A Visit to the National Museum of the United States Air Force

I have been fortunate in many aspects of my life, with one of those fortunate aspects being my proximity to the National Museum of the United States Air Force (still known to me simply as the Air Force Museum).  The NMUSAF has been so within reach all these years that I have not appreciated the museum as I probably should, at least not until more recent times.  The museum has an amazing and ever expanding collection of aircraft as well as numerous displays.  I recently made a trip to see the Korean War gallery and take a few pictures to share with those readers of the blog who might not have had the chance to visit the museum.  Of course this trip was also for perusing their book store, which in its own right is an amazing place for air combat aficionados.  I did pick up two Osprey titles to expand my Korean air war library (F4U Corsair Units of the Korean War and F-86 Aces of the 51st Fighter Wing), and there were some other related items that looked good, but since I have been buying so many books and hobby "stuff" lately I held my eagerness in check a bit.

Here are the pictures from my quick trip:

Pictures of New Toys

Here are some pics of the Raiden MiG-15s I recently purchased from Zippy. Nicely painted, yes? (as in all my blog posts, clicking on an image will give you a larger version)

Air War Korea - Part I

I am now the proud owner of three 1/285th scale F-86 Sabres and three MiG-15s (all Raiden Miniatures), courtesy of Zippy from The Miniatures Page. He had a pretty darn good deal on Bartertown that I stumbled across (not having been on that site for months I would say that finding his listing to be borderline karma). The deal also included two sheets of Dom's Decals, and four books (three dealing with the Sabre and one with the MiG-15). I was also able to grab a copy of Clash of Sabres from him as part of the deal. I had a copy of Clash of Sabres in a previous life, but a recent search in my boxes of gaming rules proved to be futile.

After picking up these new gems from Zippy, I hustled to Dayton to join in a Check Your 6! game at The Hobby Shop. I had reservations about playing CY6 as the first and only time I had tried CY6 I had some real issues with how the rules worked, but that was because I had a green pilot in a fighter being outfought by an ace in a dive bomber, which didn't make a lot of sense to me at the time. Therefore I had some trepidation about using those rules again. However, after a few turns running a flight of F-84s, launching some successful rocket attacks against a North Korean airfield, being blasted by anti-aircraft guns, and seeing how the MiG-15s seem to rule the skies from a firepower perspective, I did find myself enjoying the rules much more than my first experience. I still have a lot to turn about planning my moves, especially when it comes to climbing and diving, but it was a good second exposure to CY6 and I do look forward to participating in more CY6 games.

That said, I am also going to give a thorough look at Clash of Sabres. Movement is simpler as CoS uses turn gauges, the current speed of the aircraft determining the gauge to be used (slower speeds use a tighter turning gauge). I'll have to see have altitude and combat resolution works, but wouldn't mind getting the CY6 gang together to see what they think about Clash of Sabres.

I have placed an order with I-94 Enterprises for the Check Your Six! Korean War supplement along with one each of the Raiden F-86, MiG-15, and F-84. I plan on grabbing a few other planes from the war, most likely the F-80 Shooting Star and perhaps a few U.S. Navy planes as well (the Grumman F9F Panther is one sweet looking bird). Of course there are the prop planes, holdovers from World War Two, but they were mostly used in the ground attack role, and my initial plan is to start with air-to-air combat. Looks like I will need a few Soviet-made prop planes for the early portion of the war (La-9s and -11s, and Yak-9s). MSD Games make the La-9 (as does Scotia Collectair), GHQ makes the Yak-9 but finding the La-11 seems to be more of an exercise in futility. However, having the La-9 and Yak-9 should be a decent start for the early war period.

I've also ordered some GHQ and MSD MiG-15s and GHQ F-86s to see how they compare to the Raiden ones I have. Comparison pictures will be part of an upcoming blog post!

Resources

This is your chance to be very interactive with the blog, as being a new Korean War student, I am asking for your suggestions for the various resources that you find useful. These resources can be websites, books, movies...whatever you find to be good material on the Korean War. Leave your suggestions in the comments and I will add them accordingly.

Books

Overall Studies

Formidable Enemies - Kevin Mahoney
Korean War Almanac - Harry Summers
The Korean War (Korea Insitute of Military History)
The War for Korea - The House Burning (1945-1950) - Allan Millet
The War for Korea - They Came From the North (1950-1951) - Allan Millet
United States Army Official Histories

Battle Studies

Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950 - Martin Russ

Colder Than Hell - Joseph R. Owen
Fire Brigade: U.S. Marines in the Pusan Perimeter - John C. Chapin
Into the Breach at Pusan - Kenneth Estes
Marine Tank Battles in Korea - Oscar Gilbert
The Last Stand of Fox Company - Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

Air War

Combat Over Korea - Philip Chinnery
F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th Fighter Wing - Warren Thompson
F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51st Fighter Wing - Warren Thompson
F-86 Sabre vs. MiG-15 - Dildy & Thompson
F4U Corsair Units of the Korean War - Warren Thompson
F9F Panther/Cougar in Action - Jim Sullivan
Famous Aircraft: The F-86 Sabre - R.J. Childerhose
Korean War Aces - Dorr, Lake, & Thompson
North American F-86A-L Sabre in USAF and Foreign Service - McDowell & Ward
Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War - Krylov & Tepsurkaev
USN/USMC Over Korea - Thomas E. Doll
The United States Air Force in Korea - Robert F. Futrell

Websites

Commentary on Infantry Operations and Weapons Usage in Korea - Winter of 1950-51
Korean War Gallery - National Museum of the United States Air Force
Korean War Project

Welcome!

The first post on this new adventure, the Korean War! I will be posting blog entries on an occasional basis that will deal with gaming the war in miniature, along with other tidbits I find interesting. On the miniatures side, the land war will be in 15mm, small unit level, while the air war will be gamed in 1/285th (1/300th) scale. As this is a brand new gaming project, there are a lot of decisions to be made about miniatures and rules, but I do have some ideas in hand.

My Korean War knowledge is slim so I grabbed a few titles from my local Half Price Books and am working my way through them. My father missed Korea, having served in the U.S. Army in the mid-1950s where he was stationed in Germany as part of an armored cavalry regiment. So I do not have any direct connection or reason to have a strong interest in the war, other than it isn't gamed often, the air war saw the first widespread use of jets, and of those jets I really am a fan of the F-80 Shooting Star and F-86 Sabre. I also think that the M26 Pershing is one sweet looking tank. Are those valid or enough reasons for gaming the Korean War?  Damn right they are!

For the land war, there are various companies making Korean War figures, and of course many World War Two ranges can be used. I would almost go with 10mm for this project, but to my knowledge there is only one company (Pithead Miniatures) making 10mm Chinese and none making North Koreans or Allied forces in winter gear, while there are some ranges existing in 15mm. The larger scale of these battles (compared to some of my more modern projects) would lend itself more readily to 10mm, and there are rumors that Pendraken will be making a Korean War range, and that Pithead will be expanding their range, but until those figures are forthcoming 15mm will be the direction I most likely will head. As I am going to work on the air portion of the war first, I do have some time to wait to see if these additional rumored 10mm miniatures are indeed placed into production.

In 15mm there are enough existing figures to put together small unit actions. Quality Castings (part of Old Glory 15s) make Chinese in winter gear, North Koreans in summer uniform, and other forces can be put together from their World War Two range. I have always had a soft spot for the Quality Castings figures as they were some of their first World War Two 15mm figures I ever painted. While some of the poses and details might be a tad dated compared to more recent lines, they still hold up fairly well. I do have an order placed with Eureka (the USA shop) for the North Koreans to see how they look, and will probably order some of the other ranges to see if they blend well together.

For the air war, I am purchasing some 1/285th MiG-15s and F-86 Sabres from a local gamer, along with four air war books and some Dom's Decals. I am not sure who the manufacturer of the planes might be, but I did order some of the Raiden Miniatures via I-94 Enterprises today so I hope I will be able to compare them and determine what manufacturer the local gamer's planes are.

Rules - For the land war these are yet to be determined, but I do have a copy of the Korean War Data Book coming from Olde Dominion GameWorks (ODGW) for their Mein Panzer rules. For air combat some of my gaming friends use Check Your 6! rules from Skirmish Campaigns so I ordered the Korean War supplement today as well. I have only gamed CY6! one time before, years ago, and did not come away with fond memories, but am willing to give it another go before making a final decision on rules.

There will be more to come over the next several days (pictures of minis, etc.) so be certain to check out the blog regularly and leave comments from time to time!