I’ll probably be changing web hosts this week, so there might be some downtime here. Once that’s out of the way I’ll make a final decision on the name, put together a web page for the carnival and register it with Blog Carnival etc.

Number of posts to include in each one: History Carnival recommends 20-40, which is probably about right. Maybe no more than a quarter on the same war.

It’s good that there are so many people blogging about the ACW. It would be nice to encourage similar numbers to blog on other wars rather than trying to keep down the number of ACW blogs.

Language is going to have to be mostly English, but individual hosts could include a few posts in different languages at their discretion.

I’ve also been thinking about representations of war in fiction. What about representations of fictional wars? In fictional universes? Where do you draw the line? It wouldn’t be good to have science fiction fans arguing about whether the Enterprise could beat the Executor, but it also wouldn’t be good to exclude stuff like Esther’s work on WoW. Maybe leave it up to hosts to use their “common sense”. I think quality is more important than rigid guidelines about subject matter.

I would be willing to host sometime in the future.

Best of luck,
Grant Jones

And I agree with everyone above who has pointed out you need to get the name right so that it does reflect the full spectrum of what you want to cover without turning off those that may otherwise get into what the concept can offer and without attracting roving bandits and sleazy militias. And without being sounding too bland or glorifying the worst and dismissing the best either. And remember, the one thing all soldiers have in common, everywhere and anywhere is a very black sense of humour.

In this spirit, I proffer a few title suggestions, some of them serious:
Up In Arms
Supply Lines
The Last Post
Blood, Sweat and Tears
A Darkling Plain
Mentioned In Dispatches
Fight Club
Military Musings
Present Arms
War and Pieces
Blogs Of War
Out of Uniform
Reconnaissance
Out On The Flanks
History Is Hell
The Military History Parade
Behind The Front
Outposts
The Lost Patrol
The Bloggers Legion
Reasoning Why
The Free Company
I don’t know what they do to the lurkers but by God they scare me.
It’s The Wrong Way To Tickle Mary
(OK, now the scotch is kicking in and I’m getting messy)

I reckon bimonthly is probably a better way to go as this is a subject where research and properly appreciating the situation should guide polemics and half-arsed opinions rather than vice versa. Also I think something like the ten-year rule is a good one too. Maybe 25 years? It usually takes a generation or so to dampen the real heat and smoke of personal experience, whether on the frontline or the home front.

But let’s face it, you’re gonna get some online punchups whether you like it or not. We’re talking about mainly male and rather focused people discussing fighting. But judging from the comments here, most would have too much respect for the subject to get really personal and nasty. ‘Cept when it comes to that bounder Haig though.

And yes I’d to like to contribute m’self but not having a blog of my own, I’ll just sign up for the duration as an irregular in someone else’s outfit.