Back to the Pak!

As the New Year dawns upon mankind, the promise of renewed hope springs forth once again...(Monty Python voice over follows) Alright, enough of that tripe! 

Sabres, Gnats, and Mystères...oh my!

I have slowly been working on my Second India-Pakistan War miniatures from Flight Deck Decals. I am awaiting an order for some paints to go on the Hunters, but the Mystères, Gnats, and Sabres are to the point of just needing decals added. I am hosting a game next week and hope to have these completed in time - no worries if I don't as I already have metal minis from Raiden painted for this conflict. (see HERE and HERE for pictures of those planes). Why the switch to Flight Deck? See HERE for that decision. 

I have a pair of painted MSD Vampires that my buddy gave me, and in order to do one of the scenarios from the Crisis in Kashmir! scenario book I needed another pair, so I do have two more coming from Raiden. Eventually I will also order Vampires from Flight Deck as the MSD ones are not up to Flight Deck's level of quality, but for now I have done some touch up painting on the pair in hand and they will see service until their replacements have been acquired.

I have also used AI to see if there are more scenarios that can be created for this war. The answer is yes, AI yielded two additional scenarios - one of decent (five player) size with the Pakistani Sabres attacking a radar installation with rockets, one that is defended by Hunters and some flak. That will make a good game for the tabletop. The other AI generated scenario is a small night action and not suitable for a game. Here is now the full listing of 1965 scenarios by number of aircraft needed (red are the additional scenarios):

Removing the scenarios that utilize planes I do not own yields fourteen scenarios on the tabletop. I think that is probably enough for this war!

Rupees Ten - AAR

I hosted my first Second India-Pakistan War game, featuring the Rupees Ten scenario from the SkirmishCampaigns Crisis in Kashmir scenario book, for five members of the Check Your 6! Southwestern Ohio Group. After obtaining some clarification from the CY6! discussion forum about the initial setup, the Pakistani players find themselves in a bit of a pickle.

The initial setup

The Indian Gnats had the drop on the Pakistani F-86s from the first turn. This resulted in the destruction of a Sabre on the first turn - seven points for the Indian players (the victory point totals in the scenario book are quite different than the standard CY6! victory point determination). Already at a victory point deficit the Pakistani players reversed course to engage the Gnats. One Gnat would suffer a pilot wound lucky hit and be forced to abort, but that plane had just ran out of ammo and was already pointed in the direction of the Indian friendly edge. Another Gnat took an engine hit, while a third also ran out of ammunition, but in the interim the Indian players shot down two additional Sabres. 

Down two Sabres

At 21 to 1 in victory points one Sabre dropped its fuel tanks to obtain an edge in agility, but the result was simply to give the Indian side another victory point as the Sabres could simply not place themselves in a favorable position to kill any of the pesky Gnats. One Sabre player had some difficulty in performing split S and Immelmann maneuvers, which added to the humor between the players (most of us have gamed together for a number of years and the camaraderie is excellent).

We decided to call the game at that point, eleven turns in.

The scenario is tough in many aspects - less than ideal aircrew quality, the advantage for the Indian players in the initial setup, and the Gnats suffering from ammunition issues and limited fuel. 

Miniatures - Raiden

Mat - Hotz Mats

Upgrading My Game - 1965 India-Pakistan War

While the Hunter looks grand, the others do not

I have to be honest, I am not loving my Raiden planes I have for the 1965 Second India-Pakistan War. The various wings and tails have too many bends, and while I have straightened them out as best as I could, the metal, being soft, tends to bend at the slightest touch. The paint work I had commissioned is also not up to the normal levels I used to receive - some sort of sealer was used on the bare metal planes that make them look gray, and I prefer the look of aluminium (intentional spelling) as opposed to whatever effect the sealer is having on changing the coloration.

Image from Flight Deck Decals

To that end, I have decided to redo my 1965 India-Pakistan project, this time using those bee-you-tee-ful 3D prints offered by Flight Deck Decals. I am focusing on just four plane types - F-86 Sabre, BAE Gnat, Hawker Hunter, and Dassault Mystère. This limited mix of planes will still allow me to put on a dozen scenarios from the SkirmishCampaigns Crisis in Kashmir book, the scenarios ranging from three to six players, some including missiles, which is an area of the rules I admittedly struggle with at times. This time around I will be painting the planes myself, as I have started to feel more confident in my skill at painting 1/285 scale aircraft. I do not add the bells and whistles, and will just focus on national insignia and fin flash, letting the quality of the Flight Deck prints stand out with a fairly minimalized approach.

Flight Deck of course delivered excellent customer service - I placed my order on a Sunday evening and had the miniatures by Saturday's post. I also picked up decals for the opposing sides - both national insignia (roundels) and fin flashes. Some pictures of the planes:

Mystère

Sabre

The pesky Gnat and the powerful Hunter

I will spray the planes with a coat of gray primer, then the Sabres, Mystères, and Gnats will be given a coat or two of Vallejo Air Aluminium - I prefer using their Air line as the metallic paints brush on very smoothly, even if a second coat is sometimes needed. The Hunter will be given a green/gray camouflaged upper with aluminum lower surfaces.

They Have Arrived! - The Second India–Pakistan War

I received notice from Chris Geisert at I-94 a few days ago that the commission work for my Second India-Pakistan War aircraft was completed! After eagerly awaiting their arrival, I received the planes just a few days later. I placed an order a couple of weeks ago from K and J Magnetics for additional magnets, and will have plenty on hand to place on the following, which will allow me to game fifteen scenarios from the SkirmishCampaigns' Crisis in Kashmir book (for some reason I only asked for four Hunters to be painted, but really needed five in order to add two additional scenarios):

India - 7 x Dassault Mystere, 2 x MiG-21, 4x  Hawker Hunter, and 7 x BAE Gnat

Pakistan - 2 x F-104 Starfighters and 6 x F-86 Sabres

Most of the scenarios are on the smaller side, covering from two to six players, with most falling in the four player range. As I am also not proficient with missiles within the Check Your 6! Jet Age rules, having smaller scenarios will allow me to practice and grasp those rules before moving into a more modern era.

I will admit that I am a little disappointed in the work. The natural metal aircraft have a gray hue that is not apparent on the bottom of the aircraft. I think it is from a gloss finish that was applied, so I will hit them with some matte spray and see if that helps. The painting does not seem to be quite as crisp as the first planes I had Chris do back in the day (look at the Korean War planes as an example). There are some colors on the bottoms of the planes that appear to be a little slop from a color on the top, one Hunter having a big old splotch of green on its underwing. And there used to be decals applied to the bottom of the aircraft, but none of these planes have that (the latter is not a huge deal, but I guess I was used to seeing markings on the bottoms of the planes). The Hunters look great, they do not have that shiny gloss finish. This will be a batch of planes I will have to do a tad of touch up to really bring them home. Now, those are minor quibbles, and I will keep using Chris as his turnaround time is good, prices very reasonable, and he communicates well during the process. I hope he gets back to the quality of those Korean War aircraft that he spoiled me with!

Update - The India-Pakistan War of 1947–1948

I received my copy of Eagles of Destiny: Volume 1: Birth and Growth of the Royal Pakistan Air Force 1947-1956, and this well written and informative guide to the early development of the RPAF clearly indicates that the initial batch of Tempests that were received were not in the desert camo scheme, but were in the Royal Air Force Day Fighter Scheme of a Dark Green and Ocean Grey disruptive pattern with Medium Sea Grey undersurfaces. More research at the Hawker Tempest Page also seems to confirm this fact. And disappointingly the Pakistani Tempests did not see any action during the 1947-48 war. Well, that is a bummer! What I thought would be a neat Tempest vs. Tempest war, with the RPAF Tempests having a desert scheme and the Indian versions sporting silver, has now splintered apart from the historical perspective. 

Seemingly, I may forego this project. I have ordered nearly all the planes needed for the SkirmishCampaigns' Crisis in Kashmir scenario book (Second India-Pakistan War) from I-94, and with so many other projects to work on and without the interesting Tempest on Tempest aspect, the appeal here is no longer that great.

Crisis in Kashmir - The Second India–Pakistan War

This is a gaming period I have been wanting to tackle over the last couple of years, really ever since the scenario book for this was published by SkirmishCampaigns and I played in a fellow gamer's events. 

The various scenarios do not call for a great deal of aircraft, so this could be managed decently well in 1/285 scale. However, there is one scenario that does call for six Canberra bombers, and if one wants to do every scenario in the book, there are some one offs for other aircraft types as well. One could either forego those one off aircraft types and still manage to cover many of the other scenarios in the book, or one might consider going to 1/600 to manage costs more effectively. Tumbling Dice happens to make every aircraft type needed, but their castings are a little disproportionate, at times even cartoonish. But at that scale with with a solid paint job it would be a cheaper and complete alternative to going with the more limited Raiden offerings. 

However, as the Indian Canberras, and for that matter the Vampires, are only in one scenario apiece, I am moving forward without those two aircraft types. I've placed my order with I-94 and will be having Chris Geisert of I-94 paint the planes. For those who are intimidated about the Check Your 6! Jet Age rules and in particular adding in radar and missiles, this war allows one to ease into those aspects without too much effort. The missiles that were used were not always reliable, let alone available, and are very rudimentary in nature so not overwhelming to learn.