Nutcracker Toy Soldiers

 

Great toy soldier ideas and colour scheme from this special Nutcracker in our family collection (Photo / figure: Man of TIN)

 

A Very Happy Christmas to all my readers, gamers and blog friends.

Gaming to me has always been a little bit like The Nutcracker story.

There seem to be lots of Nutcracker Soldiers around as a Christmas decoration theme this year.

I’m not very knowledgeable about ballet, nevertheless the idea of toys coming to life (at midnight naturally) has long had an appeal to me and many other children and adults.

The fact (or facet of the imagination) that some toys are likely to be bad, jealous, malevolent makes for a more interesting story, just as in the Steadfast Toy Soldier. An instant Enemy! Instant villains, instant bad guys.

The Nutcracker features the basics of narrative and gaming – good and bad, overcoming evil. Colourful uniforms, childlike toys. Return to the nursery etc. and the basic plot of Toy Story.

1,2,3, 4 – I declare a Toy War!

I like the creative tangents and incidental hobby learning stuff whilst surfing the Internet – all more inspiration for gaming scenarios, historical background and uniform paint schemes.

Will this be 2017 project – a Nutcracker army made out of Fimo?  Moulds sourced from Etsy.

There are stacks of Pinterest and Wikimedia images of The Nutcracker, the toy soldiers and other characters. Well worth a search through for some bling uniform Imagi-Nations inspiration.

Decorative Nutcrackers give some great Imagi-Nations uniform ideas  (Wikimedia source: Raul654)

The Tchaikovsky ballet, once of the  Tzarist Russian era, is now an American snowy Christmas classic with many adaptations from Duke Ellington jazz to cartoons.

The ballet is itself adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by way of Alexander Dumas’ adapted story ‘The Nutcracker’.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._T._A._Hoffmann

Hoffman was an interesting Prussian character and story teller living in the upheaval of Napoleonic Europe, writing in the Romantic or Gothic vein of the Bronte sisters but with the folk tale influence of Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen also wrote and lived during wartime, namely the Danish wars of 1864 and the mid 19th Century. He is quoted in the book that inspired the Danish TV series  1864.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker

Plots and scenarios

The idea of Nutcracker toy soldiers defeating the evil mouse king and his troops throws up some interesting fantastic / fantasy gaming scenarios.

Silvered metal finish inexpensive Nutcracker charm Soldiers are available as charms or pendants in batches on EBay or Etsy. Silicone food moulds of  The Nutcracker are also available for Fimo toy soldier production.

Maybe a horde of mice warriors is required? I’m sure many fantasy  manufacturers make them such as Eureka Miniatures Warrior Mice in 28mm alongside their Toy Town Soldier range http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/warrior-mice-769-c.asp

There are some mice and rat related fantasy games out there such as Mice and Mystics   http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=62241.0

A seven-headed mouse king, now there would be a figure …

The Nutcracker Plot or Storyline

The grandfather clock begins to chime … Mice begin to come out from beneath the floor boards, including the seven-headed Mouse King.

The dolls in the toy cabinet come alive and begin to move, the nutcracker taking command and leading them into battle after putting Marie’s ribbon on as a token.

The battle goes to the dolls at first, but they are eventually overwhelmed by the mice.

Marie, seeing the nutcracker about to be taken prisoner, takes off her slipper and throws it at the Mouse King, then faints into the toy cabinet’s glass door, cutting her arm badly.

(Plot summary, Hoffmann’s Nutcracker story – Wikipedia)

Slipper artillery, now there’s another thing …

Check out Youtubè sections ballet or cartoon versions (about 25-30mins in) of  The Nutcracker’s ‘battle with the mice’ and you’ll variously see innovative cheese artillery, mousetraps, Christmas present terrain or scenery, toy forts, cavalry, cannons,  the lot,  performed by dance companies big and small all over the world. Tchaikovsky’s music here reminds me greatly of his martial 1812 Overture, beloved of many wargamers.

A more detailed plot outline can be found in the article about Hoffmann’s original story  can be found at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker_and_the_Mouse_King

The idea of toy parades and music, of toys coming to life can be found in many cultures:

Parade of the Wooden Soldiers music cover (Wikipedia source).

The secret midnight life of toy soldiers  is also well caught here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parade_of_the_Tin_Soldiers including this great Crackly Russian version of this familiar music:

http://www.russian-records.com/details.php?image_id=7971

Happy painting and gaming (at midnight, naturally!)

Blogposted by Mr. MIN, Man of TIN, Christmas / December 2016.

Happy Christmas!

 

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