High Place - by John Buxton
In Remembrance of Maréchal de France Le Prince du Philips, OOL
It is with a heavy heart that news of Tom's passing has been received. Maréchal de France Le Prince du Philips, OOL was a member of 17 years, having joined the CCC and l'Armée de Terre Royale in February 2006. Tom's initial command was the Régiment Royal-Roussillon, Brigade Royal-Roussillon, Troupes Royales, Troupes de Terre du Canada. He would later go on to serve as the Chef de Brigade Royal-Roussillon as well as the Commandant de la Troupes de Terre du Canada, in addition to his Regimental command.
In his first 8 months in the club Tom would be promoted from Caporal to Général de Brigade. In October 2007 he would become a Général de Division and later on Général d'Armée. A little over 6 years in the club he would reach the rank of Maréchal de France on July 27, 2012. He would be only the third French officer to become a Maréchal de France.
Tom was awarded the nobility titles of Chevalier, Marquis, Vicomte, Comte & Duc all in 2006 and finally Prince upon his attainment of Maréchal de France.
Multiple awards and honors have been given to Tom for his years of service & gaming in the club. Most notably, in January 2010, the Distinguished Service Medal would be awarded to him for his reliable service and outstanding battlefield exploits over time. In August 2006 he was awarded the Battlefield Completion Medal for 50 completed games. Tom participated in the Summer Tourney 2013/2014, the 2012 Conquest of a Continent Tournament Part I: French & Indian War and the 2013 Conquest of a Continent Tournament Part II: War of 1812. In February 2007 he was awarded the French & Indian War Campaign Medal, then the War of 1812 Campaign Medal September 2009 and finally the Mexican-American War Campaign Medal in March 2011. Tom was awarded 16 individual Battlefield Medals for various victories in the French & Indian War, Campaign 1776 & War of 1812 games.
Tom was a warm, outgoing officer & well liked by all who played games or interacted with him in the different clubs. He was always willing to play a game, enter a tournament and most importantly he was always active on the forums congratulating, encouraging and celebrating the accomplishments of others. For these reasons and more, on the first of this month, Tom was posthumously awarded the
Order of Lafayette
He's only the third French officer to receive it.
Tom was a member of five clubs, ours, the former iNWC, the ACWGC, NWC & the Blitz. He joined all of them in either 2006 or 2007 and was an active member here & our sister clubs right up until his passing. In the AWCGC he was an officer in the Confederate States of America (CSA). He attained the rank of Lieutenant General and spent most of his 17 years in the Army of Alabama (AoA), Army of the West (AotW) & Army of Tennessee (AoT) of the Western Theater, but also served with the Army of Georgia (AoG) in the Eastern Theater. He further served on the Western Theater Command Staff. His most important post was as the Dean of Cadets of the Vicksburg Military Institute (VMI), welcoming new officers and helping them find battles. Similar to what he would do here with us. As a Leutnant in the former iNWC, he commanded the 2. Infanterie-Bataillon, 12. Infanterie-Regiment (Brandenburgisches), 1. Infanterie-Brigade, I. Armee-Korps, Königlich Preußische Armee. Initially joining the NWC in 2007, Sekondleutenant Tom Phillips joined the Preußische Armee and was assigned to the Brandenburgisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 5 (Prinz Wilhelm), 1. Kavallerie-Brigade, Reserve-Kavallerie-I. Armee-Korps, I. Armee-Korps. In 2010 Tom would return to the NWC. Lieutenant General Thomas David Phillips, 1st Graf von Lüneburg commanded the Fuß Artillerie Batterie Rettberg, Hannoversche Artillerie Brigade, Hannoversche Division (Hanoverian Division), II (Anglo-German) Corps in the Anglo-Allied Army (AAA) for the remaining 13 years he was a member there.
Tom lived in Russell, Kansas at the time of his passing. He grew up in Royal Oak, MI and also lived in Richmond, VA, as well as in Rochester, MN. He was a skilled carpenter & cabinetmaker by trade, employed while in Russell at Lynn's Custom Woodworking for over 10 years and more recently worked at a gluten plant. He was big into gaming, but also enjoyed history overall, sports & geography! His emails, especially when playing a game would often include images or maps related to the battle or time period of the game. I always looked forward to what he would find when playing games with him.
I did my best to tally up Tom's 17 years of gaming in the various clubs he was in and he played an astounding 1,707 games & had 13,425 points in all five clubs combined! It goes without saying he devoted so much time and passion to our hobby. Tom played games with many members of the various clubs including guys like Brett Kolcun (28 games) & Giorgio Beacco (42 games). To officers like Tom Ciampa (64 games) & Dale Lastowicka (69 games) that he played here and in several other clubs. He played 234 games with the late Cela Noftz. They played constantly for years in all clubs and I know Tom took it rather hard when Cela passed.
Tom played 595 games as a member of our Club. He was one of our most prolific gamers. Official Records for Tom's service can be viewed here, as part of the Memorial Page: https://www.wargame.ch/1776/French/Serv ... llips.html
A copy of the obituary his family sent has also been placed with his service record on the Memorial Page: https://wargame.ch/wc/acw/sub/AoT/Servi ... s_Obit.pdf
You'll Be Missed Tom!
Your Friends at the Colonial Campaigns Club (CCC)
- A gift In Memory of Tom's has been made to Fort Ticonderoga.
Remembrance Posts for Tom have also been made in the other two clubs:
NWC - https://www.wargame.ch/board/nwc/viewto ... =5&t=17131
ACWGC - https://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopi ... =4&t=23312