming Survey of 2021. (Please see https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/en-us/blogs/great-wargaming-survey-blog-wss-magazine/cut-thats-a-wrap.) Going back to the business side of things (another area in which I have little experience or knowledge), this information was interesting: https://tangibleday.com/how-popular-is-miniature-tabletop-wargaming/. Perhaps the most interesting and potentially useful information was discovered here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1046878120929052. Scanning this paper, I wondered to what extent or even if I could apply the estimated percentages given for Finland to other countries, or to the combined population of a list of countries. 

The listing or calendar of Events (i.e., wargaming conventions, shows, and tournaments) contained on pages 489-501 of The Wargaming Compendium is impressive if not a little overwhelming. It would be foolish to think that this list has not changed since its inclusion in Henry Hyde’s excellent 2011 opus. However, I don’t think it would be that foolish to suggest that this calendar has expanded, even with the impact and after effect(s) of COVID. That said, I gathered some information about the “current” population of a number of countries. 

Here is the list, in no particular order or preference, of countries, continents, or nations that I selected: UK, US, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. [10] Rounding up or down the provided and approximately current numbers (please see https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/deaths-per-day), it could be suggested that the combined population of these countries is about 700 million. Now, here is the rather tricky part. Would it be reasonable or realistic, based on the Finland case study and survey, to “argue” that wargamers, however that term is defined, represent one percent of this total? Would it be more reasonable or realistic to suggest that the number of wargamers is closer to half of one percent of this approximate population? Pursuing the latter equation or guess, we or I get a figure of 3.5 million. Can I apply the same percentage to determine or guess at an approximate number of active bloggers who also identify as wargamers? If so, then this calculation would give me 17,500. Does this number relate to available information about the number of wargaming blogs? 

Given that the membership of TMP has increased by approximately 23,000 since that data was mined in 2013, could we say or suggest that a comparable increase has occurred in wargaming blogs? Again, I don’t know. What I do know, or would try to “argue” or explain, is that I am satisfied with the number of wargaming sites, forums, and blogs that I frequent on a fairly regular basis. I would also “argue” that there appears to be more than enough wargaming blogs out there, many more than one individual or even a team of four, dedicated to cataloging them all, could find or make the time to visit, read, digest and type replies to the myriad posts. [11]  

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The Health of the Wargaming Blogosphere

Basing the following comments and remarks on my limited experience and exposure, as of this typing (10 January 2023), the health of wargaming blogs appears to be rather good if not robust. 

As evidence of this state of health or for a few examples, typing “wargame blogs” or “wargaming blogs” into a search engine, I was met and rewarded with, if not almost inundated by 15,800,000 results in 0.33 seconds.  Taking a closer look at just the first four results, I scanned the “25 best Wargaming Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2023.” (Please see https://blog.feedspot.com/wargaming_blogs/.) Next, I moved onto the similar but different site “Best Wargaming Blogs and Websites.” (Please see https://feedly.com/i/top/wargaming-blogs. I noted the “fine print” at the top of the site. Evidently, there are 646 wargaming blogs. I did not check the currency or validity of this number.) About half an hour later, I skimmed the archive of https://www.talesfromawargameshed.com/. My fourth stop was: https://wargaming.info/links/wargaming-blog-links/. Again, I did not spend a lot of time here, but I found it interesting and a little breathtaking to scroll down the alphabetized list. In the brief description on the results page, this site is an “Index & RSS feed of over 1,157 wargames blogs (as of August 2011),” so I am not sure how accurate the count is as of early January 2023. I wondered if some rate of growth could be estimated, given the proven increase in TMP membership. 

Lacking a good transition, I will simply report that every other day or every third day, I will log on very early in the morning (my time) and check on the following wargaming sites, forums, and blogs:

• TMP Message Boards (typically, I will look at the Ancient & Medieval Boards)
• The Tactica II Forum 
• The TRIUMPH! Rules Forum(s)
• The Society of Ancients Forum(s)
• Here’s no great matter (Aaron Bell’s excellent and long-running blog; please see https://prufrockian-gleanings.blogspot.com/)
• The BigRedBatCave (Simon Miller’s excellent showcase of what the hobby is, can be, or should be; please see https://bigredbat.blogspot.com/)
• Palouse Wargaming Journal (Jon Freitag’s excellent and long-running blog, where he seems to be in operation 24/7; please see https://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/)
• Olicanalad’s Games (another long-running, excellent and showcase blog, maintained by James Roach; please see http://olicanalad.blogspot.com/)

In the interest of full disclosure, I also have my own blog bookmarked under a designated wargames tab, but I don’t check on it as frequently as I don’t have anywhere near the production rate of “Generalissimo” Jon Freitag. I have a link to WoFun Games too, and on occasion, will be found drooling, I mean looking over the variety of Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance 18mm and 28mm collections, as I prepare quite detailed to say nothing of expensive wish lists. (Please see https://wofun-games.com/.)

Simon Miller’s blog provides immediate access to 10 different blogs. Big Lee’s Miniature Adventures is usually within this group and never fails to impress. (His is more of a hybrid, being a mix of blog and vlog. Please see http://www.blmablog.com/.) If I click on the “show more” at the bottom of the offered 10 blogs, then I have a choice of roughly 120 more blogs. Some of these titles may also be on the “Top 25” lists, but based on my amateur and limited “research,” I think the vast majority of these blogs have not been included on those lists. This finding brings up the following question: Who or what governing body decides which blogs are the top 25 anyway? 

To be sure, the established blogs of Aaron, James, Jon and Simon are not representative of all blogs (their admirable and exemplary characteristics cannot be applied to the whole), but there is no denying the strength or again, the robust health of these selected blogs. The number of followers and views and comments is impressive. I often make the mistake of comparing their efforts and numbers to my “pasty weakling on the beach” blog. Instead of losing heart and or becoming clinically depressed, I can only laugh at the fact that all of my views since NPR debuted in March 2021 equal, approximately, the number of views Simon’s blog has earned in the last 30 days. 

Shifting the focus to TMP, I see or finally found after looking around for a little bit, that TMP has an entire Board dedicated to wargaming blogs. Recovering from the frightful but fortunately temporary shock of that color picture of Sean Connery in a lot less than his usual James Bond attire, a brief investigation of these entries informs that there is a large and diverse forest of blogs out there. (Please see http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/topics.mv?id=191.) 

In a perfect world, I would be able to manage my time better so that I could sit for three or four hours at a stretch and carefully go through these various blogs. Unfortunately, I have not learned how to budget my time very well, so I cannot enjoy the fruits, treasures, and information gained from “blog browsing” that others are able to achieve and enjoy. On the other hand, I find that my need for a “fix” is more than satisfied with the time spent looking at the previously listed sites, forums, and blogs. 

Taking another view, admittedly a rather dark but also realistic perspective, my currently preferred blogs will not last forever. Eventually, Aaron, James, Jon, and Simon will reach an age where they cannot maintain or choose not to continue maintaining their creations. And eventually, just like me and everyone else on this “big blue marble,” they will “shuffle off this mortal coil” at some point. Even though these admirable and standard-setting gentlemen will no longer be posting, I am guessing or would imagine that their excellent and eclectic electronic records will last for quite a while. Here too, I must plea a large degree of ignorance. I have no idea how long a blog stays up and remains accessible on the Internet or through “the cloud” after a person has stopped posting.  

In addition to the answers and comments offered by erudite Society members, I did a little “research” into the “whys and wherefores” portion of Dave’s post. Here is a very short list of what I found:

• preoccupation with wife’s medical conditions prevented posting
• loss of mojo combined with a host of other reasons intruding on available time
• focusing on other things like getting out and riding my bike more and making more art
• a 3-month break or interruption to blogging due to lack of time, explained further by commitments to family, work, and holidays

To the extent that these four samples can be used to develop a number of accepted categories (for ease of sorting), I would suggest the following:

• medical (personal)
• medical (family)
• work
• family (non-medical)
• personal (on further review, this could be the “catch-all” category)
• decline or loss of wargaming “mojo”
• sabbatical (duration to be specified)

To the extent that the characteristics of this very small “sample” can be applied to the whole, it would seem that slowing down and or stopping a blog is a personal decision. Well, obviously. To the extent that the characteristics of these four examples can be applied to the whole, I would note that the explanation for an interruption, a sabbatical, or the complete halt of a blog’s production comes after the fact. I did not, in my brief excursion into the aforementioned forest of wargaming blogs, stumble across any post that informed readers that the author of said blog would be taking this amount of time off for this or that reason or reasons. 

Reviewing this “research” and speaking to my own limited experience as a blogger about wargaming interests, I would answer “Yes times four” to Dave’s several inquiries about bloggers getting bored, running out of time, switching hobbies, or getting disheartened due to the lack of interest their blog generates. For as much thought as I’ve given this topic and related topics, it would seem that the reason(s) for starting and for stopping a wargaming blog are as varied as the number of wargaming blogs/wargamers out there.

Again, at the risk of trying to be “clever,” I suppose that I could equate the number of wargaming blogs to a vast as well as wonderful if not almost magical forest. However, like an actual forest, there are going to be places where the growth is slow; there will also be places were some kind of disease, rot, or insect infestation has set in, and this has, tragically, taken down a few of the older trees. This loss, this passing opens up some new space or perhaps even provides fertilizer, as it were, on which the new and younger trees can feed, grow and thrive. 

At the risk of extending this “line of thinking” a little more . . .

A recent newspaper column from a journalist/writer I admire caught my attention. The piece was about the human cost of football. (The American sport; not the purer as well as more popular European version.) Near the end of the article, the reader was asked to “consider football as a time sink.” Some numbers were presented, and some math was done. The results of  the calculations were staggering, at least to me. I was reminded that a year was 8,760 hours long, but I was informed that an average lifetime amounted to 700,800 hours. The math showed or strongly suggested that, “Every football game broadcast on television flushes away the equivalent of 72 human lifetimes.” In one paragraph, there was a sentence which asked the reader to imagine the time a high school student spends on football practice and related concerns being spent in pursuit of something else such as a skill or trade, like carpentry. To be sure, I am not suggesting at all that playing or watching football is the same as participating in historical miniature wargaming or other aspects and niches of this international hobby, but the “happening across” this particular article at this particular time, did prove rather beneficial if also somewhat coincidental. 

It is not very often that I wonder about the amount of time and the amount of money I spend on this hobby. A very rough estimate regarding the time would be in the neighborhood of 2,000 to 2,500 hours. (I have not kept careful track, but for just one example, I think I’ve spent at least 10 hours “working” on this post.) If I take the larger number of estimated hours, that works out to just over 104 days or about 3.5 months. This estimated period of time is no more than a bucket of water compared to the “lake” of my life. And yet, it gives me pause and makes me wonder what else I might have done with those 104 days. (Could I have taken piano lessons, started learning another language, volunteered my time in some way?) I wouldn’t even know where to begin with trying to figure out or estimate how much I’ve spent. I suppose rulebooks would be as good a place to start as any. Wait, what about non-fiction books? What about the titles from Keegan, Atkinson, Goldsworthy, Kagan, Davis-Hanson, Beard, McCullough, Ambrose, and others? What about my tables and “terrain”? What about my storage containers? What about my computers? Yes, yes, I know and I get it. I read to expand my mind and for pleasure and I use my newer computer for work-related tasks and so forth, but the history books and my computers (and Internet access) all add up. I would not be surprised if a carefully conducted audit of my 30-plus years of wargaming informed that I have spent between 10,000 and 15,000 dollars (US) on “playing at war.” Then again, I could be wildly overestimating or significantly underestimating my cumulative investment in this hobby. 

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Blogs are People

To what degree can we personify wargaming blogs? Admittedly, this is an unusual question, at least when viewed in terms of the typical fare for this particular blog, whose author and owner (I might even suggest “parent”) is more concerned with or interested in posting reports of wargames (contests of the ancient and medieval periods primarily) played solo and without miniature figures and traditional model terrain. For as much as I have thought about this (and it is not a great amount of time to be sure), it seems to me that we personify wargaming blogs to a fair degree. Let me count or suggest the variety of ways.

We personify wargaming blogs by starting them. Another way of saying this would be “we give birth to them.” This analogy falls apart though, at least when I recall the genesis of my blog. There was no period of courtship; there was no intercourse; there was no nine-month gestation; there was no reveal party; there was no dash to the hospital at an odd hour; there was no long and painful delivery, and there were no first moments posted to Instagram, Twitter, or some other social media platform. We personify wargaming blogs by naming them. Granted, the names chosen are not as traditional as Olivia, Emma, Liam, and Noah, nor as unique as Apple, Snowdrop, or Panda, but they are names nonetheless. Wargaming blogs are given attention. They are “cared for” and “nourished.” (Then again, due to a number of factors: medical reasons; work; family and so forth, sometimes they are neglected. This is not done out of malice, however. This “lack of care” is not criminal or reportable, but it can be noticed.) One could suggest that a post is the equivalent of clothing or perhaps even representative of the “child” sitting in a sandbox with a few toys and shouting for someone to hurry over to see what structure has just been built. I suppose one could suggest that a blog has a personality. The potentially interesting question is if this personality is an extension of its creator/parent, or if this personality is different, is more like an avatar. Additional “evidence” for personification comes from thinking about the number of blog followers as the number of “friends” that a blog (i.e., “child” or “tween” or “teen”—depending on the age) has. 

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Is it a Wonderful Blog?

Taking a cue from George Bailey, on a cold, dreary and rather depressing—at least in my estimation—January morning, I wondered what the “wargaming world” would be like if I had never been born. (For those not familiar with the story of George Bailey (slight gasp of shock), please see https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/plotsummary, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life, and https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/its_a_wonderful_life.)

Finding it easier to remember the negative as opposed to the positive, it occurred to me that if I did not exist, then Professor R. Barbuto (now retired from the position of Editor) would not have had to find room for so many solo battle reports in a publication that was more about solo wargaming mechanics and rules; “ubercommando” would not have had to suffer through my “Wrestling with Raphia” report; Henry Hyde would not have shocked a fair number of readers of his excellent magazine by publishing a battle report featuring no painted and based miniatures at all; a former editor of Slingshot, would not have been fairly inundated with submissions from an American solo wargamer who had discovered a passion for ancient wargaming, and experts over on the TRIUMPH! Forum would not have to suffer from an almost constant stream of rules questions.

In yet another previous version of this post (now in an electronic folder with its discontinued brothers and sisters), I placed the following 385 words in a lengthy footnote. For this final draft, I decided to incorporate it within the body of the text. So here goes.

At first, I was worried that this “ability” regarding negative and positive memories indicated some sort of character flaw or worse, a disorder of some sort. However, it appears that there is some science behind it; it appears to be more of a shared trait, more universal. Please see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2676782/#:~:text=Negative%20Events%20are%20Remembered%20with,of%20vividness%20than%20positive%20information and https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/11/01/why-we-often-remember-bad-better-than-good/. I had a good run, as they say, at or with The Lone Warrior. Over the course of a decade (2005-2015), 40 of my articles or reports were accepted and published. Please see https://lonewarriorswa.com/ and for a sample of my “work,” see https://lonewarriorswa.com/decision-at-danville-part-5. For the “holds nothing back comments” offered by “ubercommando,” see http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=321673. The PDF of the article, for those readers brave enough or simply interested, can be found here:

https://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/all_images/WargamesIllustrated/ArticlePics/WI320/Archive/Wrestling%20with%20Raphia.pdf. Henry Hyde was kind enough to publish (or “punt” with) my Hail Caesar battle report of a Roman amphibious landing on the shores of Ancient Britain in the March 2014 issue (Number 371) of Miniature Wargames with Battlegames. I imagine that in some circles, this article was viewed either as a joke, maybe an attempt at satire, an aberration or even an offense. To quote that former editor: “you are the one contributor who supplies more material than I can incorporate in Slingshot. I have to have a spread of contributors without any single one becoming too dominant. So far I've had enough material to be able to do this and that seems likely to continue. Hence I honestly can't use all your material.” As for asking “stupid” or searchable questions on rules forums, I chose the TRIUMPH! Forum as I have been playing quite a few games with these rules. When I played IMPETVS, I would frequently ask for clarification(s) in addition to asking “why” quite a lot. I imagine some of the experienced players/experts on that forum thought of me as an “annoying child” or worse. If this history is anything to go by, then the gentlemen over on the Strength & Honour Forum are going to have their collective hands full. 

I think the “George Bailey Effect” is an interesting mental exercise. Some would probably argue that it’s more foolish than interesting. However, like that iconic Capra character, I am given to ponder and wonder. Given my atypical approach to the hobby and given my “style” of writing, I would hazard to guess that the wargaming world would get along, would do just fine without my lengthy (i.e., wordy) battle reports and other amateur pieces.  

There is really no question, competition or comparison. If the “George Bailey Effect” was applied to the blog of Simon, James, Jon, Aaron, Big Lee, or any one of a score of other “celebrities,” the hobby of historical wargaming would most definitely not be what it is today.

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Legacy

When I was first introduced to this hobby, I did not take a moment and ask myself what I wanted my wargaming legacy to be. Consideration of and concern over such a weighty matter did not even enter into my thinking. I was much more interested in how cool the various 1/72nd models of WWII tanks, halftracks and artillery looked, and much more interested in how I could command miniature tanks and troops in battle. Even after years of wargaming (a very imbalanced mix of attending annual conventions and solo play), I cannot recall ever asking myself that question or pondering that topic. Then, there was Dave’s post and the ensuing discussion, and the evolving idea to do something with it. Then, there was the “research,” and as it so happened, the marking of another birthday, which moved me a little closer to the “checkmate” position on Life’s grand chessboard. Perhaps I am just over-thinking it, as these events seemed to come together at a particular point in time. Perhaps my thinking about and worrying about a legacy will pass in a month or two? 

I have, I would like to think, a pretty decent or respectable record when it comes to writing about wargaming. To be sure, this is a subjective assessment. An objective review of my “body of work” informs:

• My first published article appeared in the September/October 1993 issue of MWAN (Midwest Wargamer’s Association Newsletter). The 14-page, approximately 8,000 word submission was titled, “A Question of Scale, Another of Representation.” It concerned or covered my experimentation with a two-dimensional or counter-based approached to miniature wargaming. 
• According to cobbled together records (I should really go back and review these and organize them better), the last material of mine that was published appeared in the September/October 2020 issue of Slingshot. “Going Back To Gaugamela” was a six-page, approximately 3,500 word report on a refight of the battle using ADLG (3rd Edition).
• “Going Back To Gaugamela” was, evidently, the 132nd article or submission that had been accepted by and published in a hobby-related magazine, journal, or newsletter.
• Over the course of some 27 years, I have had the pleasure and privilege of seeing my “work” appear in 8 hobby-related or hobby-centric publications. In no particular order, these publications are: The Courier; MWAN; MWAN Magazine; The Lone Warrior; Wargames illustrated®; Miniature Wargames; Miniature Wargames with Battlegames, and Slingshot. 
• According to current records, I have written approximately 1,400 pages containing around 750,000 words about wargaming. 
• If the scope of this survey is narrowed to contributions to Slingshot, then I have provided over 30 articles to a number of editors and have supplied nearly 40 brief accounts of wargames to The Society’s “Battle Reports” Forum.
• Shifting the focus to my blogging efforts, as of 04 January, NO PAINTING REQUIRED has the following numbers or stats: 17 followers (a review has found a duplicate follower, so there are only 16); 48 posts; 80 comments (I would guess that probably a third of these are mine), and 17,311 clicks, hits, views, or whatever. 

Keeping the focus on my blog, comparison with other wargaming blogs and the subsequent assessment and critique this generates is unavoidable. I started (or gave birth to) my blog in March of 2021. To be sure, blogging was not a part of my plan, in as much as it could be said that I even had a plan. Starting a blog was more of a response to a negative, unexpected, and rather ironic situation that developed with an editor of a fairly well-known and long-running publication. To reiterate: starting a blog was a reaction, not a carefully considered part of some 3 or even 5-year wargaming plan. Anyway, if I round up the time that I have been maintaining this blog to two years or 24 months, then simple math informs that I am averaging a couple of posts per month. As my blog seems to feature battle reports as opposed to any other type of wargaming material such as terrain tips, painting hints, rule comparisons, designs of and progress reports on building larger spaces or rooms dedicated to wargaming, or reports of Zoom battles with opponents 3,000 miles distant, I guess my output is pretty good. Then again, maybe it’s only average or even below average. When I look at the blogs of Simon Miller and James Roach for example, I am conflicted. (Please see and prepare to spend more than a few minutes looking around and possibly salivating a bit: https://bigredbat.blogspot.com/

 and http://olicanalad.blogspot.com/.) While looking at the content of these identified blogs, I feel inspired, I feel like I am “at home.” To be certain, there is also sense of awe. In addition to the admiration and level of comfort however, there is also a little bit of envy and even a “smidgin” of discouragement.  

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Exit, Stage Left, Pursued by a . . .

As of early this morning (it is 17 January now), I have five blog posts ready to go. I hope this statement is not interpreted as a boast, is not viewed as me bragging. I am simply stating a fact. All are battle reports, and all are solo wargames that were played without using painted and based miniatures of any accepted or preferred scale. Given this approach or preference, it is no wonder that, after 49 posts, I have attracted only 16 followers and accumulated almost 18,000 views, hits, or clicks. Anyway, the majority of these narratives concern contests set in the ancient era(s); the exception being the “Rather Like Ravenna” scenario, which is, as one might guess, based (loosely) on the historical battle of Ravenna. Having no established agenda with regard to my wargaming goals or pursuits, it strikes me as a little curious that two-fifths of these “waiting in queue” posts are about Parthians. Given my apparent tendency to be long-winded with my writing, it should come as no surprise to readers who have made it this far when I inform them that the cumulative word count for these forthcoming posts is approximately 35,000. 

Unlike some bloggers, I have not drafted or posted any wargaming plans or resolutions for 2023. In fact, while collecting and preparing the data and other information for this cobbled-together post, I almost shudder when I think about trying to replicate that amount of “work,” that rate or level of production in the coming weeks and months. What subjects or topics will draw my attention and interest? What subjects or topics will generate the most interest and response from readers? Where will I find inspiration? When will I find the time to “research,” wargame, and write? When will I begin to “expand my horizons” as they say; when might I consider thinking, writing, and wargaming “outside of my comfort zone”? Seriously though, what do I want my wargaming legacy to be?

Notes

1. The post was made on 30 December 2022. This draft, the ninth or tenth, is being typed early on the morning of 11 January 2023. My hope is that it will be finished, edited, and published before the end of the month. “Recent” then, is a relative or subjective term. 
2. When I was in the classroom and had the opportunity to help children/teens with their writing skills, one of my “lessons” was about the “ugliness” of the word “got.” The irony is not lost on me that in my “introduction,” I have used that detested word not once, but twice. 
3. Dave Hollin (aka Holly) was recently crowned as the new Editor of Slingshot, The Journal of the Society of Ancients. He has been a member of The Society since early October 2012. He sits on the Committee.  The gentleman is seemingly everywhere on the Forum (and other platforms), as he has over 11,000 posts to his credit. (That is an average of a little over 3 a day, or 1 comment, remark, or link to something interesting, every 8 hours.) Under “normal” circumstances, as might be imagined, the position of Slingshot Editor is one of great responsibility and probably little credit. Dave steps into the role after the rather rocky interregnum of Nigel, who stepped into the “jaws of the monster” after the disappointing and damaging disappearance of “Emperor” Justin, who had done well up until the last three or four months of his reign. So far, for as much as my opinion matters, Holly is doing a good job of “stitching the Empire or the Republic back together.” 
4. The link to the full conversation is: http://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=6552.0. Beware, this is not a free-access site like TMP or The TRIUMPH! Forum. If you click on this link, you will get the following message: The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you. You will then be asked to login or register an account with SoA Forums. Alternatively, you may also login as a ‘Guest,’ but I am not entirely sure. 
5. It is not unusual for conversations to “peter out” on this forum. The aforementioned ripples have dissipated, and the pond or this particular small body of water is once again still. I await the next figurative rock or bun, in the case of a “bun fight,” which has often broken out over topics such as hoplite battles, Roman line relief, the number of Persians and other troops invading Greece, etc. The participation generated by Holly’s thread is actually pretty good, even if it represents just a small fraction of the Society’s 742 listed members. For sake of comparison, I posted “Portraying the Poeni” to the ‘Battle Reports’ sub-forum on 10 October 2021. As of 03 January 2023, this narrative had accumulated 606 views (views does not necessarily equal readings), but had generated ZERO replies. I cannot help but be reminded of that quote attributed to John Lydgate, which I would amend to read: “You can please or interest some historical wargamers some of the time . . .”
6. I prefaced my comments by saying that they would be “foggy” as it was early and I had not consumed a sufficient volume of caffeine. On further review, they were “all over the place,” and more embarrassingly, there were quite a few grammar and spelling errors. Consequently, I have decided to leave them out of this version of a much mulled over post. 
7. The prolific, if not almost factory-like Jon Freitag (please see https://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/) was the first to remark upon this, noting: 1. “That is was a big and frequently discussed topic among denizens of the wargaming blogosphere;” 2. “Dave’s question(s) required a much larger dissertation or study,” and 3. “The question was complex and possibly unanswerable.” In mid 2022, the topic was the subject of some lively divulgence, debate and discussion on the Lead Adventure Forum. Please see and prepare yourself for a rather long but informative read at: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=0672bae4a8e133d666bcebb5a460742b&topic=136236.0. 
8. For the record, I have never worn a bonnet. For those not familiar with this idiomatic phrase, or for those who may be interested in its origin, please see the following sites: https://wordhistories.net/2017/06/17/origin-bee-in-bonnet/, https://grammarist.com/idiom/have-a-bee-in-ones-bonnet/, and https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/to-have-a-bee-in-your-bonnet. 
9. Instead of trotting out my usual references to the open-minded views of Simon Miller and the simply tolerating views of Rick Priestley, on this occasion, for this footnote, I will refer to the Introduction of Henry Hyde’s The Wargaming Compendium (2011). The first sentence of the third paragraph on page 13 reads: “Wargaming also takes many forms.” In the next paragraph, the gentleman (certainly a notable in the hobby), informs the reader that he will “concentrate upon the “traditional” form of wargaming which makes use of small-scale figures and a tabletop decorated with model terrain.” For lack of a more descriptive category, my wargaming is “non-traditional” as I do not make use of small-scale figures, nor do I employ three-dimensional and aesthetically pleasing as well as realistic-looking terrain. 
10. This process was not at all scientific. If there was any “standard,” it was frequency of appearance or mention on the list/calendar provided in The Wargaming Compendium. I did not mean to offend anybody or cause an international incident by not including Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, or South Africa. On a related point or question, I would be very interested to find out if there were wargaming communities in Turkey, Iraq, Korea, Japan, or Greenland, to mention just five additional countries. 
11. At the risk of complicating matters, on the evening of 07 January, I accessed (i.e., stumbled upon) this site: https://www.worldometers.info/. After watching the various “dials” spin for a few minutes as I tried to absorb the mountains of information offered, I happened upon the ‘Society & Media’ section wherein I was informed that there had been approximately 7,344,007 blog posts written that day. I considered dividing world population by number of blog posts to figure out an “average” or per capita figure, then I just wondered what percent of those blog posts were about or related to wargaming and what percentage of those posts were related to historical miniature wargaming.