Rabbit Holes in Historical Wargaming

I think we all know this but here goes. One of the joys of Historical Wargaming, over and above fantasy \ sci fi, is the rabbit holes. You know, the subject or unit that drags you in unexpectedly . I know this to be true, because whenever four wargamers gather to start a new period, one of them suddenly goes off on a tangent, off the beaten path. Example - Sharp Practice. We decided to do some French for Sharp Practice, so we got French (me) French (Paul) and then Neuchatel (Rob) and Westphalians (Steve).  Now let's be clear, theyre all viable and playable, but the last two have involved a lot more effort in thought and research even though they are, to all intents, just French in the game. Also yellow Rob wtf!

One of my rabbit holes is the Dutch Airforce for Blood Red Skies. They only fought (in Europe) for five days, but once I started "collecting" I have found myself with four "Squadrons", two of fighters FXXI and G1a's and two bombers TVs and CVs. Long ago this would have been impossible as models mostly would not have existed (armaments in Miniature do some but importing is not easy at the moment) but with the rise of 3d printing I'm now good to fight the whole five days the Militaire Luchvaart (ML) did. 

Except for one plane type. The Douglas DB-8A/3N. Now I'm going to give anyone who doesn't know this plane a pass because in truth it is a rare bird, and until I was quite a ways down the rabbit hole before I even began to be aware of it. It is a bit more confusing because it is a variant of another slightly more well known plane but with a totally different name, and in Dutch service it was used in a role for which it was not designed or suited for, and all were lost in a single day (more later).

The DB-8A was a version of the Northrop A-17, aka the Nomad in UK service. This was a monoplane two seat attack bomber, essentially a dive bomber and a slight predecessor to the much more famous Dauntless. The A-17 entered production in 1935 and seems to have done reasonably well in the export market, and served with the USA, Peru, Sweden,  Iraq, the UK, South Africa Canada and of course the Netherlands. I'm only aware of the Dutch seeing action though I think the Iraqi ones may well have been used in the Anglo Iraqi war of 1941, which is a rabbit hole all of it's own. The rest were mostly used as trainers, patrol aircraft and target tugs by their various owners. Anyway, back to the Dutch. 

Being a bit contrary in all things air - have a look at the Fokker TV used a s a fighter, the Dutch thought the DB8 would fit well in the role of two seat fighter (!) with a side order of recce \ ground attack. My initial reading suggested the only unit equipped with them, 3V-2 LvR was wiped out on the ground on May 10th 1940 so they were pushed to the side of my mind for a time. Then I "did my own research" ie didn't rely on Wikipedia and bought a book!

It turns out they were not destroyed on the ground, and that a couple of flights managed to scramble and then in a series of rather desperate and valiant actions claimed at least three Luftwaffe planes before being overwhelmed by Bf110s.

So I now have a new, interesting and viable Squadron to model in Blood Red Skies. Where are the pictures I hear you ask?

Err the problem is, noone makes a model, or as far as I can see, even a viable .stl file. I'm regularly but gently badgering Roman Troyen of PlanePrinter fame, but this far my cries have fallen on deaf ears, which is a travesty of justice when you think he makes all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. Ah well, until he get's around to it, it will have to be an unfulfilled dream.........

Hmm Anglo - Iraq war of 1941......................... 

 

Project update - err stuff is happening

I've not posted for a while so I thought a generic post would maybe be relevant.

So where to start.

Blood Red Skies. Over the last few years this has been my main game. Over the last few months progress has stalled a bit (pun intended). I played a few games at the Middlesbrough club and also did a demo session at the Warlord Opening Day - all good, but I've mainly been painting and playing other things. This is hopefully going to change. We have a small tournament planned for mid November so hopefully that will run ok.

Quar. Ive been quite taken with The Clash of Rhyflers starter set and have been busily expanding. I've hit a bit of a bump in the road as my core Crusader force is just about done, but for reasons I cant really explain even to myself I have started two new forces, Royalists and Arnyarans (it's the bikes). This means I have a pile of unpainted models - oh dear.

Sharp Practice. French are stalled but I hope to get them back running soon.

Quar adjacent is the Irish Revolt \ Rebellion \ Civil War. I've been looking for a set of rules that handles the scale and scope of the actions of the period and I think Clash of Rhyflers does this really well. I'm hoping to put this to the test on Thursday night at Middlesbrough Games Club with our first "This Mick's War" game. Report to follow (hopefully).

Printer issues. Yup, that's a thing. Mt Saturn 2, which had previously been rather reliable, had a FEP leak. In attempting to change the FEP I damaged the resin tank. The replacement resin tank didn't quite fit so I have spent some time staring (and swearing) at the machine. I finally have it working again however I noticed the Saturn 4 Ultra was on sale and....... well this happened. 

It's almost Christmas so..... It will be a while before it is set up and running - I may need to move stuff around in the print room.

Phew, so that's about it for October. It has been less productive than I would have liked but hopefully now that will change. Cheers

100 Hour War Scenario 2 - Zepeda misses out again!

I mentioned in Scenario 1 that one Honduran Corsair had a cannon malfunction and had to abort, inadvertently triggering the dogfight. That was Captain Zapeda. A few hours later he and his comrades were back in action, this time against a pair of Salvadoran Corsairs. And just like on the morning sortie, his guns jammed on testing again............

Major Soto pressed on and in the dogfight that followed claimed two more kills both against Corsairs. At some point a pair of Salvadoran F51s appeared. So this is the setup for Scenario 2. I've messed around a bit with history to get it more playable.

The Salvadoran Corsairs begin about two thirds of the way up the table, with the trio of Hondurans behind them. How far is important given I wanted to give the Salvadorans a chance. The Corsairs used by Honduras don't have Great Dive due to their having quad 20mm cannons and the rule restrictions on only 2 Traits, so to put them just out of engagement range there needs to be at least 22" between them. I left Zepeda in the mix but with no guns - he can still help in what can rapidly turn into a 4v2 even if he cant shoot as the opposition don't know this!  The F51s enter after they pass a raw Pilot Skill test at the end of each turn, adding one die for each turn they fail (or tbh when I thought it was a good idea to get them on to keep the players engaged). They don't use High Cover btw - there is no suggestion of any real coordination going on. Everyone dices for initial Advantage when they start, just as part of the explanation process for new \ first time players)

And that was it. We played three times and it seemed to work.

Corsair on Corsair action. Hondurans in blue, El Salvador in green

I'm going off to polish this one as I think it's a good demo. It's also interesting to see the unusual match up. 

side-note - Zepeda's cannons. After these two actions there was some investigation as to why his cannons failed twice when the others didn't. The result was in some ways emblematic of the war in general. Honduras had bought a batch of 20mm ammunition from the UK, presumably on a discount. Why is this a problem? Well the Corsairs used US M3 20mm cannon, which is in theory a copy of the Hispano 20mm used by the British. Problem is the US version had been "re-engineered" (and wasn't quite as good as the Hispano because of these changes but that's another story) and as a result the UK ammunition was about 1mm thicker than the US version. On older worn out guns this made no difference as the wear and tear coincidentally meant the UK rounds mostly worked. It appears Zepeda's guns were still in reasonable condition so jammed when trying to fire the British ammo. This was apparently resolved by the field expedient of clamping 20mm High Explosive Incendiary \ Armour Piercing into a lathe and grinding them down til they fit. Flying is dangerous but the guys who got that job certainly must have had massive "cojones" :-)      

100 Hour War part 4 - Decals and done

Paint done, now for decals!

At this point I should mention the Blue Falcon Hobbies decal Patreon. Steve Toth sends out decals to members once a month and in sheer coincidence last month he did a sheet of Honduran and Salvadoran markings for the 100 Hour War. These were (obviously) perfect for this project and were one of the reasons I thought it would be possible, though I was wincing at the Honduran wing tip and rudder markings.

It only took and hour - part of the speed I realised was the fact I was only painting pairs or threes, and also (to my shame) I was only concentrating on the the things you would see on the table, so left the undersides plain. 

And here they are - all painted and ready for action!

F51 Cavalier Mustangs 

Salvadoran Corsairs

Honduran Corsairs

 

100 Hour War- rule tweaks and scenario 1

 So what was I going to do with the models?

I do have a tendency to try and shoehorn games to fit "official" scenarios. I blame Andy Chambers. The problem here is the historical dogfights of the 100 Hour War were quite a bit smaller than a normal BRS game, so the scenarios wouldn't work. Nor would the "Boom Chit" mechanism, where the squadron breaks when it has more Boom chits than planes. 

So here is what I came up with. I'm not restricted by table size and as all the planes are Speed 9 I have a full 6x4 table to deal with. So far so good. 

Boom Chits wont work as advertised as this is a participation game and I may well have pilots playing single planes rather than Squadrons, so in this case Boom Chits are going to be accumulated on individual planes, and if the total exceeds the Pilot Skill, that plane must immediately disengage. The second change to normal BRS is to allow TWO trait cards per plane not just one - again in case we have players with a single plane so that they all get a reasonable flavour of how Traits work. 

Scenario 1 is the first dogfight. This occurred when three Honduran Corsairs were on a ground attack mission. Just before engaging they tested their guns, and one had an embarrassing total fail on all four 20mm. He was ordered to disengage, and turned for home alone. Shortly afterwards he was spotted by a pair of Salvadorian F51s who dived in. He managed to survive long enough to summon the other pair of his flight, and in the following dogfight one F51 was downed. Putting this into a BRS game was pretty straightforward - the unarmed Corsair starts half way down the table with the pair of F51s 18 inches behind him. He can't shoot and only has the Robust Trait, but as the opposition don't know he is toothless he can do everything other than shoot - including Outmanoeuvre . At the end of each turn he makes a pilot skill check and if successful his supports arrive. Simple. The F51s are both Pilot Skill 2 - this represents the Salvadorian pilots seeming have lacked faith in their Mustangs which they only recently had taken delivery of, apparently preferring their "old faithful" Corsairs. The Hondurans have a Skill 4 (Major Soto) and two Skill 3s, one of which is the guy with jammed guns. 

We played this twice on the games day. The first game the Hondurans arrived in time to save their flight mate and shot down a F51. Incidentally this is pretty much happened historically. The second time something went wrong and an F51 shot down the Honduran Flight Leader! This was something of a surprise to say the least. 

100 Hour War - Part 3 Much and unexpected progress

So after printing the models I decided to put the base coats on, and immediately ran into a problem. I got base coats on the F51s and the Salvadoran Corsairs, and decided the later looked wrong. As it was quite late I decided to pack in for the night - three more hours done. I "resolved" to start the Corsairs again first thing, spraying them a green from one of the rattle cans - that seemed like a plan.

I woke early and needed to get the models from the painting station in the loft to take them to the yard for the rattle can treatment, which would be dry when I got in from work. Except when I got to the loft and looked at them again, I thought, bugger that. This was a quick project and maybe they were close enough. I sat down and got on with the darker green mottle pattern, and it went on quickly and easily. While that was drying I put the dark blue on the Honduran Corsairs, then got some details on all three sets, canopies, engines etc. This all went remarkably smooth and quickly. By the time I had to go to work they were ready for the panel lines.

After a disheartening day at work (shock) I hit the panel lines, tidied everything up and varnished them ready for decals. Two hours down. 81 hours to go........ this was looking easy. Famous last words :-)

 

  

 

100 Hours War Part 2 - 16 hours down 84 to go

So a quick update.

Having decided to commit to trying to complete the whole thing in 100 hours I've made a start. I've spent two hours on some basic research (!) to get the idea what was needed, followed up with another two hours nailing the scenario plans down. I was greatly assisted by Rob Hymer who when I mentioned it, loaned me his copy of THE book on the conflict, which is now OOP. Cheers Rob!

Next step was to get the models printed. I was OK with the Corsairs - Planeprinter has several versions and although none are spot on, there's two that will do. The vanilla P51Ds are again quite easy, Planeprinter has them. The fly in the ointment is the Mustang IIs. For the uninitiated these are P51s that were modernised and configured for Counter Insurgency (COIN) operations. For this they have a slightly higher tail, bigger canopy and wingtip fuel tanks, plus some hardpoints. I reached out to Roger Gerrish who is a Gent and good at the technical stuff and after some discussion he rushed off and added some droptanks to the wings of the P51 stl - its not perfect, and I know he's the sort of bloke who would rather do the job properly, but with the wing tanks they look fine and only rivet counters will know the difference. I suspect he will finish a "proper" model in the near future.

In theory all ten models I will need (6 F4U and 2 each of P51 and F51) will print on one run. Sadly the first attempt failed and I've had to mess around running it again. That's another ten hours gone.

    

Painters Block - smashing through

All wargamers get it sooner or later, and sometimes often - the dreaded "Painters Block".

It's that horrible project that for some reason just refuses to get painted. We all get it, and we get it for different reasons. My most recent revolves around a pair of Fw 200 Condors for Blood Red Skies. 

Disclaimer - I've not been totally blocked. I've managed to paint some other stuff, but nothing for BRS, and this has been going on for months. 

The reasons why the Condors (two of them) have been a problem are many-fold. Firstly I wasn't 100% happy with the models. These were planeprinter stls printed by my good friend Paul. At the time I didn't have a printer that would handle something the size of the Condor, so when Paul printed me a couple I was not going to complain. The original stl has some raised panel lines around the nose which looked strange, I'm sure this was a slip of the mouse, but but did mean a bit of sanding to get the model ready.

My first real problem kicked in when I picked up the paintbrush. I've been using the same scheme and colours for early Luftwaffe planes from the start of my taking up BRS - a grey \ green base with a darker green splinter pattern. I was using a Vallejo Grey Green that was supposed to match the relevant RLM colour, but recently I was starting to think it was too grey and not enough green. I've been searching for something that looked more "green" and this has put me off as I didn't seem to be able to find anything I liked. I put the paintbrush down.  

I picked up the paintbrush. This colour issue was also made worse by my failure to find some good images of the camo. German bomber camo was usually the same patterns stretched as needed to cover the plane, so in theory a He111 would have the same pattern as my Condors. I could find a good plan and side view, but was struggling to see how to merge the two views together. I put the brush down.

The other issue was lack of decals. The only supplier at the time was Misc Minis in The States. Sadly due to world events shipping costs changed and for a while were prohibitive and I wasn't going to leave them painted but without the correct decals. I got the base coats on, and then stalled. They sat like that for months, looking up at me accusingly as I painted Austrians and French Napoleonics.

Happily solutions have happened. Steve Toth of Blue Falcon Hobbies produced a set of FW200 decals for I KG 40 and sent them out as part of their monthly decal subscription. Thanks Steve! I've also looked carefully at the greens on my painting table and Vallejo Russian Uniform looks a bit more where I wanted for the lighter green. I picked up the paintbrush.

The final reason for me stirring into action was the realisation that this would not change unless I changed it, so, block be damned I've launched into them. And it was easier than I expected. I've got both painted and decals on and I'm rather happy with the result. 

And theyre BIG birds, and like their namesakes quite majestic. Here is a shot with a He111 to show the size, and also the changed base green.

and a slightly blurry pic of the KG40 Squadron emblem on the nose. It also shows some layer lines but theyre not really visible at table distances. 

Bit of local history and one of the reasons I wanted to do a FW-200 Condor was there is a local connection. On 19th July 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain Condor F8+EH of 1 \ KG 40 was shot down into the sea just up the coast from where I live.  The plane was based at Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport in France and was on a mine laying mission. While approaching the British coast at night, the four engine aircraft was shot down by the British anti aircraft fire and crashed into the sea off Crimdon. Four crew members were killed and two others were rescued. 

Now technically I suspect my Condor is a slightly later version than F8+EH but there's not much chance of finding the exact model. The markings are however correct as far as I can tell, thanks again to Steve Toth at Blue Falcon Hobbies.

So there you go - painting block smashed, what to paint next??

"Azul" Squadron for Blood Red Skies - part 2 - Nobody Expects ......................

Making it happen

Err did I mention no one did a G6? PlanePrinter does a G14 as an .stl file, and Warlord do a physical model. To most laymen, like myself, the main visual difference between a G6 and G14 is the revised canopy. PlanePrinter also do a 109F4 with the old style canopy, so I reached out to Roger Gerrish who likes to dabble in this sort of thing, to see if he could graft an old canopy from the F onto the G - and he did (Cheers m8!) and I printed half a dozen. I'm going to paint them as 4th Squadron in winter whitewash colours from the winter of 1943.

The problem is (as explained in part 1) that these basically look like any other Luftwaffe unit. Ah well.

Stage 1 - print the models. Not a problem. I recently purchased a Saturn 2 and it happily chucked out six "Gerrish Special" 109Gs

Stage 2 paint. This is going to be interesting. Spray them white as an undercoat. I wanted to keep them a bit light here as I was hoping to get some way of dealing with the whitewash effect. Underside - blue grey from a Hataka Blue range then paint the yellow spinner and bands - three thin coats of Citadel "Flash Git" yellow to hopefully build up some depth. Canopies - my usual two tone blue, then frames in white. Then whitewash. This is the bothersome bit. I grabbed some Citadel Apothecary White Contrast paint and sort of reverse engineered the whitewash by painting it over all the various panel lines. I was very relaxed about this , allowing the contrast to spill over quite a way from the panel lines. I also used the same Contrast paint on any large areas of white to represent areas where the whitewash was fading and the base colours showing through. After a bit of practice I think this looks ok.

Last painting step will be to tidy up, panel line underneath (I hate that) and add details like exhausts.

Decals. There are no commercially available decals for the Azul (I've petitioned Blue Falcon Hobbies) but as I said by the time 4th Squadron got their Gs they're using standard Luftwaffe markings so I am using decals from the spares box - a mixture of Balkankreuz fron the Warlord generic set and spare numbers from Warlords 190A decal sheet.

White 4

4th Blue Squadron

So there we go. I'm quite interested in getting these on the table as I think the Great Dive \ Great Climb combo is a potent mix. 

Cheers!

 

 

Spanish "Azul" Squadron for Blood Red Skies - part 1 - the Cunning Plan

A little while ago I mentioned I rated the Bf109G quite highly in Blood Red Skies. https://twtrb.blogspot.com/2023/08/blood-red-skies-list-building-what.html .

I already have some 109Es and Fs but as yet no Gs. One of the reasons is nostalgia. In my mind if I recall the "Gustaf" there is only one thing that comes to mind, the old Airfix Series 1 kit, in blue plastic with the totally Kool under wing rockets for shooting down B17s. This is a Bf109G-6 with the traditional square canopy. I loved this as a kid so thats the 109 G I want.

The problem is, the two easily accessible Bf109G models for BRS, from Warlord and PlanePrinter are both later versions with the "Galland" hood, which improved visibility dramatically but don't look right to me, so this project got parked.

I then went to FIASCO in Leeds (a long running Wargames show in the NE England)  I should do a review of that because I think there is a post there but maybe later. Anyway when there I spotted a book on the Spanish Azul (Blue) Squadrons that operated in Russia during WW2. I had heard of the Azul Division - Spanish volunteers fighting for the Germans against the Communists,  but not the Air Force unit, so I picked it up. I was thinking - that's a "Kool" and interesting 109G unit that I could do rather than a more standard Luftwaffe one. 

So I got home and started to read it - and its a really interesting story.

Potted history -back of a postcard stuff - Spanish volunteers fighting as a unit for the Luftwaffe against the threat of world Communism. The author goes quite a way to stress the point that theyre not Fascists just anti Communist - opinions may vary on that, but............ 

Anyway they wanted to be allocated to support their compatriots in the Blue Division, but the Luftwaffe said "no", so the initial draft were allocated to fly Bf109Es as a ground attack unit, 1st Escuadrillas Azules  15 Spanische Staffel 15.(Span)/JG 27 . The pilots were not that impressed as the first draft of volunteers were pretty much all seasoned fighter pilots with experience from the Spanish Civil War.

After a tour the surviving pilots were rotated back home and were replaced with another batch of pilots designated as the 2nd Azul Squadron. These guys got their wish and had the 109Es replaced with 109Fs and they became a standard fighter Squadron, 2nd Escuadrillas Azules 15 Spanische Staffel 15.(Span)/JG 51. The pattern continued, with the 3rd Squadron replacing the 2nd and taking over their planes, remaining as part of JG51. 

Up to this point they carried standard Luftwaffe markings plus their own unit badges, however with the arrival of the 4th rotation this changed. The 4th replaced the Bf109Fs with a mix of Bf109Gs* (at last!) and Fw190A2s .  However the fly in the ointment (for me) is that at this point and going forward to the 5th Squadron, they seem to have dropped their distinctive Squadron markings from their planes so they were just the same visually as a "standard" Luftwaffe unit. 

1st Squadron Badge

2nd \ 3rd Squadron 109F with Spanish "Yolk and Arrows"

After the remnants of the Blue Division was withdrawn it was only a matter of time til the Blue Squadron followed, which happened to the 5th in 1944.

So in Blood Red Skies there are a couple of interesting options here. It's a shame the 4th Squadron dropped their Spanish markings because a mixed Squadron of Bf109Gs and FW190As would be interesting and one of the few legitimate "Mixed Bag" Doctrine card units out there, though how well they would play is open to some debate. The earlier 1st and 2nd\3rd Squadrons have their own markings which set them apart somewhat. On the other hand the I'm supposed to be looking at using the Gs (!) so I better get on.

Anyway that's the background. Actual models etc in part 2. 

* some online sources say the 2\3rd Squadron got Bf109Gs

Double Dutch - project for 2024

I've backed a Kickstarter for the KNIL in 28mm. The company is May 1940 Miniatures who make a nice range of Dutch figures for err.... May 1940. They've decided to expand into the troops defending the Dutch East Indies and as Two Fat Lardies are promising a new book centred on the Far East for Chain of Command it seemed like a good idea. The KS wont deliver until summer 2024 so plenty of time to get the rest sorted out. I already have a Dutch force for Chain of Command from May 1940 Miniatures and theyre good quality so I think the new range will be fine. All good.

Except I also did a matching force for Blood Red Skies when I did my 1940 CoC force, so I suppose that means I should do the same for the KNIL. Problem is that means the Brewster Buffalo will be making an appearance. Sigh. Ok it doesn't "need" to be the Brewster 339. Technically the KNIL flew several interesting fighter types such as the Hawk 75 and the CW21 Demon. The former is probably too good, the latter just downright weird but quite interesting. Planeprinter does both so not actually a chore.

Hawk 75s

CW 21

Bombers are going to be easy - they use an export version of the Martin B10, ok it's not exactly a "Tier One" bomber, and it looks a bit strange, though actually by the standards of the time it's not actually bad. OK it is, but beggars cant be choosers. PlanePrinter does two versions of the B10 so it should just be a case of printing three out. 

And that should be the end of my KNIL problems............. except decals. The ongoing issues with my previous decal supplier Miscellaneous Miniatures cause a certain amount of trepidation as p&p from the States is now something in the region of $20 up from something like $5 . Luckily some generic Dutch orange triangles are available from i-94 and Pendraken stock those, so no great problem.

So there's the project - will update on how I get on as and when

Cheers!

Blood Red Skies list building - what makes a "Tier One" plane choice?

I love list building for games. It is a weakness of personality I know, but there it is. 

Blood Red Skies is a fantastic sandbox for list builders like me. The standard 500 point Squadron size is almost a perfect challenge. That will get you six planes like a Spitfire II or Bf109E with a reasonable mix of pilot skills.  The reason for this is the base points calculation for a plane in BRS is simple - Agility plus Firepower multiplied by Speed. You then factor in any special Traits, but the basics are there. A Spitfire Mk II for instance is 31 points - Speed 8, Ag 2, FP1 plus 3 pts for the Tight Turn trait. Six of those is 186 points leaving some scope for a reasonable mix of pilots. Pilots cost 25 points at Level 2 (Rookie) and go up in 25 point increments to Level 5 (Ace). So far so good. If however you want a better plane it rapidly becomes obvious that something has to give - you either get fewer planes or poorer pilot quality, and both those options have some serious drawbacks in Blood Red Skies.

Fewer planes means you have less capacity to absorb boom chits and losses, and fewer outmanoeuvre attempts and shooting opportunities.

Worse pilots will mean you will be at a disadvantage when outmanoeuvring and in initiative. Additionally each level of Pilot Skill is a die rolled in a shooting attack or dodge attempt. The difference of a single die can be quite important.

Also a bit of spare "change" in points can be used to get some equipment - not usually something to build a list around, but nice enhancements nonetheless.

So what makes a good plane for Blood Red Skies lists?

For me, it is balance. I like a plane with a reasonable balance of Speed, Firepower and Agility. I think Speed 8, Agility 2, Firepower 2 is the sweet spot. Before Traits that is 32 points. 

Let's take a look at the runners and riders that fit the bill.

Starting with the Germans, we have the Bf109G. These come in at 36 pts due to their Great Dive \ Great Climb Traits. The Gustav is a very solid performer and the Traits give you access to some really interesting Doctrine cards such as High Altitude Performance, Dive Away or Slashing Attack. This is a plane for an player who likes to keep his Advantage and dictate when and where the fight happens. In the hands of a good player this is a monster to play against.

The British have the Mustang 1a, which is worth a look if you fancy something with Great Dive - a rare Trait for the RAF. It also has Heavy Hitter (quad 20mm cannons) and "benefits" from a discount because it has the Poor Quality trait so is only 36 points.

Before I go any further I should explain Poor Quality. This is a Negative Trait that impacts your starting Advantage level. In some scenarios this can be fatal, but most scenarios the initial debuff will have been fixed before you get too close to your opponent. I think it is a great option.

The other RAF contender, and it is quite possibly THE contender, is the Spitfire MkIX. For 37 points you get Great Climb and Tight Turn, possibly the best combination of Traits for a dogfighter in the game. The Mk IX can compete both in turning fights and in energy fights.

Over "The Pond" our next entry is the P38J - but only if you are using the optional "treat as single engine" rule - check with your Tournament Organiser. The Lightning has Great Climb and Deep Pockets. It's not a "meta" choice of traits and at 39 points its starting to be expensive, but it certainly can work and Deep Pockets gives you some very interesting options to outlast opponents. Without the "single engine" all the P38s are just too expensive to run with in tournaments.

The P38L is also a possibility - faster than the J but still Speed 8, and with Rapid Roll rather than Great Climb. This is down to preference and playstyle.

Switching to the Pacific we get the Hellcat. This is a brawler, with Rapid Roll and Robust, the only issue I see is the speed is on the low side of Speed 8 (380mph) so may lose initiative to some other planes listed here. On the plus side Robust is a very useful trait which strips your opponent of one Firepower die. I think the Hellcat is possibly the best all rounder on this list.

Next the F4U-1 Corsair. This has Great Dive and Robust and is probably one I will be looking at closely as Great Dive on a Speed 8 plane gives you a lot of "threat range" and also with the right Doctrine allows you to get in, or out of a fight mostly at your choosing. It is slow however, or rather at 388mph is slower than...........

The F4U1-D Everything the F4U-1 does but faster (within Speed 8). The down side is 40 points so there is no way you are getting six of these with reasonable pilots.

Passing mention to the F4U-1C which drops Great Dive for Heavy Hitter - I don't think this works and at 42 points it is starting to look too expensive. It's a great Fighter Bomber but not so good as a pure fighter.

On the opposite side the Imperial Japanese Navy get the J2M Raiden. Great Climb and Heavy Hitter plus the Poor Quality "discount" make for a potent package at only 36 points.

The Japanese Army also get in on the game with the Ki-61-II. The Tony in BRS is pretty much a cookie cutter Bf109G. It would be my choice for a Japanese fighter if only for.........

The Ki-84 Hayate. Great Climb, Tight Turn and Poor Quality - this is basically a Spitfire MkIX but with a marginal speed advantage and cheaper due to Poor Quality. Only 34 points if you like a turning fighter this has to be looked at.

The Soviets have a couple of possible contenders. 

The La5FN is a single trait (Rapid Roll) entry with Poor Quality - meaning it costs only 31 points (!) making it the cheapest plane on this list. Unlike many of the others you can actually take six and not have to drop Pilot Quality. Being a single Trait plane however has drawbacks in that there are a limited number of Doctrines that fit Rapid Roll. It's big brother the La7 gets Great Climb to add to Rapid Roll and is only 33 points, which certainly puts it into the top tier on this list.

The last Soviet is the Yak 9U. Again like the Spit IX and Ki84 this has the Tight Turn \ Great Climb combo, and you get it for 37 points.

Last on our lists are a pair of Italian "5" series fighters, the Macchi C205 Veltro and the Fiat G55 Centauro. The G55 is the better of the two in my view, another Great Climb \ Tight Turn entry at 37 points. The C205 like the La5FN has a single positive Trait, in this case Tight Turn, and Poor Quality and as a result is the second cheapest on this list at 32 points. It makes it a "one trick pony" turn fighter, but it is a very good trick!

So which is "The Best"? The answer has to be, "It Depends".

It depends on your play style and how you tie in your Traits and Doctrines. If you like a turning fight then you will really find it difficult to find a better choice than a Macchi C205. Are you a pure "Energy Fighter"? The 109G or Ki 61 could be for you. If you prefer a mix of both the Spitfire IX, G55 or Yak9 are all good choices. Fancy hitting like a train then diving away? Corsair is your baby. What about if you like a bit of staying power or all round versatility, the Hellcat is probably best for you.

In truth all the fighters on this list are tournament "Tier One" and all have their strengths (and weaknesses). I'd be very careful if I ran into any of them across a table. 

So what do you think? Is 8-2-2 the place to be or do you think you can do better with something slower, or prefer something harder hitting? 

Let me know in the comments    

Tiny Wargames game mat? - Darwin Harbour on a budget? Do you trust online reviews ? I need a better title!

G3M "Nell" bombers down under*

I've been running some Blood Red Skies events locally. Theyre going well, however I have a problem - game mats. I have a couple of neoprene mats from Deep Cut Studios. These are pretty much the gold standard in gaming mats however there are issues, namely cost and weight.  

Cost - they're not cheap - as a back of an envelope calculation a 6x4 Deep Cut Neoprene mat is about £70-£80 plus you need a carrying case and by the time you factor in postage you don't get much change from a ton. Ok this may seem a lot but you are paying for the quality, and you see it in the product. I would have no hesitation recommending Deepcut mats to individual players - if you can afford it, go for it.

The problem is, if you are an organiser and want to run six tables worth of Blood Red Skies, you need (or would like ) six mats. I've gotten by so far by using what I have, and asking participants to bring theirs if they have them - and it has worked, but there are several problems with that including who is responsible should something untoward happen. 

The other problem is weight - and it's a big one. Carrying one mat in a tube \ case is ok. Theyre not that heavy, but can be noticeable. Adding a second and then carrying your box of rules and models quickly becomes a problem.

So I am looking for a solution. Needs to be cheap, portable and lightweight. Step forward Tiny Wargames and their "Cloth lite" range. 

Cards on the table I had heard some bad things about Tiny Wargames. Online comments and complaints about slow service, excuses for non delivery, poor customer service etc. A quick search suggested some customers were unhappy with them, but on the other hand there are some very positive reviews and the price seemed good at £30 so before my last event I ordered one. The mat in question was an aerial view of Darwin Harbour which was interesting because I was \ am planning to play some games based on the Japanese attacks there at some time. The stated delivery date would get it to me with a few days to spare. 

It didn't arrive........at all

So I contacted them and they said it had been returned by the courier as "too large" which sounded weird. Anyway they agreed to dispatch again that day, but then waited three days (ok it was a weekend but at this point as far as I am concerned these are snake oil salesmen so...). This seemed to confirm my worse suspicions and sounded horribly like some of the complaints I had heard - bad service and strange excuses. 

The mat finally arrived a month after the original order date. It was packaged well in a sturdy box. When I opened it I discovered the mat had a hex overlay which was not mentioned on the sale site (Etsy). I contacted them and they said they only had that map with hexes - err not according to your own website! 

And at this point I was pretty much ready to do the whole online rant thing - I'm not an influencer, about a dozen people read my blog on a good day, but damn they were going to get both barrels before I demanded a refund! 

Thing is, I had a look at the mat again. OK yes there are hexes, which initially boiled my blood, but actually they're very subdued, and they sort of merged into the background when the mat was in use. Err, ok, not perfect, but not as much a problem as I first envisioned. 

The printing is err - well, good. The image is crisp and colours are vivid. I think it looks rather good.

The "Cloth Lite" material isn't cloth as I would describe it - it's a very thin plastic (Nylon?)  material that feels a bit strange. Sort of like a thin shower curtain but not PVC. It arrived creased from transport but a small note included said this can be ironed out with a warm (not hot!) iron on the reverse of the mat, and I can report that on the whole it does. In use it looks like the material is ok. Clearly it will cut easily with any sort of blade, but I don't think it will actually tear in normal use without you deliberately trying to do it. 

I was predisposed to dislike this but I have to admit the mat is not bad at all.

And it weighs almost nothing. It also seems to be very easy to transport. In a bit of a mood and determined to "stress test" the damned thing I actually just roughly folded \ rolled it and chucked it in the car passenger seat, and when I got home it laid flat and was no worse for wear.

Aggressive stress testing

Err I think I like it. I'm tempted to buy a couple more for when I'm running events. Thing is, should I risk it with the issues with the seller, and are these issues real or just bad luck? You can get a bad review for almost no reason nowadays, and couriers are not always great. Then again the theme running through the bad reviews was pretty similar - delays and excuses for delays. As a small business owner myself I can understand why it is tempting to overpromise (if that is what is causing the complaints) and be defensive when criticised, and at the end of the day, the mat certainly ticks pretty much all the boxes as a product.

I drink in a very niche pub called The Rat Race Ale House (which anyone visiting Hartlepool should drop by). The owner \ publican (Hi Pete) is possibly one of the rudest men you will ever meet IF you ask him the wrong question, such as "do you sell lager? or "I don't want a drink but can I use your toilet?". How he ended up in the "hospitality" business is a mystery as he openly admits to not liking people very much.  The thing is, he invariably sells excellent beer. In thirteen years (something like that) of using his services I've never had a complaint about the beer. If you look up the reviews you will see the majority of the reviews are 4 and 5 stars but some 1 star reviews, and the 1 stars are always the same - check it out for yourself here if only for a laugh Trip Advisor . I still go back because the product (beer) is what I'm there for - and to be honest the great atmosphere and occasional pantomime when some unwary soul wanders in looking for lager or to use the toilet. 

note the "No Lager" sign

So yes I think I will roll the dice and order again - not the same one, but another suitable for BRS. I'll risk the delay and other issues because the end product is (I hope) worth the hassle. I'll let you know how it goes. And if Tiny Wargames want to sponsor my next that would be most welcome :-)

Cheers 

* Models 3d prints from Planeprinter painted by the redoubtable Andy Parkes. Andy does a really crisp paint job and on occasion can be tempted to paint on commission - message me for details 

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