Strike on Kiska AAR

I hosted the Strike on Kiska scenario from Battles Above 3, and I have to say it was a tough day for the Emperor's men. 

The initial setup allowed the Japanese players to close on the returning B-25s with relative ease. Yours truly commanded the Mitchells, and I thought I would have all sorts of trouble before a pair of rescuing P-40s could assist. I did not need to worry - a combination of the B-25's robustness with the use of a pair of hot dice (a set of Israeli dice from Fight's On, which have now become legendary, or infamous depending if one is on the giving or receiving end) made short work of the Rufes. The fact that the Mitchell is as agile as the Rufe certainly added to the Japanese futility.

The veteran Rufe pilot, leading others into the fray, would not survive this turn

Damaged...

The first Rufe closed in, a veteran pilot. While a lucky hit caused fire and panic among the bomber crew of fire and panic was inflicted, a couple of successful aircrew checks would eventually resolve both issues. Opening up with the top turrets in return, the veteran floatplane pilot was damaged by one Mitchell, and then sent spinning out the action by another. However, this result did not deter two additional Rufes from mixing into the bomber box, one finding itself squarely in the middle of American crossfire. The second of this pair was able to obtain a lucky hit, another fire. This one caused airframe damage, which then allowed the bombers to break formation and increase speed! One Rufe pilot showed tail, breaking off after seeing the destruction wrought by the Mitchells, which had been diving each turn to grab an extra hex since the beginning of the game, and now the increased speed assisted in creating more space.

Not learning by the example of the veteran's demise, two skilled Rufes move into the box...

...causing fire on the lead bomber...

...scratching a Rufe in return...

...the other Rufe turns tail, or perhaps passes an intelligence check

The focus moved to a fighter on fighter action as the pair of P-40s closed in. The superior firepower, robustness, and agility soon made short work of two additional Rufes, but in a final act of defiance, the last Rufe was able to damage a P-40.

The P-40s move to engage the Rufes.

The end result was an overwhelming American victory. One P-40 and one B-25 were damaged. All the Mitchells exited a friendly edge, and four Rufes were lost. The Rufe is truly a shite plane, with poor agility and robustness. However, a few die rolls in the other direction could have possibly the outcome.

Planes - Flight Deck Decals and painted by Miscellaneous Miniatures

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Soviet Swansong AAR

I recently hosted the Soviet Swansong scenario from the Air War Korea scenario book for the Southwestern Ohio Check Your 6! group at the "local" game shop - as local as an hour's drive might be. 

Lining them up - crap, too high!

The setup heavily favored the equally balanced forces...while both sides had an ace, two skilled, and one green aircrew, one section of MiGs (which included the ace) starts within 4-8 hexes in the rear arc of one section  of Sabres. However, the Soviet player misread the starting altitudes a bit, and instead of having a beautiful tail shot against the Americans, started four TALs too high. Move forward a couple of turns, the Soviet player overshot the American section, presenting one Sabre with an opportunity to use its advanced gunshot on a deflection shot, resulting in an airframe hit.

That damaged MiG decided to try an special maneuver the next turn, prompting an aircrew check, which was failed. The result was one MiG tumbling out of the sky.

Giving the Americans a gift.

The other section of Sabres were slowly making their way into the fight, turning towards the center of the board while climbing for altitude. The cover section of MiGs dropped into the center of the board on turn three, and now a hairball ensued. The Soviet ace placed rounds more than once on the Americans, but my buddy Matt, known now as Mr. Robusto (with the tune of どうもありがと Mr. Roboto now dancing through our heads) kept making his robustness rolls. Another MiG took an airframe hit, and on the next turn, not learning from the previous example, that MiG also tried a special maneuver. Result? Another MiG tumbling from the sky! 

This section was coming into the action

A third MiG was shot down, and now the score was 12-0 in favor of the Americans. The Soviet ace tried to dance about to shoot down any American, but it was not to be. Realizing that they had an overwhelming victory, by turn eleven the Americans all dove out of the fight with their victory point total intact.

The Soviets had their chances, but just couldn't get past Mr. Rubusto

I liked the scenario as it was somewhat balanced, and will definitely run this one again as a small convention game.

Deep Cut Studio custom MiG Alley mat, provided for the game by Scott.

Works in Progress

As I become older I find that painting is actually becoming a bit of a calming release for me. Oh sure, my wife will tell you that on occasion she hears me spout out an expletive from the den as I fiddle with getting a decal in place or paint canopy frames, but overall I am starting to enjoy painting my own planes. Now, that being said, I am only working on simple schemes - more complex brushwork will still be sent off to Miscellaneous Miniatures or I-94, but of late, after having some success with 1/144 Great War planes last year, I have been working on a few 1/285 scale aircraft with some success and not a lot of swearing.

Before I forget, I do have an update from Kevin at MiscMinis on some commissioned work he is doing for me - here are the nearly finished Americans for an Aleutians scenario. 

Okay, now here are a few I have been working on.

The above are all Flight Deck prints. At the bottom are a Curtiss Hawk III and a P-26 (known as the Model 281 in Chinese service), painted in the base color for China in 1937. They need another coat of green, and I will need to add details such as tires, engine, and the tail stripes (the white is in place but needs another coat before adding the blue), and then Chinese roundels.

In the middle are the beginnings of my Wake Atoll collection. I decided that 1/600 is just too fiddly for my fingers to handle, so have transitioned into 1/285. The Wildcats and Buffaloes are complete, other than decals. Then I will need to start collecting a variety of Japanese aircraft. 

The top row are gap fillers. While I have a decent Korean War collection and can host numerous scenarios, I needed to buy more planes to run games involving the Yak-9P and the Shooting Star. The blue on the Yak is probably a hair too dark, but I like how it will stand out on the tabletop. The F-80, after priming, has a base coat of Vallejo aluminium which really looks great. Both of these types need details painted in, and then decals.