Two Slovak-Hungarian War Scenarios

Avia B.534IV

As readers may know, I am working on a 1939 Slovak-Hungarian War project (see posts HERE and HERE for more information). To that end I have created another scenario and updated the one I had shared previously (First Fight, now known as Afternoon Delight). Here are the links to the pdfs of both scenarios.

Morning Glory

Afternoon Delight

Eventually I will be adding at least one more scenario, and most likely a bit of a guide to this war that will include background information, plane ratings, and the three scenarios.

The P-43 Lancer

One of the forgotten fighters of the Second World War is the Republic P-43 Lancer. A development of the Seversky P-35, and the predecessor to the well-known P-47 Thunderbolt, the Lancer carries a rather negative reputation, one that might be based on information that could be less than factual.

There is little available in written form on the Lancer. It has a few pages in the Squadron Signal Mini In Action, and it is a subject in the TopDrawings series by Kagero, coming in at a miniscule twenty pages. Yet the P-43 was built in larger numbers than many other World War II aircraft that have been detailed in several published works. The Lancer also saw combat over the skies of China - possessing a turbo-supercharger the Lancer could intercept high flying Japanese aircraft that the P-40 could not reach.

The first batch of pre-production P-43s were delivered to the Army Air Corps from September 1940 to April 1941. Although the plane exceeded USAAC performance goals, the goals, along with the YP-43, were already obsolete due to a lack of armor, lack of self-sealing fuel tanks, and not being as maneuverable as other aircraft. Due to delays in the P-47 development, the Lancer went into production, with the P-43A model having an improved engine and increased firepower with two .50 machineguns in the nose and one in each wing. Additional Lancers were ordered for China, and these aircraft did have pilot armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. This is proven by the issuance of part numbers for both by the USAAC. Therefore those Lancers sent to China, P-43A-1, offered slightly better protection than the P-43A model. One source that every P-43 skeptic should read is an article written by Rick Dunn. His detailed writing of the Lancer in Chinese service may convince the reader that the Lancer was not as bad as we think.

Performance of the A model sent for use with the American Volunteer Group showed that it was successful at high altitude and processed a high roll rate, while the radial engine was less susceptible to damage than the water-cooled inline engine found on the P-40, but that the fuel tanks in the wings leaked which caused fires to occur if the fuel came into contact with the turbo-supercharger that was located under the fuselage. The Japanese noted that the Lancer's wings could be easily punctured as well. 

The P-43A-1 saw service in China's 4th Air Group. As a mediocre airplane, it saw both success and failure. There are few combat accounts, and details are lacking, but I plan to create a couple of Check Your 6! scenarios based on what information I can scrounge. Flying alongside P-40s, opponents were the Ki-43 and Ki-44 fighters, along with mid-war Japanese bombers and recon aircraft.

The P-43 is available from Flight Deck Decals and as Chinese paint schemes were rather plain in appearance, a set of Chinese roundels along with airplane numbers is all that one needs. The Lancers were received in standard USAAC colors (olive drab 43 and neutral gray 41), but were soon painted in the Chinese olive green. I believe that the under surfaces retained the neutral gray. 

In game terms, the P-43 Lancer has already been rated by Tom Michael on the Check Your 6! discussion group. I've added a little information by including climb rates, as the Lancer had a comparable climb to the P-40B/C, significantly better than the F4F, and slightly better than its descendant, the P-47. I've increased the robustness on the A-1 model due to the pilot armor and self-sealing fuel tanks being added, although there is some debate on how effective those additions truly were. And I have added a aircrew check anytime the Lancer does maximum speed to see if it catches on fire.

There will be more on the Lancer project as I obtain planes and work up a couple of scenarios.

The Yak-9P for Korea

While I have a decent Korean War collection for Check Your 6!, there are some aircraft types I have yet to pick up, such as the Yak-9P used by the North Koreans early in the conflict. The Yak appears in a few scenarios that appear interesting and not overly large, and as the Yaks are not sporting camouflage, I should be able to paint them without sending them off for commission work. 

Over the last few months I have gathered into one spreadsheet as many Korean War scenarios as I could locate, using the Skirmish Campaigns Air War Korea book, Scramble - a Bag the Hun compendium, and finally some scenarios found on the Check Your 6! discussion group. In total that list now comprises of fifty-two scenarios, the Yak-9P making an appearance in eleven. I won't be collecting aircraft for all eleven scenarios as fielding a bunch of B-29s or Il-10s does not appeal to me, but collecting enough to add Yaks to field a few of the North Korean Air Force scenarios.

As portrayed on the Flight Deck website

In 1/285 scale there are of course numerous choices for various models of the Yak-9, but I am going with Flight Deck Decals as their 3D prints are the best thing going, and their price point is extremely good for such a high quality miniature, and they make a Yak-9P. Painting however is less of a certain thing - there is some debate over the basic color of the Yak-9P. Some illustrations show a natural metal, while others show a light blue gray. Most informed folks seem to lean towards the latter, which is the direction I plan to go, using Vallejo's Pale Blue 71.008. It is a bit too dark perhaps, but seems to fit what the pundits push forth.

This version is a little too light on the gray and has no blue hue

This is what I will be shooting for

Decals are easy - Sieben Schwaben Spiele Decals makes a set for North Korean Yaks in 1/200 scale, and Bernhard at Sieben Schwaben will rescale to 1/285. 

I am looking forward to tackling these relatively simply planes and adding a bit to my Korean War arsenal.

Air Raid - Two Scenarios for Darwin

I have picked up a couple of books over the last several months that deal with the early air war over Darwin. The first is Carrier Attack – Darwin 1942 – The Complete Guide to Australia’s Own Pearl Harbor, written by Dr. Tom Lewis and Peter Ingman (Avonmore Books, 2013), which is a detailed account of the massive attack against Darwin on February 19, 1942. The book covers all facets of the attack, going to great lengths in describing not only the actions but the various aircraft and ships that took part. The second book is another effort by Lewis, titled Eagles over Darwin: American Airmen Defending Northern Australia in 1942 (Avonmore, 2021) that focuses on the American effort to prevent more raids on Darwin, with a focus on the 49th Fighter Group. Of course reading books such as these often make me ponder :wonder if I can create some scenarios?" Well, yes! From Carrier Attack I was able to glean two small actions that involve the 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional). After writing them I remembered there was a Darwin scenario out there somewhere, and that is in the Skirmish Campaigns Road to Rabaul scenario book. However, the scenario provided there does not follow the deeply researched and highly detailed account found in Carrier Attack, particularly when it comes to the actions of Robert Oestreicher, B Flight leader. Road to Rabaul rates Oestreicher as a veteran (+2) aircrew, which by his lack of flying time and actions on February 19th is a stretch. You'll have to buy the book or download the scenario to see why my rating for Oestreicher is poor.

The scenarios are avilable as pdf downloads. HERE is the link for the A Flight scenario, while HERE is the link for the B Flight version.

Wake Island Atoll - Trying a New Scale

In 1/285 scale, this could get expensive

Many Check Your 6! scenarios call for a lot of bombers, which is not something I am really into, from both a price and playing perspective. Bombers can be expensive (price perspective) and most players do not want to push around a bunch of bombers (playing perspective). However, for the Wake Island scenario booklet I am working on, several G3M Nell bombers, even in reduced numbers to enhance play balance, figure into several scenarios. Therefore a couple of years ago I dipped my toe into 1/600 by buying dozen Nells, eight Wildcats, and eight Buffaloes from Pico Armor (Oddzial Osmy). And for the last couple of years those 1/600 planes had been sitting idle. Recently I got them out of the gaming closet, cleaned up the castings by cutting off the extra metal bits, and primed them in preparation for painting. 

One thing about 1/600 miniature aircraft, whether they are from Pico Armor or Tumbling Dice, is that they are very affordable. Pico has Nells at $1.50 each, while their American fighters come in at seventy-five cents per miniature. Tumbling Dice are even more cost efficient at $1.00 for the Nells and fifty cents for the Wildcats and Buffaloes. The latter castings are not as detailed or as properly scaled as the offerings from Pico Armor, but the price point, before shipping from Old Blighty, is better, and Tumbling Dice has a more comprehensive offering of aircraft.

Image from Pico Armor website

Image from Tumbling Dice website

Wildcat, Nell, and Buffalo, primed and awaiting a paint order to arrive

As for painting - normally I send off my planes to Miscellaneous Miniatures or I-94 for painting. They both do fine work at an affordable price. But, as the planes I am working on for Wake Atoll are fairly simple in paint scheme, and I should be able to handle the chore of applying national insignia decals, I will be taking a stab at painting the Wake Atoll planes myself. I seem to do decently well with my 1/144 World War One projects, so tackling 1/600 should be workable. I foresee a couple of issues - one is the small nature of the planes which might be a fiddly aspect when trying to paint, and the other is applying a magnet that won't overwhelm the miniature to those tiny fuselage bottoms.

Once the paints have arrived, I will paint up the Americans first, just to see how the planes look in their early war scheme, and to see if I enjoy painting such a tiny scale. More to come!

Wright Flight AAR

We had three tables a-rolling for the last Wright Flight gathering, with about four players per table. The other two featured balloon busting, while my table went for Albatros D.IIIs fighting Lafayette Escadrille N.17s during Bloody April. 

Both N.17s had A guns, and with their superior maneuverability I thought they would have a hand up over the Germans, but the two Frommherz D.IIIs did some incredible damage. I was able, early in the game, to make a head on with camelbeagle, which resulted in four points of damage on my end. But I was able get a good reversement onto the tail of camelbeagle's Nieuport, and lit him up a bit. Then I was able to turn into the other N.17 and hit him with a +1 shot, and he drew the boom card (we play the boom card as half damage rounded down, so seven points on the N.17). While both American pilots were able to get off the board without being shot down, they both suffered 10 points of damage each.

Alas, I only snapped a couple of pictures.

We played a second game, swapping out an N.17 for a French Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter with a random recon mission and random board edge exit point. After successfully taking photos, camelbeagle was heading for home. I lined him up nicely, did some damage, but in return took a pilot wound, which kept me from following up on the Strutter. Dan was able to get off the board while I had taken enough damage to exit as well. The other two players danced around a bit, but results were fairly inconclusive.

 

The Last Dance

After one turn, one Salvadoran Corsair is already down

The 100 Hour War planes made it back onto the table, this time to do Tom Ballou's The Last Dance scenario. I made some modifications due to more recent research that Tom did not have access to, and also added in the other planes that were nearby but that did not become involved.

The setup placed the Salvadoran Corsairs in the center of the table, with the Honduran Corsairs in their tail arc, but more than seven hexes away. The Salvadoran Corsairs flipped about, but the Honduran Corsairs both opened up with long range shots, needing a 10 (skilled on green) and an 11 (green on green) to hit. The skilled Honduran Corsair pulled off the shot, and opening up with four 20mm cannons, blew his target out of the sky. One turn in, one Corsair down. 

While the other Salvadoran Corsair takes an engine hit

After dancing about a bit, the second Salvadoran Corsair took an engine hit, resulting in the skilled Honduran Corsair to run out of ammo - shite, this was turning into not a fun scenario, but the pair of Mustangs made their appearance, while the out of ammo Corsair buggered out by exiting the CAB. Now t was the turn of the Mustangs to take some long range tail arc shots at the remaining Honduran Corsair, which resulted in an engine hit. The Honduran went for the CAB exit, but failed his aircrew check, resulting in a destroyed Corsair (flying over enemy territory as it were).

Ending result - five VPs for the Hondurans an four for the Salvadorans.

From six hexes away, the green marked Mustang puts an engine hit on the remaining Honduran Corsair

I used the Dockfighters bases for the first time - the players liked the visual aspect and how we could change TALs using the combination of two different sized posts. They also liked the speed dial since it could not be bumped out of place. However, the stands are very wobbly in action, which is a concern.

Hat in the Ring's First - Part II

I finally got around to completing the Nieuport 28s needed for my Hat in the Ring's First scenario by taking care of the rudder colors. The planes are not really 100% complete, as I do need squadron insignias but no one is making squadron markings for the 94th Aero in 1/144 scale. While I am overall pleased with the effort, I am noticing a few places in need of touchup, and I believe, knowing full well that I have the historical information for this, that I have the rudder colors incorrect - should be blue/white/red, fore to aft. Also, there is some question as to whether or not the red jagged cowling edges were there at the time of this action. I opted to go without, mostly because of my lack of skills when it comes to painting such details.

I still need to finish up the Albatros D.Va and Pfalz D.IIIa needed for this scenario. Thanks to my buddy Matt, I do have a lozenge pattern decal on the upper wing of the Albatros (the Pfalz did not sport a lozenge pattern), but still need to add balkan crosses. My buddy The G Dog let me look through his stash of German decals, but I could not find the correct thickness and size needed. I have seen crosses that are long and thin, others that have too much of a white border, but not the correct size. I might just go with eisen since I have so many of those already, and it would match the Pfalz. Both planes came from Jasta 64w, and as the scenario takes place in April, planes bearing the eisen cross, particularly in a jasta that was not one with a commendable reputation, it is not that much of a stretch to think the planes could still be sporting the older style cross.

Adding More Nieuports

Shapeways on left, Table Top on right. Posts and props as well.

For some months I have had a couple of 1/144 Nieuport N.17s awaiting prep, paint, and decals. One model is a Shapeways with the improved print material, and the other is a Table Top Flights offering. With my recent efforts in adding life to three Ares miniatures, I thought it might be nice to add to my Lafayette Escadrille's stable of available Nieuports.

Preparation

Neither plane came with posts, so luckily I did order posts from Shapeways before they declared bankruptcy. A couple of cuts with the X-ACTO knife to remove the pegs from the sprue, some filing to the edge that gets glued to the plane, and then a little superglue, and the pegs are securely in place.

Comparing the two materials - Table Top is smoother and more detailed

Posts added, time for priming

After drying the next step was a coat of primer. Normally I use some AK Interactive gray that I brush on, but last time I used it it had become quite separated, and rigorous shaking yielded undesirable results. Fortunately I had a can of Testers Panzer Gray, which I have used as primer in the past, and I really love the smooth coverage Testors provides.

After priming it was on to painting.

Painting

I already have the "T" and three red bar Nieuports, plus a white band one that I converted from another three bar Ares. Another historical scheme was simply the Seminole Indian head with the national insignia. Okay, that is easy enough. But what about the second one?

My friend Dan (camelbeagle on the Wings of Glory Aerodrome) had a Soubiran version already, using decals from the Valom kit (although I am not certain if the decal's fuselage band color is correct - the decal is black, but the band might actually be red). I also know I cannot pull off letters like "ECP" as that becomes too fiddly and I do not have the ability to print my own decals. One also needs to keep in mind that many of the schemes found searching the world wide web are simply wrong. And the two books I have that include color plates cover the same aircraft I already have or cannot pull off.

And then I remembered - I had bought one of the Nieuports to do a Russian version! And I already have the Russian decals for the scheme I wanted to tackle, and it, too, is a silver doped plane. Sooo, the rest of this post will focus on the Lafayette version, which will simply be a plain plane, with national insignia and Seminole heads!

A close approximation for the silver-doped Ares Nieuport 17 is a mix suggested by Dom from Dom's Decals. Take six parts of Vallejo silver and blend with five parts Vallejo natural steel. I also thin this mix with a little water - metallic paints can be think and I would rather put on a couple of coats of thin paint than a thick one susceptible to clumping. Or, let's make it even simpler - just use Vallejo aluminium (yes, the British spelling). The Model Air range of Vallejo paints are a bit thinner in viscosity, and one does not have to mix paints, and the color is very close to the Ares Nieuports. Plus, we all know that paint widely varied during the war due to weather conditions, and different factories doped fabric differently.

One coat coverage -  the Shapeways version is so shite I am not going to even bother

After the primary color had been applied (and I only needed one coat with a few touchups after), I moved onto the rudder. I used Vallejo white and carmine red, along with Foundry Bavarian cornflower blue (shade 73A).  I was able to use masking tape for the red segment, and I tried lining up a business card to help keep the rest of the lines straight (an idea shared by CrashCraig), but it is still a bit sloppy. And it was the old "Let me fix the white. Damn, went over on the blue too much. Okay, fixed the blue, but got it in the white. Okay, fixed the white, but now I have to correct the red" sort of thing). After doing this several times, I said "feck it" and now it is what it is. From three feet away it looks decent.

While waiting on rudder colors to dry, I added Vallejo flat brown to the outer struts, propeller, pilot, and tail skid. I also painted the machinegun, motor cylinders, and propeller hub Vallejo natural steel. A touch of Vallejo medium sea gray was applied to the tires.

Decals

Now the fun part - the finishing touches that add color to the Lafayette Escadrille Nieuport 17. I used Beacon Publications decals (available from I-94 Enterprises) for the French roundels. Alas, the sizes available do not perfectly align with the Ares planes - for example the top wing roundel on the Ares plane is 7mm, while the closest size Beacon decals are either 8mm or 6mm. I went with the smaller of the two as I did not want the roundel to come across as cartoonish by being too large. Then I applied the Miscellaneous Miniatures Sioux heads to each side of the plane. In both cases I put a spot of Vallejo decal fix on the plane, and after some drying coated the decal with Vallejo decal softener, which allows the decal to conform to the miniature. After drying I then coated the plane with Vallejo gloss varnish to match the other Lafayette Nieuports.

Conclusion

This is the not first Table Top Flight plane I have painted for Wings of Glory (see HERE), and I will say that in every case the material used by Mike at Table Top really does take paint very well, unlike the Shapeways model with it obvious grainy texture. This particular Lafayette Escadrille Nieuport was a rather simple project to take on, and I completed it over the course of three days. The color is a tad off, and perhaps using the mix suggested by Dom might have resulted in a matched aircraft, but overall it works.