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.

Throwback Thursday: Gruß vom Krampus!

NOTE: This blog post was originally posted on December 5, 2013. I'd meant to paint a new Krampus figure but my schedule has been insane lately and that unfortunately didn't happen. Since it's also Thursday, however, I figured this would make an appropriate Throwback Thursday post.

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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you have a wonderful day!

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!