15 months, 15 articles

It’s been 15 months since I started Scent of a Gamer, and it’s been a fun ride. The blog has not gone the way I had first thought. Originally, this was going to be the home of my painting projects and other articles would be an occasional things. Now the painting project updates are the rarity, but I have managed to keep to my ‘updated each week-end’ timetable, something I intend to continue.

The 15 most popular articles over the life of the blog aren’t the ones I would have guessed, but that has simple added to the interest for me in watching this blog grow.

1. MtG Artists: Nils Hamm. I started the MtG Artists series with my personal favourite, and the article has proved to be the single most popular article ont he site, by a long margin! Cleary I’m not the only player who likes this artist’s style.

2. Dropzone Commander review. I was impressed at the time by the sheer achivement this game represents on the part of one individual. From the number of hits, this game is one that is attracting plenty of attention online.

3. Willy Miniatures Chaos Team Review. This was an impulse buy from me, but not one I’ve regretted. The models from this Indiegogo project are great.

4. Saying Goodbye to Penny Arcade Report and Checkpoint. I was clearly not the only one looking for these two websites come 1 January 2014. The post announcing their demise was not prominent on the Penny Arcade site. Checkpoint is still being made though, which is nice.

5. Review of UCM starter army for Dropzone Commander. I feel guilty that I haven’t painted or even assembled these models yet.

6. Magic the Gathering: Theros Art Review. The magic art articles are rapidly becoming a mainstay of this site. I am a fan.

7. SAGA Anglo-Danes Tactics. The painting articles for my SAGA Anglo-Dane force did not make the top 15 articles list, but the tactics article for the army did. They are a tricky but worthwhile army to play.

8. PAX AUS 2013 Magic: the Gathering Panel. I had a fantastic time at PAX AUS in 2013. The Magic panel was a highlight, but honestly this was a week-end filled with highlights.

9. SAGA Game Review. Less popular than the Dropzone Commander review, but still a popular article, SAGA is another recent gem to hit the game market.

10. Talisman Figures. This is the only painting article to make the top 15, and these figures were almost all painted in the two months before I established the blog!

11. The Buy-in. I established this page to give myself and others an idea of how much it would realistically cost to start many of the games on the market today. The prices are based on those available from Australian stores, where GW’s pricing policy is gouge like it’s going out of fashion. Since the list first went up the prices of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 mainstays have increased, but I haven’t the heart to update them. You can pick up a 35 point Warmachine army for $400; you can’t get a 2,000 point Warhammer army for less than $1400.

12. Born of the Gods Art Review. This article follows on from Theros. The third set, Journey Into Nyx, releases in May 2014 so there will be another art review coming shortly.

13. Lords of Midnight review: A few games from my past have been released recently. This was a favourite. Many prefer this to its sequel, Doomdark’s Revenge, as the game is more straightforward and repeatable. I prefer the more chaotic sequel as in that game the goals are constant but your way and ease of achieving them will change every time.

14. Miniatures: On the cusp of a golden age? This was one of my earlier ‘think piece’ articles. On the whole I agree with my own premise; the indutyr is getting larger and more diverse, with new entrants popping up and sticking around. SAGA, Dropzone Commander, Dystopian Wars and Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures are all examples of these. The Star Wars game is interesting to me now, as it could point to the emergence of a higher standard of pre-painted models. Will this shakes things up further? We’ll see.