Adsense, is it worth it?

So, this is going to be a bit off topic as it were. I keep looking at the AdSense, and every so often it gets mentioned on other posts. Now, I understand why its good, money for nothing is always a good thing! However, I realise that it can take a long time to actually get any money, with the fact that you need to get to the magic 60 pound mark to claim anything but also that each click generates only pennies, meaning that that 60 pound can take a whole lot ofclicks to achieve.

My main reason for not going with it has always been that I don't really care about the money and that I don't want to end up more of an advertisement site than a blog. My other reason forgot doing it is because I don't generate to sort ofviews that other blogs do, I mean, after 2 and a half years I'm sitting on seven and a half thousand views, and even though the viewing figures continue to grow each month, I'm not in the same league as some blogs who can generate that many views a week.

This leaves me wondering if it will be worth it and if it will actually benefit the blog at all. How many views does it take to get to that magic 60? How much does each click on the blog generate? It appears the answer is not much, while most of what I found was in dollars, most seem to suggest between 10 and 40 pence or that to earn 100000 dollars (80000 pound) a year (I wish!) you would need a minimum of 100000 views per day! (That's with 1000 ad clicks a day or 1% of site visitors clicking on ads)

So lets say for arguememts sake, I'd get around 20 pence per ad clicked, that means if I had started at the very beginning, I would have earned around 15 pound. So the blog as picked up a little in recent months, with a pretty constant count of just over 1000 views a month, but this will net me about 2 pound a month, which while better than nothing, is going to take 3 years to get me to 60 quid.

Another point I have noted is that the ads don't seem to appear in the mobile view and as I tend to do all my reading on my phone (as well as a lot of my writing) I don't see any ads, and therefore can't click on them. I don't know whether this is something that can be easily solved or if is a flaw in the system, so to speak.

So I suppose the big question is, is it really worth the effort and will those of you who read the blog mind the adverts?

Painting- pre or post?

Right, so a few weeks ago I posted up my Valkyrie, finished to reasonable tabletop standard, although it still needs some kind of varnish/clear coat and possibly cam on the top. The main thing, in regards to this post anyway, is that I left the crew out until I had painted the cockpit. This is the first time I have done such a thing, as in painted before fully assembling something, but its got me thinking. Lots of blogs I read do paint before assembly, which makes a lot of sense to me, which is why I tried it but there seems to be a lot more to it than just paint and assemble. While it made painting the cockpit a lot easier, getting the pilots to fit was a right pain and required so remodeling.

The empty cockpit

Pilot and Co-pilot

Both of these models didn't fit when I first tried to put them in the cockpit, before I painted I might add. The pilot wasn't to bad, its mote the throttle that's off, half floating above the consol. The co-pilot on the other hand was a pain. This could be down to the fact that I've lost the original body and so had to sub in a replacement, but the shoulders were to wide to fit in to the cockpit. They would have fitted under the edges if I'd have put them in during the build, but now they needed trimming. Lucky, its underneath and when painted it was next to impossible to see the trimming but it highlighted one of the problems, sometimes there's a reason for the build order!

Fitted, finally

Front view.

Now its all done, I think that there are a lot of advantages to pre painting but there are also drawbacks. If you want to do it properly takes a lot of time, dry fitting and double checking everything and sometimes, you may need to paint and assemble bits in stages, (assemble, paint, assemble a bit more, paint, assemble some more) which can be very time consuming, but ultimately does produce a superior finish.

Stone Dragons list

Here is the list for the other new force, the Stone Dragons. Again this is just a 500 point force and some how it also contains 16 models, not done on purpose I assure you. This list was a little harder to put together though as I have used the Space Wolves codex as the base and as most people know, the Space Wolves have no successors, the Wolf Brothers having been discontinued. So I tried to keep the force as generic as possible, not using any special characters where possible. I did however have to use the Rune Priest to get a psyker in and I used the Lone Wolves, mostly to add some fluff and for the fun of it.

So here is the 500 point CAD list;

Rune Priest - ML1, Melta Bombs, Rune Axe

Lone Wolf - Wolf Claws

Lone Wolf - Combi-plasma, Power fist

Grey Hunters - Wolf Guard pack leader w/combi-plasma, bolt pistol and CCW, 4x CCW, Plasma gun, Plasma pistol

Grey Hunters - 5x CCW, Plasma pistol, Plasma gun

Long Fangs - 2x Lascannons

So, not a bad little list i think, granted it'll not win any tournaments but that's not the idea. The Rune Priest is there as I wanted a psyker leading, simple as that really. The Grey Hunter squads are the only real choice for troops, I did consider the Blood Claws but at BS3 their not great. I loaded up with as much plasma as I could, although I noticed the other day when I had the models out to do some test pieces that one of the models I wanted to use for the lone wolf with combi actually has a maul not a fist, so there are 10 points going begging. That may mean a Combi on the Priest or maybe something extra for one of the long fangs, I don't know at the moment.

When this list is combined with one of the other lists, be it the Hawks or Inquisition or ever a guard list, I think it will bring something extra to the table, or at least that's the idea.

Old stuff day - a post revisited

So, today is old stuff day, and I though that I would join in the fun. I've had a run through all my old posts and decided that I'd throw this post back out there. It was a piece of fiction I created just on a whim one day when I was bored (something I have no time fir these days!). It probably not going to win me any awards, but I enjoyed writing it and as it was a very early post, from march 2015, I doubt many people would have seen it at the time, so here it is;



"Sergeant"
.......
"Sergeant Maxen"
.......
"SERGEANT MAXEN"

"Yes, Demi-Sargent Ilar"

"Large rebel group approaching from the south west, intercept in 45 minutes"

"Is the target present"

"Target is presented"

"Continue over watch, secure evac route" not that Demi-sergeant Ilar would need such instructions.

Dam, why were they coming from the south west, they were supposed to be coming from the north west! 5 days laying in wait and they may end up getting trampled by hundreds of rebels, dam AM intelligence! Hopefully they will avoid the thick woods and marsh and keep to the road. At least with the ford ahead they will have little choice but to move in to the kill zone.

"Squad Epsilon, Target approaching, intercept in 40 minutes, ready all weapons, prepare for fighting withdrawal"

Even with his enhanced hearing the sounds of the squad around him preparing their weapons and bodies to react were barely audible, a good sign, even after all this time laying silently and still in the damp ground, his marines remained unaffected. He looked to his own weapon and started to run though the standard checks, testing the magazine, the bolt and a dozen other items. At the same time, he tensed and relaxed each muscle in his body, ensuring that each was ready for an rapid and instant  response should one be needed.

"Target moving north of location, 20 minutes to intercept"

Good, so luck at last. He thumbed a response and a green light lit up in his helmet to show it had been received. It was time to prepare mentally for the task I hand. A prayer to the Emperor and the Dorm and a blessing to his bolter, Some Concentration. The name still brought a smile to his face, even after all these years.

"Recruit Maxen, what are you doing!"

"Sergeant?"

"Your supposed to be shooting the target NOT the wall! Some days I wonder if you could hit a Thunderhawk with that bolt pistol, even if you were standing INSIDE the blessed thing! You'll never hit anything with out some concentration."

The next day they had been handed their personal weapons and from the first moment that he had laid eyes on the battered old bolter, only one thought had come to mind. While the other recruits had taken the existing names engraved by the previous recruit or had thought of new names, such as vengeance, destroyer, justice and slayer, he had only one name in mind, Some Concentration. While others had received their new bolters upon becoming full battle brothers, he had kept his and carried it all these years. With it he had become the best shot in the company and one of the best in the Chapter, and that way why he was here.....

His concentration was broken by the twinkling of comms lights in his helmet, two of the marines were talking. He opened up the channel to listen in.

"Confirmed, I have visual, targets entering Beta teams arcs"

So the target was entering the kill zone, sticking to the road and the dry ground, a good sign, maybe this wasn't going to be a disaster after all.

"Sergeant, Target entering kill zone"

"Confirmed"

He could see the target now, the old man was not as impressive as he thought he would be, but it was always the same. It was hard to believe at times, but the story was always the same, this old man had raised the population of Hjaltland in to rebellion with tales of freedom and democracy. Yet here he was, looking fat and well fed, his rich clothes flowing in the wind as he was fanned and carried aloft on a luxurious sedan by half starved, sweating men and women, while hundreds more followed along hoping for some hand out or another. His key followers could be seen similarly dressed and looking well fed and watered, trailing directly in his wake, acting like gods amongst men. There would be no glory today, just cold hard retribution and justice.

Maxen raised his bolter in to position and squinted slightly down the scope, reading off all the targeting information.

"5 minutes till intercept, stand ready"

A little longer and a little closer, then it would be his job to eliminate the target and the rest of the squad would take out any of the retinue that they could, hopefully killing off the power behind the rebellion. Although this would normally be a scout units job, the lack of available scouts and the importance of the mission meant that it had fallen to Squad Epsilon and himself.

"2 minutes"

This was it, the target was in the kill zone and in range. He drew his breath and thumbed the mic switch.....

VISUAL OVERLOAD...........
VISUAL SENSORS COMPENSATING.......

As his vision cleared he could see the crowd of rebels recoiling and the targets sedan was no longer in sight, but what caught the attention of the sergeant most, was the figures that had appeared across the ford, Scions. Not many of them, and now that the crown was reacting and weapons were appearing, not nearly enough of them.

"Target lost!!"

Maxen looked back to the crowd, the target was gone, the sedan lying discarded and broken on the floor, but he knew where to look as he scanned the back of the rebels. There he was, hurrying away like the coward he was, and they had the nerve to slander the Emperors name. When did He every run from the enemy. Maxen took aim with his bolter, zeroing in on the target as it moved through the crowd.

"Stand by to withdraw on my order"

He squinted down the scope, waiting for the shot. Waiting for that moment when the target would be in full view, even if only for a second.

He felt the bolter recoiled in to his shoulder, he felt the motion through his armour as if it was his own skin. He watched as the targets head exploded in a cloud of red and white, while the now lifeless corpse collapsed to the ground. He could see the reaction of the crowd around the dead body, recoiling in horror and shock. His job done, he took one last look at the scene, weapons had appeared on the rebel side, in quite some numbers, more than he would have expected and the Scions were starting to feel the effects of the rebels numbers.

"Beta squad withdraw, alpha squad prepare to over watch"

As the squad started to withdraw, marine Tegid spoke up

"Are we to support the Scions?"

"Negative, we withdraw as planned" This was not the time for action, they were outnumber and did not have any support elements in place.

"I don't think they'll need our support" can a reply from demi-sergeant Ilar.

Maxen was about to ask that mean when the roar of jet engines became clear and three Valkyries came roaring over head, multiple launch rocket pods spitting death, door gunners leaning out firing their heavy bolters randomly and indiscriminately in to the crowd.

"Withdraw at speed, we move to the extraction point at half run, weapons free, eliminate targets as necessary, move, move, move"

The tone of his voice left little doubt as to the urgency of the message, the last thing that the sergeant wanted was to get caught in the crossfire. The Valkyries rockets and Scions HS lasguns could make short work of the squad if they weren't careful.

One last look back at the kill zone before the marines disappear over the hill showed a scene of carnage, with bodies all over the place, the scions advancing over the ford, with the now hovering Valkyries, continuing to pore rockets, multilaser shots and heavy bolter shells in the fleeing rebels. It was uncertain whether the full retinue of the heretic's had been eliminated, but whatever the case, the rebels had been dealt a blow this day and the Emperors Disciples had opened their campaign on Hjaltland with a successful mission.