Tuesday 16 May 2017

Vampifan's Views 91 - 1,000,000 Page Views & Prize Giveaway

My blog has just reached a major milestone. One million page views. Yes, one million page views. Okay. I know a lot of them will have come from me (I check my blog at least five times per day) and of course, the dreaded spammers. But for those of you genuine followers I would say a massive THANK YOU!
Since starting my blog way back in March 2009, I never expected it to be quite so popular. It has been an absolute labour of love for me. Even if it wasn't quite so popular, I'd still post it twice per week. It lets me showcase my vast collection of 28mm scale miniatures, which is a good record for myself to remind me of what I have. Plus, it's a great platform for me to record my batreps, which I so enjoy doing. I am at heart a gamer and the reason I collect miniature figures is to game with them. I am not a competition painter... never have been and never will be. My painting is of a good standard but not great. I have certainly developed as a painter this century as I try out new techniques like dry-brushing, ink washes, highlighting and shading. When I look at my old figures from the 1970's and 1980's I think, "oh my God, did I really paint that?" But I have developed a lot and I'm very comfortable with my painting style nowadays, even though it is more time-consuming.
Thanks to my blog I have made some amazing friends from all around the globe, which is what the Internet should be about. Without your continued support this blog would never have achieved the respect and reputation it has. What I do may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I'm fine with that, but for those of you who do get it, my heartfelt thanks.
Incidentally, this is my 799th post, so maybe I should have a double celebration for 800 posts and 1,000,000+ page views. How about a celebratory competition? Yep, I thought that would attract your attention! I'm feeling flush, so I'm going offer three cash prizes in the form of gift vouchers that can be redeemed at online stores. First prize will be for a £50.00 gift voucher and the two runners up prizes will be for £25.00 gift vouchers. You get to chose which store you'd like your gift voucher for. Doing a quick cursory glance, I noticed that Amazon, Games Workshop, Mantic Games, Warlord Games and Wayland Games all offer gift vouchers that can be redeemed at their online stores. There are probably others but I'll leave them for you to decide on if you are one of the lucky winners. To enter the competition all you have to do is leave me a comment saying why you like this blog. Simple, huh? I'll get my mum to draw three names out of a hat (my baseball cap) sometime next month. I'll then announce the winners on my blog and they can tell me what store they'd like their gift voucher for.
Once again, many thanks to every one of you who have viewed my blog.

Bryan aka Vampifan.

Late news extra. 
Dave Stone from Wargames Terrain Workshop has a further gift to offer for the lucky prize winners. He'll add a resin cast miniature of Tweak and/or Ape Judge Heston to the prizes. Note that these rare figures are not available from his webstore.
Tweak the good alien from the Judge Dredd Cursed Earth Saga.

Ape Judge Heston. Both figures painted and sculpted by Dave Stone.

46 comments:

  1. What I enjoy about your blog :
    The Batrep's you post especially the JD one's in comic book form.
    The monthly musings, highlighting bits that people may have missed.
    The reviews of products, from your own perspective.
    The postings of your painted models which go from strength to strength.
    These are in no way in order as I find them all as vaulable.
    (No need to put me in the draw, just wanted to comment on what I like about your blog)

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    1. What a lovely response, Dave. I'll not include you in the draw but do let me know if you want to change your mind.

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  2. What I like about your blog : I came for the papercraft, stayed for zombies, and now I just follow because I enjoy reading about your journey as a gamer and painter.

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    1. Good answer, Raspoutine. You're the first one in the draw.

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  3. I found the blog when looking for a zombie wargame, because of your excellent vampifan campaign I was hooked and discovered ATZ. Now we have JDMG and soon to have Rum 'n Bones, seriously what's not to like?

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    1. Many thanks, Andy. I always appreciate your comments and your own gaming exploits inspire me.

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  4. Hear hear. I totally agree with Dave, Raspoutine and do Gobbo Grotto.

    Well done Bryan. A million hits is certainty an milestone. I've been watching your counter grow ever since the early 500,000's I think and it's amazing to watch it tick away.

    Again well done and congrats.

    Tim

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    1. Cheers, Tim. Getting to know you better and taking part in your ongoing fantasy campaign has been two of the highlights of this year for me.

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    2. Yeah mate hopefully you don't get killed in this next encounter. I think it's going to be a doozy compared to the dottle of the others so far.

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    3. I certainly don't want Per to die but if it has to be then so be it. The party seems to be working so well together at the moment. Long may it continue!

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  5. Very many congratulations Bryan, this is a fabulous achievement and a clear indication of your dedication to the hobby and your generosity of spirit. I feel a bit of a fraud about entering the competition as I am not the most prolific of commenters on your posts, that said with regards to why I keep finding my way back here? It's simple, you are so very passionate about what you do and that generosity is very contagious. Here's to the next million hits.

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    1. Thanks, Michael. You're certainly no fraud in my eyes and I'm only too happy to include you in the prize draw.

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  6. What I like about your blog : Well I was searching for zombie strippers and your Zombie Tramp conversion came up. So I came for the zombies and stayed for the comics reports! LOL You have an endless source of inspiration here Bryan. Looking forward to the next million views, and 799 posts. LOL

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    1. Ha, ha! great answer, Tom. I do admire your honesty!

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  7. My sincerest congratulations Bryan. Very well done on an inspirational blog :-) What I like so much about this blog is that it costs me a fortune!!! ;-)

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    1. Thank you kindly, Simon, and my sincerest apologies to your wallet! :-)

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  8. Congratulations on the marvelous milestone Bryan, and I just want you to know that your blog is one of THE main inspirations to return to wargaming AND start a zombie apocalypse campaign AND literally, just now starting my own blog.
    Many thanks, and I'm now off to raise a glass to toast your acheivement and wish you all the best for the future posts!

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    1. It is comments like this that inspire me so much to keep on doing what I love so much. I wish you every success with your zombie campaign and blog. Thank you very much. :-)

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  9. You blog was the main reason I got back into modelling and wargaming. THANK YOU!

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  10. Wow! Congratulations and very generous of you!

    I really love your blog because of the comprehensiveness with which you go through and detail all the miniatures or elements of each thing you review--it really gives a us a great look at all the individual components and how well they work togetehr.

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  11. WEll I am in!

    As for why I like this blog 2 reasons. 1) there is a nice guy running it. and 2) it is updated frequently. Both reasons combined make it successful in my opinion.

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    1. Aw, you're too kind, Clint! But thanks anyway.

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  12. I can't remember how I arrived on your blog. Was it a rainy autumn day feeling bored at the office or in a crowed subway coach while squeezed between a youngster playing a game and a busy office worker writing emails on his blackberry (yes, there still were people using Blackberry when I first found the blog).
    Nevertheless, I discovered the adventures of Vampifan, the zombie apocalypse survivor. That's how you got me hooked. The pictures, stories, cliffhangers and your permanent virtual presence made reading your blog a joyful experience.
    Even during that awful moment when real life made your online avatar disappear, there was ample content to discover or re-read.
    Thanks God, you came back, with even more new ideas. Your storytelling, step by step explanation of the rules and other hobby related are why I keep on coming back.
    And cherry on the cake, there is always a sexy Vampirella popping up from time to time, but this is another story.

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    1. That's a terrific answer, Cedric. Kudos to you for mentioning Vampirella! :-)

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  13. Must admit I came here for the posts about Vampirella and stayed to read the entertaining articles. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Cheers, Matt. Nice to know you're also a Vampirella fan. Big thumbs up!

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  14. Congrats, Bryan!

    You make great posts!

    Greetings from Brazil!

    Mauther

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    1. Hi, Mauther. So nice to hear from you. I love your own blog and have downloaded quite a few of the models you've showcased. Keep up the great work!

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  15. Congratulations and Thanks, Bryan!

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  16. What do I like about this blog most? Probably that the Venn diagram of our shared interests has a great deal of overlap!

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  17. The World Wide Webs most iconic Zombie Fan. Cheerful posts and colourful miniatures. More DVD reviews please and less book reviews as you've cost me a fortune

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    1. Thanks, Phil. Actually, it's been a long while since I posted any book or DVD reviews.

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  18. Congratulations Bryan, well deserved it is too! What do I like about your blog, well most of it really your comic style batreps are always a joy to read (despite Simons disparaging comments on Judge Webb's performance), and you Monthly Musing are always a good read.

    Your tendency for showcasing scantily clad young ladies doesn't hurt either if I'm honest ;-)

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Much obliged to you Roger. I really love the comic style batreps. Judge Webb is far better than Simon thinks he is. I suspect Simon is jealous of Judge Webb. You'll be pleased to know that the scantily clad ladies are here to stay!

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  19. Congratulations, Bryan Scott!
    I love your painted models and batreps!

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  20. Congrats on the milestones Bryan. I doubt (and hope) you're nowhere near finished. While the WWG police station brought me here, it's you - your writing, your personality, even the way you seem to always manage to respond to each and every one of us - that keeps me coming back after all of these years.

    I do love that police station though :)

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    1. Ah, how lovely to hear from you, Russ. Yes, the WWG police station was a slog to build and almost made me give up card modelling. I put so much effort into it. That said, it is the one card building that I am most proud of. Thanks for remembering it.

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  21. Congratulations on you Million hits Bryan!!! And the nigh on 900 posts! Like others gave said, the paper police station game was a sublime piece of wargaming. I still can't believe it was all paper though!!!

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  22. Congratulations! 1 million views is really astonishing if you think about it too much.

    My favorite part of your blog is the sheer variety of figures you post, and how you show them off.

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