Heading to Darwin

projected cover image

Well, not physically, but I believe the next scenario booklet will feature the American experience in the skies over and near Darwin during 1942. I have thirteen scenarios completely written, and perhaps will create a few more. My decision to do Darwin next is because today I received a VERY generous offer to have some planes painted gratis, and with my Blue Falcon Hobbies 49th Fighter Group decals just waiting to be used (admittedly I have to obtain the planes to use them on), this seems like the best direction for the next scenario booklet. It will still be a few months before the booklet will be ready for publication as I have to order the planes, ship them off to be painted, then play some scenarios as well as take some pictures of the scenarios in progress. The good news is I already have nine carrier based A6M2s painted, and I have five P-40Es painted for the 33rd Pursuit Squadron, both of which will be featured in the first two scenarios. The bad news is I need to paint a dozen G4M2s (after purchasing them) or use a dozen G3Ms I already have for my Wake Atoll booklet (and also need painting). Realistically I should buy nine more A6M2s and paint them properly in the 3rd Kōkūtai colors (and which I have decals for, also from Blue Falcon)....decisions, decisions!

Soooo, I went forward and ordered the P-40s and the A6M2s (yeah, like I really need nine in the proper green scheme) from Flight Deck, and while I was on my mad shopping spree ordered a desert aerial mat from Deep Cut Studio. The desert mat isn't perfect for the outback, but it will find use in many other scenarios and eras. And now...the A6M2s were painted in ame-iro...I did not need to order nine more, but at least then I can do these nine in proper 3rd Kōkūtai decals.

Back to the booklet - I have the background also written, and I just need to add my usual rules modifications, color schemes, miniatures and publication sources, and then paste the scenarios in. Sounds like a lot of work, but most of it is relatively easy. The booklet will be titled Eagles Over the Top End. UPDATE (7/31/26): this will be the largest booklet thus far, coming in at nearly thirty pages.

Blue Falcon Hobbies - More Decals

Well, I have certainly spent enough money with Blue Falcon to warrant a response to my inquiries about making more decals - I used their online request form, I used direct email, and I made a comment on one of their posts. No response. That is shite service, only balanced by the good service I receive when ordering their decals. Well, the following might be the last I order from Blue Falcon since I cannot get them to respond. Why have a form on your site to request custom decals if you are not going to answer? Why have an email address if you are not going to answer? 

CR.42 decals - I have several CR.42s from my departed friend's collection but they need a bit of squadron markings added - these will do.

I had ZERO use for these (get it?) but want to add some distinct markings to my A6M2s.

Repeat after me - it is NOT called the Football War! But needed decals all the same.

These are super handy for my Darwin project.

Okay, difficult to see, but late war Hellcat markings, which I did not need!

Eventually I will have a couple of schwarms (schwarmen? schwarme?) of Bf 109G miniatures and these decals will be sued for them.

I am awaiting the 343rd Kōkūtai decals from I-94 as part of their Genda's Blade pack, but it did not hurt to buy more!

Scenario Booklets Available

49th Fighter Group P-40Es near Darwin.

The three scenario booklets I have been teasing the last couple of weeks are now available in both print (staple and coil bound) and pdf format for those wanting to download. The print versions are on lulu.com while the pdfs can be found on Wargames Vault. Links for both these sites are to the left.

Over the next few months I will be working on more scenario booklets, with Nomonhan, Spanish Civil War, Sino-Japanese, Taiwan Crisis, East Africa, 99th Fighter Squadron (think early "Red Tails"), Operation Torch, Aleutians, and the American 49th Fighter Group over Darwin all as possibilities. The 49th Fighter Group has all the scenarios created (I need to update the formatting a bit but there are a dozen scenarios ready to go) and I would need to add the background and other relevant gaming info to make a complete booklet, or I can start taking various theaters and placing them into scenario books without worrying about publishing specialized topics.

Regardless of the direction I take, I am happy and a bit taken aback about the support the first three booklets have received in just a few days. As previously stated, the goal is not to make money, to to offer more scenarios for gamers to (hopefully) enjoy!

Progress on the Wake Island Front

And for my next trick....

I've had this scenario booklet nearly ready for some time, dealing with the Japanese attempt to capture Wake Atoll in December 1941. Several scenarios are built, mostly historical ones, with a few what ifs as well, such as what if the USS Saratoga reinforced Wake with the Brewster Buffaloes that were tasked to increase the American fighter presence - that sort of thing. While I have thirteen scenarios created I decided to drop what I had into Gemini and let AI take a look. It wound up creating a few more encounters and making suggestions to my existing ones, but as always with AI one must double check the work as I think the new offerings might be duplicates of scenarios I already have in the booklet. But if not, the booklet will be expanded a bit.

Currently the booklet, like the other two previously mentioned, comes in a hair above twenty pages, Using lulu.com as my print on demand service, with premium color and 80# coated paper, the price points on these booklets are about $12.50 USD, which I have added in a slight margin for my time. If I go to standard color and normal weight paper, it shaves maybe a dollar. My goal is certainly not to make money, but to offer more scenarios for Check Your 6! and Check Your 6! Jet Age gamers, and I have had other works printed with the better quality options ad really like how they have turned out.

I still plan to create more scenario booklets that feature specific topics, like the 99th Fighter Squadron flying P-40s (over twenty-five scenarios), the 49th Pursuit Group near Darwin, a dozen scenarios oddly enough also featuring P-40s, and a Taiwan crisis booklet that would feature the P-47N model for the early scenarios and the later 1958 conflict that features the Sabre. This would see over forty scenarios if all make the cut.

Oh Canada!

111 Squadron Kittyhawk Mk IA of Kenneth Boomer

Going back to a bit of an Aleutian theme with this post, as I wanted to delve deeper into the Canadian involvement in the Aleutian Campaign, and I have to say there wasn't much of one from a front line perspective. After seeing numerous photos in The Aleutian Warriors - A History of the 11th Air Force & Fleet Air Wing 4 by John H. Cloe, I was hoping to locate more information on the Canadian participation in active duty against the Japanese, but have been a bit disappointed in that aspect. That is not to take away the importance of the RCAF and their Bristol Bolingbrokes (license built versions of the Blenheim Mk IV) and Curtiss Kittyhawks in filling a support function, there is but one mission in which 111 Squadron took an active part. 

By late summer 1942, Allied forces initiated the "Kiska Blitz." On September 25, a massive joint US-Canadian strike force took advantage of a break in the fog to hammer the occupied island. The operation was immense by Aleutian standards, with nine Consolidated B-24 Liberators, twelve Bell P-39 Airacobras, and twenty Curtiss P-40 Warhawks/Kittyhawks taking part. To bolster the overstretched 11th Air Force, the RCAF deployed four pilots from 111 Squadron, under the command of Squadron Leader Kenneth A. Boomer, a veteran with service in England. The flight from 111 Squadron was assigned to fly close and high cover in company with the USAAF 11th Fighter Squadron's P-40s. The Japanese 452nd Kokutai managed to scramble airborne resistance, but the severe weather and relentless bombing meant they only had two A6M2-N Rufes in flight-ready condition.

After protecting the bombers, the Allied fighters dropped down to strafe the harbor. In the ensuing low-altitude skirmish, Squadron Leader Boomer engaged the floatplanes and successfully shot down one of the Rufes, marking the only recorded RCAF air-to-air kill over North American soil during the Second World War.

Of course, this led to the creation of a scenario, starting with the Canadians after they completed the bomber escort portion of their mission. Next will be to buy even more P-40E models from Flight Deck Decals (need to buy more anyway to use with my Blue Falcon Hobbies 49th Fighter Group decals). Here is the single Canadian combat during the Aleutian Campaign:

Oh Canada!

The 9th Pursuit's First

49th Pursuit Group P-40E Warhawks over Northern Territory, 1942

In the aftermath of the Japanese surprise attack on Darwin, Northern Territory, in February 1942, the lead elements of the 49th Fighter Group, specifically the 9th Pursuit Squadron, were sent to bolster the air defenses of the threatened Australian town, which was in range of land-based Betty bombers and their escorts, the formidable Zero, flying from airfields in Java. Darwin was an important port town and had been used to stage convoys of supplies and material into Java before the fall of that Dutch colony. Darwin now became the front line as the Japanese launched a campaign to neutralize northern Australia and potentially invade the continent.

Stephen (Steven/Stephan) Poleschuk

The 9th Pursuit, manned by well-trained but inexperienced pilots and based south of Darwin at Batchelor, would obtain their first victory against the Japanese on March 22nd, when a Babs recon plane, flying at 19,000 feet and escorted by three Zeros, flew over Darwin in preparation for a bombing mission slated to hit Darwin later that day. The Japanese incursion had been picked up on the Royal Australian Air Force radar at Dripstone Cliffs. The Babs and the Zeros became separated and a section of P-40Es pounced on the helpless Babs before the Zeros could intervene, resulting in the loss of the recon plane, which crashed near Bathurst Island with one crewman parachuting from the stricken aircraft. Credit for the American victory was determined by a flip of a coin as Second Lieutenants Clyde L. Harvey and Stephen "Polly" Poleschuk had both caused damage on the Japanese recon plane - Poleschuk was the winner of the coin toss.

I have created a work in progress Check Your 6! scenario for this action which can be found on the Downloads page. 

Sources:

ADF Serials Newsletter, August 2004.

Ferguson, Steve W. & Pascalis, William K - Protect & Avenge: The 49th Fighter Group in World War II. Schiffer Military History, 1997.

Hess, WIlliam F. - 49th Fighter Group: Aces of the Pacific. Osprey Publishing, 2004.

Lewis, Dr. Tom - Eagles over Darwin: American Airmen Defending Northern Australia in 1942. Avonmore Books, 2021.

McDowell, Ernest R. - 49th Fighter Group. Squadron/Signal Publications, 1989.

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 of his abilities and performance that day, hence my aircrew rating. You'll have to buy the book or download the scenario to see why my rating for Oestreicher is poor.

The scenarios are available as pdfs on the Downloads page above.