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.