Blinging up Blood Red Skies - Third Party accessories

If you are like me sooner or later you will start looking around for "stuff" to enhance your game - be it damage tokens or measuring sticks etc. I thought I would run through a few options for Blood Red Skies players who are interested in a bit of "bling".

Spitfire Bling

This isn't an exhaustive list, and I'm sadly not able to buy one of everything to review, but here goes.....

Dice
Dice are the first upgrade for most players, and the easiest to pick up. I know some players prefer smaller 10 mm dice than the chunky official 16 mm ones, and personally I think the British ones look a bit "Meh" due to the rather muddy brown colour Warlord used.  In addition to the official Warlord BRS ones it is worth looking at other Warlord or third party dice for games like Bolt Action and Flames of War. Just remember to make sure any special symbols are on the "6" face to avoid confusion, and NOT to get Bolt Action "Order Dice" - which are not much use to us BRS gamers.

FoW Dice

Dice Trays
Not exactly essential but nice to have. Dice trays keep the dice from bouncing around and can prevent them knocking models about in the heat of a game. There are several neoprene dice trays available, but if you are on a budget you can always find cheap plastic trays used for plant pots in garden centres. More expensive folding neoprene ones are available from Warlord and Deepcut.

Deepcut dice tray

Measuring sticks and tokens
The card measuring stick in the starter set is a PITA to use because you have to pick the models up after placing them to get the stick out from underneath. It also suffered a scaling problem in production so is the wrong length. The second is only really important if all players are not using the same stick, but the first issue still remains. It looks good, but is less than useful when playing, so personally I would ditch it and get a replacement. Warlord will sell you a set of plastic measuring sticks and tokens to replace the card ones in the starter set, however my personal favourites would be to look at those produced by "Buy The Same Token" and available from their Etsy store. These are cut from coloured acrylic and are available for all the different BRS factions. They do a 9" and a shorter 4" measuring stick (good for tight dogfights) and a 6" range ruler, plus themed Boom and Zoom markers and a turn angle indicator. Both manufacturers measuring sticks are of the side measuring type which don't require you to lift your models to use unlike the original card one in the starter set, but the extra depth of the scallops on the BTST one makes positioning more accurate.  All in all a nice addition.

Buy The Right Token Japanese turn, range Zoom & Boom

Buy The Right Token Measuring Stick

Carrying and transport
The plastic (and new resin) models are light and less likely to be damaged in transport, but metal models are very prone to getting their paintwork damaged due to the extra weight. Storage and transport foam trays can get around this.  Generic foam cut transport cases are available from Kaiser Rushforth (KR). These are designed for Wings of War \ Wings of Glory but they fit BRS planes. Feldherr also do a line of foam trays. Another option, and my personal favourite is available from Just Lasered, who make a foam insert to fit the original starter box and can cut bespoke trays to fit your collection. I'm currently transferring my planes to Just Lasered trays cut to fit 4 and 9 litre Really Useful Boxes.

Gaming Mats
Gaming mats are probably the most expensive single item you can get to enhance your BRS games. There are a number of suppliers and materials, including vinyl, cloth, and neoprene (mouse mat). All have their advantages and disadvantages. Vinyl tend to be cheapest but can be a bit shiny and you sometimes have problems getting them to lay flat, cloth are easiest to transport as they fold, but also can get creases, and neoprene is heavy and expensive but lays flat and gives the best gaming surface (imho).  There are several manufacturers and it pays to shop around, but Deepcut are very popular. A special mention should go to Tiny Wargames who have Taranto and Pearl Harbour mats available. Cigar Box are also popular and easily available in the US. I would recommend going for a 6x4 mat if you can find one - its easy enough to fold a larger mat but you can't stretch a small one! There are also smaller mats available for Wings of Glory which are nice but as they are only just larger than 3x2 ft you will need at least a pair. Finally when buying a mat think about how you will transport it - most producers will also sell a transport tube or bag for a reasonable price.

Links
Buy The Same Token for measuring sticks and markers
Kaiser Rushforth for storage trays and boxes
Feldherr for storage trays and carry cases
Just Lasered for storage trays
Warlord just about everything
Deepcut mats and dice trays
Tiny Wargames   mats
Cigar Box Battle mats

Hope you find that useful. I should say if any manufacturer wants to send appropriate "stuff" for review I will happily accept it and donate it to the local gaming club.

Gaming Mats gaming mat for Cruel Seas - a review

Cruel Seas comes with a paper printed gaming mat. That's all well and good for starting out but it has the long term durability and survivability of a British Battlecruiser at Jutland (ie not a lot), and if you plan on playing regularly you will be looking for a replacement.

Something of a first but unsolicited I was sent a gaming mat to review. Not sure if this is "a thing" but why not. I'm also available to review vintage Port and , well, anything :-)

Seriously though, it does mean I feel responsible to do a fair job balanced job, but in the end its just my opinion so here goes.

The mat was from GamingMats - who make, well, you get it. This one was a clear ocean area with some waves scaled to Cruel Seas size, ie 1:300, but I think it would work equally well down to 1:1200. After that the waves may be a bit big.

Size is standard 6x4 feet but they make other sizes. Material is PVC 500gsm (grams per square meter) with a printed front and a non slip textured back. The printing on the front has good detail and although we've only used it once it looks hard wearing. I know some people prefer neoprene for gaming mats, but pvc does have it's advantages - easy to clean and generally spill proof and is also usually more affordable.

We got the blue version, but there is also a green tinted one available. Colour wise I think both seem quite good for the Med or Pacific but I would probably want a greyer option if I were planning on playing in the North Sea.

One issue is the mat has been created with a repeated pattern to cover the whole area. This looked a bit strange at first, but in use it rapidly became barely noticed. Anyway we gave it a run out at Asgard Wargames in Middlesbrough, one of our local friendly local games stores (see footnote).  Also note that bright red wall - it will get a mention later.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it laid flat - previous experience with pvc mats has been a bit hit and miss in this, but this one lost its curl in a very short time - quite a positive. The non slip backing worked well in use. The pic above is straight out the box and you can see there is a small amount of curling at the far left but this had straightened by the time we started to play. The pic above also shows the repeated pattern, but as I said in actual use I don't think this will be an issue, particularly if you have islands or similar to break it up.

And here it is in use - sorry the reddish tinge is my poor camera and skills picking up reflected from the red wall, but the mat itself has a matt finish that meant there was less reflected glare from overhead lighting - another plus in play.

So overall not bad at all. Prices in the uk are £39.50 for the 6x4 including delivery, the 4x4 is £29.50, which is also I think quite reasonable.

Useful for Cruel Seas or indeed for other naval games

These are available from GamingMats ebay store 

I'm donating the review sample to our local club Hartlepool Wargames Society, where I am sure it will be put to excellent use. Clearly any bottles of Port sent to review will be disposed of in an appropriate manner too :-)

Cheers!

Footnote
I have in the past referred to the excellent facilities at Asgard Wargaming, including their well used but friendly tea making facilities. I was frankly horrified when visiting last night to discover this had been usurped by a "coffee machine" with those fiddly little pod things. Happily the kettle was still available for those of us who like tea, but I'm not at all convinced this is a good omen.

Cheers