Upcoming Battle Order Plans for 2024

Hey everyone. Thought I'd give a little update on some near-future plans because I've been scheming.

First, for the first time ever I'm going to be doing an actual April Fools video. Ironically it'll probably be my most expensive video ever. I don't want to give too much away, but I'm collabing with a fiction writer, I'm probably going to end up dropping US$600-700 on art and maps, I've gotten some other great artists to donate their work for it, and if all goes to plan Templin Institute will make an appearance.

Second, I am planning a video that compares squad ammo loads in WW2 and the current day. This may develop into a second video comparing the evolution in rifleman ammo load/LBE from WW2 to today, to include the Cold War. I am going to commission an artist to draw the appropriate kit (don't know how much it'll cost yet but it'll probably be like $50 per unique piece of kit which will add up lol). If all goes well, I will be collabing with an infantry NCO who is currently deployed (I think, he's definitely in the field and I know part of his division is in Europe) to show off the most up-to-date kit and ammo carrying practices. I don't know when that one will come out though. First half of this year probably.

Third, I am working on something big with Templin Insitute. Can't talk about it now because the parts I would be involved with are tentative, but he's dropping a ton of money on artists too. If something does happen it won't be until the end of the year though.

Fourth, as I announced I did a collab with Oxide on Canadian infantry kit and infantry sections. He's told me he's got some other stuff in the works that he wants me on for, although depending on what the next topic is it may be outside of my area of expertise so we'll see on that.

Except for in the second half of March when I am editing the April Fools video (which I hope to be the same high quality production), I don't expect these plans to significantly delay uploads. I've been working on improving my workflow with how I do animations so I might even start being able to do more than 2 videos a month regularly. I was thinking about doing more Shorts as just an attention-getter/subscription farming sort of thing (I made 4 shorts in late December and early January and they were responsible for gaining me 50,000 additional subscribers in a month as opposed to the normal 3,000-5,000). However, after more reflection I think that isn't going to build the audience I want (one which is aware of Battle Order as a brand and watches my long-form videos), so I may not heavily pursue it further unless I just really want to make a 1 minute video.

In 2023 I was kind of coasting because I was tending to some stuff in my personal life (paused Patreon billing for a month so I could get my health in order, and brought my wife to the US for a vacation). I also didn't really put out any bangers views-wise like I did in 2022. Everyone's ad revenue and brand deals were down in 2023 as an aside. In 2024 I want to be a little more quick with regular content by improving my workflow and also do new things, like the collabs and commissioning artists (although that means spending more money on videos lol). Inject some life into things