Prelude to Salem Church

The first Battle of Salem Church is in the books after a short/sharp fight on Monday.  How did Sedgwick fare?  That is a tale for another time.

Sedgwick on the attack!

Today's post is but a brief update to the Blog List to test that I can follow up with another successful post after having changed my url from "http" to "https".  While my url had been "http" since inception, the HTTPS Redirect toggle ensured that my "http" was redirected to "https".  Since the populated "Original feed" url in Feedburner is a fixed entity, that redirect may not be honored.  

Heavy fighting at Perry Farm.

To guarantee that you pick up your own blog in Blog List and that others can find you after using the Feedburner bypass, the Blog List entry in the gadget must match the "Original feed" path in Configure Proxy page.  If your Original feed path shows "http" then the Blog List entry must reference "http" as well and vice versa.  This works similarly for following other blogs in the gadget.  Your url entry in the Blog List gadget must match the author of the other blog's url if that author is using the Feedburner bypass.  If another's recent post is not appearing in your Blog List and that person has used the Feedburner bypass, try editing that Blog List entry by changing either "http" to "https" or from "https" to "http".

Clear as mud?

Let's see if PWJ still updates after switching to "https".  Yep!  Looks good in my Blogroll.  How about in yours?

Bring In The Cache Buster!

By now, we are all familiar with the issue.  Blogger's Blogroll gadget refuses to reliably pick up and publish the latest post.  I first encountered this issue back in May when I posted a short update at PWJ: Testing.  In May, this was an occasional issue with variable lags but not too long.  There were a few workarounds that seemed to lessen the burden and at least one of these techniques worked, most times, to force a repolling of Blogger's Blogroll gadget.

That situation has changed to a worse case as witnessed by blogs now seeing multi-day delays in the most recent post appearing in Blogroll.  Very frustrating.  None of the temporary "methods" I used in the past to jog the gadget into action seemed to work.  Blogger's Community has seen a growing number of complaints that I first referenced in response to a comment in PWJ: Fourteen Years of Marching Through History.  That reference pointed to New posts not showing on Reading List.  This issue holds for the Blogroll gadget as well.  One respondent laid blame on pasting formatted text into a blog post for this failure to update.  A more likely explanation is that the Reading List or Blogroll displays a cached or stale feed rather than the feed from the most recent post.  The latter explanation seems the most reasonable conclusion since current posts still appear in the daily Feedspot Today email and Feedly Reading List remains current.       

Responses in the community note, above, suggest clearing the cache.  Now, “Clearing the cache” can mean two different things, and it is important not to confuse them.  The response suggests clearing your browser cache.  Clearing the browser cache or viewing the blogsite in a private/incognito window is a good way to make sure you are seeing the current version of your own blog.  This is useful for validating whether a change made to the Blogroll gadget has appeared publicly without cache contamination by your local browser.

In the current state of affairs, Blogger’s feed cache is, again, the more likely culprit.  Blogger keeps its own cached copy of the feeds used by the Blogroll gadget.  Blogroll gadget sometimes holds on to an old copy of a blog’s feed.  Therefore, the gadget does not always notice a new post promptly even though the post was published correctly.  This condition is reinforced by seeing that many Wordpress blogs continue to show recent updates.  What we really need to do is bring out the heavy equipment and bust through the Blogroll cache that is holding back more recent posts.

One workaround is to use Google's own Feedburner's version of the blog’s feed.  Feedburner acts as a middleman.  It takes a fresh copy of the blog’s feed and provides a different feed address for the Blogroll to read.  That is why the Feedburner approach can be useful.  On the Feedburner page, your blog should be listed under "Your feeds."  Clicking on the three dots next your feed brings up a dropdown with "Refresh feed."  This choice forces Feedburner to fetch the current feed again.  If your Blogroll points to the Feedburner URL, it may retrieve the refreshed Feedburner version rather than relying on Blogger’s stale copy of the ordinary blog feed.  Now to be clear, PWJ still references the ordinary blog feed url in Blogroll.  That is, 

http://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

An alternative option that works for some is

http://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/?alt=rss

After publishing a new blog post, open Feedburner website and click on "Refresh Feed."  That click ought to set the refresh in motion.  The key to remember is that Blogger’s Blogroll can still have its own cache. Resetting Feedburner cannot force Blogger to clear that cache or trigger Blogroll to poll immediately.

Note Very Well!

Do not rely on Feedburner as though it is a guaranteed repair.  Feedburner does not give you control over Blogger’s internal Blogroll cache.  This technique is best viewed as a practical workaround and not as a definitive solution.  Blogger still needs to resolve this issue.  Good practice to back up before making changes like this and test results.  Of course, YMMV.

If you give this a try, report back with your results.  If I see recent blogs popping up in my Blogroll, I will bet that some of you gave this workaround a try.  This technique worked for allowing PWJ to appear in Blogroll with its current and timely post, but I make no guarantees that this maneuver will work for everyone.  Enter these waters at your own risk!

Fourteen Years of Marching Through History

Fourteen years ago, in September 2012, the Palouse Wargaming Journal (PWJ) began as a place to record my wargaming activities and perhaps connect with a few like-minded wargamers.  At the time, I had no clear sense of where the project might lead nor how long this venture might last.  I certainly did not imagine that, fourteen years later, the blog would have accumulated 1,915 posts, 62,241 comments, and 341 followers.

Those numbers are more than statistics.  Much more.  Together they represent fourteen years of games played, figures painted, and ideas exchanged with readers and fellow wargamers.  The Palouse Wargaming Journal began as my hobby notebook, but it has gradually become something more.  The PWJ records my ongoing wargaming activities preserved one post at a time.  Occasionally, a little bit of Real Life is tossed in for good measure.

The blog is also a record of the dynamic nature of the hobby.  Some periods have been filled with games and painting projects.  Others have been slowed by competing demands, a wandering eye, or simply the difficulty of finding time to arrange a game.  Projects have been started, set aside, restarted, and occasionally (but rarely!) completed.  Armies have marched onto the tabletop, disappeared back into their storage boxes, and returned years later under entirely different rules.  Sometimes even appearing with different basing schemes.  The blog preserves all of those stages, including the false starts, mistakes, and second guesses that rarely appear in a photo or a summarized battle account.

The past year has been a period of both activity and reflection.  I have continued to report games, show painted figures, and describe the projects occupying my painting desk and gaming table.  At the same time, I found myself thinking more often about the wider purpose of wargaming blogs.  What makes such a blog worthwhile?  Does blogging still have a future in an age taken over by social media, video, and artificial intelligence?  Why do wargamers devote so much effort to recording painting, researching, designing, and playing of games?

My continuing interest in analyzing the results of WSS' The Great Wargaming Survey offers one way to explore these questions.  The survey provides useful information about the people who participate in the hobby, the periods and rules they prefer, and the reasons they continue to wargame.  Yet these data also raise questions that statistics alone cannot answer.  Numbers may reveal patterns, but they do not always explain the personal experiences behind them.  Two people may report playing the same rules or historical period while finding entirely different rewards in the experience.

That tug-of-war between information and experience has become increasingly important as the internet continues to change.  I repeatedly find myself asking whether blogs still matter.  The question has been particularly difficult to ignore during a year marked by ongoing frustrations with Blogger’s infrastructure.  Those technical problems are compounded by the growing influence of social media which offers quick publication and immediate feedback.  Video, too, has become an increasingly popular way of presentation.   Artificial intelligence adds another layer to the changing landscape by summarizing information and answering questions without necessarily directing readers to the original source.

Can blogging offer something different to these newer forms of communication?

I believe it can, although perhaps not by trying to compete with them on their own terms.  The Palouse Wargaming Journal is not simply a collection of answers about rules, armies, or battles that can be extracted and summarized by an AI agent.  For me, it is a personal record of a hobby in progress.  It shows the figures and units as they emerge from the painting desk, the battlefields as they are laid out, the games as they develop, and the decisions that influence battle outcomes.

That personal element is important because wargaming is not only about information.  It is also about interpretation.  A battle report may explain who won, but it can also describe how the game unfolded, which decisions mattered, and what made the contest memorable.  Similarly, a painting post may show a finished unit but also the way attention moves from one project to another, from one army to another, and from one historical period to the next.

As I wrote in Has AI Killed the Blogger Star?, those details cannot easily be reduced to a generic summary.  These details belong to a particular hobby journey and to the individual experiences of the people involved.  A blog can preserve those experiences in a way that is more personal and more durable than a brief social-media post.

In that sense, the blog remains both an archive and a conversation.  Each post records a small part of the hobby, but it also invites readers to respond, contribute their own experiences, and even disagree with my conclusions or decisions.  The comments, correspondence, and remote games that have grown from the blog are as important as the posts themselves.  They demonstrate that wargaming is not merely a solitary activity carried out among shelves of miniatures.  Wargaming is also a means of building connections across distance and sharing enthusiasm with people who may never otherwise meet.

When I began blogging fourteen years ago as a challenge, I did not know whether anyone would read the Palouse Wargaming Journal, much less whether it would still exist fourteen years later.  The wargaming blogosphere has changed considerably since 2012.  Many blogs have disappeared, social media has altered how wargamers share their work, and AI-assisted search is beginning to reshape how people find information online.  Yet the fundamental appeal of the hobby remains unchanged.

There is still satisfaction in painting a unit, studying a campaign, laying out a battlefield, rolling the dice, and discovering what happens when history is placed in the hands of players. There is also value in recording that experience.  Not of value because every game is historically significant or every painted figure is a masterpiece, but because each one forms part of my continuing journey.

Blogging remains my preferred way of sharing that journey.  It provides the time and space to explain not only what happened, but also why it mattered to me.  The Palouse Wargaming Journal continues not only because the hobby remains rewarding, but also because sharing my thoughts and experiences with others makes the hobby better.

Thank you to everyone who has visited the PWJ, left a comment, joined a remote game, offered encouragement, or simply followed along quietly.  Your interest has helped sustain the blog through fourteen years of painting, gaming, research, reflection, and occasional technical frustration.

For now, marching through history in miniature continues.

Edit 11 September:  Even with no (or long delayed) Blogroll widget updates, seeing readers find this post despite the hurdles to overcome is very encouraging!

Has AI Killed the Blogger Star?

Not that every wargaming blogger is a star, but the title of this post is a nod to The Buggles’ 1979 song, Video Killed the Radio Star.  Who, among us, still remembers the first time we saw this music video on MTV?  I knew right then that I wanted to subscribe to MTV.  Unfortunately, cable was not available in my area.  Much like MTV did for music, AI search is changing the landscape for bloggers.  Is this the next step in media evolution with no turning back?

Having experienced pageviews climbing to unbelievable heights of up to 100,000 views a day, and keyword searches dropping to near zero, something has definitely changed in the search environment.  In my own search for answers, the article, Search Engines Are Dead: How AI is taking Over the Internet, from March of 2026 popped up in the results.  Briefly, the article points out that AI is changing search, its process, and results.  One problem for bloggers wanting increased visibility to their writings is that AI search often does not convert search results into visits.  Directed traffic from search engines is falling by the wayside.  Today, readers must be given a reason to click through directly to a post.  While AI search may reduce clicks, your name, blog link, and unique perspective could still come through in the summaries and citations.  At least most AI summaries still provide citations of works used.  Reduced traffic often leads to reduced reader engagement.  Reductions in visits and engagement support the conclusion of many that blogging is a dying media art form.  Compounding this dilemma is the recent feature of seeing large delays in posts appearing in blogrolls.  If no one reads your contributions, is the effort worthwhile?  Of course, visits and reader engagement may not be a driving reason for why one blogs.

In today's rapidly evolving environment, search engines increasingly try to answer questions without sending anyone back to the original sources.  Gathering and synthesizing the collective wisdom of the internet, AI generates summaries to answer the question posed.  Type in a wargaming question and the search result may now return a brief answer without requiring the researcher to visit a single blog site.  For people who have relied upon Google search engine to send strangers to their posts, this new state can be somewhat troubling.  Are wargame bloggers doomed by AI's interventions?  Lately, I have been thinking about the gloomy claim that AI may be killing blogging and, with it, the motivation to blog.

Wargaming blogs are vulnerable to the rise of AI search because many of the most common topics are searchable in a way that suits AI.  Rules clarifications, historical overviews, army organization, paint choices, figure choices, and beginner advice are all useful, but they are also highly compressible into summaries.  If a post offers little more than the expected answer, then it can be flattened into a summary with almost no loss of content.  On the other hand, a blog post does not necessarily have to be merely an answer to a search.  It can be an argument, a battle account, a project record, a warning, an opinion, or simply an enjoyable report from somebody else’s tabletop.  Nobody really needs an AI summary of the fact that I painted another twelve figures.  Readers visiting the blog, however, may enjoy seeing how the figures came out once painted and based, learning which paint scheme was used, how this unit fits into the project plan, or reading why I abandoned the original basing plan halfway through.

By offering more than a simple answer to a query, wargaming blogs hold an advantage over AI.  Wargaming blogs are built on things that AI cannot (yet!) convincingly fake or manipulate at scale.  Some of the tasks that AI has yet to master include photographs of actual miniatures, handmade terrain, battle reports emphasizing different tactics and decision-making choices, and historical research as seen through the eyes of a particular hobbyist’s judgment.  A good wargaming blog does not solely rely on delivering information.  It also provides evidence of ongoing practice, planning, commitment, point of view, thoughtful commentary, persistence, and accomplishment.  That distinction matters.  Readers can find generic advice anywhere from search, but they come to a "real" hobbyist's blog for the thing that only a real, practicing wargamer can provide.  A practicing wargamer can offer a sense that the writer has actually moved figures across a table, given thought to the exercise, and, perhaps, learned something in the process.

The risk for the blogger is not that an AI system will suddenly make a reader lose interest in painted armies, historical scenarios, or reports from a remote game. The risk is more subtle.  Much more subtle.  AI is making it easier for readers to obtain a quick, generic answer without ever visiting the source that did the interesting (and often considerable) effort in the first place.  AI is killing "Lazy discoverability."

What is “Lazy discoverability?” It encompasses the habit of writing for search engines instead of writing for readers.  This technique produces posts that are technically discoverable but not especially memorable.  Bloggers may operate under the misguided assumption that one can put a reasonably competent post on the internet, include a few likely search terms, and expect search engines to do the rest.  Even before AI algorithms came to dominate search, that model was always rather fragile and suspect.  AI simply makes the weakness harder to ignore.

For hobby blogging, especially wargaming, lazy discoverability offers the possibility of entrapment because the work can become optimized toward being found instead of being worth reading.  AI search systems are very good at compressing those posts into a summary, which means the original blog gets less of the reward while the reader has less reason to click through.

A blog post ought to offer more than a summarized answer to a question.  Bloggers should emphasize depth and personal experience that no summary can replicate.  A good wargaming blog provides an archive of accumulated effort.  This is an asset and body of work that cannot be replaced by an AI summary.

If the wargaming blogger wants to avoid being crushed under the jackboot of the Machine, is there anything we can do to connect into this rapidly evolving situation?  The post linked to above offers some suggestions for adapting to AI.  I explore some of these options using my humble perspective of the PWJ and my nearly fourteen years of tapping out posts.  Where does PWJ succeed?  Where can improvements be made?  The answers may depend upon reader engagement!

AI has not killed the blogger star.  As with radio, there is still a place for blogging, at least for me, and I am no star. 

Testing

Blogger seems to have lost the ability to pick up my post feed, and the thumbnail widget no longer appears in Blogs Followed widget.

This is a test as I troubleshoot.  My previous post went almost completely unnoticed without the thumbnail "tickler" in the widget.

Big Round Numbers and Reflection

Easter Sunday witnessed the PWJ tick past two mileposts.  One is meaningful, the other not so much.  The first, and less important milepost was that the blog saw over 100,000 page views in one day.  In the early days of blogging, this achievement might be hailed with much fanfare.  Today, with AI dominating search and consumption, 100,000 page views in one day does not carry the same weight.  The other, and more important milestone is that the blog surpassed 60,000 comments.  Yes, I realize that half of the commentary is mine, but reader commentary is an important if not vital aspect of sharing the hobby.

Blogger stats: 06 APR 2026

When I publish a new post, whether a battle report, an analysis, or photos from my latest unit marching out from the painting desk, I never quite know how it will land.  While I write primarily to record my thoughts and achievements, I also write to share the wargaming hobby that has fascinated me for most of my life.  Once I click "publish," there’s a pause and, often, a little apprehension.  Will anyone care enough to read let alone respond with a comment?  When a comment appears, I breathe a sigh of relief.

For a wargamer, blogging is often a solitary pursuit that mirrors the hobby itself. We spend long nights painting miniatures, building terrain, or researching obscure campaigns to create scenarios or rules.  From a personal perspective, these are satisfying efforts.  This type of self-exploration, while satisfying, is shaped by appreciation and dialog.  The byline on my blog bio states that,

It is not enough to accomplish. You must share those accomplishments.

Reader comments help turn this solitary focus outward.  When a reader writes "the figures look great" or "Great battle report," these comments remind me that the hours of effort are not only just mine.  The blog allows these efforts to become something shared.

Besides turning a mostly solitary activity outward, comments deepen a sense of community.  Wargaming may center on fighting battles in miniature, but through blogging, conversations turn toward tactics, history, craftsmanship, and battles won and lost.  The comment section becomes a virtual battlefield of ideas through a mutual respect for the hobby.

To me, every comment is like adding another painted figure into a collection.  The comment may be small and unique, but a single comment is important to the overall goal.  Each comment builds momentum as others weigh-in turning a collection of posts into an ongoing campaign of thought and dialog.  Without these responses and feedback, blogging can start to feel like a battle dispatch sent off into a destination not known.

I suggest that we keep in mind that when a reader takes the time to type a few words in response to a post, that even a simple response can carry more meaning than the reader might realize.  These responses remind me why I write.  I write not only to post battle reports or document progress at the painting desk.  I write to connect with others who find the same joy in miniature armies and tabletop exploits on the field of battle.  In a sense, each comment carries the same power as a post-game handshake across the table after a hard-fought game.  In a comment, you share acknowledgment, camaraderie, and respect.

I mark this occasion as a way to thank everyone who has mustered the courage to leave a comment or two over these first 60,000 comments.

Thank you.

On Wargaming and Blogging: Thinking Aloud

In Norm's 14 JAN 2026 post on his Commanders website, his essay Thinking Aloud and a Reduction in Output may strike a familiar chord with other bloggers.  The post certainly got me to thinking.  In Norm's diary entry linked to above, he offers a reflection on the value and sustainability of blogging within the wargaming community.  For those having followed Commanders and its sister blog, Battlefields & Warriors, these ruminations are not new.  Since neither site offers the ability to comment, I offer my thoughts on Norm's post here.

The recurring theme of Norm's Thinking Aloud post centers on the tension between pouring significant effort into creating thoughtful, detailed blog content and seeing minimal interaction or feedback in return.  This one-way communication leads to questioning whether maintaining a wargaming blog (two in Norm's case) continues to be worthwhile.  When compared against simply enjoying gaming without the increased overhead of writing about gaming, the answer to this question, to some, becomes clear.

This diary entry argues that blogging has evolved from simply a means of sharing our enthusiasm for wargaming into another hobby of blogging about wargaming. This sub-hobby demands time, energy, and emotional investment often without reciprocal engagement from readers.  This lack of encouragement may lead to a sense of fatigue and a recalibration of priorities.

Norm concludes that disillusionment about the current state is not the major driver of these reflections but one of reorientation.   Perhaps reorientation allows a reclamation of the undistracted joy of gaming, itself?  There may be times in which each of us asks similar questions.   The answers may be different for each of us, but the theme may rhyme.   Responses likely depend upon why we share our wargaming adventures through blogging and what motivates each of us to continue.

In the end, should wargaming be a private pleasure rather than a public performance?  Do you share Norm's concerns and frustrations?

The floor is open for discussion.

The Blogging Effect on Battle Reports

Yes, the Palouse Wargaming Journal reaches "Lucky" 13 years on the blogging front.  For stats, PWJ is up to 335 Followers (a number that rarely changes), 1,809 Posts, and 56,964 Comments.  For me, these anniversaries often bring up a time of reflection on what has passed before.  

The blogging landscape has seen change over these past thirteen years, no doubt.  When PWJ began in late 2012, the wargame blogging community was already in full bloom and quite active.  I likely arrived late to the party and, perhaps, unfashionably so.  Still, I pressed on even as trends began to show a shift from blogging to other forms of social media.  Over these thirteen years, wargaming blogs came and went with the balance tipping in favor of those leaving the platform.  After thirteen years, I continue to press on.  How much longer?  Well, that is a good question to occasionally ask myself.

These reflections often bring up a number of lingering questions that regularly circulate through my mind.  One rumination (of many) on this anniversary brought me back to the post I wrote more than two years ago on how battle reports are read (see Reporting from the Front: How are Battle Reports Read). 

Blogging our individual, wargaming journeys can enrich the hobby by documenting research, painting progress, and battle reports, allowing community feedback and camaraderie.  Battle reporting, while only one facet of wargame blogs, has become a significant weapon in the blogging arsenal.  For the PWJ, battle reporting focus can be quantified by the number (and frequency) of battle reports chronicled here.  Yet, as I remarked in my post in the link above, "Almost always, the chronicling of the battle report takes longer than actually playing the game".  This raises potentially troubling questions about priorities: are we playing games and chronicling them for enjoyment or to create content?  Prioritization takes on added importance when many self-confessing readers simply skim or entirely skip a featured battle report.

When the creation of content becomes more time-consuming than the activity itself, we must question whether the tail is wagging the dog.  For some bloggers, playing may feel more like a chore or performance rather than a rich narrative journey.  On one hand, sharing battle reports and game narratives online expands the hobby’s community and can provide motivation for getting figures to the table.  On the other hand, some might argue this sharing encourages a "sound bite" culture, where quick posts, highlights, and visual snapshots overshadow deep engagement and storytelling.  

Does the desire to chronicle our games diminish the lived experience of playing by encouraging players to focus more on photo-ready moments and quick, digestible content rather than deep, immersive play?  Does the pressure to document and share experiences fundamentally alter how we approach gaming?  Are we optimizing battle reports for easily digestible sound bites and visual moments geared toward online consumption rather than personal enjoyment and narrative development? 

This shift toward brevity may reflect broader changes in human attention patterns.  Blogging and social media have played a role in this evolution.  The desire to frequently post crisp and brief highlights may overshadow the contemplation in immersive play and narrative building.  In effect, the attention span of even committed and engaged readers may be shortened unintentionally.  Nonetheless, a number of blogs I regularly visit emphasize detailed battle reports and nuanced storytelling, suggesting that the value placed on the journey is still alive, at least among certain circles.  Personally, this journey value is especially true for those hosting a game wherein players have the flexibility to concentrate on strategy and tactics while the umpire handles the mechanisms of game play, adjudication, and the writing of an unbiased battle account.  To answer an early question, are we playing games and writing about them for enjoyment or to create content?  Perhaps both factors play a role, but I find chronicling battles as a prose narrative an enjoyable pursuit and a way to preserve history.  Hopefully, players and readers agree.  

12 Years and Still Here!

The Palouse Wargaming Journal (PWJ) sees another annual milepost crossed.  The milepost on my path today reads, 12 Years Blogging.

This experiment began twelve years ago with my first post here.  Times have changed in the intervening dozen years but much remains the same.  While the early years saw many posts on figures painted and few on games played, recent years have seen a shift to gaming and reporting on those games.  

Writing about wargaming and reading about the wargaming exploits of others remain a constant place in my daily routine.  On the writing front, I still manage to hammer out about ten posts per month.  At my current rate of publication, the total post count may not reach what has become a standard 120 posts per year but the ending count will be close.  Looking back to January, a reduction in frequency was foretold.  Still, my pace remains consistent and steady.  I have yet to run out of topics to consider and chronicle within these pages.  Hard to believe that even after a dozen years pounding away at the keyboard, I have neither lost inspiration nor motivation. A bit surprising really since having sufficient content was one of my concerns when I first began all of those years ago.  As mentioned in last year's marking of time, I am convinced that I actually could spend all of my time simply writing scenarios, hosting games, and writing battle reports.  There are times when I wonder if the results justify the efforts.

My gaming schedule continues on a robust pace but there has been a switch to hosting more games than I attend.  New gamers continue to find themselves seated at the remote gaming table often with one or two games per week.  I am even seeing a pick-up in F2F gaming.  There remain several distinct groups that regularly take up my offers for a game.  So far, they are all willing to keep returning for more.  Remote gaming opens up my connection to many more likeminded wargamers than I thought possible even a few years ago.  I always look forward to our games.  All are considered close friends and solid gaming companions.

What about blogging statistics?

Well, wargaming blogs have come and gone but I remain still standing.  The PWJ is up to 1,698 posts (1,579 posts at this time last year), 51,551 comments (45,318 last year), and 331 Followers (322 last year).  The number of followers does not move much but I have seen a few new names joining in lately.

As I wrap up this brief commemoration, I am grateful to anyone who stops by for a quick read or a long linger and doubly grateful for those readers who regularly offer up a comment or two.

Thank you for your patronage and friendship.

Another remote game is on today's docket and a return to regular programming soon.

Commentary Milestone

Last week, the blog ticked over, what for me, was a significant milestone.  That milestone?  PWJ reached 50,000 comments since September 2012.  Ed, from Ed M's Wargames Meanderings blog offered the comment that pushed the count to 50,000.  Thank you, Ed! 

Now, of course, half of those are mine but still, that is a hefty number of comments, right?  Maybe not since I have no other comparative gauge with which to measure. 

Nevertheless, I am very pleased with the level of reader interaction brought up through the commentary section of each post.  As always, comments provide encouragement, a show of support, advance the discussion with personal insights and critiques, and help in creating a bond and sense of camaraderie through these correspondences.  I am happy to receive each comment whether positive, negative, or somewhere in between.  I learn a lot from reader commentary.

One other facet of tracking comment statistics is the Top 10 Commentators widget that adorns the right sidebar.

Over the years, these Top 10 Contributors move up and down the rankings and come and go from the list.  Always a pleasure to see a new name pop up onto the list and a bit sad when a contributor falls out of the Top 10.  Still, the bulk of these Top 10 remain fairly stable with many of the same names on the list as seemingly permanent (and welcome!) fixtures.  These dedicated readers deserve a special thanks.

As one example, Stew attained #1 Ranking late last year and then slowly drifted down and out of the Top 10 only to re-engage after the first of the year to make a steady march back to currently sit at #2.  Impressive comeback, my friend!  

Anyway, I want to mark this occasion to thank everyone who has mustered the courage to leave a comment or two over these first 50,000 comments.

Thank you and keep those comments coming!  

Sumerian Straddle Cars

When I was assessing my goals for 2024 back in January (see The Road Ahead in 2024), the desire to cut back painting output in the New Year was noted.  At that time, I offered up a painting goal of 750 figures with modest shift to seeing more 25mm figures move across the painting desk.  Well, it is mid-May and I appear to be surprisingly on track to reach that goal.  Painting has slowed down, for sure, but a total of 750 figures painted seems doable.  At current counts, the Painting Log shows 303 figures painted, thus far.  That works out to an average of about 60 per month.  With the number of games played and the increased workload of designing scenarios and hosting games, I figured counts may be even less.  Still, I may be on track to reach the 750 goal by year end.

Back to today's topic, two Sumerian straddle cars roll out from the painting desk.  Not quite sure how I will incorporate these two stands into Basic Impetvs games but I am sure I will put them to work somehow and somewhere.  Figures are Newline Designs.  Nice models!

Piedmontese light infantry hold the bridge!

Thursday saw a four-player remote game of the WAS Battle of Bassignana fight out.  We lost two players due to illness but the game carried on in fine fashion with the Stalwart Four.  Another interesting battle developed with tension at every twist and turn.  Who came out the victor?  I guess you must wait for the reports to filter in.  I hope to see a few more games on this battlefield.

Finally, I received an email from Norm earlier in the week stating that his blog, Battlefields and Warriors was going into hibernation and comments would be turned off.  This is not the first time that Norm has drawn a line in the sand on his blog updates so we may see a return at some point.  While the reason for abandonment is understandable, I will miss his insightful posts and commentary.  In the meantime, Norm still offers diary updates on his goings-on at his Commanders website.  

A Peek Through the Looking Glass with AI

Having spent considerable time exploring machine learning and developing business applications using such techniques during my career, the broadening application of artificial intelligence to search engines and expert systems is fascinating.  General-use applications such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and CoPilot have taken the techniques of natural large language processing (nllp) models and offered them to the masses.

Intrigued by recent AI experiments by two wargaming bloggers,

An AI Take on my Blog

Limitations of Artificial Intelligence  

I buckled in, fired up the search engine, and posed the following question to perplexity.ai:

I asked, What is the focus of the Palouse Wargaming Journal? 

 

After only a few seconds wait, the algorithm returned the following summary:

Based on the search results, the focus of the Palouse Wargaming Journal blog appears to be:

1. Wargaming and miniature wargaming, covering a variety of historical periods and conflicts such as the Italian Wars, Napoleonic Wars, American Civil War, etc. 
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2. Providing battle reports and game recaps of wargaming sessions played by the blog author and his gaming group. The blog frequently features posts about specific wargames played, such as the "Battle of Sanguetta 1497" series. 
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3. Discussing the author's painting and modeling projects related to his wargaming hobby, including updates on figures and terrain he is working on. 
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4. Sharing the author's thoughts and reflections on wargaming, game design, and the broader wargaming community. For example, the post "Thoughts on Re-Fighting History: War in the East" discusses the evolution of wargaming mechanisms and content. 
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5. Engaging with the wargaming community, as evidenced by the blog's participation in book giveaways and discussions. 
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In summary, the Palouse Wargaming Journal appears to be a blog focused on the author's personal wargaming activities, battle reports, painting projects, and commentary on the broader wargaming hobby. 

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The results are not too bad for a general assessment of the content and focus of this blog.  In fact, the results are quite good.

Notice that the emphasis on Italian Wars content seems to score higher than older content especially when the recent series of battle reports on Sanguetta are singled out. Since the battle reports on Sanguetta have only been published in March, search currency suggests that these nllp models are being retrained frequently.  The Thoughts on Re-Fighting History scored highly too.  Could this result be driven by reader commentary and discussion as (5) suggests?  Are these models devouring content as well as commentary?

Is Google actively vacuuming up Blogger content (without permission) to train its large language models?  Would this activity lead to an increase in pageview traffic or remain unseen in Blogger statistics?

This experiment raises a number of questions, hopefully, without making me out as a conspiracy theorist.  I may re-run this experiment later and see if results change as content evolves.

Have you tested these waters with your own blog?  What are your results?