2023 in Review

As Tank Archives nears the conclusion its eleventh year, I've decided to bring up the traditional year-end summary from the blog's birthday on February 28th to New Year's Eve. Without further ado, let's jump in to see what I've been up to for the last twelve months.

You may have noticed that there are fewer and fewer articles going up on this blog. I'm not getting tired of writing, in fact, in 2023 I've written more than ever! Earlier this year, I published my third book through Military History Visualized's new publisher: Military History Group. The book itself is a resounding success, with very positive reviews from notable figures in the military history world, including Steven Zaloga and Dr. Roman Töppel.

In addition to my third book, I handed in three new manuscripts this year, which naturally reduced the amount of time I have to dedicate to this blog. While this should give my fans plenty of new material for 2024, the amount research required to write at this rate takes a toll. However, with two more projects in flight, 2025 is bound to be a fruitful year for publications as well.

In case you missed it, my latest book came out earlier this year. Grab a copy!

Of course, the blog is far from my only presence on the internet. My presence on Twitter is still growing. With a new 8000 followers this year, Tank_Archives reached a respectable 40,000 earlier this year. Although the popularity of Twitter in general seems to be waning rapidly, neither Mastodon, Threads, or Instagram have proven to be suitable replacements, so there is no plan to jump ship quiet yet.

My second largest platform, Facebook, also hit a milestone. TankArchivesBlog hit 10,000 followers. It's a promising platform, but it might be a while before I catch up to Twitter in sheer numbers. 

On the other hand, Youtube is showing a bit of promise. I dusted off my account after a fairly anemic 2022, to great results. In addition to my own channel, I kicked off the year with a stream alongside The Chieftain and also appeared in a few videos on Military History Visualized addressing the IS-2's weight, crew training, the reasons behind the birth and death of the KV-2, and why the KV series was a dead end and a new family of heavy tanks had to rise to replace it.

Of course, my presence isn't just expanding online. I had the opportunity to spend some time with (and in!) not one but two T-34-85 tanks, one at Aquino Tank Weekend and one at the Capel Military Show. That's only a small part of my reenacting exploits, and you can check out the 191st Rifle Division on Instagram to see what I get up to when I trade my padded tanker's helmet for a steel infantry one.

That's it for this year's highlights. Here's to making many more in 2024!