Blogification

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The current Liebster round appears to be reaching epidemic proportions. It’s set me thinking about wargames blogging (or maybe blogging in general) as a pursuit because wargaming is a very visual hobby and, at first glance, might not be best suited to support its own little solar system in the blogging universe.

It’s a fairly lonely pursuit, this wargaming thing. Even with access to a club or regular opponents, the gamer will spend the vast majority of his or her hobby time on support activities such as prep work and painting, churning out miles of model roads or, not least of all, reading. Consequently, this involves hours of relative isolation during which the mind is wont to wander despite DVD’s, MP3’s or dreams of empire. This wondering often develops theories, re-runs past traumas or glories, nurtures ambitions or magnifies small objects of desire. The outcome can sometimes lead to frustration, sometimes to bewilderment, but most frequently to silence. When wargamers gather there is often little time to expound theories because their aim is to apply the lancet of a wargame.

So, what to do about these unspoken thoughts? There must be many a gamer who has wandered through life wondering if his or her thoughts on the hobby were unique, profound or just damned stupid. That is until those same thoughts appear in someone’s blog and the realization dawns that you’re not so bloody clever after all. Although there is always a certain amount of froth along with substance, the ensuing comments and online conversations form friendships, occasional differences, generate inspiration or share techniques and information. The drivers for bloggers aren’t common though, be it self-aggrandizement, a record of achievement, publicity for enterprises or projects or simply a cathartic exercise - it’s amusing that many bloggers volunteer information they wouldn’t divulge to their spouse or colleagues so it’s sometimes a sort of online confessional. Still, it’s a broad church, which can accommodate all.