Xmas Week Musing. . .

 

A warm Christmas Week greeting to everyone who drops by first of all.   Come in!  Come in out of the cold.  Time for a little more of that seasonal gemütlichkeit, or Scandinavian hygge if you will.  Sit down here by the fire, and I'll get you some fresh coffee along with a little something medicinal.  What would you like?

 

Well, Sir.  Can you believe our stollen for this year, baked by the Grand Duchess on the 23rd, is almost gone?  One of her best, it simply melts in your mouth, and the tiny addition of a bit more fruit than is called for by the German recipe has kicked an already delightful holiday treat into the stratosphere.

In a nutshell, the Young Master and I have made short work of this year's triumph although the Grand Duchess has been able to enjoy a few bites too.  Now, I can never decide whether fresh coffee, or a glass of eggnog compliment the stollen better. So, naturally, we must conduct a side by side test at the breakfast table each morning.  And occasionally during the mid-afternoon too.

[The 2022 Christmas Stollen is now, sadly, history following breakfast with the Young Master, who had the honor of finishing it along with a glass of eggnog.  Yours truly had fresh coffee and. . .  the obligatory glass of eggnog.  I'm not very strong, you know.].
 

On the painting front, I took about 90 minutes yesterday evening to finish (Wait for it!). . . Brass buttons on the waistcoats of about 40 Minden Austrian infantry. Not too many mistakes to fix today either, which is (sometimes admittedly) unusual. Now, I can begin looking over each of the 60+ figures and apply any necessary touch-ups. I'd be a bit further along in all of this, but with our recent snow, we have been busy cross-country skiing, which has taken precedence during the Christmas period.

Something like this for the planned jager company I think.

Speaking of painting, the Young Master gave me a range of Army Painter browns and tans this Christmas, which will help nicely with the next project. On a similar note, the Grand Duchess also gave ma a small package of Fife & Drum jagers and Minden Prussian musketeers in firing, loading, and taking aim poses. These will form a company of combined generic jagers (green with either light green or red facings) and another of Frei Infantry (dark blue with light blue facings) plus a small mounted staff for the combined battalion. 

 

And something close to the Le Noble fusiliers in this Knotel illustration for the planned generic company of Frei-infanterie.

 
 

Once painted, I plan to base these as vignettes of two and, in a few instances, three figures, which can be staggered widely, or lined up a bit more closely to form a ragged firing line along the flanks of main battle lines, the edges of model woods, or in various kleinkrieg scenarios.  After all, I've had this terrific supply train painted and in the collection for almost 10 years!  Time to do something about that.

Additional plans for 2023 also include three squadrons of cavalry (Russian dragoons and possibly Saxon cuirassiers) plus a Reichsarmee infantry regiment. And I will keep tinkering with my one brain cell rules 'A Tangled Mass,' getting everything typed up and committed to paper by September 2023 for (I hope) publication and the inevitable critique and further tinkering by my fellow wargamers. 

 

That, however, is one of the key features of the rules, in the great tradition of Donald Featherstone, and users will be invited to adjust, change, or toss out whatever does not fit their vision of mid-18th century tabletop warfare.  The Young Master and I will hopefully also manage to stage a few games in the coming 12 months although I am not sure our planned Christmas Week game will happen.  We might need to delay until after January 1st  In any case, everything else should keep me busy well into the next year.

"But Stokes," I can here you say, "What about your glacial painting rate so typical of recent years?  How will you find time for anything else much less get it all done given the press of work and family life most weeks?" 

 

Yes, yes. The best laid plans of mice, men, and all that. But I have made up my mind to renew my focus and resolve and try to get back to those heady days of 2006-2014, or so when enthusiasm was high and there was much more coming off the workbench at more regular intervals.  I know, I know.  

 

I like to think of this period in my own wargaming history, however, as something along the same lines of what the hobby was like in the 1970s and early 1980s.  Lots going on and an abundance of inspiration flying in from all directions.  An apparently vibrant book scene, various relevant magazines, frequent games, giant hobby personalities, evolving figure ranges, new rules, TV shows, newsletters, shows/conventions, a DIY spirit, and everything else.  

 

A veritable smörgåsbord from which to choose in other words.  The golden age of the hobby I have since seen it described on more than one occasion by various writers.  Whether Phil Barker (and others) would agree or not with that assessment of the era, I don't know.  But I aim to rekindle some of that same enthusiasm in the coming year at least within and for myself.  And if that bug becomes contagious, spreading beyond the frontiers of the Grand Duchy of Stollen and its immediate neighbors, so much the batter.

   

That said, all I can promise right now is that we'll see how things proceed in the coming months.  Since our arrival in Michigan back in June of 2015, life has had a way of supplanting whatever hobby plans I have had in mind.  But revisiting those articles by Phil Olley on project management  that appeared in early issues of the much missed Battlegames might be a good start toward righting the ship.  

 

Now, there's an idea for this afternoon (following our visit to a local cat cafe)!  You will no doubt concur, I hope, that revisiting favorite magazine issues and articles from years gone by is one of the many delightful branches of our multifaceted toy soldier hobby.

Ok, ok.  I have nattered on long enough.  Time to draw a breath.  How about you?  What wargaming goodies did you receive this Christmas?  Any plans for 2023?  How will you reduce your own lead or plastic mountains?  And how about another nip of holiday cheer before you head out?

Kind Seasonal Regards,

Stokes