2025 - A Brief Summary - 2026 What to expect

Well it's soon the end of another year and probably time to take a look back on the past one, and to share some thoughts for the coming one.

2025 - Status

Yet another year, this is still a 'small blog' regarding number of blog posts and followers, but it's still the most active year so far with:

Blog posts:   59          (2024: 53)
Views:          109 000 (2024: 31700)
Comments:   260        (2024: 125)

In September 'something' happened and the number of hits on this blog increased dramatically. Usually my wargaming blogposts gets many times more hits than my model railway posts, but now it was the other way around. I belive this increased number of hits did not only happen to this blog, but to other wargaming blogs I follow as well. I don't think the interest and number of  'real' visitors have increased that much for the whole 'wargaming genere', so I suspect we've been targeted by web crawlers and search spiders, and that different A.I. services can provide better information about 'Wargaming' in 2026. It would be interesting to see what and where 'information' from this blog and in which context shows up again. If at all. It looked like this phenomenon only was active in September as from October on everything was back to 'normal' again.

So where does the viewers come from?

1. USA: 38 500 views (2024: 6302 views)
2. Hong Kong: 19 600 views (2024: 8750 views)
3. Singapore: 18 600 views (2024: 6540 views)
4. United Kingdom: 4 410 views (2024: 2023 views)
5. Mexico: 4 300 views 
6. Norway: 4 180 views (2024: 1855 views)
7. Brazil: 3 330 views
8. Vietnam: 2 020 views
9. China: 1 530 views (2024: 192 views)
10. Germany: 1 430 views (2024: 810 views)
11. Canada: 1 270 views (2024: 383 views)
12. France: 1 190 views
13. Austria: 853 views (2024: 100 views)
14. Netherlands: 761 views (2024: 187 views)
15. Russia: 477 views
16. Argentina: 470 views
17. Australia: 469 views (2024: 130 views)
18. Ireland: 424 views (2024: 94 views)
19. Iran: 405 views (2024: 121 views)
20. 'Others': 4 880 views (2024: 2990 views)

I'm not sure if so many actual viewers are from Southeast Asia, but I suspect most views from these countries actually are web crawlers or search spiders??

Last year I think many of the hits from Norway was by myself. This year many of the hits from Norway are still by me, but an increasingly numbers of them are by other Norwegian readers. It seems that model railway and exhibition blogposts are more popular by the Norwegian audience, and the wargaming blogposts are more popular by every one else but the Norwegians.

- And from which other web pages does the viewers enters from?

1. Google: 7 060 entries (2024: 197 entries)
2. Facebook: 2 695 entries (2024: 1878 entries)
3. Wargame Miscellany Blog: 669 entries
4. Bunker Talk Blog: 316 entries (2024: 236 entries)
5. Projects and Procrastination Blog: 257 entries (2024: 60 entries)
6. Duckduckgo.com: 234 entries (2024: 64 entries)
7. Wargaming with 54mm Toy Soldiers Blog: 166 entries (2024: 164 entries)
8. Bing.com: 133 entries (2024: 57 entries)
9. Re-directs from this blog: 117 entries (2024: 239 entries)
10. Oracle.com: 107 entries
11. Priceline.com: 71 entries
12. Duolingo.com: 69 entries
13. 54mm or Fight Blog: 65 entries (2024: 122 entries)
14. Glasdoor.com: 54 entries
15. Apartments.com: 53 entries
16. 'Others': 97 100 entries (2024: 28 300 entries)

I'm pleased that the blog has several re-directions from other blogs, and I am very grateful and appreciate all of you who are linking to it through your own blogs. - You all deserve a big 'Thank you'!!

- And what was the most popular views last year? 

1. More Garden Railway Rallies - 3 meetings in only 4 days (4040 views)
2. NEW! Kato Narrow Gauge UNITRACK (4020 views)
3. The Battle Benchy Board Game 1.0.0 (2540 views)
4. Räder müssen Rollen für den Sieg! - And a completion of the 'season' (2180 views)
5. Old West Mini-Wargame: Showdown at High Noon - A Wargame in a Matchbox Epilogue (1150 views)
6. 3 running-sessions and another Grand Opening - In just 10 days (981 views)
7. Benchy Battle (914 views)
8. One-Hour Skirmish Wargames (780 views)
9. "Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust" Dueling Game (684 views)
10. 1 BC (One Brain Cell) Toy Soldiers Rules (2022)  (653 views (2024: 391 views)
11. Print and Play for Free (2023 Prehistoric Wargame) (631 views) (2024: 401 views)
12. The Portable Wargame: Modern (2024) (614 views) (2024: 566 views)
13. Making "V"-miniatures on a budget (2024) (585 views) (2024: 172 views)
14. In war (-gaming) your soldiers need protective cover! (2020) (511 views) (2024: 292 views)
15. Wargame in a Wee Matchbox Challenge (Part 3) - The Finale (2024) (491 views)
16. Cowboys vs. Aliens in a prequel "V" Wargame (2024) (468 views) (330 views)
17. Frost and Fire - Intersection of Chaos (452 views)
18. FUBAR (2022) (450 views) (2024: 116 views) 
19. Close Wars (2022) (450 views) (2024: 134 views)
20. The Bots are Coming! (401 views)

... -And the least viewed post from 2025 was........

Two Grand openings and a Closure with 'only' 45 views

Here are some impressions from the wargames I played in 2025 (click on the text below the photos for a Battle Report):

One Hour Skirmish Wargames

One Brain Cell Toy Soldier Rules

Snowball Fight Rules

Wargame in a Matchbox

Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust Dueling Game

RISK

Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust Dueling game adapted for ranged combat

Basic Battles 2.0

Benchy Battles

The Battle Benchy Board Game 1.0.0

Basic Battles 2.0

The Bots are Coming!

Holiday Season Wars Featherstone-style 

It's only been some 12 tabletop wargames played last year, but I've been busy preparing and running my garden trains as well. In 2025 I joined 22 different running-sessions on different Garden Railways belonging to members of our MRC and other friends.

2026 - What to expect

I've had several plans what to wargame or model in 2025, but sometimes these plans have been overtaken by other emerging projects and events. So I'll guess I'll have enough postponed wargames and modelling projects to keep me busy in 2026 as well (in addition to everything else "upcoming"). Which again reminds me that's just 2 weeks left for this. What do you wish for?

Me?! -1:32 scale reissues of the not so 'Modern' anymore 'Cold War' German, British, U.S. and Russian infantry.

Inspired by the illustration at the head of this blogpost, Linus and I had a good time enjoying some treats while trying to recreate it. It's not very easy trying to give a Jack Russell instructions to try to recreate a spesific motif and I think this was the closest we got:

The best shoot was actually before we started the photoshoot. Not as chaotic as the reference,  but still a Jack Russell and some army men:

I am very thankful to all of you that during the last year have been visiting or following my blog, reading it, and contributes with your comments. It all means a lot to me and you all makes it worth creating this blog I hope you all will continue follow, reading, comment and share your thoughts in 2026 as well. 

I wish you all the best for 2026, and I'm looking forward to keep following your blogs!

Happy New Year!!

Holiday Season wars Featherstone-style

The last years I've usually played a 'Seasonal Christmas Wargame' between my Gingerbread and Cookie Men armies. Last year I also added a Cookie Monster to my Holiday games encouraged by James from Quantrill's Toy Soldiers Blog. I've usually been using different rules for these 'Seasonal games' each year, and needed to find something 'new' for this year. My initial plan this year was to play using the 'One Page Rules - Age of Fantasy: Skirmish', but when I saw a Battle Report with the full rules posted by Bob on his Wargame Miscellany Blog recently I changed my mind. Bob described these rules as Featherstone-style based on Donald Featherstone's Ancient rules and they seemed very complete and playable, and I got really interested to try them out while I was reading his blogpost. Bob and his friend played a game with these rules using Vikings and Anglo-Saxon miniatures, but I think my 'Gingerbread men and Cookie men armies' are armed in a similar way and therefore can be used with these rules. My war bands are smaller than what's suggested by the rules so I just had to amend them to suit my smaller units. This game and 'Battle Report' is not a review of the rules, but just playing for pure fun.

Rules

This is the rules how they were posted by Bob Cordery. I've just formatted them to fit one page in a Word-document for ease of reference:

Scenario

The Scenario is simply to control and hold the Christmas table (top).

Forces:

• Gingerbread men Army
• A leader with sword and shield.
• A unit of 2 'Knights' armed with swords and shields. They will fight as 'Huscarls' and 'armoured infantry'.
• A unit of 3 unarmored infantry armed with spears. They will fight as 'Fyrd/ Bondi'.
• A unit of 3 archers. 

• Cookie men Army:
• A leader with sword and shield
• A unit of 2 'Knights' armed with sword and shield. They will fight as 'Huscarls' and 'armoured infantry'.
• A unit of 3 unarmored infantry armed with spears. They will fight as 'Fyrd/ Bondi'.
• A unit of 3 archers. 

• Cookie Monster: Perhaps not so 'Featherstone style' but a single Cookie Monster on the table to create some chaos. It will fight as 'Berserker' and only in melee, have +2 in melee each time and a health of 6.

The rules are not so clear regarding initiative, so I roll dice for initiative each turn, and always activate the cookie-monester last. So let's poor some 'Christmas brew', roll some dice and let the game begin:

Turn 1

To close in the large gap on the battlefield the combatants are advancing toward each other. Still none of them are in range for ranged weapons, The Gingerbread Husecarls are moving around the wood to flank the Cookie men army:

Turn 2

The mutual advancement continues and the armies opposing each other are in range of the archers. - With no effect though:

Turn 3

To eliminate the efficiency  of the Cookie men's bows the Gingerbread Fyrd charges into a melee. 

The Gingerbread archers managed to take out a member of the Cookie men Fyrd, which in return charges into the Gingerbread archers accompanied with their leader. At the same time the Cookie monster had caught upon the charging Cookie men warband and takes out another one of their Fyrd:

Turn 4

The Gingerbread archers falls back so they can take advantage of their ranged weapons. -With no success though so the Cookie men keep following them. The Cookie men archers makes a tactical retreat to use the advantage of their ranged weapons. -With no success: The Cookie monster engages one of the Cookie men Huscarls in a melee:

Turn 5

As the Cookie men Fyrd and leader keeps fighting the Gingerbread archers in melee, it finally pays of and they takes out one of those Gingerbread archers. The Gingerbread Fyrd follows the Cookie men archers and charges into another melee. The Cookie monster finish one of the Cookie Huscarls off:

Turn 6

The last Cookie Huscarl charges into a melee with the Gingerbread Fyrd, and manage to takes one of them out:

...The remaining part of the Gingerbread Fyrd counter attack and takes out the Cookie Huscarl which earlier received a wound from the Cookie monster:

Turn 7

The Gingerbread archers keep falling back to create som space between them and the following Cookie men Fyrd and leader. Their arrow misses again:

The Gingerbread Huscarls are finally around the woods, but the Cookie men archers turns around to front them. No hits though. The Gingerbread leader teams up with his archers. The Cookie monster charges the last  Gingerbread Fyrd and takes it out:

Turn 8

The melee between the Gingerbread archers and leader continues and the last Cookie men Fyrd is lost. The Cookie monster gives the Gingerbread leader a wound. Behind them the Gingerbread Huscarls has made a 'shieldwall' against those incoming arrows, awaiting a flanging maneuver from their leader and Fyrd:

Turn 9

The Cookie men leader takes out one Gingerbread archer and the Cookie monster takes out the Gingerbread leader:

The Gingerbread Huscarls realizes that there will be no flanking maneuver  and relief so they charges into the Cookie men archers:

Turn 10

The remaining Gingerbread archer manages to take out the Cookie men leader... 

...the the Cookie monster takes out the the last Gingerbread archer:

Turn 11

In a melee the Gingerbread Huscarls takes out one of the Cookie men archers:

Turn 12

The rest of the Cookie men archers runs of in panic and send soe arrows against those Gingerbread Huscarls with no effect:

The Gingerbread Huscarls follows up. So does the Cookie monster:

Turn 13

The Gingerbread Huscarls charges into another melee with the Cookie men archers and takes one of them out:

The Cookie monster attack one of the Gingerbread Huscarls from behind and takes him out:

Turn 14

Both the last remaining Cookie men archer and Gingerbread Huscarl 'freezes'. The Cookie monster takes advantage and approaches the last Gingerbread Huscarl:

Turn 14

The Gingerbread Huscarl and Cookie monster continue to fight in a melee:

Realizing that they have a common enemy the Cookie man archer also charges into a melee with the Cookie monster. Both of them get a wound:

Turn 15

The Cookie monster finis of the Gingerbread Huscarl, and the Cookie man backs off and fire an arrow with no success:

Turn 16

The Cookie monter follow the retreating Cookie man and charges into another melee. -With no success though:

Turn 17

The Cookie man keeps backing and shoots another unsuccessful arrow:

Turn 18

The Cookie monster keeps following the fleeing Cookie man and finish him off in a melee:

The game took about an hour and a half to complete and the complete rules can be found on Bobs's blog 'Wargame Miscellany' in this blogpost. Thank you for the rules and inspiration Bob!
I guess the rules for next years Seasonal Battle gives it self, as it will probably and finally be 'One Page Rules - Age of Fantasy: Skirmish'.

Good continuing on the Holidays!