From SanderS: Noel's Comet: A Soldiers Farewell! (50 points)

 Hoi,

Here we are at Noel's Comet and for me that's the end of my regular Challenge posts. For quite some time I have been contemplating what to use as entry for this planet and it took me a while to put it all together in a, to me at least, satisfactory way.  

Let me show you the figures first and as this is a Laarden 1702 post let me put up the Laarden Logo down below and tell you how it came to be. An uncle of mine is a retired woodworker who has had a shop repairing antique furniture for ages. He can track down his family-line through 400 years of woodworkers (no lie, really true) and he has repaired the desk I sit at now as well as one of the large wardrobes standing in my hobby-room. He also had to learn wood-carving and thus drawing designs for it. Well the guirlande or mirror making up the Laarden 1702 logo is one of his old designs I found accidentally and had a coworker of mine put into computer graphic for digital use.

As far as the post goes here we go:

The vignette is made up of figures from Colonel Bill's own line and aptly named "A Soldier's Farewell". 

This vignette is supposed to represent my 1702 (here still 1688) equivalent joining the Sun King's army and that is the miniatures for this post settled. They should net me 3 foot figures in 28mm is 15 points, one mounted figure 10 points and the comet's bonus of 20 points for a total of 45 points.

Yet there's also a story that should go along with a Noel's Comet post and what is more fitting than a story about Noel himself?

Let me take you back in time a few years, it's December 29th 2017 and I am about to start my one and only Tour of Duty as a Minion. One of the new Challengers that season happened to be a kind gentleman named Noel Williams. I would like to take some time to talk about dear Noel as he has left us all last year for the Big Typewriter in the Heaven. For those of you who didn't know Noel, or who have just joined the Challenge, I will let him introduce himself:

 "I'm a retired academic living in Sheffield, UK. Like many wargamers, I began with Airfix figures in childhood, and still have the same passion for new figures that I had in 1960 when I'd run to the local toyshop with 2 shillings in hand (that's 10p, for you youngsters). So I’ve amassed a large amount of unpainted lead and plastic, which seems to grow every year, despite my best efforts with the paintbrush. I'm interested in most periods up to WW2 – anything more recent unsettles me somewhat – but the battlefields I keep coming back to are Napoleonic. I like the spectacle of uniforms and flags, so tend to go for smaller units so I can get more variety on the tabletop. I’m also a writer (poet and occasional fiction) so I write the odd piece for the wargames press, too. Luckily, all my family are gamers, so we’ve a dedicated wargames room, and figures of various kinds scattered around the house. I used to be a very good painter – won some prizes etc – but these days various infirmities, particularly eyesight, make it more difficult to get a decent job done. The Challenge is a great incentive for me, and I’m hoping to get many more figures done than the 500 points I set as my target."

Noel wrote this introduction because I thought it would be nice to have all the Tuesday crew of that Challenge introduce themselves and so I am pretty sure he wouldn't mind me sharing this with you. During my Tour of Duty I had quite an animated mail exchange with Noel and even after the Challenge ended we sporadically spoke through mail. In December 2020 I read some of Noel's articles in Wargames Illustrated and Miniature Wargames and mailed him with a few questions and some thoughts about his writings, he seemed to like to get that kind of feedback and in one of his replies he mentioned he was writing an article for WI concerning the Challenge itself. 

Noel asked whether I would mind if the article included a photograph of Arthur and me, of course I was honoured and agreed, that was the last time I heard of Noel. Shortly afterwards I read some posts on Noels Facebook page that seemed to indicate he had passed on. The latter turned to be the case sadly and so I was mightily surprised and touched to find that January's issue of WI included a posthumously published article about the Challenge featuring the bespoke photo as well as some heartwarming words concerning my son. 

In his last mail to me, Noel wrote what Curt and the Challenge meant to him and again I think he wouldn't mind me sharing that with you all:

"Your notes on Curt and Sarah do not fall on deaf ears. It is already in my plan to be as positive as I can be about not only the whole experience of the Challenge, but also those two generous beings who enable it to happen. It's not going to be difficult to think of praiseworthy things to say, though obviously I shan't turn it simply into a puff piece about them. I will, as always, aim to be as honest as I can be, but also to ensure that what I write up is accurate and thorough (and, hopefully, interesting) - and inevitably it will be impossible to document the Challenge without implied or explicit praise for Curt (and, indeed, the minions) in pretty much every paragraph. 

Unlike you, I don't have the honour of meeting them f-t-f, nor am I ever likely to. However, it's obvious from the way they communicate with us, as well as Curt's occasional private emails (as well as the enthusiasm with which he agreed to the article) that he's definitely one of the Good Guys. More than that, by the way he offers feedback on so many posts (always positively, always helpfully where needed) he creates an environment where everyone else can see what it is to "behave well" in the context of the Challenge. This is the sort of behaviour of good leaders, where his example in painting (how does he do it?), in organising the various scurrying contributors and in good manners creates a situation where everyone taking part wants to do the same. 

You can see I've already initial thoughts on what might be said about Curt! I simply won't be able to describe my experience of the Challenge - which has been hugely rewarding - without expressing how inspiring it can be, and that inspiration is very much down to the man and woman who run it. 

So I don't think you need to worry that the piece will be in any way understated about him or the success he's created. Of course, my experience of the Minions - now, that could be a different matter...!"

 From the short pieces I have quoted above and his articles in WI and MW you can see his talent in writing for yourselves. I miss Noel and his glorious posts a lot especially his humour but I am sure he would want us all to enjoy the Challenge, be inspired and inspiring by it, and to each other.

Rest easy Noel...

There's a soldier in the vignette that I really couldn't think up a good role in my Laarden tale for and so I pondered whether to include it or not. Then inspiration hit me and I thought that it would be fitting to let the figure represent Noel, who is surely still with us on this great voyage that is the Challenge and celebration of our joined hobby.

That's it for me folks see you all in the "End of Challenge posts"! 

Cheers Sander

What a great tribute to a sorely missed Challenger - Noel was truly one of a kind. I'm sure he'd approve of his "spirit" being included in that wonderful vignette.

I'm adding some points for the terrain of the vignette.

Tamsin