Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

O (Miniature) Christmas Tree, O (Miniature) Christmas Tree!

As we get closer to the holidays, I finally did something I've been wanting to do for a long time: set up a miniature Christmas tree for my hobby space. I actually ordered it last year, but it was backordered and didn't arrive until mid-January 2021. 

But this year, after finding some miniature glass ornaments and tinsel from Target (the lights are built into the tree), I finally got a chance to set it up! Shortly afterwards, I found a set of four Dept56 pewter toy soldier ornaments from their Tiny Trimmings line. I immediately snatched them up. As you can see in the photo below, they're not very tall....maybe 1.5" at most. 

I also found some artificial poinsettias at Michaels for 40% off...

The set consists of four toy soldiers, of which three are distinctly British: a Grenadier Guard, a Life Guard, and a Yeoman Warder (popularly known as a Beefeater). The last figure appears to be George Washington holding a musket. It's an interesting choice, but I'm not complaining.  

They came in plastic boxes that say "Made in Taiwan." I don't know exactly how old they are, but I estimate them to have been made in the 1970s-1980s based on that fact alone.

The paint jobs are a little sloppy in places, but I still appreciate the fact that these are nonetheless hand-painted. They're unique because of that. I'm still in search of appropriately-themed miniature ornaments for the War Room but I feel that this is the start of a nice little collection.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

I too will be hiding in an air shaft until 2021.

This has been a heck of a year to say the least, so here’s hoping that today is a peaceful one filled with the spirit of the season!

Weihnachtszeit ist Erinnerungszeit

After my last post, it's nice to have something good to write about. Today we received a box of Springerle cookies from my mom and sister! These traditional anise-flavored cookies are a holiday tradition in Southern Germany, and Mom grew up with them thanks to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Abel. She and my sister revived the tradition last year, and my wife and I are big fans!

One of the designs is of a German soldier (Picklehaube and all!) in the pre-1916 uniform. Mom bought the mold from a seller in the Bavarian town of Pleinfeld, Germany. She got it with me specifically in mind. 

As you can see (courtesy of Mom's blog...seriously please go check it out), the mold is made of wood and has some definite age to it. It's not made of plastic like a lot of modern ones seem to be. It was definitely quite a find! 

The rest of the cookies look really awesome too! As you can see, there's a wide variety of designs including Santa Claus (der Weihnachtsmann), Christmas trees, and snowmen. And they're all made from traditional wooden molds like the soldier. It's certainly gotten festive in the house all of a sudden! 

Thanks again, Mom and Jessie! This is exactly what Teresa and I needed right now. 😁

Blood Red Skies on a Christmas Morning

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday! This  post is a bit later than I wanted it to be, but I suppose going back to work the day after Christmas will throw a wrench in the works. But I digress.

My mom gave me some planes for Warlord's Blood Red Skies...and not just any planes! I've now got a squadron of F4U Corsairs, along with "Pappy" Boyington himself. Looks like I'm making the historical Black Sheep as well! 

The planes are also about the same scale as the X-Wing Miniatures Game, which means that I should be able to use the same techniques and methods as my T-65 X-Wing Black Sheep and Green Angel squadrons. I think I may take them to the next level, though, and get some 1/200 scale decals from Miscellaneous Miniatures (which I only discovered after I finished my X-Wing squadrons). It looks like they have a pretty cool Black Sheep decal set that I think will work splendidly!

I also want to take a moment to praise Warlord’s customer service. When I opened the “Pappy” Ace set I noticed that the Ace Pilot card was missing. What a bummer!

Well deserved! Photo courtesy of Warlord Games.

I emailed Warlord Games explaining the situation and they said they’d send me a replacement card free of charge. I can see why they won “Best Customer Service” from Wargames Illustrated!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!

Original idea by @starwars_wargamer on Instagram.

May you have a happy and safe holiday season! 

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas Day, and I wish a very fond one to all who celebrate it!

I'm posting an image of a Nativity set that has been in my family since at least the 1940s. It belonged to my Great Grandmother, who in turn gave it to my mom when she turned 16. They've been in her possession ever since, but they've been a fixture in my holiday experiences since childhood.

These "Baby Jesus action figures," as I used to call them, have been set up by your's truly for the past several years in a row. It's a tradition dating back  long time.

This is the 2013 setup! I set it up as soon as I got home after flying out from Washington, DC.

1st Annual Krampus Race

The legend of the Krampus goes back ages. While Santa Claus brought presents and candy to all the good little boys and girls of the World, the Krampus took care of the naughty ones. Sometimes a companion of Santa and his nemesis other times, Krampus collected all the bad children in his sack and took them off to be punished!

Having finished my Krampus figure earlier today, and tonight being Krampusnacht, I figured why not celebrate? The folks over at Wargame Vault have a mini game called Krampus Race you can download for free. While you don't necessarily need miniatures to play (they provide all the pieces for you to print out), what's the fun in that?

I coaxed my girlfriend into playing a round tonight after dinner. Like Turkey Shoot! on Thanksgiving, I intend to make this a new holiday tradition!

Und jetzt, meine Damen und Herren, die Krampusrennen 2013!

The object of the game is to collect as many naughty children as possible while making it to the finish line first. You role a D6 and move the appropriate number of spaces on the board (which I spruced up with some trees from the dollar store). Afterwards, you draw an action card and do what it says, such as moving back a space, collect a child, etc. Then it's the next player's turn. This goes on and on until everyone has reached the end.

Since I didn't have another Krampus figure, Teresa elected to play as a turkey. Krampustruthahn! My girlfriend went first as she rolled higher than I did I'm an upstanding gentleman.

For the entire game, however, Teresa failed to pick up any naughty children. But this worked to her advantage because she kept drawing the action cards telling her to put kids back.

"Smart kid dumbfounded you with a riddle and saved his brother. Lose 1 child."

I move my Krampus forward a few spaces.

"Stuck in Christmas shopping traffic. Lose a turn."

In the end, Teresa got to the finish line before I did. This immediately gave her 10 points. But finishing first does not necessarily mean winning in Krampus Race. I got 5 points for finishing second, but also received 5 additional points for each naughty child my Krampus collected. With two kids in my sack, I squeaked by with 15 points and won the game.

All in all, Krampus Race is quick and fun little game to play. It's seriously taken me longer to write this post than it did to play the actual game. Definitely making this a new tradition!

Gruß vom Krampus!

Gruß vom Krampus!

Saint Nicholas and his traveling companion, Krampus, have been fixtures of Alpine and Germanic traditions for centuries. The two of them are said to travel the land on the night of December 5 (the eve of Saint Nicholas Day) to respectively reward and punish children. Like his Americanized offshoot Santa Claus, Nicholas gives gifts and presents those kids who have been all year. Bad children, however, are punished by Krampus. Think of him as the "bad cop" to Saint Nicholas' "good cop."

These punishments vary by tradition. In some, Krampus gives naughty children coal or swats them with a bundle of birch sticks. More sinister traditions, however, say that he kidnaps them and takes them back to his lair.

So in the spirit of this holiday tradition, I present to you Krampus!

This Krampus figure was produced by Reaper Miniatures (who seem to make anything and everything under the sun in 28mm scale). I painted this guy up in about an hour while I was taking a break from my final projects.

Gruß vom Krampus!