Duke Siefried

Congratulations to a Friend

By Tony Adams

I want to congratulate Duke on finally getting some of the recognition that he has earned. He may not have gotten what he deserved (heh, heh!) in the past but this small measure of appreciation will be very welcomed I am sure.

I am not the one to recount the achievements in Duke's career in the hobby, only he is best suited to do that. Mine is a personal story that starts with a novice gamer meeting the manufacturer/salesman. The story is one of brief, but enjoyable encounters spread over many conventions over many years. It became a friendship from respect at first, and then shared experience later. As the hobby has grown over the past twenty years so has my friendship with Duke. As my own involvement in the hobby grew and matured so did my friendship for Duke, who has helped me a great deal. He has become my teacher in many things as well as my gaming companion and a kindred soul in regards to my approach to the hobby. We share many of the same ideas and goals, both in life and in our hobbies and I am glad of it.

Duke is a good example of a phenomenon that I didn't used to understand when I was younger, that of the retiring wargamer. He now games and designs more for himself and his friends than for the hobby in general. His days in the spotlight have passed and I don't really think he misses it much. I would say Duke enjoys the hobby now more than ever and in some ways he is more active now than ever, even if he isn't as visible as• he used to be. I am sure many of us will head down the same path in the not too distant future. At this point I can look forward to it myself and be grateful to Duke for sharing with me many of the things that promise to make my wargaming future even better than I had hoped for before.

I have learned a lot from Duke and it is because of his willingness to teach that I would like to thank him for helping me to make the beat of my wargaming that I can. As for others, I know that his contributions have been great, many will not be appreciated by most gamers, others will be claimed by others, but they have still helped our hobby over the years.

So, for myself, Thank You Duke, you know what our friendship has meant to me and congratulations!

Duke Siefried MWAN Honoree of 1989

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© Copyright 1989 Hal Thinglum
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