Sunday 5 April 2009

Blog review 1




Its only a week since I decided to put the campaign on the blog, and I am delighted with the response so far.


I put a posting on OSW and TMP Napoleonic Discussion forum to advertise it. I was a little apprehensive, particularly about TMP, as there is often a heated response on that forum. And I am well aware that my hand drawn maps leave a lot to be desired, but I hoped that might encourage others to give it a try, on the principle that they could probably do better!


My other expectation was that it would be pretty well ignored. I have been inspired by other blogs I have visited, but now I realise that I had never left any message of support. So it was reasonable to expect a similar response.


To my great surprise I had a lot of interest. In just over a week there have been 230 visits to the site - which seems a lot to me. No doubt a lot of them are me going back to amend and correct. But there must also be a considerable amount of others just looking.


I am also pleasantly surprised at the number who have left comments. All were supportive and very welcome. And it has made me realise that I must do the same when I visit other blogs.


I have also been delighted at the amount of support I have received by email. I am not sure whether it is "the done thing" to mention names on a blog, but two in particular deserve mention.


Bob Cordey has given me a lot of encouragement and I am delighted with his comment that my poor efforts have encouraged him to get into Napoleonic wargaming again.


Clive Smithers has given me some much needed assistance with some technical aspects of the blog. He responded to me on OSW when I admitted that I did not know why some photographs would not enlarge when clicked on. He was very helpful, and it is not his fault that I still do not understand how to put it right.


This week has been a very steep learning curve with regard to blogging. I have realised that it is not a good idea to move photographs, as this apparently removes the ability to enlarge them. I have also realised that smaller blogs are probably better than very long ones.


As a result I have redone the 1813 blog. This had taken me all day on Thursday to put together. But three of the photographs would not enlarge, and I felt that the finished product was just too long. It has taken me all day Sunday to retype it as six blogs, one introduction and one for each campaign area. I have also taken the opportunity to write up each one in a little more detail.


Bob also mentioned that he uses labels to keep his blogs in some order. As the main reason for this blog is to provide a reference and history of the campaign, I have put labels on each post.


Its been a busy week, both typing the blog, replying to well wishers and trying to solves technical problems. I have enjoyed it much more than I expected, and it has given me a new interest in my hobby.


Thanks very much to everyone who offered encouragement or just bothered to look.

9 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to following ow this campaign turns out. I do have a couple of questions, which you may have answered, but I missed whenI went through the varous headings, but what rules will yo be using to fight the table top battles?
    Is this a solo campaign or are you running it with a group?
    All the Best
    Don MacDonald

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  2. Hi Don

    We are using "house rules" at present. They owe a lot to LFS, but have been heavily modified for use with my collection of 28mm, 15mm and 6mm. The idea is to have a set of rules, plus a campaign, which will allow me to use all of my figures in rotation, plus all the scenery I own, on a 6x6 foot wargame table.

    At present the rules are in the form of a game aide, they are not written in such a way that they might be easily understood by a third party. I am a little reluctant to publish them, as rules are always a sure fire way to start arguements. But I may put them on the blog if there is any interest.

    I am running the campaign solo, but my wife and I wargame together each week.

    Thanks for your interest

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  3. While Napoleonics have never captured my interest, I am interested in your campaign as it might relate to possibilities in other periods.

    Thanks.


    -- Jeff

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  4. Hi Jeff

    I am sure that you can use the game mechanics for any period or set of rules. The campaign has been designed to be "stand alone".

    Thanks for your comments

    Paul

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  5. Really interested in your blog and will follow your progress! My current Naps are Penninsular War 28mm.

    --Dave

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  6. and hang in there on the technical stuff as there is a great group of people out there who can help get your blog rolling...I started last September and I thin it's the best this to happen to my gaming since I discovered Featherstone on the 70's!

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  7. Hi Dave

    Thanks for your comments.

    Do you wargame the Peninsular regularly? I ask because I find it one of the most difficult campaigns to wargame. Do you have Spanish, or do you stick to Wellingtons lot?

    Its a facinating period for us brits, because there is so many first hand account in English. Jan and I have visited most of Wellingtons battlefields, and spent many happy hours walking the ground and reading extracts from histories on the spot.

    Paul

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  8. Hi Dave

    Its interesting to hear from someone else who is new to blogging.

    I have used computers for years, and my typing is quite good, but I know absolutely nothing about how it all works. All is fine until something goes wrong. Like the problem I had because I moved the photos around.

    Like you I found people very helpful, but unfortunately their answers did not make any sense at all.

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  9. Now there is a good example of what I mean, for no apparent reason my screen I got a new window, I cancelled it and when I returned here my earlier message had been published! Could have been worse, could have lost it.

    Anyway I was explaining that though people have been very helpful, I found myself unable to follow their instructions. Once you change the edit screen to html I lose my way.

    One question for you. I am never sure whether to answer comments here on the blog, or to send the reply by email. I feel you can explain better in an email, but it seems rude not to answer on the forum. What do you do?

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I have set the settings for comments to come to me before posting so that I will not miss any