Summer Scramble 23 - The other side of the hill or "What would I do if I were a German*?"

Looking forward to Summer Scramble 23

If we end up with odd numbers of players I may have to play as an Axis player so I thought I would give my thoughts and look at list options should that situation arise.

It's going to be hard not to look at the Bf109E. 

Warlords infamous Bf109E models. These were the first BRS models I painted.

Of all the fighters available in 1939-40 this is for me is the apex predator. Speed 7, Ag 3, FP 1 Great Climb, Great Dive for 32 points (amended for Wing Commander due to the new Great Dive rule). Only a Spitfire will be marginally faster so I will mostly have the initiative on ties. I can get a six planes and 18 Pilot Skill levels at 500 points. I'd probably go PS 5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, and lead with the Ace. I'm going to be vulnerable to better pilots in cheaper planes outmanoeuvring me (like the PZL 11 I mentioned in earlier posts) but being faster I should get to choose when the fight happens, and even without diving I can use my speed to try to get out of gun range. FP 1 isn't great, particularly on the PS 2 planes, but they will mostly act as wingmen and only shoot at targets of opportunity. Like the real Luftwaffe the Schwarm and Rotte fuhrer will be the ones making the main plays unless it all goes pear shaped.  Against Robust opponents like Hurricanes, Ms406s and Hawk 75s the lack of FP is going to be a problem but something has to give.

As an aside I think it is safe to say the Warlord 109E model has issues. It paints up well enough but you can tell it was from the first release wave. There are problems with the overall shape, particularly the front, and the panel lines on the wings look like they're from a much later version like a K. Actually the Warlord 109E front end looks rather like the earlier D version come to think about it so it can easily be proxied for those if you squint. Lastly the soft plastic is prone to a bit of bending. Hopefully this is getting remastered "soon". 

Another option would be to take the Bf110 Zerstorer. In BRS the 110C is a bit underwhelming. Speed 7, FP 2 but only Ag 1. I's also bloody expensive at 39 points each using the Heavy Fighter rule. On the other hand it is FP2 and has the Heavy Hitter Trait so an average pilot will be will be attacking at 6 dice and any hits will be classed as critical hits, and Great Dive does mean it can get in and out like the 109E. If I can initiate the engagement and blow through the opposition (literally) they may just work. Dropping to say five planes may help keep pilot quality reasonable. Hmm. btw the advantages and disadvantages of using Heavy Fighter is discussed quite a bit in one of the recent Lead Pursuit Podcast episodes and is worth a listen if you are interested in list building and the view from the States https://www.leadpursuit.net/podcast/episode-106-tournament-scene-2023  

Bf110Cs from Armaments in Miniature
 

Since I went out of my way to point out the issues with the Warlord 109E I should redress this by saying the Warlord 110 is a beautiful model, possibly the best in the range. Theyre well proportioned, detailed  and hard plastic. The only reason I don't have any painted yet is I had bought them from AIM before Warlord had even suggested they were releasing them. 

I suppose I could go Bargain Basement and use the Bf109D. This is slower and less Agile than the Emil and lacks Great Climb, but it is MUCH cheaper at 20 points each. I could build either a Swarm or Outmanoeuvre list with that, but I'm not sure.

Lastly I could go Italian. That would mean either a biplane like a Cr42 or an early FIAT or Macchi. None of these ideas appeal. They're cheap but are slower than their German counterparts and are turn fighters, which as I mentioned in another post just isn't my style.  Also I would have to get a squadron ready from scratch in a week which I don't fancy as I have no Italians yet.

* technically my paternal Great Grandfather WAS a German, but he vanished in undisclosed circumstances in 1914, about the same time the High Seas Fleet arrived and blew a significant part of my home town of Hartlepool into rubble. I'm sure it was just a coincidence.

  

Summer Scramble 2023 - List building and Cunning Plans

Card thanks to the talented Martin Wilson (Fine Chap!)

With Summer Scramble 23 only a week away and I have eight PZL P11c fighters ready. At the moment however we have an odd number of players so as the organiser \ sub I may not actually get a game. Additionally with a dozen players confirmed it is likely I'll be busy doing Organiser stuff, but if I do get a game, how do I plan to use them?

Err

Rewind a bit, and let's look at what we will be up against. Summer Scramble 23 is not an open tournament, rather it is a themed event with some restrictions as to what will be fighting what. In this case it will always be Axis v Allies in Europe from the start of WW2 to the Fall of France. That means what you are going to run up against is reasonably predictable - at least as far as the planes are concerned. The Axis players will probably be using Bf109Es, Bf110Cs or something Italian. Of these, the 109 is frankly terrifying because it's fast, can climb like a bat out of hell and dive like an avenging angel with it's pockets full of building bricks. The 110 is also fast, also has Great Dive, and will chew up targets with those FP2 cannons. Luckily the 110 manoeuvres like it dives, like a brick. Against some of the second line opposition old Herman's wet dream "Destroyer" could actually work for once. On the other hand they're both expensive and less manoeuvrable than me. Thankfully none of them have Robust, which I suspect would be a real headache to play against with low FP planes like the P11c. 

So that's the likely opposition, now back to the plucky Poles. 

The firstly they're cheap! At only 20 points a plane I can get the maximum eight allowed for 160 points, leaving enough points for 21 pilot skill (PS) levels. This is important against those 109s who will be something like 18 PS between six planes. (I always think in skill levels when building a list - basically divide the points you have by 25 then add the number of planes to get the number of skill levels, its just easier for me) 

Sadly, theyre SLOW - at Speed 5 slower than all the German fighters, even the bargain basement variant Bf109D. They also have the "Poor Quality" (PQ) Trait. This isn't so much to do with build quality, more lack of what we would come to accept as normal equipment - radios etc. The first scenario is going to be Fighter Sweep and will involve a roll to determine starting Advantage and PQ will impose a minus on the deployment die, which could be "unfortunate". 

The second mission is Surprise Attack -  an Axis attack on an airfield and that could include HE111s, which do have Robust, making taking them down a bit of a challenge with only FP1, but there's not a lot I can do about that and at least I can probably catch them when theyre laden with bombs which is going to be a real problem if chasing Ju88s!

Mission 3 is a straight Dogfight btw

I'll need an Ace I think. Aces are important as they can act as a sponge for enemy outmanoeuvre attempts in the merge, protecting the rest of the Squadron. That's five PS, leaving 16 split between seven planes. That's a bit of an issue as I'll end up with a "horde list" of five Rookie PS2 Pilots and a pair of Average PS3s plus an Ace. I really don't like that. Horde lists are ok but if you play BRS a while you will know that a rookie in an FP1 plane like a PZL 11 isn't going to hit much, and while the high Agility of the PZL will give them 5 dodge dice, it's still not great. Of course you do have a larger pool of "Boom Markers" to burn through, and you can choose a Doctrine that will help, Defensive Tactics springs to mind, which will allow you to turn any shot into a deflection shot, improving the chance of a dodge dramatically. I'll think about that.

The other option is to reduce the number of planes. I can take a standard six plane Squadron for 120 points. This still only gets me 21 Pilot Skill levels, but they're spread over fewer pilots. I can get an Ace, and maybe a PS4 and four PS3s, or maybe drop one of the 3s to a Rookie and get two PS4s. That extra dice makes quite a difference when trying to hit a target and will make outmanoeuvring an option, which means if everything is equal the Poles are going to be successfully automatically outmanoeuvring at least two or three 109s a turn.  Doctrine could be Defensive Tactics, or Aggressive Tactics, which given the reputation the Poles gained in RAF service may well be appropriate and meshes well with our Tight Turn trait.

Both options assume an Ace. As I mentioned if I'm taking an unnamed Ace he's there to act as a shield for enemy outmanoeuvre attempts in the merge or to OM enemies if the chance arises, or to buff other guys, not to do the killing himself. I'd not bother with stuff that makes him a better shooter or harder to kill as he is already on six attack and eight dodge dice. That suggests something like "Mother Hen", or more likely "Set Them Up".  I may have to think about it.

So there it is. Option 1 a Swarm list, option 2 an Outmanoeuvre list. Both could work. The problem I'm seeing is that these guys just are not my style. I don't like slow turn fighters very much. Actually I don't like turn fighters that much at all - even Spitfires only interest me when the Mk IX comes along with Great Climb.  I'm an energy fighter at heart and like to have the speed to get into position and get out of trouble, and sadly these guys just don't have it. 

What do you think? I'd appreciate comments and critiques

Cheers

 

3 Week Painting Challenge - day 10 - Decals and done

And done - ok no pilots, but good enough

My first post on this subject mentioned how the Poles had done some thinking when designing the Pzl P11c. This extended beyond the basics of design to the markings. At some point (shortly after having a giggle that the Brits and French actually painted bullseye style shooting targets on their planes) someone sat down and did some thinking about markings. Symmetrical markings, they reasoned, made it easier for opposition shooters to estimate the range and deflection, so why make it easy?

They came up with an idea to have the national markings placed at different parts of the wing, so outboard on the port wing but inboard on the starboard. A picture paints a thousand words apparently so here is a picture of what they did.

 

Which I think you will agree looks strange

I don't know how much this worked but you have to say there is evidence they were thinking out of the box! Personally I think it looks bloody odd.

I couldn't get any Squadron specific decals as originally planned - the Great Decal Drought of 2023 etc, but the i-94 ones I got from Pendraken are more than good enough. The individual numbers were a bit of an issue - I had some spare numbers from a Soviet set but had to carefully slice them down as these Sovs were using 2 digit numbers such as 01, 02, 03 etc however the Poles did not. They will do. 

So all that is left to do is the pilots. I think I may just not bother as it is a lot of faff and I don't think it will make much difference.

This has been quite an interesting project, but ironically I'm not sure I will use them at Summer Scramble this year. Partly because at the moment we have an odd number of players and I'm acting as sub so will need to drop out of gaming, and partly because I'm not sure, plucky though they undoubtedly are, these guys fit my play style. Will know in ten days I suppose, til then, 

  

 

Summer Scramble 3 week painting challenge day 8 "Pierdoly"

The Squadron drying in the summer sunshine

 ........which my Polish friend Pawel says means something like annoying embuggerations, but he has a sharp sense of humour so he could just be winding me up.

So where to start?

When I printed the models I just loaded the file on the printer and pressed "print". What I forgot was that some of the early PlanePrinter models had a slightly undersized mounting triangle slot. I usually run the file through Blender and double check, but this time I didn't. When I tried to put them on the stands so I can paint them, err they don't fit. Bugger! Now I must admit this sometimes happens if you don't carefully wash the slot thoroughly before curing, which of course I forgot to do (bugger), so it may also be that.

There are two or three options to fix this. Firstly I could restart, check the file and print again. Don't fancy that plus its a waste of otherwise fine models. Secondly I could try and carve the slots open with a knife. I didn't fancy that either as it could easily result in a damaged model and therefore another print. Luckily there is a third option - the Hawk Widget. Old timers will know all about these, and in fact I did a blog post about them here . I drilled the slot out to take a widget and I'm ready to move on.

At this point I also realised that there is no pilots in there. This isn't a deal breaker as I can pop a blob of greenstuff in there I suppose. A more elegant solution would have been to speak to the talented Roger Gerrish and get him remix the file to add a pilot - he has done this a few times in the past and the result is good, however that would mean getting Roger to do his stuff, then reprint, which I want to avoid so greenstuff it will be. 

Remember I thought the colour was a bit green? This bugged me so I decided to tone it down a bit, overpainting with Vallejo brown violet. I was a bit happier about this, and painted the undersides light blue \ grey. I painted the engine block silver and whacked some more Nuln Oil in there, and painted the tyres in grey. The last colour was a bit of a reach. The Pzl P11 has a Bristol Mercury engine. This has a metallic cover on the front cowl. On the only surviving P11 this is a dull green but I've seen these on other planes in various metallic colours so I went with a bronze colour just to give the model something other than the rather drab brown \ green that is currently dominating. Lastly I painted the windshield in blue. 

So end of Day 8 I've ran into a few unexpected speed bumps and minor problems but I think I've either solved them or have a plan to sort them.

Next, decals.    

3 Week Painting Challenge Day 7 - starting to paint

OK so now I have the models and some adequate if not perfect decals, I can start laying down some paint.

What I should do of course, is take a trip up to the NEMS (North East Model Centre) and buy a Hataka Blue Polish Airforce set. Like this one 

This would be doubly wise given I usually end up having multiple squadrons for each nation and PlanePrinter does both the Pzl 37 bomber and the Pzl 23 Karas ground attack plane, strong contenders for my bomber element to the Poles (I suspect I will do both). However there are two problems - 1) that would be like planning and I don't know if I'm up to that, and 2) NEMS didn't have it in stock on their website. I could order one from eBay or another store however I am mindful that real life (tm) has a habit of disrupting my plans so even with two weeks to go I would prefer to make progress now "just in case". 

Thus foiled I went for a standard gray rattle-can undercoat followed by a khaki rattle-can main coat - no idea of the actual colour just something from the box (PSC tank colour of some sort I believe?). I then had a moment of doubt as I thought it was too green but asked Marcin, one of the Polish members of The Ready Room , and he was fine with it, so onwards and upwards!

 Next some details I think

3 Week Painting Challenge Day 3 & 4 - models & decals

So having picked up this particular gauntlet I needed to get a start. Luckily the P11 is available from the PlanePrinter Patreon scheme so I can 3d print them. Only problem is the printer has been lying pretty much dormant over spring as I tend to suffer print fails in low temperatures. 

With some trepidation I ran some quick tests and all seemed well 

My Photon Ultra has a small print bed so I can comfortably fit only five models on it, though in the end I settled for only four so I could run it twice and get all the planes I would need. I chanted the rituals, and ran the printer. My incantations seemed to be correct and I now have eight usable models.  

First four just off the printer and ready for a bit of clean up

So clean up then undercoat and hopefully get some progress on paint.

At this point I had a bit of a setback. I had hoped to get some decals for these guys from Miscellaneous Miniatures in the US of A. They've always been my first port of call for decals and they usually are fast and very reasonably priced. However they've had a reorganisation and have changed postal service - which sadly meant that the $5 decal sheet was going to cost rather more than that to ship to me in the UK - full disclosure, I was thinking of bulk ordering twelve sheets, so $60, but the postage was quoted as $63 which was not really viable :-(

Step forward Pendraken Miniatures. I had to visit the shop to do some checks for the event anyway, so I drove through and picked up some Polish decals from the I-94 Enterprises range that they carry. The I94E range is a bit of a curates egg for me. They're not specifically designed for 1:200 scale - in fact they seem to be in any scale but 1:200, but they have a very wide range and there's usually something in there that will do. Sadly they don't do individual unit markings and numbers like Misc Minis, but beggars cant be choosers.    

The range can be viewed here https://www.pendraken.co.uk/i-94 and I suspect until the "decal drought" can be fixed theyre going to be getting a lot of business from UK based players.

So still on track - paint next

Seems like a good idea - 3 week painting challenge for Blood Red Skies Part 1 (theory)

I'm running a Blood Red Skies event at Pendraken Miniatures on 25th June themed around the Blitzkrieg period. I have plenty of painted Squadron options available, but it seems like a good excuse to paint something new. 

I always wanted to do a Polish Squadron. Technically I already have a Polish Squadron but that's late war in RAF service (Spitfire IXs). One option would be the Caudron C714 which the Poles in exile flew for a short while in 1940 with the French, but that is probably the worse fighter plane in BRS (really) and although there may be some appearing in the future, not now.

That leaves the redoubtable PZL P11. It was the standard fighter of the Polish Airforce in 1939, and a bit odd. If you have not seen it , it is a high wing monoplane with an open cockpit and gull wings (cranked, like an inverted Stuka) with a fixed undercarriage.

Though it looks a bit strange, and admittedly it was a bit of a dead end design wise, the Poles had thought quite a bit about it when they designed it and it has some "interesting" features - such as the guns (four of them) being harmonised (focussed) in pairs at different points. I don't know why they did that, but err they did. Some of the other features are more easily explained. That gull wing was designed to improve visibility both forward and down, and the fixed undercarriage gave it an excellent rough strip capability.

Enough of the historical musings. If I am going to use these for Summer Scramble I will need to get eight ready in three weeks - eight because the PZL is quite cheap due to it being slow and not exactly hard hitting. Not too hard a challenge (?) 

We shall see - wish me luck!