Off They Go!

Strange Encounter by Roy Grinnell

After some great communication with Kevin Hammond of Miscellaneous Miniatures, I have shipped to him my Raiden aircraft for both the Vietnam and 1948 Arab-Israeli projects, both are for Check Your 6! The Vietnam project is based on the Crusaders Over 'Nam scenario book, and the 1948 planes are from the Wargames Illustrated 310 article "War of Catastrophe and Independence" written by Rob Wubbenhorst, along with an extra online scenario he created. The aircraft I have will allow me to do three of the six available scenarios. One day I'll have to order a few extra aircraft in order to game all six. Regardless, I'll have some options for hosting events, particularly at the Check Your 6! Game Day held in Dayton every June.

New Decals From Miscellaneous Miniatures

VF-211 decals, from Miscellaneous Miniatures website

Just popped over to the Miscellaneous Miniatures website and what do I find? Recently released 1/285th scale decals for Crusaders and Skyhawks, for units that are in some of the Crusaders Over 'Nam scenario book. Talk about serendipity! Time to get those lovely Raiden planes I received a few days ago sent off to be painted!

Another Crusader Scenario

I pulled out the Check Your 6! Jet Age rules last night to go over how missiles work in the rules (I have pretty much only gamed non-missile actions thus far), and forgot that there was another Vietnam scenario in the rules featuring Crusaders. Actually, it is a different version of a scenario that appears in Crusaders Over 'Nam, but different enough that I consider it the twelfth scenario using Crusaders. This one also has four A4s, so I guess in my next I-94 order I'll grab some Raiden A4s!

Crusaders Over 'Nam - Planes Needed

Previously on this blog appeared a short review of Crusaders Over 'Nam, a short scenario book for Check Your 6! This post is a bit of an add on to discuss just how many of each plane type is needed in order to run all the scenarios.

In the eleven available scenarios, the primary forces consist of U.S. Navy F8 Crusaders facing off against MiG-17s of the Vietnamese Peoples Air Force. Add to that a mix of MiG-21s, and A4 Skyhawks, and a lone A6 Intruder, and one has a fairly simple mix of aircraft to purchase and paint. The MiG-17s are simply F models, while the MiG-21s are either F-13 or PFM models. The Crusaders are of four variants (C, E, H, and RF), and the Skyhawks are either E or C types. That might sound a little confusing, but as we can use the same model Crusader, Skyhawk, and MiG-21 to represent the various variants, we can drastically simplify the buying process. So what are our maximum needs to cover all eleven scenarios? As follows:

F8 - 6

A4 - 12

A6 - 1

MiG-17 - 10

MiG-21 - 4

Using the Raiden 1/285th scale offerings (nicely cast models at a fair price from I-94), we can order the following codes:

F8 - USA103 - $3.50 - $21.00

A4 - USA102 - $3.00 - $36.00

A6 - USA126 - $3.00 - $3.00

Americans total 19 planes at $60.00.

MiG-17 - RUS103 - $3.00 - $30.00

MiG-21 - RUS104 - $3.00 - $12.00

Vietnamese total 14 planes at $42.00.

But wait, I offer to you an option. Maybe you do not want to purchase and paint that many planes  If we remove one scenario, one with twelve A4s, we can get the totals down even more:

F8 - 6

A4 - 2

A6 - 1

MiG-17 - 8

MiG-21 - 4

F8 - USA103 - $3.50 - $21.00

A4 - USA102 - $3.00 - $6.00

A6 - USA126 - $3.00 - $3.00

Americans total 9 planes at $30.00.

MiG-17 - RUS103 - $3.00 - $24.00

MiG-21 - RUS104 - $3.00 - $12.00

Vietnamese total 12 planes at $36.00.

Still too rich for your wallet? Let's take out just one more scenario, leaving you the ability to game nine scenarios in the book, with just the following planes needed:

F8 - 4

MiG-17 - 5

MiG-21 - 4

F8 - USA103 - $3.50 - $14.00

Americans total 4 planes at $14.00.

MiG-17 - RUS103 - $3.00 - $15.00

MiG-21 - RUS104 - $3.00 - $12.00

Vietnamese total 9 planes at $27.00.

So, for $41.00 you could have the planes needed (including options) to game nine of the Crusaders Over 'Nam scenarios. One heck of a deal I say - time to go place an order!

Battle of Lake Erie - Project Organization and Next Steps

I received my custom bases from Warbases some weeks ago. They did a fantastic job on creating a base for each ship. As mentioned in my previous post, I ordered clear acrylic 40mm by 20mm bases that will fit nicely on my Chessex sea mat.

A bit on organizing the project....

Using the Figurehead 1/2400 scale ships, here are the ships and the codes for each. Not perfect matches for each ship type, but as there are no manufacturers in any scale that cover each Lake Erie vessel perfectly, this list will have to do:

FN14 - 20 Gun Sloop:  Detroit and Queen Charlotte

FN15 - 18 Gun Brig: General Hunter, Niagara, Lawrence, and Caledonia

FN16 - Sloop:  Little Belt and Trippe

FN20 - Schooner:  Lady Prevost, Chippewa, Ariel, Scorpion, Tigress, Porcupine, and Somers

Some obvious issues arise:  The General Hunter and Caledonia, while of brig configuration, are certainly not brigs of the same size as the 18 gun brigs. Also, I am using cutters for the two small sloops.  

Next steps are priming then painting the ships, then finding some sort of glue that will not cause frosting on the plastic bases.

Battle of Lake Erie - More Thoughts

A few additional ramblings about the Lake Erie project....

Found a cheap copy of Wooden Ships & Iron Men on ebay today, so I will be set with the rules. I am hoping there is enough explanation of ships ratings that will allow me to extrapolate rigging, crew, and hull numbers, plus I needed a copy of the rules and charts anyway. I've always liked WS&IM, but for smaller ships it loses something, so changing the gun weight factor from 100 to 25 will give the smaller vessels at Lake Erie some representation.

Years ago I picked up a vinyl Chessex Megamat with 1" hexes for a low price. I've never used it, but now it will serve as a perfect gaming space. The Warbases tokens I have ordered for use as bases are 40mm in length, which will be ideal for the 1" hexes (two being 50mm), without cramming the ships together when they are at close quarters.

After years I am FINALLY getting this project moving forward!

Battle of Lake Erie - Scale, Bases, and Rules

Having purchased ships for the Battle of Lake Erie in two scales within the last few years, I have decided to go with the Figurehead (aka Hallmark) 1/2400 ships as opposed to the Valiant 1/2000 Fighting Sails range. The main reason is assembly. The Figurehead ships are one piece castings, except for the 20 gun sloops, which have a separate main mast and separate sails for the rear mast. Beyond that, it is simply mounting then onto stands and painting!  Or is it....

Warbases make custom acrylic tokens that one can have etched names added. They did some great work for me on for a Balkan Wars naval project, so today I placed a custom order for clear bases with names for each ship at Lake Erie. This means I will have to paint the ships before mounting them to the stands, a change for me.

Rules - Having recently played a game of Wooden Ships & Iron Men, I may tinker with them to increase the values of guns, hull, and rigging so as to represent all the vessels present. WS&IM does have a Lake Erie scenario in the rules, but it only encompasses the five larger ships, and hence the Americans really lose on their broadside weight advantage. Some discussion on the Battle of Lake Erie Yahoo group has lead to converting the broadside gun weights as follows:

As always, more on this once the bases arrive!

More on Elli

One of the items I discussed in the first post about the First Balkan War naval Battle of Elli was about a basing system. I really wanted to go with clear acrylic bases, and Warbases offers a 40mm by 20mm base, with etching, for a good price. But 40mm was just a tad too short. An email to Warbases to inquire about getting larger acrylic bases made, with the ship names etched, has already been responded to, and apparently can be done! So, I have sent them the ship names, and awaiting a PayPal invoice and in a few weeks I should have bases for the Navwar ships. Pretty darn cool, but now I have to ensure that I can glue the ships to the bases without causing the bases to fog. Oh, and of course paint the ships before mounting them, as I normally glue the ships, then prime everything at the same time. A bit different direction this time.

The Battle of Lemnos? No, Elli!

Battle of Elli - ships engaged - from Age of Steel and Coal

A few years ago (see HERE) I picked up some Navwar ships from a chap who thought he had organized his purchase for the Battle of Lemnos (First Balkan War). However, in recently reviewing the ships that I purchased from him and the lack of enough destroyers for the Lemnos affair, it appears that really he collected the ships needed for the Battle of Elli. Makes perfect sense considering that at Lemnos the ironclad Asar-i-Tevfik was not present, yet I have a casting for it. Ahhhh, good, now I know what I have to work on for a future game!

Okay, what to do with this project, meaning what sort and size of bases to use, and what rules will offer a simple enough game, yet give that period feel I like? Here is a nice after action report using Majestic Twelve Games' Grand Fleets (never heard of them, although they seem to be available Stateside, and apparently they offer a scenario book that has the ships for Elli already rated). Thinking about some clear acrylic bases, but also worried that the glue might fog the bases, and with the tiny destroyers in this scale it will be difficult to not have excess glue along the waterline. And, my go to base supplier, Litko, does not make rectangular acrylic bases. But I do have some nice splash markers from them, and they also offer some firing arcs that will be useful.

Warbases make custom etched acrylic bases, which could be excellent to have each ship's name already etched on the base, but while nearly all the miniatures would fit on the largest rectangle base they offer, the Georgios Averof is just a tad too large. I think I will send them an email to see if they could make a larger etched base.

The rules and scenario book that covers the First Balkan War have been ordered. The neat thing about the scenario book is if I enjoy the rules I can also use my Spanish-American War fleets for Manila Bay!

Spanish-American War - The Campaign System

In a previous post I mentioned using an old board game to help drive table top battles set in Puerto Rico. The game I own is Remember the Maine, that was printed in Strategy & Tactics back in 1986. Copies of the game can still be found at the online auction sites from time to time. Pictures and assorted details are listed on BoardGameGeek. 

Infantry units are battalion/regimental level, there are rules for restricting beachhead limits and disease, as well as quality ratings.

I will need to pull them out of the gaming closet and give them a good read through to determine their suitability to running a Puerto Rico campaign.

Check Your 6! Updates

A bit of a summary, mostly for my own later reference, but some of the projects I am toying with for Check Your 6!

Spanish Civil War - I have a few Heinkel He.51s, Bf.109s, and now with my friend's collection, some Cr.32s. I need some more bad guys to go against them.  I do have four I-16s painted up, but in Soviet markings.

German-Czech What If - Just got my order for eight Avia B.534s from MSD, and I plan on buying some early mark Bf.109s to go against them, but I still need to find a few period German bombers to add in. Most of the German bombers on the market that were round in 1938 are later period versions, and so a bit incorrect.

Romanian-Soviet Front - I like the Heinkel He.112, a lot. While there were only a few made (less than 100) it is still a cool looking bird. There is a neat encounter in June, 1941 in which Romanian He.112s are strafing a Soviet airfield while the I-16s based on the field are taking off. Turns into a hairball of a fight, with a dozen Heinkels facing upwards of thirty Ratas. Rating the He.112 is a bit of a bear, seemingly a tad slower than the Bf.109B, less agile, but more maneuverable, I think I would rate the 112 as follows:  A4+1, with a robustness of 1, and armed with FF: 2xLVC, 2xLMG. This would make them a tad better than the I-16, with a better punch for armament, which should help a bit with the number disparity. I already have four I-16s painted in Soviet colors, but would need to order some Heinkels from MSD along with a slew more of the Ratas.

Flying Tigers - I've always liked their story, and with the addition of several scenarios in one of the Check Your 6! books that was released recently, there are now something like fifteen scenarios published that include the Tigers. I have no aircraft for this project.

Wake Island - Another one of those stories that pull me in again and again. However, while I look the look of those Marine Wildcats at Wake, after the initial Japanese bombing attack, only four remained, and they faced Mavis flying boats after the initial attack. I can't see buying a ton of flying boats for one project - they are expensive! Perhaps I can do something from the Cactus Air Force scenario book as I do like the look of those early Wildcats!

Spanish Civil War

A picture of the expanded Spanish Civil War collection. As mentioned in my previous post, I selected my friend's Italian collection as I have fond memories of a Check Your 6! game I played in a few years ago.  In this collection were also some Spanish Civil War aircraft. I already had a few planes painted up for this conflict (nicely done by Kevin Hammond at Miscellaneous Miniatures), and now there is an Italian component added to the mix. I am not 100% certain of all the plane types, and I am going to need plenty more Republican forces, but it is a start!

The top row of Bf.109s and the He.51s are ones that I had Kevin paint for me. The remainder are from Bob's collection - Bf.109s, Cr.32s, I-16s, I-15s, a Ford Tri-motor (I think), and something in the middle I have yet to identify. There are a mixture of companies represented as well - Raiden and Shapeways, and maybe one or two others.

I'll get the large force of World War II Italian planes together for a future post.

In Memory of Bob

This past Saturday I spent the day with my gaming friends, in the basement of a departed friend, Bob. Bob passed away at the end of last year, suddenly, unexpectedly, a tragic event that still affects me greatly. Bob's wife, whom I have known for many decades, graciously invited the gang over for a day of gaming and food, in memory of her husband and our friend. We had a grand time, but one that felt uncomfortable at the same time. To see what figures Bob was working on, still sitting on his painting table, to be gaming in his basement without him, and to go through his massive collection, at the behest of his wife, to take items that we wanted, left me walking away with mixed emotions. A high as a result of gaming with my friends and enjoying the banter, and a low as I miss my friend.

From Bob's massive collection of painted figures and boardgames, I came away with something that would always give me a memory of him. A few years ago, at the Check Your 6! game day, Bob hosted an Italian/British brew up with Gladiators and Cr.42s, and it was quite a fun time. Therefore, I came home from Bob's basement with his Italian CY6! collection (with the Gladiators as well), so that I could host that same event in the future in honor of Bob. I also choose a small boardgame based on Wake Island, an old Mayfair Games offering.  Not sure why other than the Wake Island story holds interest for me.

I'll snap some pictures of the Italian planes...Bob did some amazing paintwork on them. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the Fire and Fury game we played. This was a combined scenario, designed by another friend, and it was a challenge. Some bad die rolling on the Federal's part kept us from obtaining our objective, but it was fun to run "Bull" Nelson's division at Shiloh just the same.

Intro Thoughts on a Spanish-American War Project

Photo from War Times Journal website

For years, fourteen in fact, I have been the owner and moderator of The Spanish-American War Yahoo group.  And for these same fourteen years I have wanted to game both the land and naval actions of the war.  While most of the land combat is seemingly one-sided, I was going to go with a Cuzco Wells scenario in which the Spanish actually outnumbered the American and Cuban forces, running the game as a quasi-skirmish affair using Tiger Miniatures.  A lack of space kept me from moving forward with that little endeavor, so I decided to "go small" using the old Freikorps 15 range, but those figures are showing their age with a lack of multiple poses and fairly plain look.  The Fantassin figures (which became Warmodelling, then Capitan, and now apparently Stonewall), while a bit more animated and offering a wider variety of poses, lacked U.S. Marines and some other necessary items, and they are simply far too large to use in-conjunction with the Freikorps.  So, to that end I have purchased and sold off in 25mm, and purchased and sold off in 15mm, figures for gaming the land actions, a project still stagnated to this day.

From a naval aspect, again the two major actions are fairly one-sided, but I believe Manila Bay, if the Spanish have the option to use their fortress guns, could be a more balanced game.  So, I do have the fleets for Manila Bay from War Times Journal, but they sit in their bags, waiting for basing and painting.  Really no excuse for not getting this project worked on as the ships are tiny (1/3000 scale) and I have a large sea mat ready to use, and even rules selected (the simple Quickfire rules, also a WTJ product).  So, what is the hold-up?

I think part of it stems from the shiny toy syndrome, in which a grab onto another idea or project and allow other ideas to wane.  However, I am determined to change that this year, by at least getting the naval project completed in 2018.

So, stay tuned as I plow my way forward into Manila Bay!