More Generosity

A couple weekends ago, while gaming with friends at DayCon, I was chatting with one who does 1/600 scale (heathen!) as I was complimenting him on his Battle of Britain planes that he had painted up and used for another event a few years before. For some reason I misremembered them as being 1/600 when he corrected me and stated that they were indeed the Chosen Scale of 1/285. He also mentioned that he needed to figure out what to do with them since he now games in that tinier scale. A few days later I mentioned to him that I would be interested in the planes if he decided to part with them.

Yesterday he brought the planes to me and told me to keep them. Bear in mind these are beautifully painted planes, twenty-eight in sum, and he did not want anything for them! (little does he know I have a cunning plan to repay his kindness) So now I have another theater for World War Two, and what he bequeathed to me can cover a half dozen scenarios from the various scenario books (Over the Channel, Days of Glory, and Battles Above 1)

99th Fighter Squadron Scenarios

Ohhhh, it was bad, very bad. Spending too much time at the I-94 Enterprises booth during DayCon led to several different purchases. Poor Chris, he probably thought I was being an inconsiderate chap by not combining all my purchases into one transaction, but being under the influence (of others, not alcohol) I kept going back and sniping items. The first trip was a pair of painted Bearcats and the Star and Pyramid scenario book. Then the second drive by was to grab the Over the Channel and Days of Glory scenario books. The final stop yielded six Packard Merlin-powered P-40F models - which for some reason I had no idea I-94 even made - for some fun gaming in either the southwest Pacific or in the Med. 

An olive drab P-40L

In doing a little more research into the uses of the P-40F, I could go a few different ways. While some did see service in the Pacific, seemingly they were more prevalent in North Africa. Some were used by the 99th Fighter Squadron (which would later form part of the 332nd Fighter Group, known later as the Tuskegee Airmen), along with P-40L models, the differences being mostly in armament and a bit of a reduction in some armor on the L model. Plus, color schemes on the 99th's Warhawks varied between the British Dark Earth/Middle Stone/Azure Blue and the American Olive Drab 41/Light Grey 43. So within this squadron I can use a mix of plane colors and two models of P-40s at the same time.

Decals! Oh no, no one makes decals for the 99th - but I have sent off a request to Blue Falcon Hobbies to see if a sheet could be generated. Heck, prior to this week I did not even know of the existence of this firm, which makes a variety of products, most notably a slew of decals for World War II and modern squadrons in various scales, including 1/300. Fingers crossed for a positive response!

Of course the next step was to check AI to see what scenarios could be generated. There are already a few in the Battles Above scenario book, but I always want more. AI stepped up and provided several air to air and air to ground scenarios. Some of course will need to be scaled for playability purposes. There is also a lot of flak, as there probably should be. While one does not want flak to dominate what is mostly an air to air combat game, I do not believe we use nearly enough anti-aircraft as we should. AA can always be handled by the referee/game host if one is being used.

Stats for some of the various P-40 models

One area I am having difficulty in determining is what model of P-40 was being used for any given scenario. Some sources indicate that both the F and L models were being used, with the L being predominant. However, sources indicate only a "handful" or "small number" of F models were present. To handle this, every scenario will utilize a random die roll to determine the model of P-40. 

I will be providing scenarios for the above over the next several weeks. One already makes its appearance on the Downloads page.