Jet Flight Stands - Sorted

Lower CAB, TAL 6, Speed 7

I now have a couple of options when it comes to flight stands for Check Your 6! Jet Age - the "official" flight stands with its dials and pointers, and the Litko ones I have assembled that use dice to indicate altitude and speed. The official stands can be a bit fiddly, and the numbers are small and hence more difficult to read (plus the pointers at times can be too loose or too tight, leading to some confusion as to what height or speed a plane truly is). The Litko ones are not as fancy, and suffer from some quality issues (some pegs are slightly warped, some do not fit snugly into the hole on the base, and others have to be sanded to obtain a level surface) but they do have a clear base which allows the gaming mat to be seen. And using a three tray dice holder, I can represent the faster jet speeds. I also understand there might be a dice tray that will hold one six-sided die and one eight-sided die.

Higher CAB, TAL 4, Speed 7

Contemplating the First World War One Project

While I have dozens and dozens of 1/144 scale planes for Wings of Glory, I am going to try a small Check Your 6! Great War project in 1/285 scale, if Table Top Flights can manage to produce resin prints in that scale (the thinness of the struts at such a small scale is a concern). However, Mike at TTF seems to be somewhat optimistic that some planes can be printed, so that means I will need to start thinking about what I want to tackle first.

I have gathered all the planes needed from all three Colorful Skies scenario books, and there is a wide variety, but also some commonality. I also have a scenario book called Billy's Boys, written for a set of rules called Watch Your Six, which focuses on the American experience in 1918 and has sixty-one scenarios within it's spiral bound pages. If I was to focus on the Americans in 1918, then that does narrow down what planes to start with a bit. However, it also means painted French five-color camouflage on the American fighters, which will take some work, but a scheme I feel like I have "mastered" somewhat.

My take on the French five color scheme - 1/144 scale Table Top Flights Nieuport 28s

To get the most "bang for the buck" one needs to look late war. Focusing on those scenarios featuring American squadrons using the Nieuport 28 between Colorful Skies and Billy's Boys yields of large number of possibilities. Let's run some numbers and see how many planes one needs:

There are forty-two (yes, 42!) scenarios utilizing the Nieuport 28, with a maximum of thirteen Nieuports needed. In those forty-two scenarios, one also needs four Pfalz D.IIIa, three Albatros C.VII, fifteen Fokker D.VII, eighteen Albatros D.Va, three Rumpler C.IV, three Breguet XIV, one SPAD XIII, one SPAD VII (German), five Pfalz E.IV (that is not a typo), one Albatros C.V (I would just use the C.VII version), one Airco D.H.9a, one L.V.G. C.V, and one Salmson 2A2. That yields seventy miniatures for those forty-two scenarios. A bit daunting from a painting perspective, so let's winnow it down by removing scenarios in which an aircraft type only appears once. That removed the German SPAD VII, the Pfalz E.IV, the D.H.9a, and the L.V.G. C.V, dropping the plane count to sixty-three, still a large number. I might consider removing the scenarios with the largest numbers of Nieuports, Fokkers, and Albatrosses. That would take the numbers down to eleven N.28s, ten D.VIIs, and seven D.Vas and a total of 40ish planes for well over thirty scenarios. Now that sounds manageable! 

As I obtain more details from Table Top Flights on what planes are printing well in 1/285 I will get an order placed and will start the project properly.

Which Macchi?

The Macchi C.205V Veltro is the definitive wartime fighter brought into production by Macchi factory. Introduced in early 1943, it wads not made in large enough numbers to impact the war as by that time Italy was on its last legs. However, after the capitulation, the Germans seized several Italian fighters, including the C.205V, before finally agreeing to allow the socialist Italian government to form its own armed forces. The Macchi was still being manufactured as most of the aircraft production facilities, being based in northern Italy, had not been targeted by Allied bombers. The new-formed Italian air force (Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana) fought mostly to protect those factories. There are a few miniatures companies making the C.205V, and what follows is my thoughts on three of them (one being defunct).

Left to right: Leading Edge Miniatures, Flight Deck Decals, and Raiden Miniatures

Flight Deck Decals

From a quality perspective, while all three companies mentioned here offer a good product, Flight Deck Decals has the most appeal. Cleanly printed with high quality material, it is a wonderful miniature. However, there are no barrels for the wing-mounted cannons. The print is fully detailed, including the under surfaces. Cost is a little over two dollars per Macchi. Keep in mind that FDD does not list many 1/285th aircraft on their site, but will do custom work with a minimum dollar order. If I was to go with just one choice, Flight Deck would be it.

Leading Edge Miniatures

While this company is no longer available, I was able to pick up a few castings recently from Noble Knight Games. For an older metal casting, the Leading Edge range is rather good, and their Macchi is no exception, however there is some slight metal potting/pitting on the wing surfaces and the casting needs a bit of cleanup. Having purchased a slew of Leading Edge Miniatures of late, I can say this seems to be a bit of a problem as I see this potting on a few of the planes I picked up, while others were perfect. The Leading Edge casting does have the wing cannons present. Details on the undersides of the Leading Edge range are nonexistent. 

Raiden Miniatures

While Raiden usually offers a nice quality product, their Macchi casting suffers a bit, at least the pair I have are showing some concerns. There is a decent of prep work needed to bring the plane into a paint ready stage, with extra metal bits here and there (see pictures). There are also some roughness issues on the wing edges, and the lack of detail on the undersides is a bit of a bummer. Overall the Raiden range is very good, so I am thinking there might be a bit of a mold issue with the Macchi. From a customer service perspective, I-94, the owners of the Raiden range, is the best.

All three aircraft are scaled rather well, with the Leading Edge having a slightly larger wingspan (about one millimeter) and a slightly "heftier" fuselage. The Flight Deck and Raiden offerings match very well, with no noticeable size differences. I would not hesitate to use all three companies on the same tabletop.

Check Your 6! for the Great War

Like many older gamers, years ago I used to play the Blue Max board game (the GDW version), but using CinC 1/285 scale miniatures on a hex mat instead of counters. From what I can gather from my feeble memory, I enjoyed the system for the most part, but seemingly there was a part of the rules that seemed "off" - that might have been the ease in which certain parts of the plane became damaged, or was it a random chit pull and I seemed to draw the worst results more frequently than I cared for? Regardless of my own hangups, the group seemed to move away from Blue Max for whatever reason.

For the last few years I have used Wings of Glory for my Great War gaming fix. However, while there are elements I enjoy, there are several gaps in the rules, and trying to get the local group to adopt house rule changes has been tough. Also, the haughtiness of a reply I received to a post on the Wings of Glory Aerodrome has turned me off a bit.

Check Your 6! has its roots in Blue Max, at least from a turn and maneuver perspective. And the concepts of Blue Max have been expanded into Canvas Eagles, still available as a free download. Add to that the Check Your 6! modifications from Brian DeWitt and his series of three Colorful Skies scenario books, and one has a couple of Check Your 6! style options for gaming the fight in the skies during the Great War.

One concept I have is to take the maneuver charts of Canvas Eagles and use them in place of the standard maneuver charts offered in Check Your 6! that Colorful Skies utilizes. Seemingly the Canvas Eagles maneuver charts reflect the historical performance of the widely varying aircraft of the Great War more accurately than the standard charts, but also add a great deal of depth when it comes to climbing and diving. For example, we have the chart for the ubiquitous Fokker Dr.I:

The speed bands are there, and taking, say maneuver 4S3 (in Speed Band 3), one can stay at level, can dive, or can setup into a restricted maneuver the following turn. That equates fairly well with Check Your 6! in which one, using a forward maneuver, can stay level or dive at varying changes in altitude, but can also climb with a possible detriment to speed the following turn. Simple enough, but what about a maneuver like 9R2? A fierce right turn, but one that allows a dive in the current turn, or a required dive in the following turn. The E Chart in Colorful Skies does have a similar maneuver, R14, which is an extreme turn. It does not require a dive, but can allow a climb, level flight, or a dive, depending on current speed. There are some maneuvers available on the chart above that do not exist on Chart E, such as 11R2 or 11L2, so there are some differences between the charts, and these differences add a different element to aircraft performance.

There is also a question of what miniatures to use - I have a slew of the Wings of Glory and Reduced Aircraft Factory color printed aircraft, in 1/144 scale. Within my collection I also have a few planes I have painted from Shapeways and Table Top Flights. However, the standard Check Your 6! playing surface is 1.5" hexes on a six by four feet mat, and I already have three gaming mats with these parameters. The stands for the Wings of Glory planes are a little over 2.5". This leaves a bit of a conundrum. Do I use the 1/144 planes on a mat with 2.5" hexes with a larger mat? If so, to use the scenarios in Colorful Skies, the mat would have to be ten by seven feet! That is going to be problematic - Deep Cut Studio, where I go for custom mats, doesn't make a mat of that size (and if they did, it would be cost prohibitive). Second, finding tables at the local game stores for that size is most likely not happening. 

Of course, I could start collecting aircraft in a smaller scale which solves the mat issue. Table Top Flights make both 1/200 and 1/285 scale aircraft for the Great War, however, in speaking with Mike at Table Top Flights, the smaller scale leads to some quality concerns - the frailty of some of the struts at that scale causes breakage. Mike is going to run some test prints for me on certain aircraft to see how they turn out. 

Going to 1/200 would be a possible option as most WWI planes are smaller than their WWII counterparts. I could still use the mats and the flight stands I currently use for the other Check Your 6! eras I game. Here are a couple of shots of a 1/200 scale Roland D.II (I buggered up the nose a bit when I removed the propeller blades).

The quality is quite good, regardless of how a digital camera captures the tiniest of details.

Decals can be an issue in 1/200 - there are some available, but mostly as part of 1/285 or 1/144 sheets, and very little squadron or personal markings in that scale. In 1/285 there are much better options, using 1/300 as well. And of course, if I do go to a different scale, then I am going to have a lot of painting in my future! World War One aircraft can be very colorful, an I cannot imagine trying to paint German lozenge on such tiny planes. I have some decisions to make....

The Commissioned Projects - Part IV

Another Check Your 6! project, that has the potential for expansion, is an Aleutian scenario from Battles Above 3 - Strike on Kiska. This scenario pits three B-25s and a pair of P-40Es against five A6M2-N Rufes. With the addition to the library of two reference books (Into the Endless Mist I & II, published by Helion), which has more of a focus from the Japanese perspective, I can see the Aleutians becoming a larger project. For now the focus is to get this unique scenario on the table top. Planes are all resin prints by Table Top Flights.

The B-25s will be painted in olive drab over neutral gray, with roundels of a white star on a blue field, representing the 77th Bombardment Squadron. The P-40s will be from the 11th Fighter Squadron, with their distinctive Aleutian Tiger motif (if Miscellaneous Miniatures can do that), again in olive drab and neutral gray with the same style of roundels.

The Rufes are a bit more complex, or maybe I just need to make a decision on how I want them to look. The initial batch in the Aleutians seemed to have the dark green over light gray scheme, but I believe later ones were painted overall ame-iro (the light caramel gray that was common on early war Japanese naval aircraft). It is a cool color, but being a bit of a historian I do like having accuracy whenever possible. Of course I could also do a mix of schemes. I most likely will settle on the dark green scheme.

From Into the Endless Mist

From the Bravo Bravo website

The Aleutians offer a mix of aircraft types from the Allied side, including Canadian P-40Ks in the standard British green and brown over gray. As always, more on all this in a future post!

The Commissioned Projects - Part III

One of the most enjoyable Check Your 6! games I have hosted was my hypothetical three way scenario set during Operation Torch (after action report HERE). This scenario pits four French Dewoitine D.520s vs. four American F4Fs vs. four Spanish He 112s, with each faction having one of each aircrew type (ace, veteran, skilled, and green). I also want to do a few historical Torch scenarios, which I am slowly working on creating. To properly cover the Vichy French in the American area of operations one must have Curtiss Model 75s, and so this project is simply adding four Hawks to the collection. The Model 75s will be painted as above, with the Indian head motif of Groupe de Chasse II/5, and adding in the Vichy red and yellow strips, as below.

The planes I have for this project are custom scaled Flight Deck Decals. The quality is top notch as evidenced by the photos that follow.

Check Your 6! - A Different Basing Solution

For years I have been using the "official" flight stands/bases for Check Your 6!, mostly purchased through I-94 or gathered from my departed friend's collection. And for years, knowing that both Bob and myself had some polarity issues when it came to the magnets on the bases and planes, I've had to play "match the plane to the base" when organization planes for a scenario. Recently some suggestions had been made during a gaming session to glue washers on the pegs (posts) of the stands so as to negate the polarity issue with the magnet on the plane. Brilliant! But, later seeing some overly large washers in action, and seeing how the planes were not really that secure on the stand, I decided to go a slightly different direction to solve the polarity issue.

At the same time, I wanted to represent altitude a little more realistically on the tabletop, something that the small pegs for the Wings of Glory system captures fairly well. Since the planes I use are 1/285 or 1/300, finding telescoping stands that were small enough to not overshadow the planes, while short enough to avoid too many knock overs, was an issue. My friend Bill uses clear Litko bases with dice trays, the dice used to denote speed and altitude, something that the official bases do well, except that the pointers on the dials can have problems - too loose or too tight, and also a bit too small to easily discern on the game table. While I do not necessarily like having dice on the stand from an aesthetic perspective, the clear base looks better and the dice are easier to read and use. Also, Litko makes the peg in a few different sizes, and as many of the scenarios I use have two altitude bands (CAB), using a shorter peg stand at the lower CAB and swapping for a taller base at the higher CAB seems to be a decent compromise (and I can get rid of the distracting red poker chip I use to mark a higher CAB). I ordered fifty flight bases to go with twenty-five 2" fight pegs and twenty-five 3" fight pegs, as well as several dice holders.

I have affixed several dice holders to the base, at first using little dabs of super glue, but since switching to acrylic glue. The Litko pegs, or maybe it is the holes in the bases, are a tad too loose in some cases, but adding the dice holder seems to help prevent leaning pegs. So from a base perspective, I think I have a decent solution. While the dice are a tad distracting, they are easier for gamers to use and easier for aging eyes to see. Now, how to attach the planes.

As mentioned, I was not enamored with the practical application of the washer solution, so I dig some searching on the interwebs and came up with something that might work. A company called Total Element (also called Element Magnets Inc.), which focuses mostly on magnets, also make small steel blank metal strike plates in varying sizes. The size I selected was 1/4 inch diameter and one millimeter thick. Ideally I wanted to find a 3/16 inch diameter piece to match the magnet diameter I use, but could not source those. I placed an order for three hundred of the discs, and they arrived in a few days. No, I do not need three hundred of them, but that was the quantity offered, and I can give the extras to fellow gamers.

I've glued a couple of the discs to the Litko flight pegs and overall I am pleased with the look. Here are some comparison shots showing the two basing systems.

The Macchi is on the new system, while the Spitfire is on the official stand. 

Both now on the new system, showing the two different flight pegs to denote two different CABS

Ace of the Motherland

My pair of MiGs

My friend Bill and I (as part of the Southwestern Ohio CY6 group) hosted a Korean War Check Your 6! game this weekend, a scenario from the SkirmishCampaigns Air War Korea book, called Ace of the Motherland. With just five players, we decided to cut two F9F Panthers from the scenario, a pair of jets the United States players would need considering the outcome.

Dan comes on and turns towards Jay's Panthers

The Americans had to stay on a southwestern course until they spotted the MiGs or until fired upon, with visibility being just twelve hexes. We thought, based on how four of the Panthers deployed, that they would simply fly off the board, but the Soviets closed and spotting checks were successfully made, From there the game became an exercise in American futility. With the Soviets having an ace and a veteran, the ability to react to the American movements played an important role, and of course gave the Soviets an edge when firing on the skilled and one green American aircrews. The Soviets also maintained good speed throughout game.

One pair of MiGs came on the board on turn two (flown by Dan), and headed for a pair of F9Fs, while my pair of MiGs, coming onboard the first turn, headed towards another pair of Panthers that was heading back to their carrier. With spotting, I turned my pair of MiGs and wound up supporting Dan. In doing so I left a pair of Panthers far to my rear, but was able to always keep them too far away for an effective shot. 

Bill's skilled pilot took a hit, rolling doubles for a failed robustness check, and then rolled a pilot killed result on the lucky hit table. That left seven Panthers on the board, against the four MiGs. My veteran was able to get a bead on another MiG, and although I rolled doubles and ran out of ammunition, the resulting hit caused no damage as a successful robustness roll was effected. However, Dan lit up another Panther, blowing it out of the sky from two hexes, the low velocity heavy cannon making the difference in the resulting robustness check. Damn, those MiGs, if they hit, wreak havoc!

The outcome was not grand for the Americans with two Panthers shot down, another damaged, with no damage inflicted on the Soviets. We remembered to shift left for long range shots, and also the fact that in the Jet Age version of CY6! one can shoot up or down two TALs. There will be more Korean War games in the future as it is a fun period to game - WWII on steroids.

My MiGs sweeping in on Bill's Panthers

The Commissioned Projects - Part II

The Gruesome Twosome

The next Check Your 6! project being sent off to Miscellaneous Miniatures is for a single scenario, but with possible expansion....

A beautifully printed B-24 by Flight Deck Decals

Within Battles Above 1 is a scenario that features the Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group - Protecting Them All. This small scenario will make another good introductory game as it has but one B-24, three P-51s, and two Macchi C.205s. The B-24 was a straggler, returning damaged after a bombing mission, and it was being stalked by the Macchis of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. Seeing the bomber about to be attacked, a flight of P-51s came to its rescue (the scenario only gives three Mustangs, but the historical record I have come across indicates four Mustangs were involved). As the game master I would take control of the B-24 and allow each new player to focus on one fighter. The planes I have gathered for the scenario are all from Flight Deck Decals.

This beautiful print is going to look great as a Red Tail

I've recently begun a bit of a fandom for the ANR, and will have the Macchis painted in the German inspired scheme shown below. This is a dramatic break from the standard Italian sand, brown, and green swirls seen on Macchi aircraft up to 1943.

I am adding to the collection of books on the ANR, and am hoping that one title winging its way to me will have enough details to do more scenarios using details from that book, that focuses mostly on the three ANR fighter groups. More on that once it arrives!

The New Sea/Ocean Mat

I have ordered three mats from Deep Cut Studio in the past, and have been very happy with both the service and quality. I have been in need of a sea/ocean mat with hexes, and decided to treat myself to a Christmas purchase. For those who have not ordered from Deep Cut Studio for whatever reason, but are in need of cool mats, both in existing styles or custom work, you will have a good experience. From the date of order to arrival was about two weeks, and that was in the midst of the New Year's holiday.

I ordered the standard Check Your 6! sized mat - six by four feet, 1.5" hexes that run horizontally. This standard size is used throughout the various scenario books. I used the Deep Cut Studios waterworld image, with white hex lines.

However, when the mat arrived yesterday, I was dismayed...the hexes were so faint which was odd considering that on the last mat I ordered I did the same thickness and transparency...but the last mat was printed on PVC and on the sea mat I went with cloth, so I think the saturation might be different. Tonight I unfolded the mat an snapped some pictures, and to be honest, I am liking the faint hex lines.

Mat - Deep Cut Studios
Terrain piece - Wake Island by Fight's On, painted by yours truly

Planes - MSD Games Ryan FR-1 Fireballs painted by Chris at I-94

The Commissioned Projects - Part I

On the Check Your 6! front I have several planes getting ready to be sent to Miscellaneous Miniatures for painting. This series will break down what is being sent off and how they fit into existing or new projects.

Early Italian World War II - I am adding a Short S.25 Sunderland and six Gloster Gladiators to the existing collection from departed friend Bob. Adding the Sunderland will allow me to tackle a scenario from Falcon of the Duce that I have been wanting to do for sometime - Slow Boat to Bardia. It is a tough fight for the Italians with four CR.42s facing off against the flying boat, which has a Robustness of 4 and machineguns galore. For those who have flown CR.42s, you know there is little in the way of punch when it comes to the Falco's armament against such a robust aircraft. This will make a nice Check Your 6! introductory scenario as I would run the Sunderland and give each new player one CR.42. The Sunderland will be painted as above. The planes are resin prints from Flight Deck Decals, scaled to 1/285th.

It is a fine casting...er, I mean printing

The Gladiators will allow me to tackle a few scenarios from the The Falcon and the Gladiator: The Air War Over the Western Desert 1940 – February 1941. This is a pdf written by Chris Stoesen and available via Wargames Vault, containing thirty-eight scenarios. The Falcon and the Gladiator is definitely worth the price as the pdf is well over one hundred pages in length and is filled with information to go along with the scenarios. While I have four Gladiators already, having six more will allow me to do at least eight scenarios from the pdf, using a mix of CR.32s and CR.42s along with a few other assorted aircraft. The Gladiators will also have the Temporate Land Scheme of dark earth and dark green, with half black and half white undersides.

The details are fantastic and the quality is amazing

Book Review - The Camouflage & Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-45

Be forewarned, I am enamored with this title....

The Camouflage & Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-45, written by Ferdinand D'Amico and Gabriele Valentini. Oversized hardback, 224 pages, color planforms and profiles, black and white photographs. Crecy Publishing, 2005. 

As mentioned in a recent post, I had this unique title on its way to me as I decided to expand my knowledge and perhaps add some ANR aircraft to the Check Your 6! collection. I am very glad I was able to pick up this title, gently used, for around $30.00. The book is heavily illustrated with numerous black and white photographs, along with color planforms and profiles, presenting the aircraft of the ANR in great detail, from a camouflage and marking perspective. The book is broken down by unit, starting with the fighter groups, but also includes details on the torpedo and transport groups, as well as the utility aircraft used by the ANR. There is a history of the ANR's creation, the takeover of Italian aircraft by the Luftwaffe, and then the creation of each group. Within each group are details as to how the group was equipped, and then numerous details as to how the aircraft were marked. For example, sixty-two pages are dedicated to the 1° Gruppo Caccia (1st Fighter Group). Within those sixty-pages are 127 black and white photographs, twenty color planforms, and twelve color profiles, to go along with squadron and other types of markings. While the 1° Gruppo Caccia has the most coverage due to its length of service and amount of activity, this impressive amount of information and visualization is carried throughout this title. The authors have done a magnificent job on detailing the various aspects of the schemes used as they did vary - moving from German markings on Italian camo, then to ANR markings, then ANR markings on German RLM 74/75/76 painted planes, to finally German and Italian marking used on German schemes. Each step is thoroughly covered.

Pictures and profiles abound

Squadron and national insignia example

One does have to find this book via aftermarket booksellers, but the title is available for somewhat reasonable prices. While may may find this amount of detail overkill, when it comes to the aircraft paint schemes and markings for the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana this is the one book to have on the bookshelf. The ANR is often overlooked but earned a favorable reputation among their German allies as well as their opponents during its year and a half existence, defending Italy from bomber raids. While this book does not offer ideas for scenarios, it is the definitive account of how the planes used by the ANR looked. Highly recommended.

Planform examples

New Facebook Check Your 6! Group Launched

For years the Check Your 6! Gaming in Dayton Facebook page has been in place, but it really has not been used much since the demise of OxleyCon. It also had a ton of followers that were not gamers, or not gamers anywhere near Dayton. To that end I asked Tom, he of OxleyCon (CY6 Game Day) fame, if we could shut down the page an start a group instead, which would give us more control over members as well as other sorts of admin features. With his approval we now have the Check Your 6! Gaming - Southwestern Ohio group in place. It is for gamers in Dayton, Cincinnati, and the region (say an hour's drive from either of those locales). We'll be putting files, photos, and events there, plus keeping the "membership" to those in our area who are gamers - no Nigerian Oil Ministers! 

If you fall into a "local" gamer in the Dayton-Cincinnati corridor, come join us!

French Surprise After Action Report

After the first turn, two Vichy taking off while another pair come in to assist

For some time I have been wanting to do this small introductory scenario found within the Check your 6! rules. Today three of us were able to put the scenario on the table. It was a fun game, although my buddy Bill had to run four planes (I usually try to keep my games at two planes per player). It was not a good day to be Vichy French.

My skilled and green pilots coming in from the west

The setup required a five hex airfield, which I only have a two hex version, so we used five anti-aircraft markers instead. Due to previous attacks on the airfield there was smoke that covered the five hexes up to TAL 3 (the scenario takes place at Surface Low CAB).

A pair of Wildcats have just completed a strafing run, while two D.520s are just taking off. Another pair of Vichy French planes are coming into the action, as are pair of Wildcats coming down from high cover.

Let the dancing begin

Robustness rolls seemed to be the main issue early in this game, as the French kept failing to save, and started taking damage. Their veteran pilot suffered an airframe hit, and next turn tried to pull off an extreme maneuver - and one failed aircrew check later caused the destruction of the Frenchie. Another D.520 took a hit, then another, causing another French loss. In the meantime I had taken an airframe hit with my of my Wildcats, but was able to successfully extricate that damaged Grumman off of a friendly edge. The last D.520 took an airframe hit but has a chance to build speed an exit. 

I had miscalculated the number of hexes the French could move, which resulted in the sole American damage

By the time Bill was hitting, especially with that cannon in the D.520, the Americans started making their robustness rolls. Final score was 16 to 1 in favor of the Americans...let's call it a torching of the Vichy!

Scott's Wildcats coming in over the airfield, with my skilled pilot lining up his best shot

This was a fun little scenario to host and play in. I hope to pull off several more Operation Torch scenarios in the future as I am putting together a little scenario "booklet" on the American portion of the campaign.

Planes - Raiden Miniatures

Mat - Hotz Mats

Thoughts on the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Boeing Stearman trainer in Building One

Every year for a number of years my wife and her family would spend a week at Pensacola beach. For years I have resisted in going, not because I wasn't interested, but I was waiting for the National Naval Air Museum to reopen, which it finally did in 2024. Last October my wife and I did a trip that incorporated several historical sites, such as Forts Blakely, Gaines, Morgan, and Pickens, along with American Rev War sites around Pensacola, and yes, the Naval Air Museum, which I featured in a previous post. On our return drive back to Ohio we stopped at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, about 40 minutes east of Montgomery, Alabama. To be clear, this site is located on the grounds of Moton Field, the initial training area for the airmen that would become known as the Tuskegee Airmen - the main airfield is not yet part of the preservation.

View from the path from the upper parking lot. Building One in the foreground with Building Two to the rear.

Getting to the site from I-85 is very easy, but what wasn't easy, or perhaps I should say what wasn't clear, was where to park. See, there is a large parking area on high ground above the field, but then also parking nearer the two buildings that make up the site. We parked in the upper area and walked down the hill. Luckily, while it was humid and warm, it was also overcast. I can't imagine the typical American family walking from the upper parking lot down the hill in July in a full sun!

It wasn't very clear on where to go once we came into the heart of the facility. There are interpretive panels around the grounds, but no system or map to indicate where to start. We were able to find the "main" entrance into the first main building, which was filled with displays, and a BT-19 trainer. The building was "odd," the main hanger (no air-conditioning so you have been warned) had several small offices with closed doors that indicated to go inside and view. These offices interpreted various aspects of the functions that were needed to build the Tuskegee program (and they WERE air-conditioned). One office had to be reached by going outside first. Strange layout.

P-51D in Building Two

We walked across the open space that separated the two main buildings. Ah, here we go, more like a visitor's center with rangers and volunteers there to greet us (we had yet to see an NPS employee up to that point). Modern displays, a fairly well done film, air-conditioning, and a P-51D suspended from the roof. One could also walk up to the original tower, even though several warnings of wasps graced the climb (we did not encounter a single one). The gift shop was also located in the second building. 

View from the tower, sans wasps. Look, another parking lot!

While there we only saw four other visitors, two of whom had to be transported back up the hill on a golf cart. 

It is a "strange" National Park Service site. From where to park, where to start, the confusion offices in building one, warnings of wasps, and the lack of visitation made it feel "forgotten." What was cool was the sounds of Moton Field being used by civilian prop planes - it provided the feeling of activity as it might have been in the 1940s. What would have been cool would have been active World War II aircraft using the field. Also, more displays of the different fighter aircraft that the 332nd used would have been a nice touch. But really clear instructions on where to park and where to start would have been ideal.

I do recommend a visit, but be prepared to be a little confused!