Possible Basing Solution - World War One

I am still in the decision making phase - do I keep the numerous 1/144 scale planes I have for Wings of Glory and find a different basing solution to use with what I call Check Your 6! Great War, or do I go to a smaller scale and use the numerous bases I already have? What I do not like about the Check Your 6! bases is the the lack of the visual - no matter what TAL a plane might be, on the tabletop it is the same height. What I like about the Wings basing system is the pegs used to denote different altitudes. Is there a way to combine these two aspects without having to do the antenna route? There just might be.

Litko sells flight stand peg toppers. These small rectangle-shaped pieces have two holes - one that fits the standard 3mm flight peg found on the Check Your 6! and Litko bases, and a smaller hole that fits a Wings of Glory peg. Using a standard Litko 1.375 inch base (the same size as the official Check You 6! bases), the question becomes how does one denote speed while also finding a way to use the peg topper, all on one base? Litko sells a flight stand dice tray that holds a 12mm six sided die which solves the issue of how to indicate speed.

Now I need a solution to tie all three pieces together. I could order flight pegs and then try to cut them, an exercise that sounds both time consuming and frustrating, or I could try to find a peg or cylinder that would be of the correct diameter (3mm) and length. The length would need to be 9mm as each part I need to connect (base, fight stand dice tray, and flight stand peg topper) is 3mm. Interweb searching was not getting me to a simple solution, so I tried looking at magnet suppliers as many have cylinder shaped magnets. Total Element makes a 3mm by 9mm cylinder, so I ordered 100 for not a lot of money. The good news is that they fit perfectly, aligning all three parts together. A spot of acrylic glue on the dice tray and another on the peg topper secures these pieces in place on the base.

Here is a video that should clarify how these stands would go together.

One can now use the Wings of Glory pegs along with a Check Your 6! basing style for Check Your 6! Great War. There are a few other considerations to ponder, but at least a basing solution, no matter what scale I choose, has been potentially sorted (if I go with a smaller scale, Table Top Flights can print airplanes with a peg already in place, or I can attach a steel disc to the top of a few pegs, and add a magnet to the bottom of a plane).

The Commissioned Projects - Part VII

And now for something completely different....

The Cold War of the 1950s, other than the Korean Conflict, really is not an era I have studied. However, that has changed a bit with this next project, and a visit last year to the National Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida (see this POST). The museum has an FJ-4 Fury, done up in Marine livery, which I found to be a beautiful bird, and one that takes its beginnings from the F-86 Sabre. Add to that a recent eBay purchase of the Profile Publications booklet on the Fury, and I started to become hooked.

Let's add another recent Profile Publications purchase, that on the Saab J 29 Tunnan, or Flying Barrel, which has some ties to the Focke-Wulf Ta 183 (featured in this POST). The Tunnan is both sleek and ugly, which is right up my (MiG) alley. The search was on to find out more on both the Tunnan and the Fury.

The Saab J 29 Tunnan

A little internet research yielded some interesting results. The Fury FJ-4 was delivered to operational units in early 1955, while the Tunnan came onboard in the early 1950s. What would be the suitable opponents for a clash over Scandinavian skies? The MiG-15 was still the primary fighter for the Soviet Union, with the MiG-17 introduced in the early 1950s. These four aircraft types were operational during the same era - brilliant! 

One always needs MiG-15s!

Now readers of this blog do know that I prefer 1/285 for my Check Your 6! gaming, but I was willing to start this little Cold War project in 1/300 just The next step was to find miniatures in 1/285 or 1/300 scale. Fortunately, Flight Deck Decals makes both the Fury and the Tunnan in 1/300 scale, so the Allies were covered. And knowing that if Flight Deck made these two more obscure aircraft they would certainly also carry both MiG models. A quick check on the Russian Modern Jets yielded positive results. Now I was set!

The Sabre-like FJ-4 Fury

Here is where great customer service kicks in. Dan at Flight Deck knows I prefer 1/285 scale as I have had him custom print 1/285 scale aircraft for me in the past. I placed my order for four J 29s, two FJ-4s, four MiG-15s, and a pair of MiG-17s, expecting to receive them in 1/300 scale. But no, Dan knocked it out of the hanger and custom scaled the jets for me in 1/285! Talk about knowing your customer base...good show, Dan!

The MiG-17

Ratings for the Tunnan and the Fury will be the next challenge. The Fury is "basically" an advanced F-86, so perhaps using the later ratings will suffice. Speed and climb rates are close for the Fury and the F-86F, and wing area is nearly identical, while the heavier Fury has the advantage in thrust. For the J 29, I have looked at other jet data, so here is my take on the planes for this "what-if" project:

Thoughts on CincyCon

Heading to Israel, albeit slowly

I have only been to a couple of CincyCons in the past, a fairly large and well organized convention in greater Cincinnati. It has moved locations a few times over the years, but for the last last several editions has found a consistent home at the Butler County Fairgrounds in nearby Hamilton. The facility is large, with plenty of parking, and good lighting for gaming. This is also a wide variety of vendors and a flea market. The historical pickings are a little thin, but I-94 made it to the convention, and I know a few of us spent some shekels with them. Having plenty of unpainted planes already I only picked up a scenario book (the well done Under Southern Skies). My other money was spent on some food, which is also another nice aspect of CincyCon - there is a kitchen and so food can be purchased onsite as reasonable prices.

There were plenty of historical games going on, but seemingly not enough gamers to fill them - I might suggest they reduce the number of historical games a tad so as to allow the remaining ones to fill. But that is a concern that is beyond my purview - although as a gamemaster I would want a good amount of gamers in my event.

This year saw at least five Check Your 6! games - including one I hosted and two others in which I was a participant. Alas, I did not take many pictures. I planned on waiting to see how many gamers I had play before putting together a scenario, having brought all my 1948 Arab-Israeli aircraft. Since we had four of us, including myself we just selected an aircraft, and so in the first game (we had time to play twice) I took a C-47 escorted by a Hawker Fury to bomb an Israeli airfield. Flying a C-47 is an exercise in the mundane, but I was able to get to the airfield and make a bomb run, which failed to hit. I took an engine hit while moving to the field. The turn following I purposely made an extreme turn, and caused myself go out of control, at Surface Low CAB and TAL 2! My plan was to crash into the field, but I passed the aircrew check and recovered. Yikes. At that point we called the game.

An Avia S-199

And the rarely used Beaufighter

Closing in to bomb the airfield...get that Avia away from me!

Engine hit taken, bombs released, time to get out!

The second go 'round saw a pair of Israeli Spits against a Hawker Fury and a Macchi C.205. The Egyptians soon made sheep stew out of the Spitfires, while having lower quality pilots the superior agility of the Fury and the Macchi helped negate the difference in crew quality.

One Spitfire downed, and the second in my sights...

I played an unsuccessful 1956 Arab-Israeli game, commanding a pair of MiG-15s for a few turns before getting blown out of the sky. In the evening game (Foxtrot 4 from the Check Your 6! Jet Age book) I had a pair of Skyhawks. One took a Sidewinder in the arse, but the other dropped its bombs and became basically a fighter, shooting down a veteran Harrier. Alas, the Brits still won the game on points.

Skyhawks over the Falklands

Overall, I would return to CincyCon as a GM - the $30.00 weekend fee being too rich for me to game with the same guys I can game with for free at the local game stores (which is also probably why many gamers did not attend). Offering a Saturday only fee might be a way to generate more attendance. Also, perhaps offer a $5.00 shopping badge to help get some money to the vendors. Also, I think putting all the Check Your 6! games on a pair of tables in front of the I-94 booth would be a good way to promote the game while also helping I-94 sell their products. Regardless, this is a well organized convention and the location works well, so consider making it to CincyCon next year!