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.

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!

The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana

A Macchi C.205V in RLM color scheme

As you are now well aware, I do like the oddball and obscure. While the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana might not be as obscure to Check Your 6! gamers as say, the 100 Hour or Slovak-Hungarian Wars, I am guessing that not too many gamers collect the aircraft of the ANR. My interest in ANR is actually rooted in my interest of the United States 332nd Fighter Group, known more commonly as the Tuskegee Airmen. One of the scenarios in Battles Above 1 features both the 332nd and the ANR (Protecting Them All) - the Americans, flying P-51Cs, coming to the rescue of a straggling B-24 that was being tracked by a pair of Macchi C.205Vs from the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. My only quibble is the rating of the Italian pilots - one is skilled and the other green, but I feel they should most likely be skilled or even veteran, even though one pilot did, in an effort to get away from a P-51, clipped the Veltro's wing along a mountainside, causing the Macchi to be destroyed. Overall the Italian pilots in the ANR were experienced flyers.

In preparation for gaming this scenario, I had some beautiful planes printed by Flight Deck Decals in 1/285th scale. And they are beautiful!

Back to the ANR - The Italian pilots who decided to keep fighting on the Axis side were fairly small in number, but also consisted of some of the best Italian aviators from the Regia Aeronautica. Initially the Germans were very hesitant in accepting the Italians as a separate entity, while confiscating numerous Italian aircraft of the "5" series. One will find examples of the Italian aircraft painted with German markings in late 1943. By the end of 1943 and into 1944 the Germans allowed the formation of Italian squadrons to serve under Italian direction. The Italian planes initially would have sported the typical Italian tan and green swirled camouflage, but by March/April 1944 started being seen in schemes like that illustrated above. 

There are several books on the ANR, but I just own one at this time. Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (1943-1945): The Aviation Of The Italian Social Republic, written by Eduardo Martinez, published by Kagero in 2018, covers the subject suitably for a gamer's needs with several color profiles and black and white photographs to go along with enough historical context to give the reader enough background. It does not detail combat actions. However, the text seems to have been translated from Italian to English using software as at times the sentence structure and terms used are awkward. There are several other titles that detail the ANR, but most of them are hefty in price. I do have The Camouflage & Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-45, written by Ferdinand D'Amico and Gabriele Valentini, on order. Another book, Mussolini's Hawks, details the ANR fighter squadrons, and that is probably the book to have for scenario creation.

There will be more on the ANR in future posts, including progress on the aforementioned scenario.

Slovak-Hungarian War Scenario

The link that follows is the first of a couple of Slovak-Hungarian War scenarios I hope to create. This particular scenario has not gone through any playtesting, so hoping that players will give it a run-through and provide feedback (use whatever planes you have to represent the opposing forces as the aircraft stats follow). 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1llYr60m1tT0zQNtfogcucUD2zmuydc5I/view?usp=sharing

Here are the stats needed for the Slovak-Hungarian War:

The next scenario will be the Hungarian bombing attack on the Slovakian airfield at Spišská Nová Ves.