One thing that improved the disposition of His Royal Nibs of late was the recent arrival of Jim Mitchell's first issue of this Journal, Volume XI Issue No. One. Alte Fritz was highly impressed; as was I. I pulled my Prussian troops out of their winter cantonments (storage boxes) and lined them up for their annual review. They fired a Te Deum in honor of Jim Mitchell. The Austrians were invited to march out of their boxes and join the celebration, but it was cold outside and they had the good sense to stay inside where it was nice and warm.
The full color cover featuring Maurice de Saxe was very impressive and I thought that the content lived up to the promise of the cover. My only regret was that Dean West's fascinating article on Maurice de Saxe had to be continued in a later issue. For those readers who can't wait for the conclusion, I would suggest a reading of Marshall of France, The Life and Times of Maurice de Saxe [Rand McNally, 1962] by Jon Manchip White. It is an entertaining read, but not nearly as fun as the wordsmithing provided by Mr. West.
I also enjoyed Paul Petri's wargame report on the refight of Lobositz and the companion article by Jim Mitchell, which provided the historical context for the battle along with the order of battle for both sides. The articles complimented one another and gave the reader all the information needed to refight the battle and the campaign on the tabletop. Nice job. Last but not least, I have to say that I enjoyed Jim Mitchell's account of the Battle on Snowshoes. It is well known that the French & Indian War has always been a secondary interest of mine, but a well-researched, well-written article like this can make converts of Euro-centric types such as me. It would be interesting if some figure manufacturer would produce Rangers and French Canadians in winter dress and snowshoes. I suppose that demand for such a product could never justify such a figure line, but we can always dream. Actually, the battle would make for a good European scenario. Simply substitute Croat light infantry for the Indians and French, and let some Prussian FreiKorps unit take the place of the Rangers. We are always assuming that the Prussians are on the receiving end of the ambush. A crafty game judge could have his Croat players believing that they are setting up an ambush of Prussians, when in fact, the Prussians have turned the tables on the Croats.
It is quite clear to me that the SYWA Journal is in good hands with Jim Mitchell as the editor. The use of color covers and scanned images on the inside have improved the visual quality of the publication and the quality of the articles is as good as it's ever been, if not better. If I had known that the Journal was going to be this good, I might have retired to my gout stool sooner.
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© Copyright 1999 by James J. Mitchell
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