If the answer is 7725 miles, what is the question?

I watch films while I'm painting etc, usually old war films cos, well I'm sixty now so each viewing of The Battle of Britain could be the last :-)

I found Sink The Bismarck! on youtube so watched that, and the algorythm started pushing Bismarck related stuff at me, of very mixed quality. 

So I started reading some books, and listening to audiobooks too. Why not do a game? It's only a few models afterall and I can print them so I got on with it. I chose 1:1800 because my eyes are less sure than they were in my youth, and also it matches the Warlord Victory at Sea (VAS) models. 

Rules - I fell out of love HARD with Nimitz by Sam Mustafa. The rules are great, the campaign system looks sound too. Problem is the much acclaimed writer \ author made a design decision about where he drew the line with secondary armament so created a situation where some ships shoot twice as often as others of similar class - so 5" class as secondary armament but 4.5" dont. This basically screws any ship with sub 5" secondaries and totally screws scenario balance too. It's a designer decision, and it can be corrected by users, but to do so is a LOT of work that I'd rather not do.

General Quarters - I have 1 & 2 and as far as I am concerned the series stops there. They're a benchmark for larger games but a smallish scenario like Denmark Straights lacks depth (geddit?).

So Victory at Sea. Warlord did their usual sub optimal job on balancing points for ships, but the rules are solid, and work well in scenarios. Also if I'm at our club there's a better chance of netting new players if the rules are available easily and the shp stocks Warlord, so VAS it is.   

Problem is, the historical events of Denmark Straights is almost impossible to recreate without putting a very heavy thumb on the scales of balance. Unless Hood suffers a rather rare but devastating critical hit early on as happened in real life the Germans will either lose, or will be so badly beaten up that they turn for home.

However, a far more interesting scenario (thanks to the reading) is what happens after Hood explodes and the Royal Navy shadows the Germans. So I thought I'd try that - Prince of Wales and the two County Class cruisers against Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, with German objective being to disengage Eugen. I'll write the scenario up another time if I can, but that's not what this post is about.

Having printed out Hood, Prince of Wales, Norfolk, Suffolk. Bismarck and Eugen, I thought , well, why not Vians night attack? I printed some Tribal Class DDs and N Class - some = at last one more than actually needed in case there was a partial print fail. If I use Prince of Wales as King George V and print a Rodney I can pretty much do the Bismarck's Last Stand!

Hmm - the models are nice. I could do a Berwick v Hipper in that convoy clash. 

How about River Plate ? Only four ships. Printer says whrrrr. 

Now I have Exeter what else can I use it for? 

Java Sea! 

So I now have a Japanese Fleet, and Rob and Mark have been roped in to paint the ABDA ships we need.

I'm enjoying painting and designing the scenarios and we are looking at doing Java Sea as a demo . Maybe :-)

So the question is , how far is it from the Denmark Straights to the Java Sea?

Pics next time

Possibly

Cheers!

February Blues

Not sure why but I feel at a bit of a gap moment between projects. I've been encouraged into trying Bolt Action, so went about turning my Chain of Command units into something I can use in BA. There's a  whole series of posts about how those rules compare but maybe another time...

So I've been painting WW2 Germans, and backfilling WW2 Soviets, and all that is good. Problem is those projects are hovering around the "good enough" mark. 

As I've got older I've realised that having a project is very good for my mental health, and gives me something to distract from the shitshow that is existence :-) , so I'm looking at options.

First up - Flint & Feather \ Contact 

I came to this by roundabout routes. I saw some YouTube vids by Atun-Shei films https://www.youtube.com/@AtunSheiFilms about King Phillip's War, and I got a bit interested. BTW Atun-Shei does a fantastic series on the ACW which I would highly recommend.

I've picked up Flint & Feather and am slowly building up some small forces. I'm going to need a LOT of trees to get this on the table. 

Other project options - I feel the need for some naval gazing - not sure what exactly, and I have a Napoleonic Spanish Army to start, though as that has not been on the shelf for the obligatory year I dont think it counts towards my "pile of shame" :-)

The Last German

Meet Hans

Hans is in theory the last German figure for my Volksgrenadiers for Chain of Command \ Bolt Action. I say last, because of course at some point I will "need" more, but this is the last of the planned additions. Hans is part of my Recce team - three guys with an MG42 and a Junior leader. They're an add on to an add on in that I can take a Sdkfz 250 /1 as a general transport or use it to carry a recce team. All is good.

Hans and his team

Unlike the bulk of the force these are from the Victrix Late War German Infantry set, rather than the Warlord Winter Germans. I thought as these guys were going to be attached from another unit a different style of model would be nice, and also it gave me a chance to try out the Victrix models in the flesh. I bought a single sprue from The Sprue Shop as I was only needing four guys.

On that note they're very nice models. Less "heroic" in proportion to the Warlord models, but still very nice and I'd certainly get more if I needed them, which I must keep reminding myself, I don't :-) . If I decide to do PanzerGrenadiers I'll use Victrix.

So another project "completed". Taking a break from WW2 painting before launching into the British who will be a matched army for the Volksgrenadiers, and there are still 28mm Napoleonic French and Austrians to finish, plus a Spanish Napoleonic army to start, so I'm not short of projects, but before I launch into those I have another little side project to finish involving football, or should I say Soccer? 

Hopefully next time Muchachos!   

 

Feeling slightly "icky" - Volkssturm & JoJo Rabbit

I was looking for some support for my new VolksGrenadier and I noticed they had the option if fighting on home soil of taking a Volkssturm squad. Very thematic, why not? 

I searched for some miniatures and in the end found some 3d files that fit the bill (JustSomeMiniatures). These were printed and I've got them painted over the weekend. 

To give me some inspiration I watched Jojo Rabbit. I love that film, its funny, poignant, shocking and all over brilliant. It even proves that Taika Waititi can actually direct a film without losing his thread, can do action scenes very well and his portrayal as Hitler is certainly different. The final battle scenes are superb and the historical look and feel is excellent - if seen through the eyes of a ten and a half year old boy.

AND that sort of hits the nail on the head. I've painted up my Volkssturm and they look great I think. Great that is if you think old men and children should be fighting a war. For the record the actual age of Volkssturm was supposed to be from 16-60 years of age, but in the end 10 and 12 year olds were involved. 

I'm not the most cerebral man when it comes to my wargaming. I have no problem building, painting and playing Germans (or Japanese) in WW2 games because I think we need to recognise and acknowledge the historical bit in historical games, though I don't "do" SS. I also don't shy away from the symbols, the German Swastika appears where it historically would because I think we should not shy away from that sort of thing. Let's face it, every soldier who fought for it was either killed, captured or surrendered so it represents nothing but abject failure and defeat. If it stands for anything it should be  reminder of a divided world uniting against tyranny, but at that point I'm rambling into some long and quite political grass.  Context is for Kings. Having said all that this squad has had me thinking.

Anyway what do people think? Should we represent things like Volkssturm in our games or is it a bit too far, and if not, what is?  

Also if you haven't already seen it, watch JoJo Rabbit!

Update on Ze Germans

In an earlier post I mentioned I had "picked up" a German Late War army for Bolt Action from Warlord Games, with the intention of using it for Chain of Command (why not?)

It took a while to get the painting started, but a bit of perseverance and I'm almost there.

For Chain of Command I decided I would go with VolksGrenadiers in late1944 \ spring 45. The organisation is as follows:

Senior Leader (the boss)

Grenadier Team - 3 Rifle-grenadiers

2 Assault squads - 8 StG44s

1 LMG Squad 8 troops with 2 MG42s formed into two LMG Teams

Not too much - only 28 miniatures as base. I decided to go with a pair of Panzerschreck teams as supports, as a glance at the ORBAT said "how many!!??", a tripod mounted MMG, a sniper, medic and Forward Observer. I am also going for a Hetzer (cos Hetzers gotta Hetz) and a Panther on the off chance I get a maximum support point game. No towed guns etc - I don't like painting horses and that's what the VolksGrenadiers get as transport in real life.

The army box didn't contain the Panzerschrecks, sniper or Hetzer but I was fairly confident I could source them elsewhere, or in the case of the Hetzer I already had a printed one. I thought I would 3d print some Panzerschreck tubes and add them to Warlord figures to fill that gap. 

So a month or so later and I'm almost there. My Panther still needs painting, as do the Medic and Sniper, but they're not going to be a big issue. My main problem is the MMG team, which for Bolt Action is only three guys but for CoC I'm going to need another two crew \ ammo bearers. I managed to banjax my original plan by simply using up all the kneeling bodies in the army box on the infantry squads (Doh!) so I'm scouting around. Other than that, I think I'm done.   

So what about using this in Bolt Action - is it possible? 

Yup - well, pretty much. I ran it through Easy Army , an online list builder, and with some jiggling it fits. I can run the same three squad organisation, though to get a pair of MG42s in the MG Squad I would have to split it in to two small squads and add an extra man to each - no problem as the three rifle grenadiers are not represented in Bolt Action so I can sub them as plain riflemen. The MMG is also a bit vexing in that under version 3 of Bolt Action they are bought as a Heavy Weapon Platoon with a minimum of two weapons - so I need either another MG42 on tripod or I can paint up the 8cm mortar team that doesn't appear in Chain of Command. I gave another option - drag my "Stalingrad" era MG42 into the game I suppose - will look a bit out of place due to the different bases but otherwise should be ok for now til I make a more long term decision. If I'm running with an armoured "platoon" I can take the Hetzer and Panther together. All that comes to easily 1200 pts plus in Bolt Action v3.

Do I need some more "stuff" for these? Reading CoC2 there are some missions where light armour is an advantage. I think a Sdkfz 250 would fit the bill, either a vanilla 250/1 or maybe a 250/9 with a 20mm?? 

So that's Ze Germans done for now. Not 100% sure what will be next but we will see

Cheers

Ze Germans are Coming - Chain of Command 2

I've realised I sort of repeated myself with the last post, so this is something of a correction, or at least something with actual content.

I decided on VolksGrenadiers, thinking spring 1945 as I didn't want to have snow on the bases.  I did a trawl and realised Warlord were the only real source for suitable figures with enough StG44s to make up the platoon. I also worked out I would need an extra sprue or two to make the full platoon as a box of 30 wasn't quite enough. 

So I shopped around and decided that getting the Warlord Bolt Action Winter Starter Army was probably the best \ most comprehensive option. I don't really play BA but the box is great for CoC or any WW2 set of rules. There are some bits in there I wont need - ie the mortar team, but the rest is great.

So here is the box and it's contents. 

Metal bits - Command, MMG and Mortar etc

Open the box and its chock full of "stuff"

Lots of VolksGrenadiers

Opel Blitz \ Maultier

Instructions etc

Panzer IV H

Bases etc

So there's "enough" there. I don't really need the mortar team and I probably would have preferred a Hetzer or STuG to the Pz IV and Blitz, but they will always come in useful. It cost £78 from Zatu including postage.  Ok that's more than the £30 a box of Winter Germans would cost, but there's a lot of added value in there so I'm happy.

Now to get on with it and start glueing and painting. Wish me luck!

Starting Chain of Command 2

I'm a big fan of Chain of Command so when v2 was announced I was a happy but slightly concerned bunny. Happy because more CoC, concerned because I've seen many great rules set broken by "updates".

Not played yet, but on first, second and third reading the new rules look good - evolution and tweaks not revolution by the looks of it.

My gaming group have started building armies, and of course they went late war. I have Early War Dutch, Finns and Germans, and Mid War Germans and Russians. You can see the problem. I decided to give Late War a try and the initial thought was, "surely it should be easy to upgrade my Mid War Germans to Late War?" Oh you sweet summer child :-)

I've ended up buying everything. Ok this wasn't too bad as I picked up one of Warlord's Late Winter German starter armies at a reasonable cost and that has just about everything you would need. 

Almost

Anyway I've decided to go full Nazi and do VolksGrenadier complete with Assault Rifles - more on that later.

So look out for some build, paint and hopefully game updates soon.

Cheers

Chain of Command 2 Late War Germans - where to start?

Chain of Command 2 from Two Fat Lardies has arrived (Huzzah!) So after thirteen years of version 1 I'm looking at what I need to change. 

AND of course this being historical gaming where there are no such things as regular new editions that force you to buy stuff again, the answer is nothing! Gotta love historical Wargames.

OK Almost. HMGs are going to need some sandbags or similar, but other than that I'm not seeing anything "new" needed yet.  

So I was wondering about what I would need to expand my current German army into the late war period and it got me thinking, so here are my thoughts.

There are four German lists in the main CoC2 rules, Infantry, PanzerGrenadiers, Fallschirmjager and VolksGrenadier. The FJ are uniformed significantly differently to the others so I'm disregarding them. TFL have gone full historical on the VolksGrenadiers allowing you to field the fabled StG44 "assault rifle". I'm going to go all Grognard here. Other rules allow almost any German Infantry to have the StG44s but the actual issue was really just to the VG Divisions raised in 44/45 . Of course the chaotic situation as the Reich collapsed doesn't mean other units or individuals didn't pick them up, but fielding them outside the few test units or VGs is a bit of a stretch. 

The three organisations are quite different. The Infantry have three Mg42s, 4 MP40s and 24 riflemen,  PanzerGrenadiers have 6 MG42s , 3 MP40s and 15 riflemen, and the VGs have 2 MG42s, 1 MP40 , 3 rifle grenadiers, 16 StG44s and 5 rifles.

All have some Panzerfausts chucked around if you were wanting to represent them.

So if I wanted to do that, what's available?

Victrix have just released their new Late War German Infantry set. It looks damned nice and includes some support weapons, an Mg42 on sustained fire mount and a Panzershreck . I've had a look at the frame pics however and it looks like you only get eight StG44s in the set - not enough to do the VolksGrenadier. They do seem to have everything you need to do the Infantry and PanzerGrenadiers however.

Warlord typically have several box sets available. 

The Winter German Infantry set are all bundled up against the cold, but you get 30 models and enough StG44s to field the full 16 out of the box. In fact the only issue is you will be one man short of an Infantry platoon as there is only 30 models in the box and I calculate you need 31. I'm sure you can either but a frame from the Sprue Shop or get a spare donated. This is a good set, and with everyone in greatcoats is a pretty easy painting project. 

Next up the "Grenadiers" box set. One of the older sets so maybe less sharp, nevertheless you get 15 StG44s and enough of everything else - just about. you will be short one guy as with the "Winter" set but that's easy to fix and an extra sprue if needed will provide your spare StG44 if you are doing VG.

Last from Warlord is the "Waffen SS" box. This has enough StG44s but seems to be a bit short of MG42s.  My earlier comments on 30 man sets also applies here, plus my Grognard dislike of them having StG44s in the first place but there you go.

So what I think I'm saying is that unless you want to do VolksGrenadier Victrix is probably the best choice because you get enough of everything plus a few useful support options thrown in. If you want to do the VolksGrenadier then Warlord are a better option, though here you will have to step away from a "one box" solution and buy some support weapons.

I'm not sure which way I'll jump - let me know in the comments what you think?

  

Bloody Rivet Counting - Finnish Tank dilemma

In Bruges last year with some old friends it was explained to me by a guy with initials after his name that one of the reasons our disparate group of Mid Life Crisis men that constitutes the group get on so well is that we all subconsciously recognise we are all a bit "wierd" or "on the spectrum". Other than that we really have very little in common but our friendship has lasted decades. I think he may have, in layman's terms, been referring to the general "shediness" of our group - we all either have sheds or suitable substitutions for them (I have a loft) even though we use them for vastly different reasons.

My particular problem is my mind gets a bit churned by rivet counting and all that. Here is the latest example. 

In earlier posts I mentioned my Finnish WW2 project. This has been a long term thing and they're yet to see the table. I seem to come back to them now and then and add something. Some of the adventures can be read here if you are at all interested:

Here     , Finnish StuGs Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3

So my current dilemma is about tank support for the Winter War. At the time the Finns only really operated the Vickers 6 Ton tank. 

Here is an actual Finnish Vickers at the Parola Museum in Finland

They also used quite a lot of abandoned Soviet equipment - the Russian habit for leaving perfectly serviceable tanks around to be towed away by farmers turns out to date rater further back than the 2020s. 

Soooooooo...... my cunning plan was to print a T26 and use that. The T26 was a Soviet "copy" of the Vickers and used and abandoned in large numbers in Finland during the Winter War. This has the advantage that I already own the file and use one in my Soviet force. I was further cheered when looking back at the file to discover it contained a Finnish turret option. So I happily printed it - here it is 

Yay - job done. I quick paint job, maybe some clever paint to show the old Soviet markings hastily overpainted. Will look cute as well..........

Except for my rivet counting brain. As I was going to sleep last night - I kid you not, I realised there was a problem. That turret, the "Finnish" turret, is taken from the Soviet flamethrower version of the T26 - the OT 134. The Finns captured them and rearmed them with guns rather than flamethrowers. Which means I cant use this in the Winter War because the rearming means they dragged them away back to the depot rather than just turned them around. 

Ah well

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

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

Painting Wildcats fast and dirty

VMF-223 ready to leave the painting table

With the new Midway starter set for Blood Red Skies now available I thought it may help if I shared how I painted my Wildcats. I did a similar post about Zeros here if you are interested here . I'm no expert but I think they look ok on the table. In this case I'm going to be painting them up as US Marines based on Guadalcanal rather than one of the Midway Squadrons, but the process is the same.

1. Clean the model up. Give them a quick wash in warm soapy water and let them dry. Warlord suggest this may not be needed with their new resin but it's a good habit to get into. Check for any spurs or casting points, and clean up any mould lines. Then do it again because you almost certainly missed something !

2. On the Warlord Wildcats, check they sit on the base. There is a widely reported problem with the mounting slot being too tight on the first batch of (blue) resin Warlord Wildcats. I think it is caused by the moulding process and has been fixed on the second (grey) production run. It is annoying but an easy fix, just run an Exacto or similar knife carefully round the mounting triangle. 

3. Undercoat. I used a GW Contrast spray undercoat - Grey Seer iirc. In the past I've used a standard cheap grey primer spray from Halfords, but I've discovered Grey Seer is a reasonable match to the light grey used on many planes in WW2 and it cuts out a stage of painting if you use the same colour for undercoat and underside, and I'm lazy. You can use an airbrush if you have one and can be bothered.

4. Block Paint. Block the undersides in light grey (or if you are lazy like me just paint around the Grey Seer.  I also use Vallejo but there are many others. The upper surfaces I used Vallejo Blue Grey which I think looks about right. Quick side note - "Looks about Right" is what you want. There are acres of books and more internet posts about the "right" colour to paint your models. Use them as a guide not a bible. Once they leave the factory the paint on any service aircraft fades and weathers with alarming speed. In the case of Wildcats this is even more pronounced as they are exposed to salt water if ship borne, or in the case of the Marines at Guadalcanal just parked in the open or under canvas. Also think a shade or two lighter if you can, as smaller models need a bit of a hike in colour otherwise they tend to look a bit dark for "reasons". Block the canopy in your chosen colour. I use light blue and highlight with a lighter blue just out of habit. I'd also run some gunmetal or similar around the spinner and engine. If you are unsure about colours then there are sets of paint available from Hataka or Blue Falcon Hobbies that take some of the angst out of the decision making process - Blue Falcon in particular are made by a BRS player for BRS models so are worth a look but are US based so not easily available in the UK.

5. Tidy up. Using the same colours as the blocking go back over any details you want and straighten any areas you missed. Paint the canopy bars, and the tyres. This is where you can add any oil streaks or gun soot if you are so inclined.

6. Panel lines. There are four schools of thought here: 1. Don't bother. This is probably most realistic as at any distance panel lines are going to be invisible in real life. Problem here is they do look so pretty, and without panel lines the single colour camo scheme like used on these Wildcats look a bit bland. 2. Use a thinned wash over everything. Something like Army Painter soft tone or GW Agrax \ Nuln Oil. I think he trick here is to be careful not to overdo it, and you may need to highlight over some areas if you get it wrong. I've tried this in the past and got it wrong so it isn't for me. 3. Use a clay based wash. Some people swear by Florry Wash or similar. My experience has been less than good but I suspect this may be something to do with how I apply the damned thing. Again I pass here. So that leaves 4 -Pin wash. Follow the panel lines with a thinned paint or ink in a suitable colour. On my Wildcats I used GW Contrast because I had some lying around. I quite like this for panel lines as it sinks into them well and gives a bit of a faded edging look. If you are doing panel lines a coat of gloss varnish really helps before you start (good tip there) as it helps with capillary action. 

5. Decals. The Warlord set are good, but are for the Midway carrier group and I'm doing  USMC unit so ordered from Miscellaneous Miniatures. They arrived in about a week from the US.  Wildcat markings are pretty simple, but check for some online pics for location if you are not certain, in particularly note the biggest stars go on the fuselage sides which are HUGE, and where the . I use Decasol \ Decaset to soften the decals once in place but it's personal choice. 

I then gloss varnish over the decals, and finally matt the whole model down. Done!  

As I said - quick, I think but they look fine on the table.

“What-a-mistaka-to-maka” as Capitano Alberto Bertorelli from Allo Allo may say. Thinking about Italians for Blood Red Skies

My Blood Red Skies collection is a bit eclectic. I have RAF, RAAF, Fleet Air Arm, IJN, IJA, Soviets, Luftwaffe, Finns, Dutch and even a few US Squadrons. 

I have been waiting around for Warlord to release Italians for well over a year, actually closer to two years. We’ve seen the model masters, I’ve even seen the box art, but the actual production models – nope. I have no idea why this is. Warlord have in the same time period released a totally revamped Italian range for Bolt Action, and Italian ships for Victory at Sea. Surely it makes sense to release the Blood Red Skies Italians at the same time to tie it all in???

Apparently not

So waiting patiently. Except I think I’ve had enough of that. If Warlord are happy to sit on models and not support the game then I think I’m justified in looking and spending my hobby £££ elsewhere. Here is my plan.

As always, I like to collect matched fighter and bomber Squadrons, and probably early, mid and late war options. So what do I go for?

Early -with some trepidation I think either a biplane Squadron of CR42s or FIAT G50s and some FIAT Br20s may be an idea. These have the advantage of being deployed against the RAF during the Battle of Britain by the Corpo Aereo Italiano (CAI). The trepidation about the CR42s is my previous experience with biplanes is they’re fiddly to paint and (IMHO) they’re not that good in game

Mid War – Macchi 200 or 202s and Ju87s are nice options and would theme well as Malta or Western Desert.

Late War – one of the Serie 5 types, not sure it matters which as they’re all excellent C205, G55 or Re 2005 like I say they’re all bloody great, and Sm79s as bombers – ok this last is a bit mixed as the Sm79 fought all the way through but there were no really late war bomber planes available. I’d like a Re2001 in there, and just for giggles a Breda 65, which has to be one of the worse warplanes in history, but that would probably be a bit too far.

So where are these models coming from? Six Squadrons or thirty models in total. I’d like to support Warlord by buying their products, but if they don’t offer them and have sat on them for literally years with no suggestion they’re ever going to release them and don’t seem interested I’ll 3d print them, or get them from Armaments in Miniature. If Warlord ever get around to releasing their models, well sadly that boat will have sailed.

Any thoughts?