Suggested Books for the ANR

After Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile in early September 1943, the Germans seized whatever materials they could obtain from the areas of Italy they occupied. This included several of the "Serie 5" aircraft - the Macchi C.205, the Fiat G.55, and the Reggiane 2005. These Italian planes marked the apex of Italian design, finally offering fast, agile, and heavily armed to its pilots. However, the Italians were too little, too late. Italian manufacturing struggled throughout the course of the war, and these designs simply could not be produced in numbers to have any significant impact on Italy's participation. But, these fighters did have a chance to serve.

The Germans incorporated the captured Italian aircraft into some of their jagdgeschwader but were not very active in engaging with the Italian planes. There was, however, quite a favorable impression of these three types by the German pilots, to the point where they were considered for manufacture in Germany. However, nothing came of this idea, and the Germans would release the planes back to the Italians.

The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana was the socialist air force that Germany allowed to be created a few months after the armistice was signed. The Germans were initially leery of the Italian commitment, but nearly 7,000 Italians joined the ANR, including several aces. The ANR really got its start at the beginning of 1944 with the formation of the 1st Group. In all three fighter groups, a torpedo bomber group, and a bomber group were formed, along with other support elements, and in addition an independent fighter squadron for a period. The fighter groups used a mixture of aircraft, but the primary types were the Macchi C.205 and the Fiat G.55. Later, as Italian factories were being targeting by the Allied bombing effort, the fighter groups switched over to the Messerschmitt Bf 109G.

Digging this splinter camo!

There are three books about the ANR I would recommend, all three being useful for different reasons. The first is written by Eduardo M. Gil Martinez, Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (1943-1945), The Aviation of the Italian Socialist Republic, published by Kagero in 2018. Coming in at 92 pages in paperback form, it is the smallest book, and includes details on the formation of the ANR and it groups, along with a month by month accounting. There are both color and black and white photographs, and sixteen aircraft profiles showing both Italian and German types. The writing is decent, although at times the translation can be a bit humorous. 

The second book is Marco Mattioli's Mussolini's Hawks, The Fighter Units of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-1945. Published by IBN Editore in 2012, it focuses just on the fighters, but does so in 293 pages! This paperback book gives a day by day, group by group, accounting of the aerial activities of the fighter units, at times with enough detail to sketch out some Check Your 6! scenarios. There are numerous black and white photographs and like the Gil Martinez effort, the translation into English can be a little hit or miss. There are no color profiles in this effort. 

I'm sorry, you said you wanted a slew of artwork on the ANR? Then I have the book for you - in 2005 Ferdinando D'Amico and Gabriele Valentini co-authored Camouflage and Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-1945, A Photographic Analysis Through Speculation and Research. Published by Classic Publications in 2005, this oversized hardback is the shite when it comes to the colors of the ANR. Fighters are featured (both German and Italian), but also included are bombers, transports, and scout aircraft. Within its 220 pages are nearly 400 black and white photographs, and numerous aircraft illustrations. While there are many profiles, the strength of this book, or I should say one of the many strengths of this book, are the views from above and below the aircraft. The details given to squadron and individual markings are nearly overwhelming, as is the coverage of the ANRs national insignia. This title is the painter's dream. 

While I recommend all three titles, the costs for these limited in scope works might break the bank. If you want one book with decent coverage, then the Gil Martinez book is the way to go. If you are looking for scenario creation, then Mattioli's book is for you. And if you are going all in, then at the very least pick up Mussolini's Hawks and the camouflage/markings books. 

Using AI for Scenario Creation

I have been playing around a lot lately with ChatGPT, focusing on taking primary Civil War sources and creating things like timelines and micro histories. Today I took a chance to see if AI would create scenarios for Check Your 6! Son of a b...., it does!

Of course like most anything good data in means good data out. I uploaded a pair of Sino-Japanese War scenarios I had created, along with aircraft data for some of the early planes used during the conflict, and asked for the app to create additional scenarios for that war.  ChatGPT will then spit out all sorts of things, and then make suggestions. One can go high level with a faster response time, deeper thinking which will provide more accurate details, or a deeply researched dive. One can tell ChatGPT to use online resources as well. Here is an example of a scenario that AI created:

Scenario 1 – Peashooters Over Nanking

SETTING

Date: 15 August 1937, 1330 hours
Location: Approaches to Nanking, China

History:
With the ground war surging toward the Chinese capital, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Kisarazu Air Group sent twenty Mitsubishi G3M “Nell” bombers to strike Nanking. Eight Boeing Model 281 “Peashooter” fighters of the 3rd Pursuit Group’s 17th Squadron scrambled from Chuyung airfield and intercepted a portion of the bomber stream. In the running fight that followed, the Boeings helped destroy several G3Ms without loss, marking one of the earliest successful monoplane-vs-monoplane interceptions of the war. 

Conditions:

• Max/Auto Visibility: 20/10

• Sun: None

• CAB: MEDIUM and MEDIUM BOTTOM

• Clouds: Table Clouds: none; Cloud Border: none

Chinese Orders:
Achieve more victory points than the opponent.

Japanese Orders:
Achieve more victory points than the opponent. National Move Order advantage.

Game Length:
No limit (game ends once all Japanese bombers have exited or been destroyed).

---

SCENARIO SET-UP

Map: Standard 45 × 30 hex map (Areas A–F, Edges 1–6 as in your existing scenarios).

814 Day

• Japanese bomber axis: Bombers enter from Board Edge 2 and must exit off Board Edge 5.

• Chinese fighter axis: Chinese fighters may enter from Board Edge 4 or Board Edge 6.

Place a city target (Nanking) as a 6-hex built-up area straddling the border between Areas C and D, at least 8 hexes from Board Edge 2.

---

REPUBLIC OF CHINA AIR FORCE

Elements of the 3rd Pursuit Group, 17th Pursuit Squadron (Chuyung)
All aircraft are Boeing Model 281 (use your CY6 stats from the sheet/rules).

• 1 × Boeing Model 281 w/ veteran (+2) aircrew (flight leader; you can use John “Buffalo” Huang or another historical pilot if you like). 

• 3 × Boeing Model 281 w/ skilled (+1) aircrew

• 2 × Boeing Model 281 w/ green (+0) aircrew

Set-up:

• Chinese set up second.

• Start in three sections of two aircraft each in Area E, at least 6 hexes from the city, heading north-east at Speed 3, MEDIUM CAB, TAL 5.

---

IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY

Elements of Kisarazu Kōkūtai

Initial Wave:

• 1 × Mitsubishi G3M w/ veteran (+2) aircrew (chūtai leader)

• 2 × Mitsubishi G3M w/ skilled (+1) aircrew

Set-up:

• Set up first in shotai formation in Area B, within 5 hexes of the Edge 2/3 corner, heading south-west toward Nanking at Speed 2, MEDIUM BOTTOM CAB, TAL 4.

Reinforcements:

1. Second Shotai

   • 3 × Mitsubishi G3M w/ skilled (+1) aircrew

   Enter on Turn 1d4 along Board Edge 2, in shotai formation, heading south-west at Speed 2, MEDIUM BOTTOM CAB, TAL 4.

2. Straggler

   • 1 × Mitsubishi G3M w/ green (+0) aircrew

   Enter on Turn 1d4+2 along Board Edge 3, heading south-west at Speed 2, MEDIUM BOTTOM CAB, TAL 3.

---

VARIABLE RULES

1–3 Early Warning:
Chinese fighters may start at Speed 4 instead of 3, and one green (+0) aircrew is upgraded to skilled (+1).

4–10 None

---

SCENARIO RULES

1. City Target:

   • Each G3M must plot a straight-line bombing run so that it passes over at least one hex of the Nanking city area before exiting.

   • A G3M that successfully attacks any city hex (per CY6 bombing rules) earns the Japanese player 4 Victory Points.

2. Formations:

   • All G3M shotai must fly level and remain in formation until:

     • any bomber in that shotai is fired upon, or

     • the shotai passes completely over the city target.

   • Once broken, bombers may maneuver freely.

3. Chinese Interception:

   • Chinese sections deploy already climbed to altitude, but must plot forward turn codes and fly level on their first turn (they are diving to intercept and just sight the bombers as the scenario begins).

   • After the first turn, fighters maneuver normally.

4. Bomb Jettison:

   • Any G3M that takes its first Damaged result must pass a crew check or jettison its bombload, losing the ability to score bombing VPs but regaining full maneuver freedom.

5. Friendly Airspace:

   • All board areas are friendly to the Chinese player.

---

AFTERMATH

Historically, the Boeing 281s of the 17th Squadron helped shoot down several of the G3M bombers without loss, a rare clean victory for China’s small monoplane force. The success was short-lived—Japan’s air arms would soon grind down the Nationalist fighter groups—but on this August afternoon over Nanking, the “Peashooters” showed that even obsolete fighters could bite.

More P-40s Off the Line

I have completed the very basic scheme I am using for a pair of scenarios (Darwin A Flight and B Flight - found on the downloads page) I am hosting at CincyCon in March. These represent the 33rd Pursuit Squadron over Darwin. The planes are a bit of a compromise as some illustrations show "U. S. Army" on the undersides, while others do not. Same is true with the type of roundel used but most sources indicate the red ball and white star was used, although the red ball had been reduced in size with white paint applied in the field - I was not about to try that in 1/285 scale decals!

Additionally there should be some small plane numbers added to the tail and in some cases the front portion of the fuselage, in either black or yellow. I've not been able to source two digit numbers small enough to use. Lastly, some of the pilots had individual markings on their P-40s, but again, decals for those in 1/285 are lacking.

Keeping the scheme simple however allows a variety of early war uses - along with Darwin they could be used over Pearl Harbor or the Philippines. They will also get use as the 9th Pursuit Squadron for another action near Darwin as the 9th's planes initially had the red ball/white star national insignia.

Paints:

Vallejo - Neutral Gray (71.051), NATO Black (71.251), N 41 Dark Olive Drab (71.316), Natural Steel (70.864)

Foundry - Bavarian Cornflower Blue Light (73C)

Decals:

Flight Deck Decals

Varnish:

Army Painter Satin

Heinkel Completion

Ready for the table, my hack job on the never used in combat but a really damn cool plane: the Heinkel He 100D!

A schwarm of Table Top Flights Heinkels are painted and decals applied. I am happy with the end result for the most part - the color choices worked well for the schwarzgrun and the hellblau, but the Vallejo dunkelgrun seems a bit off (the planes are less dark in person). The Army Painter Satin sheen is a bit much, so I will hit the planes with some matt varnish. The decals are all Scale Specialties, sourced from I-94, and intended for early war Bf 109s, but they did the trick rather well on the Heinkels, although adding the swastika on the tail was a pain in the arse as there as not a lot of room to work with.

I have two additional Heinkels that are nearly completed, but one has a bent wing to straighten out, while the other has a less than smooth engine cover from the original print. But all they need is to have the badge insignia added, a bit of decal softener, then a coat of varnish, and then my Heinkel He 100 project is complete. Oh wait, I need opposing aircraft as well! UPDATE (11/4/25) - I completed the last pair of Heinkels - the wife's hairdryer did the trick on the warped wing.

I now have created two scenarios to use with the Heinkels, the latest being "Propaganda Jager" which can now be found on the Downloads page that features some French planes my gaming buddy Matt has. Look for some after action reports in the future.

Color Choices - Part III

The third part of an irregular series that provides the base colors used on a variety of projects.

Wake Atoll

• F4F Wildcat/F2A Buffalo - For the Wildcats and Buffaloes (the Wake Atoll project) - I used Faded Photo Reconnaissance Unit (P. R. U.) Blue (71.109) on the upper surfaces, with Light Grey (71.298) for the lower. I really like this color combination.

Darwin

• A6M2 - To reproduce the ame-iro color used on shipborne Japanese naval aircraft I went with Imperial Japanese Navy Ash Gray (71.311). It seems to capture the gray, green, and tan hues well. NATO Black (71.251) on the cowling. These Zekes will also see time over Wake.
• P-40E - Typical early war United States Army scheme of Dark Olive Drab 41 (71.316) over Neutral Gray N43 (71.051). 

 Second India-Pakistan War (1965)

• F-86 - The primary Pakistan aircraft received an overall scheme of Aluminium (71.062). 
• Folland Gnat - Another plane that had a natural metal finish, so once again I used Aluminium.
• Mystère - Why yes, I'm glad you asked - Aluminium was indeed the color of choice.

Baltic Encounter - Planes Completed

The bad guys - East German MiG-15 and MiG-17

This post was an effort to push me to take care of the chore of adding decals to planes that were mostly painted and just awaiting those final touches that bring a miniature to life. Applying decals is not what I call an enjoyable task, and I think it is mostly from a time perspective that I dally when it comes to this stage of completing planes for the table top. I have my system worked out fairly well - put a little gloss finish where the decals will be applied (this makes it easier to move the decal into proper position), apply Vallejo decal fix, cut the decal, soak in hot water while holding a non-printed corner with tweezers, and after about twenty to thirty seconds of soaking slide the decal into place with a brush end (although sometimes I forego the gloss and even the decal fix as I have also had good luck in not using either). If needed I roll a Q-Tip over the decal to absorb the excess water while pushing out any bubbles, and adjust the decal so that it is perfectly placed. Once the decal is dry, I brush on Vallejo decal softener which "melts" the decal so as to conform to ribbing or panel lines. To complete the process, and the plane, I spray with satin finish from Army Painter.

In this particular case I used Flight Deck Decals for the Swedish and East German national insignia and Dom's Decals for the Americans (I had a sheet I picked up in a trade for some Korean War planes years back). The blue letters on the J 29s and the red numbers on the MiGs are from I-94 as part of their Beacon range. Flight Deck's decals come as one complete decal sheet and one needs to carefully trim around the desired decal, while Dom and Beacon decals are easier to deal with since the decal is just the printed portion. Flight Deck and Dom's take a little longer to soak and loosen, while the Beacon decals are usually ready to slide off in ten seconds. 

Free world nations' FJ-4 and J 29

The blue letters came out a little light and are not very noticeable, but the red numbers on the MiGs certainly catch the eye. Overall I am fairly happy with the outcome. There are some issues on the national insignia decals on the bottom of one J 29, caused I think by too much decal fix, and even the coat of satin finish didn't really correct the haziness around the decal, but luckily it is on the bottom and really not noticeable. 

These planes are now ready for the tabletop, and to be used for my Baltic Encounter scenario found on the Downloads page.

China - Progress

A short post today showing off some of the progress I have made on my Sino-Japanese War aircraft. 

For the Curtiss Hawk IIIs, they are mostly painted and some now have decals applied (using Sieben Schwaben Spiele Decals and Flight Deck Decals). I love the Chinese Nationalist roundel and plane number over the dark green. I will admit, I did cheat on the tail colors as I could not see trying to include thirteen alternating white and blue stripes at 1/285 scale. I think I still captured the feel by only using seven stripes. 

The pair of Model 281 Boeings are also mostly painted, but then somehow I snapped a landing gear from one, which really is not making me happy. So I need to order a replacement and start fresh. Arrrgh. 

For the Japanese the A5Ms have a coat of aluminium. I could not decide on what the base color should be, seeing so many variations on the A5M, from a golden hue to light gray (which I think really should be metal) dark green. However, seemingly the A5M came from the factory in 1937-38 in a natural metal finish, so there we have it. I still have details to add but did add natural steel to the ailerons and engine.

The schemes for the D1A also varied somewhat, ranging the natural metal to light gray to dark green. I decided to take the easy way out to have the D1As match their A5M escorts. This means the Japanese are in natural metal while the Chinese are all sporting dark green. Two very distinctive and different schemes to grace the tabletop. I still have details to paint on the D1As.

These planes will be used for the Melee Over the Mausoleum scenario that one can found on the Downloads page.

I-94 Decals

For my next batch of decals I ordered a few sheets from I-94 Enterprises. I believe I am turning into a decal hoarder, but that's another post....

For my order with I-94, I was looking to pick up some items to help complete some projects and move forward on others. I have used I-94 decals before and they are quite good, and quite affordable. From what I gather what I-94 offers is mostly from the older Beacon range. I-94 also carries the Scale Specialties range, which includes some very unique and useful items, at a higher price point, but the sheets contain markings for numerous aircraft in most cases.

My first sheet is simply blue lettering, which also includes blue numbers. The blue letters are needed to complete my Swedish J 29s for my 1950s Baltic Encounter scenario. Not certain how much additional use I will get from this sheet, and while I could have simply left the letters off the miniatures, I wanted to have a "more complete" looking set of Tunnans.

The second sheet, having black lettering and numbers for United States naval aircraft, pushes me closer towards my Operation Torch project, the sheet also having some letters and numbers for Coral Sea USN aircraft. One of the items I have been working on is a small scenario book and guide to the American Atlantic portion of Torch and have about eight scenarios in mind.

A number of planes can be decaled with just this one sheet

The next two sheets are Scale Specialties offerings. The first is one I need for Japanese naval aircraft for Wake Atoll - I went with the Hiryu/Soryu sheet as that will work for both the Pearl Harbor Second Strike scenario and a few scenarios I have put together for my Wake scenario book. The sheet includes insignia and aircraft marking for Zekes, Vals, and Kates.

While not having a lot of Spanish Civil War decals, there are plenty for the early WWII period Messerschmitts

The second Scale Specialties sheet I ordered is catered to Bf 109s for both the Spanish Civil War and early WWII. However, I will be using these for my half dozen Heinkel He 100s. As these planes were never used in combat, taking a few oddball squadron insignia from the 109s doesn't really feel that off to me.

GHQ Decals

While I do not use GHQ Models for my miniatures due to their crazy price point, I have picked up some of their ironically affordable decals. Finding their decal offerings can be a bit of a chore as the decals are mixed in with the aircraft listings, but gamers looking for another source for decals can find some very useful items from GHQ. 

Notice the off-centered blue on the American sheet left of center

Most of the packs come two sheets per pack, at $3.50 per sheet, and now I know why - they are made by I-94! The first sheet I grabbed was British WWII roundels for southeast Pacific. While I have no current aircraft that would feature these decals, I do plan to use some for Australian aircraft featured in the Under Southern Skies scenario book. Very cool mix of Hudson, P-40, and Beaufighter squadrons on this offering, along with roundels and aircraft numbers.

Next up are American Pacific and Europe national insignia that feature the red outlined star and bar and the yellow outlined star, the former that will be used on some future Hellcat purchases and the latter being ideal for Operation Torch. One sheet in the pack was perfect, the other sheet was off printed and is completely unusable. Now we will see how GHQ's customer service might be! UPDATE - It has been six days since I contacted GHQ about the decal sheet...my two messages have gone without a reply. UPDATE TWO - Still no reply. Shite service for certain! UPDATE THREE (10.21.25) - Dave at I-94 reached out and is replacing the sheet, even though it is on GHQ to make it right. Dave has great customer service!

I also ordered what I thought would be a large sheet of mixed American stars and stars and bars, a mix of blue and red outlined insignia, but it was one small sheet, for twice the price of the other sheets, and the outlines are fairly thin. Yikes! Won't order the $7.50 sheets again.

I needed some additional Soviet stars, so ordered a sheet that has both plain red as well as yellow outlined red stars. These will find use for both WWII and jet age projects. Add to that a sheet of white and red Soviet aircraft numbers that will find the same use. Both of these were nicely done.

The last sheet I ordered was a mixed sheet of Egyptian, Syrian, and Iraqi national insignia. I picked these up mainly for the Iraqi markings to use for some 1948 Arab-Israeli War Gloster Gladiators, but I might find some use for the others in later period Arab-Israeli conflicts. There are both versions of the Syrian roundel in this pack.

In some cases the sheets do not offer very many of any one particular size, which limits their usefulness somewhat. And now that I know these affordable decal sheets come from I-94, I'll just order from them in the future.

Wings of Glory Resources

As I move away from using Wings of Glory for my Great War in the Air gaming (and in its place using Check Your 6! Great War), I deleted the page in which I listed a slew of Wings of Glory resources. So as to not lose these resources, but also to free up some page space, I am listing the resources as a blog post.

Facebook - billed as the "Official Wings of Glory" group.

Flight Deck Decals - 1/300th scale decals and now 1/144 aircraft.

I-94 Enterprises - High quality 1/144th and 1/300th scale decals and excellent service.

Litko Aerosystems - Ammo, jammed, smoke, fire, and other types of tokens to enhance your game.

Mako Models International - carries the Mark I 1/144th scale decals (eBay).

Miscellaneous Miniatures - 1/144th and 1/300th scale decals with great service.

Pro Painted Studios - modified range sticks that I use with my adjusted firing rules.

Rival Sky Games - officially approved Ares bases and fine service.

Table Top Flights - 1/144th scale aircraft of fantastic quality.

Transparent Vinyl Tape - for marking pegs.

Wings of Glory Aerodrome - Become a member...this is the place that is keeping the game alive.

Revamping the Rufe

A few months ago I hosted for the Check Your 6! Southwestern Ohio Group the Strike on Kiska scenario from Battles Above 3, and it did not go well for the Japanese (see HERE for that after action report). Outfitted in that scenario with five A6M2-n Rufes, the Japanese players could inflict but little damage to the B-25s or their P-40E escorts. Of course knowing that Check Your 6! is nothing if it is not a dice game, results may vary when running the same scenario several times. However I feel there may be a little more than just "luck of the dice" when it comes to using the Rufe.

On my bookshelves are three titles that deal directly with the Aleutian Campaign, including the recent two part series published by Helion. I've been re-reading these books, and then remembered that there was at least one video on the Aleutian Rufes (initially the 5th, but then redesignated the 452nd Kōkūtai) on the excellent Showtime 112 YouTube channel (it is actually a two part series). This morning I watched both of those videos, and I have become a bit more convinced that the poor showing in the scenario might have been partially due to the Rufe's CY6! ratings. 

In Part I of the Showtime videos it is mentioned that the addition of floats to the A6M2 Model 0 Zeke created a slower aircraft, but one without a loss of maneuverability. In CY6! the Zeke is rated (at lower altitudes) as A4 + 2(-) for maneuverability, speed, and agility, while the Rufe comes in at a paltry B3 + 1. I would make the argument that the Rufe's ratings should be enhanced a bit based on its performance in the Aleutians.

Early in its Aleutian deployment, the Rufe faced unescorted American heavy bombers. The floatplanes, always in fairly limited numbers, were able to damage and on occasion shoot down those large monsters, with one group of seven B-24s all taking damage during one mission. This would be a tough proposition in game terms as the Rufe only has a +1 agility advantage, going up against aircraft that have a robustness of 4. Even facing a B-25C is an almost even fight, as the B-25 has the same game agility as the Rufe, just one rating worse for maneuverability (B Chart vs. C Chart), and is a tough son of a gun to shoot down, as evidenced in the Kiska after action report linked above. 

Rufes also managed to do some solid work against American fighters, namely the P-39, P-40, and P-38 - faster and more robust aircraft. In all the 452nd Kōkūtai claimed seventeen kills and five probables against a loss of a dozen Rufes in combat.

Based on my reading and interwebs research (knowing the latter is always an adventure), I think the Rufe should be slightly improved in performance. Loaded weight and time to 20,000 feet favored the Rufe over the Zeke while both fighters used the same powerplant. I have changed climb and dive rates to a middle ground between the Rufe and the Zeke. Here are the game ratings and my proposed ratings.

I will be hosting the Strike on Kiska scenario a few more times to see if the proposed ratings work, or if I have created an overbalance.

Rating the Finns - Part II

A war weary Model 75A. The white rings indicate repaired bullet holes.

In a previous post I discussed my thoughts about the low aircrew quality ratings given to the Finns in the Battles Above 4 scenario book. This is not a post to disparage the author of that excellent scenario book in any way, but it is simply my thoughts on how I think the Finns should be rated in terms of Aircrew quality.

I have now gathered several titles on the Finns, in some cases titles in which the author(s) have sourced Soviet records to compare reported losses, and this research has convinced me that the Finns did have some of the highest kill ratios of any nation during World War II, usually flying outdated aircraft, and more often than not outnumbered in the various encounters with the Soviets.

What I first thought was an anomaly, that being the overwhelming kill ratio of Lentolaivue 24, flying Brewster F2As before receiving Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs later in the war, was not the exception, but instead the exceptional example of multiple successful Finnish squadrons. As outlined in another post, Lentolaivue 32, flying the Curtiss Model 75As for three years, also had an impressive kill ratio. But it does not stop there. With Morane-Saulnier 406s and Fiat G.50s other squadrons also inflicted far more casualties on the Soviets than was received in return. So we need to address the question - how were the Finns able to have such success?

"It's the man, not the machine" - and while I mostly agree with this premise, the tools of war can often provide an edge, but not so with the Finns. With aircraft of comparable performance in many cases, with armament on the lighter side, and with machines that were typically no more robust than the enemy, the Finns made up for a lack of quality equipment by the superior quality of their pilots. However, as mentioned in the previous post, the scenarios in Battles Above 4 do not give much distinction in aircrew quality between the Finns and the Soviets. While I usually like the aircrew ratings found in the Battle Above series, and the methodology that the author uses to determine ace and veteran aircrew quality, I believe that same methodology does not "work" during the Continuation War. How do we address this?

I have a few ideas around aircrew ratings for the Finns. The first takes an approach that any Finnish pilot that has five or more kills is an ace (+3). This is different than Battles Above, in which the author uses twenty kills or more before applying ace status. I would make a Finnish pilot with one to four kills a veteran (+2) aircrew, and any other pilot who has zero kills is rated as skilled (+1). Green (+0) aircrews should be extremely rare for the Finns. By taking this approach and applying against the scenarios in Battles Above 4, it will make most Finnish aircrew ratings improve, if one knows what pilots were involved in each scenario. As most of the scenarios only have a pilot or two named, this process would not ideally work, although any green aircrew would be bumped to skilled regardless, at least in my mind.

Another approach is to lower the aircrew ratings for each Soviets by one level, and utilizing the poor (-1) aircrew rating offered in the Korean War scenario book for green pilots, green for skilled, and so on. This potentially would balance the scenarios more towards the Finns, which makes sense to me, as in most of the scenarios they are outnumbered. This might be the easiest adjustment that can be made based on historical performance and the lack of information when it comes to knowing which Finnish pilots were present for each scenario.

A more extreme approach is to use both the aforementioned methods. Based on kill ratios, this actually might result in more historical outcomes but less than ideal balance for the Soviet players. However, in most of the scenarios the Soviet have the numerical advantage. Of course, being a dice game, results can always vary widely game to game so it would take several playthroughs of one scenario to see if any of the methods above provide a more historical outcome.

Here is a look at all three methods, using one scenario from Battles Above 4 in which the Finns are outnumbered. This scenario (65 to 0) had on the Finnish side the following known pilots and the number of confirmed kills each had obtained before this engagement - Aulis Bremer (6.33), Eino Koskinen (7.5), Kalevi Tervo (6.0), Pauli Salminen (3), and Yrjö Pallasvuo (5). 

Using my suggestions for Finnish aircrew quality above, giving ace status to these pilots with  five or more kills, really shows the imbalance, particularly if increasing the Finns and decreasing the Soviets. However, the historical event played out with the Finns claiming eleven kills (there were also present, but not in the scenario, Soviet bombers) to zero losses. The alternate version of this fight (Finland's Hawks, Stalin's Falcons) has the Finns at a greater numerical disadvantage with eighteen Soviet fighters and six Soviet bombers. I cannot imagine playing out this scenario and seeing the Finns so outnumbered and still managing to inflict such losses on the Soviets without making, at the very minimum, a dramatic increase in the Finnish aircrew quality.

It will be interesting to play through the scenarios with some measure of adjustments in place...but first I need to collect and paint planes!

Lentolaivue 32

Model 75A of Lentolaivue 32 in the later scheme of olive green and black over light blue

For those who have interest in the Continuation War, you probably know of the exploits of Lentolaivue 24 and their amazing successes while using the Brewster Model 239 against the numerically superior Soviets. However, the Finns fielded other squadrons that also delivered impressive kill ratios from mid-1941 until the Finns signed an armistice with the Soviets in mid-1944. One of those squadrons, flying another outmoded American fighter, was Lentolaivue 32. This squadron, which started the war flying Fokker XXIs, supported by a flight of Hawker Hurricanes, transitioned to the Curtiss Model 75A a few weeks into the war. The Sussu (Sweetheart), as the Model 75 was known in Finnish service, served in LLv 32 for three years and chalked up an impressive kill ratio over their Soviet counterparts. I have covered the Curtiss in Finnish service previously (found HERE) so I will not rehash those details. This post focuses on Lentolaivue 32 and its impressive string of victories, even when flying against advance Soviet fighters later in the war.

The squadron received its first victory on June 25, 1941 when Veikko Evinen, flying a Fokker XXI, shot down a pair of Tupolev SB-2. Evinen would obtain four victories in LLv 32, all in 1941. He would later transfer to LLv 34 and obtain ace status before being killed. LLv 32 would obtain 7.5 victories while flying the Fokker. LLv 32's first aces would be Paavo Berg and Kyösti Karhila, both obtaining their fifth kill on September 19, 1941, both victorious over MiG-3s.

A schwarm of Sussus

The following list shows the claims of the squadron, most of the claims verified against Russian archival sources. Note: FR = Fokker XXI, HC = Hurricane, CU = Curtiss, and MT - Messerschmitt.

Let's look at Lentolaivue 32 by the overall numbers. The squadron racked up 206 victories against nineteen losses for a ratio of nearly 11:1. Of the losses, six planes were lost due to anti-aircraft fire, three were lost due to Soviet airstrikes on Finnish airfields, while only ten were lost in combat, yielding a ratio of almost 21:1 when only counting combat losses. Ten LLv 32 pilots were killed, two wounded, and one was made a prisoner of war. Sixty-three of the squadron's pilots had at least a half kill and sixteen pilots made ace status. These numbers are even more impressive when taking into consideration that the squadron was rarely anywhere near full strength.

As seen on the following chart, the squadron was very successful against early war Soviet fighters, but also racked up numerous kills against the superior LaGG-3s and La-5s, again demonstrating the quality edge the Finnish pilots possessed as late as mid-1944.

I will discuss my final thoughts on rating the Finns in a future entry as a follow up to my previous post on Finnish aircrew quality.

Encounter Over the Baltic

This cool looking Swedish design, the FFVS J 22, first flew in September, 1942 and was introduced in October the following year.

So, how many Check Your 6! gamers have the FFVS J 22 in their collections? I am guessing not many, mostly because it was a design created by a neutral country and not used in combat. But should that stop us from fielding a few of these diminutive fighters for some what-if encounters? Of course not!

I have a 1950s Jet Age scenario that features East Germans vs. Swedes, a completely hypothetical engagement, and it would not be much of a stretch to go back a decade or so and do something similar against a World War II backdrop. Why? Because I want to be able to use the sweet looking Swedish FFVS J 22, a radial engine fighter that, when flying mock combat against the P-51, could hold its own under 13,000 feet. The J 22 was available by late fall 1943, so German opponents (from a fighter perspective) could be the Messerschmitt Me 109G and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A models. Now, I have not really delved into having very many German aircraft in my collection, but creating another what-if scenario might push me to obtain some mid to late war German fighters, which of course would find more historical uses.

Ratings for the J 22 might look something like this (very speculative and I am open to opinions to flesh out the stats):

Image from Table Top Flights

Okay, as stats are sort of worked out, where can one find the J 22 in miniature? Look no further than the detailed 3D prints offered by Table Top Flights. The J 22 is also offered in metal by Heroics & Ros, but the quality of the present-day 3D prints leaves the venerable H&R line in the dust.

Now, to create a scenario! Oh wait, I just did. Check it out on the Downloads page, called Encounter Over the Baltic.

The What If War

Yep, I have a hankering! 

In 1937 Europe was unsettled, to say the least. The rise of Germany was on the near horizon and it was unknown to the other European powers what Germany's impact would be on future events. Austria was still "free" although the Austrian socialists were making strides towards controlling the country (with a little shove called German annexation in March 1938). There were some rumblings of the Germans and Czechs having a bit of a "have at you" as well. Using this unsettled setting as a background, I wanted to create a biplane encounter, using some planes not often seen on the tabletop, and appearing in eye appealing schemes. 

The setting is late 1937 with the Austrians causing some angst among the Czechs by repeated violations of Czechoslovakian air space by the CR.32s of the Austrian Luftstreitkräfte. The Czechs have been hesitant to do more than protest as they have concerns of a larger conflict that would see Germany supporting Austria. However, on a beautiful fall day over the Vltava River the Czechs had had enough and scrambled fighters to intercept the latest Austrian incursion.

Austria - The Austrians had as their main fighter the Fiat CR.32. I just love the Austrian roundel over top a gray or natural metal scheme and have been looking for an excuse to buy a sheet of Austrian decals (which might wind up on some Tunnans as well). As Table Top Flights make the CR.32 in 1/285, grabbing a flight (or two) of these will be a no-brainer. However, does anyone know what constituted an Austrian flight?

Czechoslovakia - And now I can get some double duty from my Slovak-Hungarian War Avia B-534s! Or, it gives me an excuse to order more! I am asking Flight Deck Decals to scale some of these for me in 1/285. I know the Czechs used three-plane formations, so three flights of these will do nicely, thank you very much.

Germany - Okay, I should use an early model of the Bf 109, but I miss the Heinkel He 51s I used to have for the Spanish Civil War (traded them years ago) and want more! And I really like the above scheme, the medium blue speaks to my Bavarian roots. Like the Czechs, the Germans were using three-plane formations, so as a support to the Austrians, I might just grab three of the Heinkels. Again, I am having Flight Deck scale these to 1/285.

The good news is that all three antagonists have paint schemes that I should be able to pull off myself.

I have created a scenario (well, you KNOW I was going to) in which the aggressor (the Austrians) intentionally violate Czech airspace to embarrass the Czechs, with the Czechs unexpectedly responding in force, and with the Germans coming to the Austrians rescue. Check the Downloads page for the Violence over the Vltava scenario.

Why Not the Hellcat?

An attractive scheme graces this F6F-5 Hellcat

The American plane with the most kills claimed in the Pacific Theater is not the Corsair, the P-40, or the P-38. It is the Grumman F6F Hellcat. Granted, the Hellcat came in at the middle point of the war in the Pacific, when Japanese aircrew quality was on the wane. Yet there seems to be not a lot of love for what amounts to be the "super Wildcat." I know have been guilty of not adding any Hellcats to my World War II collection, I think mostly because I like the earlier period of the war or oddball theaters, but I aim to rectify that.

Over the last year or so I picked up a couple of titles on the Hellcat, one being from the old Arco-Aircam series and another title published in 2008 by a Polish company (but written in English). There are of course several titles available on the Hellcat, including an In Action and Walkaround from Squadron/Signal and another I really want from Sprue Brothers, one of the Ginter Books publications, but it is a bit pricey, and even more so on the aftermarket sites. And of course there are a few titles offered by Osprey Publishing which includes one in the Dogfight series and three in the Aces series. I have since acquired Barrett Tillman's Hellcat: The F6F in World War II, Tillman's Hellcat Aces of World War 2, and Bert Kinzey's Detail & Scale offering on the Hellcat. These titles pretty much cover everything one needs to know about the Hellcat's development and war service.

I have taken the scenarios from Battles Above 1, Battles Above 3, and Desperate Measures that feature the Hellcat and have created this chart showing number of aircraft needed for each scenario.

In looking at the Check Your 6! stats for the Hellcat, it is a formidable bird and an marked improvement over its Wildcat predecessor. Taking suggestions made by now departed gamer Tom Michael on the CY6! discussion group, in which he provided details on the improvements made on the -5 model, here is how the Hellcat shakes out in game terms:

Overall, the Hellcat it is a pretty cool plane, with interesting paint schemes, good wartime performance, and going up against a lot of Japanese aircraft that are not nearly as known as the early war  Zeros, Vals, Kates, Oscars, Betties, and Nates. As a result, I will be ordering several Hellcats from Flight Deck Decals and working towards gaming some Hellcat scenarios.

Color Choices - Part II

Glossy sea blue Corsair and two colors applied to the Mustang

100 Hour War

• F4U-5 Corsair - My Honduran F4U-5s were painted in USN Sea Blue (71.295) which is close to the dark navy blue seen in artwork, but is flat with some gray overtones as opposed to the more traditional glossy sea blue finish. While I have seen some who paint their Honduran Corsairs very dark, I have found no hard evidence as to the F4U-5s being painted in anything but the standard United States Navy blue which seems to be the correct color.
• F4U-4 Corsair - One Honduran plane had what equates to Light Gull Gray (71.121) overall, while the rest of the Honduran F4U-4s were given USN Glossy Sea Blue (71.300).

Looks more splotchy in person

• FG-1D - The Salvadoran Corsairs are painted in Glossy Sea Blue with a pattern of U.S. Dark Green (71.289) and IJN Ash Grey (71.311) over top, giving a three color camouflage.
• Mustang II - The few Mustangs that were utilized by the Salvadorans during actual combat were given the COIN United States Air Force South East Asia scheme. This would be a combination of US Dark Green (71.289), USAF Brown (71.125), and US Forest Green (71.294) upper surfaces with USAAF Light Grey (71.296) underneath. I have seen illustrations of the Mustangs having black instead of the dark green, but I do not believe those to be 100% accurate.

USN Sea Blue and Light Gull Gray on the Honduran Corsairs