The Waving Flag: ADLG: 2022 Survey Results (Part 3)

To recap: this survey was run to uncover the reasons (if any) behind the popularity of ADLG in the UK in 2022 compared to 2018. The 2022 survey had 113 responses of which 79 were from the UK, which compared well to the 2018 survey which has 135 responses of which 81 were from the UK.

Part 1 looked at the basic information like age, favourite periods, etc and uncovered some interesting trends.

Part 2 looked at players' scores for the game overall, the rule book and the use of the rules in games, amongst other things. This report includes a comparison of the scores of casual and competitor subgroups.

This post looks at the differences and trends between 2018 and 2022.

If you don't want to read the post in full, here are the headlines:

The UK age distribution was far older in 2022 than in 2018 with 66% over 55.
More players are using 25/28 mm figures in 2022.
The Late Middle Age period declined significantly, to be matched by an increase in popularity of Dark Age armies.
The South East remained the “hot bed” of ADLG in 2022 despite a slight fall. The number of players in North East also declined somewhat.
The number of players in the South West & the North West increased in 2022.
In 2022 the average number (per respondent) of other rules players were using, or had played, fell sharply from 2.77 to 1.97.
In 2022 far fewer respondents had played, or play, FOG (AM or R) suggesting that ADLG is adding players who have not followed the “classic” DBx/FOG/ADLG path (or the sample is skewed compared to 2018).
Version 4 of ADLG has been well received. In 2022 respondents scores were slightly higher across almost all relevant questions; no one factor was significant, but the general trend was clear.
2022 saw an increase in respondents seeking assistance from other players rather than online sources.

Overall, ADLG has made many incremental improvements in the four years from 2018 to 2022 and the launch of version 4. The only real downside is the increased age of the player base in the UK (always assuming the surveys are representative).

3.0 Technical Notes

As the focus of the survey was primarily on ADLG in the UK, this part deals exclusively with the UK data.

In what follows, the data from 2018 was subtracted from the data from 2022. As the samples sizes were nearly the same (81 & 79 respectively) I decided not to adjust the resulting data.

To keep this post to a manageable length, I have relied on charts and have not included much numerical data. If anyone would like any extra data, please get in touch via email.

Now without further ado, here's the data in all its glory ...

3.1 Age Distribution

There's a big shift in the UK age profile between 2018 and 2022

I wonder how many respondents have passed the 55 age boundary? It looks like quite a few but I have no way of confirming this.

3.2 Preferred Scale

The only change here is the increased popularity of 25/28 mm figures.

I half expected this. It's quite common to see separate 20/25/28 mm ADLG competitions, and I suppose the small army size makes the larger scale both viable & affordable.

3.3 Favourite Period

Here the big change is the decline in popularity of the Late Middle Ages and the increase in popularity of the Dark Ages.

A little care is required as there was some change in the classification of some lists especially between the Feudal and Late Middle Ages.

3.4 UK Location

Although the general pattern of South Eastern dominance remained, 2022 saw an increase in numbers in the North West and the South West responding to the survey:

3.5 Rules History

Overall, respondents report a significant drop in this category. The average number of rules chosen per respondent fell from 2.77 to 1.97:

The reduced numbers having played FOG (AM or R) suggests that ADLG is adding players who have not followed the “classic” DBx/FOG/ADLG path.

Then again, it could be a quirk between the samples with different people responding each year, all with significantly different rules histories.

3.6 Reasons Why

In 2018 the growth in ADLG was in full swing with players moving from other rules. In 2022 the position is more stable. This is reflected in the reasons given for playing:

There is less emphasis on boredom with other rules, and the need to utilise players' existing collections, and an increase in the importance of playing in competitions and the small armies required to play ADLG

3.7 Simplicity

Here there is an increase in scores across almost all questions; which is a real positive. The two negative changes are very small and are likely to be due to random variation:

The three questions relating to the rule book are all positive, which undoubtedly reflects the efforts the ADLG team put into improving version 4.

3.8 What's Written & Ease of Use

There's no real pattern in the changes that I can see. However, the fall in the scores for the Movement and Rout & Pursuit sections may bear further examination (see Part 2):

The absence of any clear trend may well be because the scores for these questions were generally high in both years, making it that much harder to spot real changes.

3.9 Answering Questions

Here the big change is the fall in reliance on the Official FAQ & Errata. This hardly surprising given that the extensive FAQ for version 3 was incorporated into version 4 and was one of the main reasons for the new version:

One new trend is the increased reliance on people rather than online sources.

I have noticed a decline in the quality of “debate” on the ADLG Forum and worry that this will continue and undermine “official” sources. (See Part 2 and my comments about groupthink).