The day of my 1000th "recorded" game of ASL finally came on April 4th, 2025. Many unrecorded games were played, but lost in the mists of memories past. I've been thinking about this blog post and is happened to coincide with my 900th "published" post. There have been some that were deleted over the years and one that I wrote in anger/despair last year and promptly sent back to draft. My post about Otto Carius' passing was deleted outright after an unknown reader threatened me with death for my fascist loving ways. Blogging ain't easy.
Last night, I saw a post from Jim Bishop, stating that he was ending his own blog, The Bishop Says. I was very surprised as his blog had from all observations a very interested audience. His focus on rules and game play are generally very well received in the ASL Community. So, I was sad to hear that he is taking a break. But I also deeply understand. Feedback, which is so critical to bloggers is too often negative in both scope and impact. So much so in some cases, that bloggers retreat from the process altogether. Blogging is hard work and if there's little to no return on the investment in time...then why bother at all. The ASL Community is certainly less without Jim's fine blog and his ASL acumen. I can think of no one out there who can really up that slack. Hopefully, Jim will remain an active voice in the other ASL spaces, Discord, Slack and of course the Game Squad ASL Forum. More than few other active bloggers have packed up their tents. I still miss Roy Connelly's excellent blog, which was shuddered a number of years ago. ASL is a big tent and the more performers...the better the game is for all concerned.
Last year, I took a long look at what I wanted to gain from blogging. I questioned last April whether or not I even wanted to continue. My subscriber list is very small and I've noticed fewer and fewer likes over the years for my postings on the various Facebook ASL pages. These were the telltale signs that my audience was shrinking and certainly interest in the blog was waning. I took a step back and focused more on playing the game. Dan Best and I were playing nearly four games a week, so it was pretty easy to just spend Sunday playing as opposed to blogging. And as the year progressed, it became easier and long-time readers suddenly found that most Mondays were absent a Grumble Jones AAR.
But, I discovered that I was doing better. I limited myself to a single AAR post each month and the traditional monthly scenario. So the blog persisted and kept going albeit at a slower pace and with less content. What I realized is that you blog for yourself first and your audience second. That is 100% true with me. My blog is a bit of an ASL diary that I like to share with a couple hundred other people who enjoy the pathos I share of my ASL experience.
One of the things I discovered about blogging AAR's is that it was a form of therapy. After a very difficult loss, you often find yourself dwelling on the bad dice, the rules argument of a host of things that kept you from winning. And we can be honest, there are times in ASL, where the loss is humiliating and sometimes made more humiliating by your opponent. There is no fifth inning "Tee Ball" in ASL. You either take you a@@ whipping like a man or give the concession.
But as I began to blog my games, it allowed me to replay them and I found myself enjoying the game all over as an observer. It really helped me to recenter my focus on enjoying the game. And I could often infuse my sense of humor into the blogpost and poke fun at my mistakes. Blogging has been great therapy and allowed me to enjoy ASL even more.
So, at the end of the day, Grumble Jones will keep typing along and in the not too distant future...we'll be looking back on the 1000th blogpost.
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No doubt...there are more than a few out there who are not fans of my often irreverent approach to ASL. A little Heresy is good for the soul though.
So what about my 1000th game. Yeah, it was a very lackluster and forgettable experience. MM101 Makin Crossfire. My hapless Japanese were simply walked right over by Dan's Marines and Stuart Tanks. My 1000th game was an epic loss and quite honestly so many of the things I dislike in ASL. But at the end of the day, it was another fun game of ASL in an arc spanning from 1989 to 2025. How many other games can any of us say that we have played for so long and found it to be infinitely challenging and entertaining. ASL really stands alone as a game that becomes a lifestyle choice. You can't play it half-a@@. It's unforgiving system that punishes you early and often. The rewards though are equally epic. My playing of the Pegasus Bridge CG in 2014 still stands out as the penultimate wargame experience of my life. It was everything that ASL aspires to be.
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And thank you to the readers of this blog.
Thank you for allowing me to hit 900 posts
and as always
thank you for spending your valuable time at Grumble Jones!
We will see you on Hill 621...the view is magnificent!!!
I enjoy reading your blog, partly it's about the shared experience of ASL. AARs are useful as a record and as an introspective. As our hobby ages, more 'zines and blogs will go silent. So we appreciate whatever you can give.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a long lived and interesting blog.
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