Blogging the Nations at War: Christmas

 

This image has inspired me for decades. One of my goals when I joined the Corps was to go to
Mountain Warfare School and learn military skiing, all because of this image from childhood. 
(from The Nations at War, p232).

    Though it has been a few months since I posted on it, I  plan to continue my efforts to blog, chapter  by chapter,  The Nations at War: A Current History by Willis John Abbot, one of the first books to spark my love of history. However, I thought today would be a good day to look at the World War I Christmas Truce.

    This has become fairly well known in recent years, but I think many people would be shocked to discover that tales of the truce were told in news papers and "current affairs" books like this from the nearly the beginning, I believe this tale first appear in the 1915 edition. That is interesting in itself, but equally fascinating is the source of the information. Usually, the tale of the truce is told concerning the well documented British/German truces. But this account purports to be from an American with the French Foreign Legion, and so it discusses the truce in the French sectors. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the account.  

   (from The Nations at War, pp 176-177)

    This writer, Phil Rader by name, a young San Franciscan who had enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, was prolific of graphic sketches of life in the trenches. His description of a Christmas truce and its abrupt end throws a bright light on the psychology of war:

    "For twenty days we had faced that strip of land, forty-five feet wide, between our trench and that of the Germans, that terrible No Man's Land, dotted with dead bodies, crisscrossed by tangled masses of barbed wire. That little strip of land was as wide and as deep and as full of death as the Atlantic Ocean; as uncrossable as the spaces between stars; as terrible as human hate. And the sunshine of the bright Christmas morning fell on it as brightly as if it were a lover's lane or the aisle in some grand cathedral.

    "I don't know how the truce began in other trenches, but in our hole Nadeem began it-—Nadeem, a Turk, who believes that Mohammed and not Christ was the Prophet of God. The sunshine of the morning seemed to get into Nadeem's blood. He was only an enthusiastic boy, always childishly happy, and when we noticed, at the regular morning shooting hour, that the German trenches were silent Nadeem began to make a joke of it. He drew a target on a board, fastened it on a pole, and stuck it above the trench, shouting to the Germans:

"'See how well you can shoot.'

"Within a minute the target had been bulls'-eyed. Nadeem pulled it down, pasted little bits of white paper where shots had struck, and held it up again so that the Germans could see their score. In doing so, Nadeem's head appeared above the trench, and we heard him talking across the No Man's Land. Thoughtlessly I raised my head, too. Other men did the same. We saw hundreds of German heads appearing. Shouts filled the air. What miracle had happened? Men laughed and cheered. There was Christmas light in our eyes and I know there were Christmas tears in mine.

"There were smiles, smiles, smiles, where in days before there had been only rifle-barrels. The terror of No Man's Land fell away. The sounds of happy voices filled the air. We were all unhumanly happy for that one glorious instant—English, Portuguese, Americans, and even Nadeem, the Turk — and savages we had been, cavemen as we were, the awfulness of war had not filled the corners of our hearts where love and Christmas live. I think Nadeem was first to sense what had happened. He suddenly jumped out of the trench and began waving his hands and cheering. The hatred of war had been suddenly withdrawn and it left a vacuum in which we human beings rushed into contact with each other. You felt their handshakes—double handshakes, with both hands—in your heart.

"Nadeem couldn't measure human nature unerringly. He had been the first to feel the holiday spirit of Christmas Day, but, on this day after Christmas, he failed to sense the grimness of war that had fallen over the trenches during the night. Early in the morning he jumped out of the trench and began waving his hands again. John Street, an American, who had been an evangelist in St. Louis, jumped out with him, and began to shout a morning greeting to a German he had made friends with the day before.

"There was a sudden rattle of rifle-fire and Street fell dead, with a bullet through his head. The sun was shining down again on a world gone mad."

    A grim commentary on the war.  

Post-script, 12/16/2022:

 Since I originally posted this I have done a little bit of research on Phil Rader, who turns out to have been an interesting fellow. He might have been a pilot before the war, a Phil Rader was supposedly a mercenary pilot in the Mexican Revolution who participated in the first "dogfight."  He wrote, or had written from his comments, a series of articles, including the selection above, which were published in various newspapers in 1915. This specific account first appearing in March 1915 (see Riverside Daily Press, Volume XXX, Number 74, 27 March 1915). Later he left (deserted?) the Foreign Legion, joined the Royal Flying Corps, and flew for the British, before returning to the United States.  He was killed in June 1918 teaching aerobatics to a student pilot in California. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Christmas Letters, VI

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  I, II, III, IV, & V. 

The Christmas Mice in their Christmas Eve
fashion show.

Our Christmas Eve traditions changed as the Westermeyer Christmas parties changed from Christmas Eve to a different day in December, and eventually ended.  My family began attending Midnight Mass at St Peters each Christmas Eve instead. of course, Christmas morning we opened our presents, always a magical time.

My wife's family had their own Christmas Eve traditions. Her family was much smaller, but the grandparents, children, and grand children gathered at the grandparents house each Christmas Eve.  Bellringer the Elf would dodge grandpa, leaving a garbage bag of presents (usually stuffed animals) for Kelly and her cousin on the porch, announced by a ringing door bell. Later, while listening to Christmas Carols, she and her cousin would cut wrapping paper and ribbons to dress the Christmas Mice. On Christmas Day, the extended family would all come for a roast beef dinner.  

For years, Kelly and I were lucky enough to live the traditions of both our families.  We would go to her grandparents Christmas Eve for the Christmas Mice and Bellringer, then go to Midnight Mass and spend the evening at my parents house We'd celebrate Christmas morning with my family, opening presents around the tree, and then go back to her grandparents for Christmas dinner.

By the time we had our own kids, however, those traditions were also sadly ending. Kel and I worked to combine our traditons for the kids.  On Christmas Eve she and our kids dressed the Mice, and Bellringer brought a bag of garbage, only now it included a letter from Santa Claus (which my kids were never particularly interested in but Santa wrote them anyway - he writes whether anyone reads the letters or not. 😉).  We ate sandwiches with really good deli meats and bread for christmas Eve dinner, like we often had at the Westermeyer christmas parties.When the kids went to bed, Kel and I watched It's a Wonderful Life while we waited to help Santa put the gifts under the tree.  Sometimes my parents were able to come and spend Christmas with us, they usually went to Midnight Mass, and returned in the morning.  I then always fixed a roast beef dinner on Christmas Day, with mashed potatoes, and pies, and dressing.  

Our kids are adults now, but we are trying to keep the traditions alive.  So far, so good, but there are a few changes. The Mice are still decorated and Bellringer still comes, but the kids stayed up later, this year they even watched It's a Wonderful Life.  On Christmas day we have started watching A Christmas Story.  

The next to last letter saw more Bellringer heroics, and more of Frau Perchta and the Goblins. And the reindeer added a post-script, since we had a new dog, Fae. 

🎅Santa’s Workshop  

No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dec 24th, 2013                                                                            

Dearest Ren & Tori,

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  Another year on the nice list, I see… though perhaps you could work on doing your chores a bit more cheerfully? They are rarely fun, I know… you should hear Bellringer moan when it is his turn to shovel out the reindeer stalls! But he knows the reindeer deserve to be properly taken care of. But I can see how hard you both work to be good, and I am very proud of you. I know your parents must be as well. 

Sadly we have had another rough year at the North Pole. The elves, polar bears, and reindeer have been working hard all year, as always, but that evil Frau Perchta is still lurking about, spinning her evil plots. You recall Frau Perchta? She is the evil witch who used to follow me on Christmas Eve to punish wicked children, until I caught her punishing good children and banished her. And last year, she joined the goblins and they snuck into the storage caves beneath my castle. Bellringer discovered them, and there was a great battle that drove Perchta and the evil goblins away, but they had stolen many of the toys my elves had made that year.

Frau Perchta took those toys over the summer and worked her evil magics on them. She brought them to life, something a child’s love will often do. But toys loved by a child are good and loving themselves, Frau Perchta’s magics brought the toys alive and filled them with anger, spite, and hatred. 

Bellringer was again our savior! He was out skiing at Halloween night, enjoying the Northern Lights, the stars, and the moon. He saw the dark mass of Perchta’s horde flowing across the icefields towards my castle at the North Pole. The goblins were still with her, of course, but she had added more monstrous creatures – there were great werewolves that the goblins rode upon, and giant ogres Perchta had awakened from centuries of sleeping in deep caves beneath the earth. 

Bellringer sped across the snow and ice to the castle, ringing his bells loudly and sounding the alarm. The elves, polar bears, and Nutcrackers all sprang to the castle walls, and with so much warning, it seemed the battle would be a simple one. Perchta’s savage goblins could not breach the walls, and the Nutcrackers’ muskets knocked goblin after goblin over. Soon the elves were launching Mistletoe Missiles (forcing the Goblins to stop and kiss each other) while cannons fired great fruitcakes into the wolves. All Christmas Town echoed to the sounds of caroling as the goblins, wolves, and ogres were forced back. 

Finally, the battle ended. Poor Bellringer was covered with red welts, he had fought with Frau Perchta herself and she beat him horribly with her willow switch. Finally, she fled as the great Polar Bears came upon her… and she knew she could not face them. 

We were all resting and enjoying some much needed hot cocoa when Belsnickel, Bellinger’s brother, came rushing up from the ice caverns.  The toys that Perchta had enchanted used the battle as a distraction and sneaked into our storerooms. They destroyed many of the new toys, and they infected others with their evil – so that we had to sort through all the good toys to find the bad toys so no child would get something so dangerous. I think we have them all, but we must be extra careful packing the sleigh this year! 

        Sadly, this means that once again, though no child will be forgotten many will not get all they wanted this year. The elves and I have tried so hard… but many children seem to have become infected by Frau Perchta’s greed and naughtiness and they ask for so many toys, more than they could play with. I only hope the love with which the elves and I give shall make them happy.  

        But away with gloom and sadness! Bellringer shall deliver this letter when he preps your home, as always.  Have the Merriest of Christmases and a very Happy New Year!  

                                                        ‘Til next year 

Santa Claus

P.S. We herd u have a dawg… pls keep dawg on leash and tell it not to bark at flying sleighs! 

P.P.S. Don’t ferget the oats!

Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner,& Blitzen

Santa stopped sending letters, as he usually does, when the kids reached a certain age.  I understand that Santa started sending letters to my niece after that, I hope she enjoys them. Maybe someday we'll have grand kids who will get garbage bags of toys and letters from Bellringer. 

And this was the final letter Santa sent. 

🎅Santa's Workshop  

No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dec 24th, 2014                                                                            

Dearest Ren & Tori,

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  Ren, I understand that you’ve discovered my secret – that I live mostly in the realms of spirit, magic, and imagination. Tori, I understand, has long assumed this. I am sorry this caused you pain, Ren. No one ever wanted that. 

Parents provide much of my magic, I exist because of the great love they have for their children.  Your parents love you both very, very much, of course. And your father has always been especially devoted to me, and I think he always will be. He still believes, and he has always been very enthusiastic about me and all the myths and stories about me. Christmas is a very special time for him, and he always wants it to be special for you as well. But you are both your own people, and do not have to think or act like he does. I bet that is a relief! 

Now the torch passes on to you, it is your turn to help keep the magic alive for younger children, like your cousin and eventually your own kids. I shall greatly miss you both; even we of mist and magic have feelings.

                                             ‘Til you have children of your own, 

             Santa Claus

Christmas Letters, Part V

 

I'm the little guy, seated at the table in front of the bar. 
To the right is the wall hanging with the deer.

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  I, II, III, IV, & VI. 

Christmas Eve is magical, it always has been.  For me, the magic started very early. When I was a very young child my father's family gathered at my grandparents house every Christmas Eve for a family Christmas Party. Oma and Opa Westermeyer brought my father, his older sister and two brothers from Germany in 1950 to Cincinnati. By the time I was born the family was large, there would eventually be twenty grand-children (I am not certain how many great-grandchildren now!).  

The large family made these parties (well described by my Uncle on his blog) especially wonderful for me as a child. They were held in my grandparents basement, which was fully furnished with a bar and a pool table, it seemed large and magical to me as a child, walking down the stairs was like going through a magical portal to Germany, with neat international posters on the walls, and a beautiful decorative rug hanging on the way showing some deer in a forest, that my father had purchased while on leave in Germany. The basement was filled with kids who wanted to play and talk to me - very different from the playground a sort of shy book worm experienced at school! 

Most of the Westermeyer grandchildren
at one of the Christmas parties.

Of course, the drive after added to the magic. We lived in New Richmond,  and my grandparents lived in Mt Healthy, today with the I-275 bridge maybe a 45 minutes drive, but in the 1970s closer to an hour and a half.  Sleepy and happy, driving home through downtown Cincinnati, I created the "Rudolph game" with my sister. Every blinking or moving light in the sky was a Rudolph sighting as he pulled Santa's sleigh on his appointed rounds. We often fell asleep playing, then woke up in our beds Christmas morning. 

In this year's Christmas letter, Frau Perchta is at it again, talking with goblins, and possibly the Goblin King. And Rudolph and "magic oats" appear (oatmeal mixed with sugar and glitter, sprinkled on the ground outside for the reindeer each Christmas Eve).  

🎅Santa’s Workshop  

No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dec 24th, 2012

Dearest Ren & Tori,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  You both made the nice list again this year! I know it is hard being good, but I can see in my magic snowball how hard you both tried this year.  Your parents must be very proud of you! 

It has been a hard year here at the North Pole. Frau Perchta, the evil witch who used to follow me on Christmas Eve to punish wicked children, is still lurking about. Bellringer has seen her several times while he was inspecting the 🎄Christmas Tree🎄 groves, and sometimes she has been in the company of Goblins! 

That is bad, as the Goblin King likes to steal children. I ordered the elves and polar bears to stay on special alert and the Nutcracker Guard started patrolling. But faithful Bellringer found out what the witch and the goblins were trying to do, of course.

He won’t say what he was doing, I suspect he was trying to find where I had hidden HIS Christmas presents, but Bellringer was down in the ice caves below Christmas Town when he heard some scratching and digging.  He discovered that the Goblins and Perchta were tunneling into my storerooms again!  

        He came and told me at once,  we led the elves, bears, and Nutcrackers down to the storerooms at once! There were goblins everywhere, and a huge battle broke out! Those goblins are vicious and mean, and Frau Perchta is strong; it was a close battle. She slashed us with a great willow switch, it really stung! But the nutcrackers had their muskets, and the polar bears are of course huge and strong, we managed to drive the witch and the goblins from the storeroom. Then I used my magic to seal their tunnel.

        Bellringer has saved Christmas again, but the witch had stolen many, many toys. The elves and I have worked hard to replace those stolen but though no child will be forgotten many will not get all they wanted this year. 

        Poor Frau Perchta. She has never understood the true meaning of Christmas… those toys will never bring her as much joy as she might have gotten by giving them to a child. I worry what she will try next year.

        But enough of her! I am sure you will be having a merry Christmas. My reindeer always love the magic oats you leave for them. Rudolph asks Ren, especially, if he will be certain to leave a special helping this year, we are worried there may be a great storm.

        Bellringer has promised to give you this letter.  I hope you enjoyed it, as well as your presents tomorrow.  Merry Christmas!

‘Til next year 

        Santa Claus



Christmas Letters, Part IV

Our Fontanini set in the center, Bellringer can be seen
on the upper right, and just to his left the
birch wood Advent Calendar.

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  I, II, III, V, & VI.

Today I started one of my favorite personal Christmas traditions, rereading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It truly is a classic, every year I wonder anew at its insight, clarity, and humor. I prefer, these days, to listen to an audiobook, Jim Dale's reading, available here to download for free.  He gets exactly the right tone and emphasis for Dicken's poetic prose and humor.  

I was reminded tonight of some of my other traditions. Most aspects of Christmas fascinate me, but growing up I especially loved the Nativity scenes, the Advent Wreath, and the Advent calendar.   

As a kid, I asked my mother if I could be the one to set up the Nativity scene each year. We had a very old, special set that belonged to her mother, and had lived through several floods of the Ohio River.  Each year I would set up the scene carefully, placing the animals in their proper places, ect. It's long been obvious to me that this was part of my fascination with toy soldiers. In fact, in college I made it a personal quest to track down and create my own Nativity scene in 25mm scale using roleplaying game figures. It took a few years (oddly, the most difficult part was the sheep!) but eventually I got all the needed pieces. 

My 25mm Nativity scene, built from gaming miniatures. 
It is currently being repainted and the stable redesigned.
Sorry about the bad quality picture, its from the mid-1990s.

My wife's grandfather also loved Nativity sets, he had a Fontanini set (the 5 inch scale figures). Each year, we would buy him a new piece for the set for Christmas.  After he passed, we inherited the set, and have proudly displayed it every year, in the same hand-made stable he built for it. 

I also loved Advent, because of course, it counted down to Christmas.  As an altar boy I enjoyed lighting the candles in the Advent wreath each Sunday, and I loved doing the same at home for Sunday dinner. I thought it was interesting that the wreath's colors were purple and pink, so different from the "standard" Christmas palette of red and green. Sadly, we just don't have any room for an Advent Wreath in our tiny place.  

In the same "counting down" theme I loved Advent calendars. We had a very old, but fragile paper one, each day had a paper door, you opened it revealing a little Christmas seen inside. I really can't explain how it survived as long as it did.  A few years back, my wife and kids surprised me with a more permanent calendar. It is beautiful, wooden, shaped like a Christmas tree with birch bark background and little drawers for each day with a festive picture on it. Each year, we stuff with drawers with candy, and on days when we remember, we take the candies out and eat them. 

Below is the next Christmas letter, featuring Bellringer and Frau Perchta again. 

🎅No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole 

Dec 24th, 2011

Dearest Ren & Tori,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  Luckily, you both made the Nice List this year, but Jingle, the head elf in charge of the Nice List, tells me that it was a very, very, very close call! You are two of my favorite children; I would hate to deliver coal to your home next year instead of presents!  I’ve warned you of this before…  I know you will both try very hard, because you are good children! And I have discovered that maybe it is not all your fault!

Do you remember that evil old witch, Frau Perchta, who used to follow me on Christmas Eve to punish wicked children? Long ago I found her secretly punishing good children and banished her from Christmas Town. She has lurked about causing mischief ever since, a couple years ago, she even stole the naughty list, but Bellringer stole it back. 

        Well, she has found another way to cause mischief, a scary way. Bellringer was herding the reindeer on the tundra nearby when he spotted her far off, walking across the tundra. Using his elf-magic he followed her, thinking she must be up to know good. And by Mistletoe she is!

        Frau Perchta lives in a small house now, Bellringer followed her there. It is very ugly and twisted, and surrounded by twisted, evil snowmen she uses as guards. Bellringer carefully crept past them, invisible from his magic, and found Frau Perchta inside stirring a potion in a huge black cauldron, and chanting, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air; Double, double toil and trouble!” Bellringer realized that Frau Perchta is casting spells to make children act naughty! 

        Bellringer rushed back to Christmas Town to tell me of her plot. It makes me quite sad, but I cannot stop her. Magic cannot really make anyone act naughty; it just makes them angry and makes it easier for them to be naughty. I am Not Allowed by the Laws of Magic to interfere. But I can warn good children like yourself, that when you feel angry, when you feel rage, that is Frau Perchta’s work, she wishes to make you act naughty. Do not give in to her! I know you will.

        Enough gloom! I am sure you will be having a merry Christmas, my reindeer asked me to thank you for the magic oats you leave for them, Rudolph especially says thank you to Ren, he knows how much you love animals!

        Bellringer has promised to give you this letter.  I hope you enjoyed it, as well as your presents tomorrow.  Please do write me, I greatly enjoy your letters! 

‘Til next year 

Santa Claus



Christmas Letters, Part III

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  I, II, IV, V, & VI.

I've always wanted to decorate my front yard for Christmas, I love Christmas light displays.  We had a some outside decorations growing up, most particularly a blow mold Nativity scene. So, with our kids I tried to put up enough lights to show we were fully part of the Christmas world.  Townhouses don't always have the best yards for decorating, but we've managed to get lights on on our tree and bushes, and occasionally had candy canes and lighted wreath on the front door. The problem was, I was the only family member who routinely saw the lights, coming home from work. The rest of the family not so often. 

Then I had an epiphany!  We had a sliding glass door opening into the back yard. So, I started decorating the back yard as well. It was a great idea, because we could now see the decorations and lights at night every time we went into the kitchen, we could see the lights. The back yard was now a winter wonderland. 😀

In recent years, we've started a new tradition: Kelly and I watch The Great Christmas Light Fight, my favorite houses usually don't win, but it is a fun watch anyway. 

Today's letter was from a pretty rough year for us.  Frau Perchta continued to make an appearance, but it also saw Belsnickel appear. Apparently, much of the folk lore on this famous elf is wrong, rather then being a Krampus or Perchta like figure, he was an elf who gave children candy in the days before Christmas. I always saw him and Bellringer as members of the Prep & Landing band of elves, similar in many was to the "elf on a shelf." 

🎅Santa’s Workshop  

No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dec 24th, 2010                                                                             

Dearest Ren & Tori,

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  I was very worried about you this year. I know it has been very rough for you both, and it is hard to stay on the nice list when bad things are happening. But that is when you especially must be nice to each other, and listen to your parents because as a family you will overcome all of your problems.    

Bellringer the elf had an adventure this year that showed him how true that is!

You remember that evil old witch, Frau Perchta, who used to follow me on Christmas Eve to punish wicked children? Last year she stole the naughty list so she could beat the children on it but Bellringer stole it back. She got very mad at Bellringer and she wanted revenge!

Frau Perchta knows many spells, and she can make magic snow globes like mine to spy with. She must have made one and watched Bellringer until she found out his weaknesses: curiosity and sweets! She went into the 🎄Christmas Tree Forest🎄 near my castle and she cast a spell to make herself look like a nice old lady, and then she cast another spell to build herself a house made of gingerbread! Then she started baking cookies and cakes and muffins and pies and candies.

Now, my reindeer and elves often travel through the Christmas Tree Forest – especially in the summer! The elves keep the trees in good shape, and the reindeer just like to run through the trees. And some of the local snowmen live in there also. It wasn’t long before some of my Christmas town folks discovered the house of this “nice old baker-lady” that Frau Perchta pretended to be.  She gave anyone who came to her house sweets to eat, as much as they asked for, and she showed off her neat little gingerbread house. All who tried her sweets thought they tasted as good as Mrs. Claus’ cooking!!!!

Bellringer is one of my chief elves, as you know, and it wasn’t long before he heard of this house and its baker lady who could cook as good as or better than Mrs. Claus.  Bellringer had to journey out to the forest to see if the gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate, especially, were as good as everyone said. But Bellringer had already promised to help his older brother, Belsnickel, clean out the reindeer stalls of their old straw and poop that day!

Well, dirty straw cannot compare to warm gingerbread and hot chocolate, so Bellringer snuck out of the castle and down to the forest instead of helping his brother Belsnickel. He found the gingerbread house easily and the nice old baker lady, really Frau Perchta, invited him for cookies and hot chocolate! Bellringer was eager to try her cooking and greedily ate up all the cookies and drank all the hot chocolate.  But this time, the witch had put a magic sleeping potion in them!  Bellringer fell asleep!

When he woke up he was all tied up by licorice ropes, and Frau Perchta had dropped her magic disguise.  She screeched at Bellringer, “You foul little elf! You cruel fay! The children should be mine! They should all be mine to hit with switches and throw coal at! Mine!” Frau Perchta cackled, “Since I can’t have them I will eat you! As soon as my oven is hot in you will go!”  And she started put more wood on the fire of her oven.

Now, Belsnickel is one of my oldest elves, even older than Bellringer. He is also very wise, and when Bellringer didn’t show up to help with his chores, he easily guessed why.  He followed Bellringer’s tracks out into the forest and found the gingerbread house. He was sneaking a peak in the window when Frau Perchta screamed at poor, tied up Bellringer and knew his brother was in danger. He carefully used his elf knife to carve a hole in the gingerbread wall of the house and crawled inside and hid.

When Frau Perchta opened the oven Belsnickel jumped from his hiding spot and pushed her into the blazing oven! He slammed the oven door shut and quickly untied Bellringer. Both of the old elves jumped up and ran from the house and only just in time! Frau Perchta knows lots of fire magic and the oven could not hold her. She ended the spell that created her house and it melted all away. She turned from an old witch into a beautiful woman all in white, then she disappeared in a flash of light. I fear she is not gone forever.

Bellringer was so grateful to his brother for saving him that he has cleaned the reindeer stalls for him ever since, though Belsnickel insists on helping.

Well, it is time to start my ride. I am giving this letter to Bellringer; he will deliver it to you. Be good and be happy little ones.

                                                        ‘Til next year 

Santa Claus



Christmas Letters, Part II

A model of the Smithsonian Castle
at the Conservatory in 2010.

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  I, III, IV, V, & VI.

I love the standard Christmas traditions, like the tree, and stockings, Rudolph and Charlie Brown specials, of course, but I also love family traditions, those parts of Christmas that spring up in lucky families and continue year after year.  I mentioned Bellringer the Elf in the previous post, a tradition that my wife's family followed and which charmed me so much I was eager to pass it on to our Children, with some success. Even when they began to suspect certain things about the holidays, the ringing doorbell stumped them. Now we have an electronic camera door bell tied to cellphones, making it much more difficult for Bellringer to not be caught in the act!

When we moved to the DC area, we began another tradition, visiting the National Mall at Christmas time, or on Black Friday. We took the train up from Fredericksburg, always better then DC traffic! Then we would usually visit the Museum of Natural History, which has always been our favorite of the Smithsonian Museums, and then a couple other locations. Often, at Christmas time, our last stop would be the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory. It was close to our train station for the trip home, and they had a beautiful displays at Christmas, models of various DC monuments and landmarks made entirely from natural materials, like bark and seeds.  It wasn't quite as magical as I recalled trips to the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati, with the live animals for the Nativity scene, but it was very nice.

Part of my love of Christmas came from the wonderful sight-seeing trips my family took to downtown Cincinnati each year, to see the CG&E Trains, and the Shillito's Elves (maybe they will come back), and of course, the Nativity at the Krohn Conservatory. Those trips made the time of year special, and I tried to give my kids a sense of that specialness with our own trips to DC.    

Here is another letter, a couple years later.  It introduces Frau Perchta, one of Santa's more terrifying associates, and mentions Jingle, an elf who appears in the Rankin-Bass Year without a Santa Claus. 

🎅No. 1 Santa Claus Lane

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dec 24th, 2009                                                                             

Dearest Ren & Tori,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  I see you have both made the Nice List this year, but Jingle, the head elf in charge of the Nice List, tells me that it was a very close call! You are two of my favorite children; I would hate to deliver coal to your home next year instead of presents! Well, enough lectures for this merry time! I know you will both try very hard, because you are good children!

And what of Bellringer, you ask? He is rather upset this year! He has had his scariest adventure yet!  

    There is an evil old witch, Frau Perchta, who used to follow me on Christmas Eve to punish wicked children. I did not trust her, and finally banished her from Christmas Town when I found her secretly punishing good children! This was long ago, of course. Since then she lurks around the North Pole, looking for ways to sneak in.

    Well, this year she finally found a way! A secret goblin tunnel that led into the warehouse caves below the workshop! She used magic to make herself small and snuck through the tunnel, and then she stole part of the naughty list! She misses the days when she followed me, beating children with switches or threw coal at them. But no child deserves that!

    Bellringer discovered the theft right away, and he chased her through the tunnels and right back to her cave! He used magic of his own to turn invisible but kept ringing his bell as he danced around the cave. As she turned this way and that looking for the bell, he snatched the list and ran back through the tunnel to Christmas Town! We blocked that tunnel up quick I can tell you!

    So, now Bellringer is a hero, and we gave him a medal and a great party with fireworks!  But he still does his job! And he has promised to give you this letter.  I hope you enjoyed it, as well as your presents tomorrow. Write me again, I enjoy your letters! 

                                                                                                    ‘Til next year 

                                            Santa Claus



Christmas Letters, Part I

 

You can see the other Christmas Letters posts here:  II, III, IV, V, & VI.

Merry Christmas!  

I am a Christmas fanatic, I admit. I have always loved the holiday, the traditions, the history, pretty much all of it.  And I still believe in Santa Claus, no matter what names he is given. 

Bellringer the Elf delivering his gifts on 
Christmas Eve, 2011.

Along with Christmas, I've also always loved the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and I was especially impressed by the Letters from Father Christmas that the Tolkien children received each year as they were growing up.

Naturally, I was over joyed when my children began to receive their own letters. Of course, their letters came most often on Christmas Eve, when Bellringer arrived - the personal Christmas Elf of my wife's family, who had been pursued by generations of fathers and grandfathers when he left his "Bellringer gifts" on the stoop in Christmas bags... always announced by a mysterious door bell ring.   

Now that my children are grown, I decided this year to share a letter a day in the last few days before Christmas, with amusing tales of Bellringer and a few others of Santa's helpers and even some foes.  

This was not the first letter, but the early letters were very short. This is the first of the longer letters, and it introduces Bellringer the Elf.

 

Dec 24th, 2005                                       

🎅Santa Claus

No. 1 Santa Claus Lane 

Christmas Town, The North Pole

Dearest Ren & Tori,

Merry Christmas!  And thank you very much for your letters! I see that you both made the Nice list this year! I am sure you will be very happy Christmas morning with your presents!  

I am sorry my letter is later this year, I've had some trouble with the elves and I completely forgot to write you back! But I remembered last night, and told Bellringer the Elf to add it to your Christmas Eve package. 

You have heard of Bellringer the Elf, have you not? He is one of my oldest friends and workers. Every year he travels ahead of me, checking to make certain the address of each child is correct. For especially good children he leaves a small gift of his own. Bellringer takes his job very seriously, though some fathers and grandfathers like to shoot at him! Of course, the rest of the year he is my chief elf, he makes certain everything is running smoothly as we get ready for Christmas.

This year, though, Bellringer has had many problems!  First, when he was testing the Teddy Bears he pulled one from the bottom of the pile and they all fell over on top of him  It took the other elves three days to get him out! Then he burned his tongue badly when taste testing the Gingerbread cookies.  His tongue swelled up and the other elves could not understand what he said, he had to repeat himself over and over. This was really bad when we raised our Christmas Tree, when he said "Pull!" they heard "Fool!" and got angry at him! It took another three days to get the elves to listen to him again.

But, all is better now, and Bellringer is excited to be leaving to check addresses and leave small presents again.  I know he has some special gifts for you. Well, better go attend my pre-flight briefing with Rudolph. 

'Til next year 

Santa Claus

Ethics, Wargaming, & the Waffen-SS

Over the summer, Battlefront released D-Day: Waffen-SS Forces in Normandy, 1944, a forces book for its Flames of War 4th edition game. I wasn't aware of this book at first, because I don't play this edition of Flames of War, but I was made aware of it by a post in "Ethical Gamers, A Gaming Discussion Group" on Facebook. 

The poster was outraged about the the book and its focus on the Waffen-SS, specifically the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, without any mention of atrocities carried out by this force, especially the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre.

This is an excellent point, and it raises important questions both for this specific case, and dealing with atrocities in military history and gaming generally.  

War gaming involves recreating events of great suffering and bloodshed as entertainment.  It is understandable that some people would be offended by that. Not simply pacifists, but veterans as well. Would you want to play out a war gaming scenario depicting a battle in which you fought, when your friends and buddies died in that fight?

The answer for some is yes.  In fact, I've personally helped run a refight of a Vietnam War engagement in which the commander of the American forces came to the game and participated in a question and answer session with the players afterwards.  Of course, this game was at a small convention held in a museum and it was very much billed as an educational event. For others, quite understandably, the answer is no. It brings up too many memories. Of course nearly all gamers respect such boundaries amongst their fellow players. 

A standard defense of historical war gaming  is that it is educational.  In fact, the leading miniature war game national society, the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS), is a "non-profit, charitable and educational 501(c)3 organization whose purpose is to promote the study of military history through the art of tabletop miniature wargaming." (see here)  

But that defense undermines the most common response I get whenever I bring up ethics and war gaming, questioning the depiction of groups like the SS in war games. "It's just a game, lighten up!" Just a game is never a reason to ignore such concerns, because historical war gaming is educational, as all games are.  War gamers, and especially game companies, have a moral obligation to address these questions. 

The other common response is to retreat into Moral Relativism or the Whataboutism fallacy, claiming that applying moral standards to conduct in war is wrong, or that all military forces have historically committed atrocities so we should not single out groups like the SS. Moral relativism only works for those who subscribe to that philosophy, or those who somehow believe armed conflict has a different morality then peacetime. In that case, there is no shared common ground and further discussion is of little value. And, of course, the 'whataboutism fallacy' has the word fallacy right there in the title; "everybody else is doing it" has never been a valid defense of any action one might take.   

The other defense revolves around "fun." Essentially, those who bring these issues up are no fun, indeed joy killers.  Why can't we just let them have harmless fun with toy soldiers? 

Why not?  What harm does this book do?  Mitch Reed's review of the book is here, on the No Dice, No Glory website. He doesn't mention any harm. In fact, his review doesn't mention anything about the atrocities at all.  It's just an excited discussion of how 'cool' this unit is, discussing them exactly as a Warhammer 40K site might discuss a new unit of Space Marines. The "unique flavor of the SS is represented by a few distinct differences" from the standard German lists, but apparently that unique flavor is limited to uniforms and equipment, along with a few special rules mentioned in the text. The atrocities and abhorrent ideology of the Waffen-SS is not mentioned or described at all.  The book removes the historical context, reducing them to a "cool" unit for war gaming that has a "unique flavor."

Of course, other genres of games also deal with this problem to a greater or lesser extent.  In 1997 a roleplaying game company, White Wolf Publishing, published Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah, a setting for Wraith: the Oblivion incorporating the Holocaust. The work handled the subject in a sober and mature manner. It produced a setting that may have never been used in a RPG campaign, as it was exactly as depressing as one would expect, but it brought a more thorough understanding of the Holocaust to an audience that otherwise might have ignored the event.  A copy of the work is kept in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museums collections. 

In contrast, the video game industry even today fails miserably with these topics.  All too often groups like the Waffen-SS are reduced to "bad-ass" 'skins' and collectible uniforms and equipment in first person shooter MMOs which barely nod in the direction of historical accuracy. The audience only seems interested in historical accuracy when it can be used as a weapon to keep 'skins' depicting people of color or women out of their game play. This article about video games which white wash German crimes highlights the issue, and points out that video games are decades behind historical scholarship on this subject - the same thing can be said for miniature war gaming, though must miniature war gamers would consider themselves more historically knowledgeable then their videogame playing counterparts.

Flames of War, of course, glorifies the SS as a fighting organization. I can't think of a WWII rule set that doesn't to at least some extent. Just as bad, they all play down or ignore the atrocities and ideology. 

The answer is not stop war gaming, nor is it to stop war gaming the SS.  Historical war gaming is, after all, historical, and refighting such battles is an integral part of the hobby. Moreover, someone has to play "the bad guys."  You can't refight Arnhem, for example, without some SS troops.  

At the same time, we have a responsibility to educate that cannot be ignored. War game rules should mention SS atrocity, and acknowledge their crimes.  Equally importantly, they should resist the urge to assign them enhanced statistics, this treats the SS as if their superman delusions were real and is a disservice to humanity. 

I understand the desire to separate war gaming from the messy real world, to try and avoid anything that smacks of politics. It won't work, though, and it is harmful to our hobby.  As this article on former SS members still proud of their service makes clear, the veterans of the organization for the most part have rejected responsibility.  Attempts to white-wash the history of the Wehrmacht and the SS are constant, as this article about a historian threatened with prosecution for writing the truth shows. 

The sad fact is, our hobby is a prime recruiting ground for racists and right wing fanatics, who can easily "hide in plain sight" in the hobby, recruiting new members and spreading their historical disinformation.  When companies like Battlefront put profits over morality and ignore or white-wash the crimes of the past, then intentionally or not they are supporting such movements.   

We have a moral obligation as war gamers to ensure that such white-washing does not occur in the games we run. We have an ethical obligation to consider these questions and how our games relate to them. Even if that makes them "less fun." That doesn't mean every game must be focused on these events, but we need to acknowledge them, and especially game books should mention them placing the units described in a full historical context rather then simply using them as cool "options" for players. Works on Vietnam should acknowledge My Lai as well as the mass murders the Viet Cong committed in Hue, for example.  Campaign rules for the Battle of Gettysburg should acknowledge that Lee ordered every African-American his army could seize shipped south into slavery. It isn't difficult, acknowledging these crimes. It's simply the right thing to do. 

Certainly the history of warfare is complicated and nuanced. But if we cannot at least talk about the Waffen-SS and their atrocities, which are not in doubt... well, then we should give up all pretense of playing historical games at all.

For Further Reading

The following works I recommend for further reading about the 2nd SS Panzer Division and the Waffen-SS. This is not a complete list, obviously. 

Adrian Gilbert, Waffen-SS: Hitler’s Army at War

Max Hastings, Das Reich: The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, June 1944

Bernd Wegner, The Waffen-SS

Jochen Boehler and Robert Gerwarth, The Waffen-SS: A European History

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Kings of War Reviewed

(Warning: Don't bother reading this if you have ever said "it's fantasy, it doesn't have to be realistic." You've already excluded yourself from the conversation.)

For the last year or so many members of my gaming club, the Spotsylvania Area Gamers have been pretty focused on a fantasy wargame, Kings of War 3rd edition published by Mantic Games. see a beginner's guide here.) It has taken the place of the fantasy game we tried briefly the year before, Age of Sigmar by Games Workshop. I've played enough Kings of War now to review it, I believe.  

Since this is the first war game review I've done for this blog, I thought I should detail my gaming background. I started war gaming in 1979 with Avalon Hill's Panzerblitz. I started miniature wargaming in 1986 when I was a Freshman at Norwich University and joined the the N.U.T.S. (Norwich University Tactics Society).  I've had a lot of experience playing a lot of different systems. My favorite fantasy wargaming system was Battlesystem 2nd edition by TSR, I rejected Warhammer in the '90s because I disliked Games Workshop's marketing practices.  

My dislike of Games Workshop has never really faded over the years, but in a club, you play what the majority prefers.  Many of our club members got their start in gaming with Warhammer 40k or Warhammer, and they were excited to try Age of Sigmar. I had some old GW lizardmen figures I had purchased used years ago so I jumped in. I didn't really like the game, when I beat a player who was far more skilled then I simply through dumb luck, I was convinced it wasn't the game for me.  And after a year the clubs interest in that system evaporated.  

Still, I loved fantasy war games and wanted to play more fantasy rather then simply go back to science fiction or historical war games. So when the club's interest turned to Kings of War I was very willing to try it.

I like it better then Age of Sigmar but that really is faint praise. After playing for over a year now, albeit stop and go due to the pandemic, I do have some thoughts on the good and the bad of Kings of War. I prefer intuitive games that start from a foundation of relative historical simulation and adjust from there for playability, I understand that many younger players are not interested in simulation at all. 

Good: Figures from all manufacturers welcome.  This really should be the norm, but companies like Games Workshop and Battlefront have pushed to crush the independence of the war gaming hobby by trying to limit 'organized play' to 'official' figures only.  I can't imagine that 3d printers are going to allow that nonsense to last with any game company for long.  

Bad:  'Group' basing and rigid formations.  All troops are in a single square or rectangular block and they cannot change formations. while this allows for gorgeous gaming dioramas as play pieces, it prevents anything resembling realistic play. Just as bad, from my point of view, is that the rigid basing discourages using the figures for other systems. Either you base them for Kings of War or you do a lot of additional work to allow your individually based figures to stand properly on Kings of War unit bases. As a firm believer in using figures in multiple settings and systems, this really bugs me. 

Good: A wide variety of fantasy archetypes are given statistics.  Nearly every fantasy trope is represented.

Bad: But they still have those different fantasy types rigidly defined. You can only play the armies designed by Mantic in Mantic's world. The system is not designed to be used for any other setting, there is purposefully no player freedom here.  You cannot decide to use Kings of War to fight out battle between orcs and dwarves on Middle Earth or in the Forgotten Realms. There is no way to create personal units or creatures. Basically, no room for player innovation or imagination.  

Good: The nerve checks with wavering and rout results, and hits instead of removing figures from units, is pretty good. Combining damage and morale results for a hybrid, cumulative effect on a unit is usually solid wargame design and the same holds here. 

Very Bad: Of course, the solid design of the combat results roll is nearly wiped about by the very broken melee combat system.  Melee combat is not simultaneous in this game. If someone charges you, their damage is done and results applied long before your unit gets a chance to strike back. The result is that often units will die in this game without ever striking a blow back.  It's simply ridiculous. Melee in the game should be simultaneous.  Regardless of which player's turn it is, if units are locked in hand to hand combat then they should both make attacks.  Yes, this will make for bloodier battles.  But as it stands, 90% of game play in this game is pre-measuring to stay out of charge range, unless you want to charge first.  It makes for games that don't feel like battles at all.  

Good:  The magic system.  The spells and magic items are straightforward and simple, and not overly complicated nor generally unbalanced. 

Very Bad: The bonuses for attacking the flanks and rear of enemy units are overwhelming.  Combined with the rigid unit base shapes, the elementary terrain rules, and the odd movement rules, the game devolves into "gotcha" geometry that resembles no real life battle I can think of.  

Good: A solid army building system. Like so many systems today, this one is focused on "organized play" or tournaments. It is obvious that the designers spent far more time on their army building system then on any other aspect of the rules, the result is a system that seems incredibly balanced.

Bad: The terrain and movement system are extremely simple and poorly done. This is especially noticeable in a fantasy system, where often units will have odd, interesting movement abilities. Kings of War has frog like creatures who can hop, amphibious fishmen, elementals, and flying creatures but all of their special movement abilities get watered down and rendered boring by the system. Castles, towers, magical swamps, and crystal groves are equally muddied up. 

Good: The game has a decent scenario system. It produces relatively random scenarios that are basically even. 

Bad: It doesn't lend itself to individualized scenario play.  The game just doesn't lend itself to anything beyond organized play. I would be astounded to see someone running a convention game using Kings of War.     

There are a few other issues, for example artillery is overly effective and missile fire too ineffective, but those issues have more to do with individual unit ratings then they do the game system as a whole. 

Overall, Kings of War is a simple game that does not produce battles that feel "real", it favors simplicity over simulation to a fault. It's reasonably well balanced.  But most figures used for the game will be useless for use in any other gaming system, making it relatively expensive for multi-system wargamers. It feels like a step backwards in game design but caters well to its target audience of former Games Workshop players.

I'll keep playing the game though, because that's what my club plays. 

Edit: A couple 'Good' points about the game that I was reminded of by 'Clement' in the Facebook Kings of War Fanatics group. First, all of the rules and a decent selection of army lists are included in the main book. The game system keeps splatbooks to a minimum, the only current splatbook simply adds more army lists, not more rules.  That's a big positive. And second, the game lends itself well to a chess-style turn clock. This is another way it is well suited for tournament play.  Neither of these change my view of the game, I was aware of them, but they are important positives that it is only fair my review mention.

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.