Monday 5 December 2016

Shed Wars - 5th Birthday

Well today is the Shed Wars blog’s 5th Birthday and I think it is still going strong. As is usual for me on these events I like to look back and summarise the previous year in a short review.

I’ll firstly talk about the stats and then come onto the review proper.

As you can see from the numbers below the page view count continues to rise – this year it looks like I’ll be just shy of 200k hits in a year but the good news is that my page view count still seems to be on the upward curve each month



Number of followers
Number of page views
Dec 2012
80
25000
Dec 2013
180
95000
Dec 2014
285
230000
Dec 2015
373
383000
Dec 2016
387
578000

Earlier this year the Russian bots seemed to have plagued everybody’s sites and delivered an unwanted spike July and prior to this aberration my photo session from Salute always drive the highest monthly volume in a year.

On the subject of Salute .....
This year was no different with over 6000 hits to the site just for my Salute photos. I also learned this year that a couple of my fellow bloggers got press passes to Salute so if there are any of the Salute organisers out there who want to give me a pass I’d be very happy.

As far as I can tell my Salute photo post has always the first up on the web in the past three years.one. You can reach me by PM on either the LAF or TMP (thanks!)

On the follower front this has clearly slowed down with only 387 listed. Perhaps this has hit the threshold?

Stats over....................................

So what of 2016 – was it a good year?

Well of course the hardest part of this year was losing my Father. He had been an inspiration for me when it came to this hobby, always interested in my next project and offering words of wisdom.

He was a journalist and although I write badly, this blog does to a certain extent maintain that family tradition.

We do miss him and Christmas will be hard for the family but in his words we need to push on and get things done.

The Old Man at Waterloo


If I was to summarise the 2016 year in one word it would be BIG.

The highlight for me was extending the Shed – this was a very big challenge but with the help of my gaming buddies on a warm summer’s afternoon the pre-built sections of new shed extension arose and took shape.  Over the autumn months this has been insulated, electrics installed and shelving added. It’s a much better environment than before and once the weather improves you’ll be seeing a lot more games on display.

Shedson doing the groundwork in April


Assembling the panels



Assembling


The new extension


Inside the extension




Clearly the Shed extension was a BIG project but this did not slow down the introduction of new projects to my gaming world. Indeed for the first time ever I built two complete 28mm painted armies.

Back in December of last year my gaming chum Mark set down the challenge for us to create the English Civil War in 28mm. Over a period of four months we assemble and painted between us the best part of 1600 figures. Indeed my Parliamentarian army is one of my proudest achievements. I not only think it looks great it also wins games.

The Parliamentarian Army taking shape


An ECW engagement


Mark & I (along with other Shed Regulars) have probably played around a dozen games of Pike & Shotte this year and everyone has been a real joy. By my reckoning the Parliamentarian forces have had a slight edge in victories and from next year I get to upgrade the forces to New Model Army status (we agreed this earlier in the year)

The first ECW battle


The second BIG army project was the Zulu Wars in 28mm  - over 400 Zulus painted and the best part of 200 Allied troops. This was a labour of love and is dedicated to the old man. Thesis little lot has only seen the table a few times but we have plans to refight Isandlwhana and Rorkes Drift on the anniversary of these engagements in January (still think I need more Zulus).

The finished Zulu Army


Rorkes Drift (still not been fought over in anger)
A Zulu Black Powder game in Full flight
Usuthu !!!


Although not strictly wargaming I did receive three BIG Kickstarter projects – Blood Rage, The Others and Conan. These are all big boxes of games and now the weather prevents the shed from being used these types of modern boardgames have become the staple fare of our Monday night sessions.

A Big Delivery


Aside from the Zulu and ECW games the Shed has actually been quite quiet this year (clearly this was in part down to the rebuild) but this will hopefully change in 2017.  


On the terrain front its been really quiet - this used to be a big pull for the blog. A few bits and pierces were created but not as much as I would have liked - hopefully things will change in the new year.
  
One of the very few new terrain pieces in the Shed - breached walls
Pulp Submarine



Other news includes the successful hosting of BLAM once more in the local pub – for my sins I hosted a very enjoyable Dads Army game using the Pulp Alley rules.

Dads Army Game at BLAM


So what of 2017. Well if you have been following the blog you’ll know I have embarked on a new project centred around the Greek legends and myths. I am currently writing the ruleset for these and once the figures and terrain are completed we’ll be playtesting these and then seeing how these can be developed further.   

The Start of the Jason project



Other projects that hold an interest are getting into Darkest Africa (I bought the Congo ruleset at warfare and enjoyed a great game of this in the Shed hosted by Alastair earlier this year). I also have a yearning to revisit the post-apocalyptic period but this time with a Fallout theme. Twelve months ago Mrs Shed bought for me and Shedson an XBOX One with Fallout 4 – I have been enjoying this tremendously and feel that it could be easily transferred onto the table top.
As the year progresses we’ll see what develops but it should be exciting

Thanks for reading and following


Eric the Shed

PS

As I was putting this together I realised that in January 2016 I finished off my Frostgrave boards and figures. Total number of games played - about 3 - just goes to show we can invest all the time (and a lot of money )into a hobby and then forget all about it.


26 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Eric, here's to the next five!

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  2. Happy 5th blogiversary! What a busy year it's been :)

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  3. Happy 5th anniversary! Well done and keep going with a great job!

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  4. Quite a year for you. Congratulations on the 5th anniversary.

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  5. happy 5th ,keep it up and have fun,

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  6. Happy 5th! Here's to its 21st!

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  7. Happy birthday Shed Wars!! My time flies by! Looking forward to another year of amazing projects :-)

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  8. Happy Birthday! I actually found your blog earlier in the year whilst searching for Frostgrave articles on line. The great material has kept me coming back for regular updates.

    I *think* I must be fairly local to the shed; I live in Chessington.

    Keep on blogging!

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    1. Hi Bryan

      You are correct Chessington is just down the road - are you involved in any of the local groups?

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    2. Hi Eric, I play at the First Founding at St. Pauls Hall, just up from the Ace.

      I also play with a group of friends within the comfort of the house. Been playing a Frostgrave campaign this year as well with one of my friends.

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    3. I know where you mean - its a stones throw from me (small world)

      Do you know Adrian & Dave - Dave has a gaming Shed in the Tolworth area?

      Always interested in meeting other gamers in the area


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    4. Yep, I know Adrian and Dave from years gone by; Kingston Games club back when it was at the Bun Shoppe and the White Hart. I still catch up with them from time to time at the local beer festivals :)

      It you do get back into Frostgrave give me a shout!

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  9. Happy birthday. I can confirm the Shed is a great place to game and I'm very glad to be part of the Shed-group. Sounds like it must be time to dig out Frostgrave and make more use of that terrain!

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  10. Happy blog birthday Eric, your projects have been inspiring particularly the Zulu wars! Brilliant work, keep it up mate

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  11. Congratulations on such a successful blog by whatever means you measure it!

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  12. Happy Fifth! You have a very inspirational blog!

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  13. Peter Ball said it perfectly: Happy Fifth and thanks for the great inspiration!

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  14. Great blog and another great year

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  15. Congratulations on reaching your 5th birthday!

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