State of the Blogosphere?

So despite the slightly grandiose title, this is going to be a bit stream of conscious as I've been thinking a lot about blogging and the blogging community since my last post - bear with me, there is a point in the end. I think!

This post gets a bit wordy so I needed pictures - thought I'd go with some of my favourite projects.

Having resumed normal service here going forward (hopefully), I thought I'd take a look back through the old blog to generally dust things off and take stock. I was kind of dreading coming across a welter of posts apologising for radio silence and long periods of absence and though they are there, and the post count is pretty meagre for the past few years, it was a rather nice experience -and there weren't as many of them as I expected! That may of course be because I stopped apologising what had become a bit of a habit when real life got a bit bumpy. It was a pleasure because there were lots of models I'd painted and kind of forgot about as well as projects - the Dr Who - Battlefield project slumbers on but I may be able to piggy-back off the preparations for a Dr Who game at BOYL this year and actually get something done on it! But what was really lovely was revisiting some of the exchanges I had over the years with the good folk who've commented on various posts - the icing on the cake if you will.

Some of my Dr Who stuff...

Now when I put up my last post I had no idea what kind of reaction it would get- actually I was kind of assuming it might not get much reaction at all given the inactivity that's reigned here for some time and because I had no idea how active the bogging scene was, having also fallen out of the habit of following other folks' blogs (sorry!). And that would have been absolutely fine and understandable - at least the bit about my last post potentially flying below the radar anyway. I certainly never started this blog to try and attain any kind of internet celebrity (as if!) or as an attempt to garner attention or praise, although it's certainly been very nice to get some of both. Back in 2009 (God - that seems like another age now!), I had no gaming buddies and no idea of how to meet other folk who shared my rather niche interest (at the time and to this day) of 28mm Dr Who miniatures. Wargaming clubs were a complete unknown to me and other than going down to the local GW in York (which I did only once to get some paint, receiving some strange looks when I replied to the usual question of "What are you painting at the moment?" with "Daleks"!), I had no other outlet for what I was doing other than a few forums - a very quiet, presumably now extinct, Invasion Earth forum and the Lead Adventure Forum, and starting this blog. My original intention with the blog was to use it as a record of what I'd painted and as time went on and I finally found like-minded souls, the games I'd played. Amongst it all was a wonderful feeling of a small, cosy little community where folk would be extremely supportive and generous to a tee. Comments began to be a more regular occurrence too, which was lovely and, whilst not being the be all and end all of why I blog, certainly were an important part of that feeling of community. There was of course a period of time when I got a bit obsessed about page views but we'll skip over that for now!

The iconic orange Giant from the Warhammer Fantasy 3rd ed rule book - except this one's mine"

Then along came Oldhammer which seemed a real culmination of this sense of community in that we actually got to meet each other, started off an annual meet up in the form of BOYL and formed many close friendships separated only by our various geographical locations. Oldhammer took off in quite a big way for such a niche little hobby and I've no idea how many members the various Facebook groups have now, but it must be in the thousands - or at least the same hundreds of folk in in lots of different groups. With that -well, even before that actually, in the old days of the Oldhammer forum, came various heated discussions on what actually defined Oldhammer and I think we went down a bit of a blind alley with that one. Not to get too much in to that thorny topic, as it's not what this post is about, I must admit I chuckle a bit when the old, almost stock response (which has become a bit of a meme to me - no offense to those who put forward that opinion!) comes out that "Oldhammer was a movement that came about when a group of bloggers got together and created Oldhammer" I don't chuckle out of any malicious intent or because I disagree with the sentiment - more because of how often the argument seems to circle round and how daft the argument is! And yes, I know I've written posts on what Oldhammer is but that was a long time ago when I was very excited about it all and a little disconcerted about the apparent schism that seemed to be going on - think I'd find it pretty cringy reading them back now! As with all things, Oldhammer has evolved from what it was in the old days and that's not always a bad thing - hell even GW is at it now with their Old World re-releases! These days I'd say you do you and if calling it Oldhammer does it for you then fine.

Back in the day we called it Oldhammer Day as a working title before we thought of a name - before the lovely sounding acronym of BOYL stuck!

Anyway I digress - back on topic! In fact there's a lot of truth in that statement about that group of bloggers because that is how it got started essentially, or at least it did with us, and I only bring it up as I personally look back on those days as a bit of a golden age (if that isn't too pompous!) of blogging. Every bugger had a blog and for at least the first few BOYLs (Bring Out Your Lead - an annual Oldhammer event we have at Foundry, kindly hosted by the Ansells - if you're not familiar with the acronym) folk were often more identified with whatever daft name they had chosen for their blog or blog account - until we finally learnt each others' proper names that is. There's a great story of Garth (last post was in 2022, not that I can talk, but get with it mate!) wandering around Bugman's Bar at Warhammer World, asking if anyone had seen Skarsnik and being painfully aware of how ridiculous it was, of all places, to be asking for someone of that name! Amazingly the two of them found each other despite that being the only name he had for Phil at the time from his (now long dead - last post in 2012 - tsk, tsk!) blog - Skarsnik and Old Lead! Back in those days blogging was definitely where it was at and on top of the actual community that sprang from it, I remember having to pretty much dedicate a whole day a week to going through my reading list and leaving comments on others' blog posts - that's not taking in to account the time it took writing my own posts. Good times, if a little onerous now and again in terms of time commitment if I'm being honest!

The old ship on the Giant's head from Time Bandits - built for a game of Warhammer:Ahoy at BOYL

Nowadays, certainly in the circles I frequent the most in the Oldhammer Community, blogging generally seems to be viewed as a bit of a dead art. As I've mentioned many of those blogs that brought us together have fallen silent as folk have either largely migrated to the much busier Facebook groups, don't post publicly anywhere or have left the hobby entirely. In fact, I've had a good natured and long running back and forth with Stuart, who I've been doing the painting commission for, about getting on Instagram, because that's where it's at now! I crumbled eventually, although I'm not very good at posting there regularly so far - shocker! Stuart's certainly not wrong - Instagram is full of amazing painters and content and a lot of folk I know and have gamed with who don't blog. I definitely felt like the last one to the party with all the old gang already there! Facebook is the same in terms of the sheer volume of content, if you avoid "look what I got in the post" or "is this Oldhammer?" type posts - if Oldhammer's your thing of course. 

My converted Rhinomen unit for the Trolltooth Wars.

Having found a cozy little rut in the Oldhammer community, it's been too easy to get the impression that blogging in general is in serious decline because of the decline of the Oldhammer blogging scene. I can protest as much as I like that it's is not all about the comments but there has definitely been the sense that things have slowed down and I'm afraid to say that it has honestly affected my motivation in the past, especially when things get a bit tough in real life. My participation in the Old World Army Challenge for two years was a real shot in the arm in this respect. Not just because I had a load of stuff to put on my blog for those who might not frequent the OWAC site but also because of all interaction between the competitors, egging each other on.

Some of my Chaos Cult from the Old World Army Challenge IV

So what's the point about this fairly rambling meander down memory lane. Well the response I did get to my last post was incredibly heartening and a lovely surprise with all the comments welcoming me back, so again a huge thank you to everyone! To answer my question in the title, based only on this response and in my extremely subjective opinion, I'd say it's in good health - the Oldhammer bit of it not so much perhaps (stalwarts still consistently flying the flag excepted!) but it's in good health.

Orc's Drift!

Filled with gratitude and new found excitement, I made sure to visit the blogs of those who kindly commented on my post to catch up with what they're doing and return the favour by leaving a comment myself. I've also spent some time going back through my reading list too so don't think I'm only leaving comments when I get some myself. As I'm prone to over-thinking things, I wonder if there is an unwritten blog etiquette - should one always return a comment, is it ok to have a full blown conversation in the comments section with multiple responses, am I talking too much about myself in relation to the post I'm commenting on... XD. I digress again! Anyway, I came across an old post from 2022 (overthinking again - is resurrecting old posts on blogs frowned upon like in some forums? XD) on Dave B's blog, entitled Bump: Repair the Blog Social Network . It caught my eye as all this stuff was whirring round in my brain already and I had been wondering what kind of state wargaming blogging was in, having been an absentee myself and in and out of the game for a fair while. The content of the post resonated with me a lot too - and not just the bit about blogs going dark - so much so it was largely the inspiration for this post! No - my self reflection went deeper than the pang of guilt occasioned by my bouts of silence here. I was a bad blogger. Not only did I walk away from my blog willy-nilly on multiple occasions, but I also didn't comment on others' blogs as much as I maybe should. To compound my growing sense of guilt, I also noticed the same names in the comments section of many of the blogs I'd been visiting this week - Rodor and Suber. They were good bloggers. Unlike me...

Rigg's Shrine - despite the blood, sweat and tears that went in to it - and still do when I have to move it anywhere!

Now obviously I jest a little here as this certainly isn't the spirit Dave's post was written in and Rodor and Suber - hats off to you for the interest you take and support you give! In fact hats off to everyone who takes an interest in others' blogs - it's a special thing and an entirely different beast to the more polpular forms of social media. I really like the sentiment in Dave's and Stew's posts, where the interest in comments isn't about clamouring for praise or attention but what kind of blog posts tend to get more comments than others, the boost it gives the writer in what can be a lonely endeavour and the community it builds. In fact I'm going to bump a mate's blog - my good buddy Mathew - an extraordinary wit and artist extraordinaire. He's not a bad mini painter either - and it's not all Oldhammer. There's also the added draw(?) of seeing my ugly mug in his last post about Another Glorious Day in the Corps. Go and check him out at News From Hell Before Breakfast.

Hobgoblins - more of them to come but probably not till next year...

I would hasten to add that I'm not trying to start (or restart) a new blogging fad, like the Liebster Awards (are they still a thing?). I've nothing against them but did find the Liebster thing a bit weird and awkward but that's probably just me. Nor am I browbeating or saying that everyone should go out and comment on every post they read - that would be exhausting. This is more a rather long and rambling reflection about me and my relationship with blogging, occasioned by the (to me) surprising and lovely welcome back I've had. My take away from all this is that I do want to be a better blogger and more engaged with others' work. You dear reader, if you've made it this far, can probably pat yourself on the back for already being those things!

Must get the rest of my "Evil" Empire army posted up and who knows what non-Warhammer games I might get in to next year...

I think I shall wrap it up there as this is becoming a bit of a dissertation! I'll leave you with one last observation though - I forgot how dangerous it is looking at other folks' blogs. So far, since last week, I have searched ebay for Star Wars Micromachines for 15mm Star Wars, daydreamed about 28mm WW2 and thought wistfully about large scale scenery projects, having been inspired by what I saw. All well and good, but I'm not sure I have enough time for the Snotling and Dr Who stuff I have planned as it is...