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
