Ten years of Legatus' Wargames Armies!

My newly painted Macedonian Generals featured in my first anniversary post in 2007

Much to my amazement, this blog is ten years old today.  It wasn't my first blog, that was my neglected Spartans one.  I enjoyed painting Spartans but I could never face painting Persians.  I actually have 23 wargames blogs and most I don't update very often but I do like to keep, on the whole, my different interests separate.  The blog looks rather different from its original incarnation, not least because I have had to gradually increase the font size as my eyesight has deteriorated!  The original intention of my Spartan and Byzantine blogs (both of which predate this one) was to help me organise my thoughts as regards building armies (which failed on both counts).  It never occurred to me that anyone would actually read anything I wrote!

I set this one up when I bought some Perry French and was starting to think seriously about Napoleonics (again); something I now really have given up on (I hope).  Since then the blog has had 642 posts (so more than one post a week, on average), 480,000 page views and, amazingly, more than 3000 comments.  Just in the last few days I reached 200 followers (followers are not something I actively seek, which is why I don't link to posts on The Miniatures Page) which does, to a certain extent, make me think a bit more about what I am going to post.  I get about 8,000 views per month (which is about the same as what one of my other incarnation's blogs gets in a day) but I'm not chasing numbers either.  Frankly, I am amazed that anyone reads my ramblings at all!

Working out why some posts are more popular is hard to fathom.  Looking at my twenty most popular posts there seems little pattern to it:

1 Something for the weekend by Angus McBride September 2012 - 6961 views

Less to puzzle on here, as I featured some slightly racy pictures by the famous military artist, which he did for Mayfair magazine in 1975 (before he started working for Osprey).

2. My first figure of 2014 and glug!  January 2014 - 5092 views

Irene Adler by Westwind

I cannot understand why a post featuring an Empire of the Dead figure, floods at my parents in law's house and expensive bathroom fittings should have attracted more than 5,000 views but it has.  Maybe it was the picture of Rachel Riley in a short skirt or Russian web crawler bots or, indeed, Russian millionaires looking for expensive loos.

3 Cyclops! February 2012 - 5636 views.

A proper painting piece this, on my Reaper cyclops.  No women in this one at all!  The Harryhausen effect?

5 Playing favourites - my 300th post January 2012 - 4432 views

Talking about what I like and don't like as regards wargaming.  One of a meme going around at the time.

6 Games Workshop Hobbit figures - they cost what? November 2012 - 3679 views

Written in Dubai, while trying not to be distracted by my friend B, but genuinely staggered by Games Worskshop's pricing policy for these.  Pretty much stopped me buying all the LotR figures released, which I had done up until then.

7 Circles and Space - my 500th post June 2014 - 3498 views

A really rambling effort this. on the nature of the universe and metal washers but boosted, perhaps, by fans of James Burke.

8 On the workbench  June 2010 - 3306 views

Sienna Guillory in another inauthentic Bronze Age costume

No idea why this one scores so highly as  its mostly about Trojans but does feature some pictures of actresses in it.

9 Tales of two tragic ships October 2009 - 2992 views

 Not about wargaming but an unusual excursion into things naval (I hate naval wargaming for some reason - I really ought to love it given my interest in ships) based on a trip to the US where I discovered some relics of the USS Maine and the USS Arizona.

10 Wars of the Roses May 2009 - 2849 views

Some reenactment pictures and thoughts about my army for the period.  The first proper wargames post on the list.

11 Games Workshop rebranding and Perry news October 2014 - 2586 views

My daughter spots the new Warhammer brand in Games Workshop Edinburgh and bravely investigates.

12 English Civil War game using 1644 rules February 2008 2488 views

A bit about an ECW wargame.

13 Warlord Games plastic Romans April 2008 - 2328 views

One of my regular rants about incompatible 28mm figures.

14 James May's Toy Fair November 2009 -1996 views

My son and I chat to James May.

15 The Battle of Bunker Hill June 2012 1995 views

Some historic sites on a visit to Boston.

16 Something for the weekend December 2008 2378 views

The discovery of a seventies article about wargaming in Penthouse magazine, of all places.  Alright, this one does have pictures of girls in it.

17 Ruled out November 2005 - 1955 views

My musings, following the loss of my metal ruler, on how things end up in alternative universes.

18 Artizan cowgirl Eliza Stone December 2007 1797 views

I paint Artizan's not Sharon Stone figure and spend far too much time researching it, considering I don't play wild west games at all.

19 Repainting, plastics, Sibelius and the Thirty Years War  January 2011 1755 views

To repaint or not and my ongoing but unrequited interest in the Thirty Years War.

20 Armémuseum and Historiska Museet, Stockholm September 2007 - 1544 views

I go to Stockholm to talk about infrastructure, misbehave with a Swedish friend and find a lovely model Viking village.

Interestingly, I have had more page views from the US than the UK with Russia, Germany, France, Canada, Spain, Australia, Ukraine and Italy rounding out the top ten.  The Russian and Ukrainian ones must be the bots!  Actually, the Ukraine is the only one of those countries I haven't been to.

Of course, what really comes to mind when I think about all these blog posts is how many figures I could have painted in the time I have devoted to typing rubbish!  The fact is that I feel like painting less and less and can only do so when the Old Bat isn't about as she will then find me a tedious job to do, just to spoil my fun.

I'd like to thank all the people who read and comment on my posts and all the useful hints and tips people have offered me as a result.  It was through this blog that I linked up with Eric the Shed which has transformed me from a figure painter into a (sort of) proper wargamer over the last couple of years.