7YWA Journal: Review and Outlook Vol VII No. 1 Abundance and Advances

Review and Outlook

Abundance and Advances

By Jim Purky

We commence another volume with this first issue of Volume VII and as we head into the eleventh year of our association, I think that I can safely say that the state of the hobby, as it pertains to the enthusiasts of mid-eighteenth century history, has never been better.

The truth of this statement becomes all too clear when one looks at some of the back issues in Volume I (1982 - 1983) and Volume II (1984 - 1985) and realizes how difficult it must have been to obtain any kind of SYW miniatures for tabletop wargaming. Likewise, the amount of information about the period, at least in a format usable to historical gainers, was not as plentiful as it is today.

Today, by contrast, SYW miniatures are readily available in a variety of scales ranging from tiny 5mm strips up to the large 25/30mm titans. Where once one or two standard poses were available for each nationality, today it is possible to field a French or British battalion of Dixon, Front Rank or Old Glory figures, each with a dozen or more different poses. These truly are the best of times for SYW wargamers.

Abundance

A similar abundance of items can be found in the areas of wargame rules, uniform information and historical publications. Professor Christopher Duffy remains the primary contributor of English-text source material on the SYW and I understand that he will be teaming up with The Emperor's Headquarters, in Chicago, to reprint his classic book The Army of Frederick the Great. The reprint will include a great deal of new information that Professor Duffy has uncovered since the book's first printing in 1974.

Recently, a number of similarly important publications have hit the market, such as reprints of Sir Reginald Savory's His Britannic Majesty's Army in Germany During the Seven Years War and Duffy's The Army of Marie Theresa, both reprinted by Terry Wise. Thank you , Terry, for bringing these books back into circulation. I can remember a time when SYWA members would have gladly given an arm and a leg to own a. copy of these books. Sadly, the Savory reprint is no longer available due to its limited run of 500 copies, but at least the majority of SYW enthusiasts throughout the world now own copies of both books.

There have also been significant advances in the areas of uniform information, primarily through the availability of foreign-language (i.e. non-English) text books. There appears to be a revival of interest in Germany in the history of Prussia and Frederick the Great. This accounts for the growing number of German-text uniform plates and books that have come onto the market. Bob Ruman of the Articles of War bookstore in Skokie, Illinois seems to have a pipeline full of SYW-related books flowing into his store from Germany. For example, one could purchase a reprint of Westphalen's diaries, written while serving as aide de camp to Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and undoubtedly this would be of interest to everyone, if only it were available in English.

Short of learning how to read and speak German or French, there may be a solution on the horizon in the form of translation software for personal computers. I am aware of two software systems, one costing $59.00 and the other $159.00 that can translate German, French and Spanish into English, and visa versa. Both are cumbersome to work with, but one can imagine how much better they might be within two to five years as computer technology improves. Along these lines, members Rich Black and Jim Mitchell have embarked on a major project to translate the Prussian General Staff Histories of the Seven Years War into English. They hope to have the first book available in time for the next SYWA convention in South Bend , Indiana on March 18 and19, 1994. Great idea guys, good luck on your project!

So what will the future bring? It would seem as if we have pushed the limits of miniatures availablity, in terms of size, style and selection. Why one can even buy Swedes, Russians and Turks for 18th century wargaming. My hope is that we will see more translations and archieval material in circulation. In terms of subject matter, it would be nice to see historians focus on the War of Austrian Succession, particularly in the Italian, Danubian (Austrians vs French and Bavarians) and Low Countries theaters of operations. It would also be beneficial for some scholar to build on Savory's study of the SYW in Western Germany focus on the Allied and French armies. Perhaps we'll even see an exhaustive study of uniforms that will rival the cornucoepia of Prussian uniform information.

SYWA Lore

I thought that I would share this little nugget of SYWA lore with the readers that I found in Volume I Issue 3 from December 1982. I think that it captures the spirit of friendship and fellowship that makes our annual convention such an enjoyable event. The news item was written by the Associations founder, Bill Protz:

Gen Con 1982, Kenosha, Wisconsin. On August 20th Bill Protz hosted a SYW miniatures battle on a 6' x 18' table for the attendees of Gen Con. A simulation of the battle of Korbach (July 10, 1760) took place finding the Allies inferior in numbers but victorious over their French counterparts. About twelve people participated in the battle. Association members Rob Oldenburg and Kurt Donzelli commanded the Allied and French armies, respectively, with assistance from other Association members Rich Black, Terry Paul, Mike Schundler, Hal Thinglum and Doug Chalk.

The next day member Ken Bunger organized a last minute evening battle at the nearby Howard Johnson motel. Participants started by having dinner togeather and then adjourned to begin the battle, finishing at 2 a.m. Rich Black, Kurt Donzelli, Steve Carpenter, Bill Protz, Mike Schundler plus Ken (as Allied C in C)and his friend from Nebraska, Mitch Allen, (as French C in C) squared off against each other to fight a very memorable battle.

Nearly everyone brought their own 25mm miniatures, and it was great to see such variety on the tabletop. For Ken and myself it was good to game opposite one another again maneuvering our own units to fight each other as they so often did long ago when I lived in Nebraska.

At 2 a.m. the battle concluded with the French unquestionably driving the Allied right, breaking through in the right center, holding the left center and falling back on the left.

In the French left center, some truely remarkable events occurred. The French Fischer Chasseurs caused three Scottish highland battalions to leave the field in succession -- (Fischer and two. of the Scots battalions were old and bitter enemies from their days of campaigning in Nebraska) -- while two British converged grenadier battalions also faltered to a like number of Frenchmen. Allied reserve cavalry (British, natch) were nearby but refused to save the day and, in fact, had orders to go elsewhere. Finally an objet de veneration , the socalled "Holy Rock", owned for years by the Allied Army of Nebraska (liberated a few years before from Steve Carpenter's group in New York), was taken by the gallant French. I guess the readers can tell what side I was on!

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and we all look forward to getting togeather again, perhaps at Origins or Gen Con 1983.

SYWA Founders

There is a treasure chest full of convention lore from the early days of the Seven Years War Association and I suspect that it would be well-received by those of us who joined later. Perhaps some of the founding members could send in some reports pertaining to those "good old days" and share their adventures with the rest of the membership. What's the story behind the "Holy Rock"? Inquiring minds would like to know. How about it?

Along these lines, I thought that I would print a list of the "First Twenty-Five" who helped get our organization off the ground:

Thanks to all above for making it possible. I'll see you next issue in January 1994.

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