Swiss Pictures

A couple of weekends ago I hosted a pair of games featuring the Swiss defending their airspace. Both scenarios are based on historical events. While I am not able to piece together enough details to make an after action report, here are the pictures from both games.

In both games the tail gun from the German bombers was able to cause damage on an attacking fighter with a paltry 1 result on a single die. And in both games a fighter went out of control for several turns. I had not experienced that sort of strange commonality in games before. Also, you will notice some blue tokens - I have decided to use a rule in which a plane that climbs may only fire at same or higher TAL while one that dives may only fire at same or lower TAL. The tokens are from a Litko set, and I had them make just "climbed" and "dived" tokens.

I also used a different ratings for the various models of Messerschmitts. The E-1, E-3, and E-4 were all being used by the Germans at this time so I use a random roll to determine the model for each Bf 109. In both games the German player wound up with one E-1 and one E-4 model. 

The first game featured a Dornier Do 17 on a recon mission. Jumped by a pair of Swiss Me 109 DBs, and then a pair of German Bf 109Es come to the rescue.

A recon Dornier is not where he should be

And the Swiss react

The Swiss fighters were painted by Chris at I-94

Stung by a lone LMG, the Swiss player failed the robustness roll

The Dornier finally goes down

To the rescue, perhaps a tad too late

Hoobestank lyric "I'm going out of control" comes to mind - I think it was five or six turns of failing!

Passing Messerschmitts

Still out of control...maybe that player should stop plotting F1 moves UNTIL he recovers?

And as soon as he regains control, Emil is there to mop up!

The second game saw a pair of French Dewoitine 520s chasing after a crippled Heinkel. A pair of Swiss Me 109s are guarding their border, while a pair of German Messerschmitts arrive to even things up. Had the French player crossed the Swiss border, the Swiss fighters were free to engage. The French player wisely choose not to violate Swiss airspace.

Don't get too close!

The cavalry is on its way

I told you not to get too close!

A fighter furball

Out of control? Really?

Planes - Raiden

Stands and tokens - Litko

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Darwin - A Pair of Scenarios

A few weeks ago I hosted a pair of games from my forthcoming scenario booklet on the American involvement at Darwin. These scenarios featured the rather green pilots of the 33rd Pursuit Group against Pearl Harbor veterans from the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force. In both scenarios, as was historically, the Americans are placed in an impossible position. I was called out for this by a member of the Check Your 6! discussion group, complaining about play balance. War is not play balanced, but the premise behind these two scenarios is to have the players change sides and keep track of victory points by player and by team. And in this aspect, the scenarios now become balanced as players vie to obtain points.

I was, however, hesitant to spring these two scenarios on my gaming buddies as now I was worried about how they might react to the impossible American setup. 

The First Game (Zeros, Zeros, Zeros!)

In the first game I flew the single P-40 flight leader and I played it rather historically as I dove through the oncoming A6M2s and fled the table, securing a few victory points for myself. The other two American players took on the Japanese headfirst, which did not bode well.

The American setup...

...and the Japanese.

Nice formation there, eh?

Off to the races I go, leaving my fellow players to take on the swarm of A6M2s.

Not looking good, eh Yank?

The game ended with nearly all P-40s shot down. I grabbed two victory points with my rapid exit, which did pull some of the A6M2s away from the remaining Americans.

The Second Game (The Death of A Flight)

This game was more of a bounce, with the Japanese coming in from the northwest, turning to take on A Flight, which had landed, and now was scrambling to get airborne after hearing the radio calls that Darwin was under attack. The goal for the Americans? Survive and get off the board to obtain VPs. Bear in mind the American players for this scenario were the Japanese players in the first game, so they now felt the frustration of the historical event. I hope they banked enough points from Game One!

The American flight leader was able to get off a friendly edge, earning victory points. He was the overall winner of the two games, with a few others coming close. The feedback from my experience band of CY6! brothers was actually favorable - they appreciated being with the advantage and the disadvantage, and thought the tracking of points was a motivator to do well as the Japanese and to survive as the Americans. Guess that dude on the discussion group doesn't know what he is talking about.

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Planes - Flight Deck Decals

The American conga line, taking off at Speed 1, TAL 1.

Three shotai (or one chutai if you prefer) in actual shotai formation.

Some of the Americans decided to move towards the Japanese. Why, oh why?

Which simply made it easier for the Japanese to close in. The American flight leader, watching my epic performance in the first game, is trying to get offboard.

A P-40 sandwich. IIRC he survived via robustness rolls and poor Japanese shooting.

Project Gun-Val AAR

Last weekend I hosted the "Hagerstrom's Intercept" scenario from my Project Gun-Val scenario booklet. We actually ran the game twice, because in both instances, while the Soviet...er, em...the North Koreans have the jump, the Americans were seemingly invincible. In the first game the American reversed on the first turn, and the Soviets got into a turning fight, which did not bode well as the F-86F-2 Gun-Val machine came on and was able to dispatch a MiG rather easily. The game was over in seven turns!

So, we revered sides and tried it again. The Soviet players started a bit father away which made the Americans wary of doing a reversal, but again the MiGs had a rough time of it. Of course, in both games, a couple of different die rolls and the games would have been much different.

We played with my modified MiG armament as well as used a new rule (to us) - if one dives one cannot shoot at a higher target, and if one climbs one cannot shoot at a lower target. While both games were short, this actually prevented the games from ended even sooner.

Not a lot of detail in this one, but here are some pics!

Second game setup with a little PR

First game setup - those Sabres are going to reverse and create some havoc

And now the MiGs try turning

But even though this looks ideal, it doesn't end well

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Planes - Raiden and MSD Games

Deep Cut Mat!

The latest addition to my growing collection of gaming mats for Check You 6! - another fine effort from Deep Cut Studio. I placed my order on July 14th, and it arrived from Lithuania on July 27th - thirteen days - which I feel is a pretty good turnaround for a custom mat. I needed (wanted) a desert/arid looking mat, and as I have been super happy with my previous orders from Deep Cut, I decided to go with their aerial desert offering, with an overlay of 1.75" hexes in dark brown. This mat will see service for my Darwin and 1948 Arab-Israeli games - while probably a little too arid for the Australian terrain, this now should be - I say partially knowing it might not be true - the last mat I will need.

A couple of pictures from a recent Darwin game:

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.

Duel Between Eagles After Action

Today a few of the Check Your 6! Southwestern Ohio gathered together at a new location for a little gaming. The scenario was a modified version of the "Duel Between Eagles" scenario from the Over the Channel scenario book. Modified as I went with six instead of nine Spitfires to face off against the eight Messerschmitts, and tried to add a little balance by giving the two British players the higher quality pilots in the scenario.

A Rotte of Bf 109Es...

...and a vic of Sptifires.

The random setup is interesting, and means that one would never have the same game twice, regardless of using the Variable Rules. Each group of planes rolls a random edge location, and a random TAL.

Engine damage and fire!

The setup saw the Brits start along Edges 2 and 5 with the four German players filling in the remaining edges. This led to two distinct and separate furballs - four German planes against three British on each end of the board. For the first couple of turns the Germans starting at low TAL along Edges 3 and 4 headed directly towards each other, with one of the players not realizing that he was maneuvering towards his kamraden!

The support Rotten moving to...support!

A quick kill occurred when one vic of Brits took on a pair of 109s head on - the British ace ("Sailor" Malan - one of two Adolfs on the board) taking down a skilled Hun. Meanwhile the two German elements in the center of the board finally had some height and turned to support their fellow players. I was seated on one end of the table, so my details of the other furball are sketchy at best, bit seemingly the British player was giving the Germans all they could handle. It was not really a day of aces - several time both Adolfs missed some relatively obtainable hits. The game went fifteen turns, but it was fifteen turns of diving, turning, climbing (a little Iron Maiden "Aces High" reference there) with the outnumbered Brits holding their own, but the German numbers started to take their toll.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the board, passing ships in the night, or something like that.

And support on its way.

The British ace in the distance, with engine damaged, moves but one hex per turn.

Final result was a German victory, 16 points against the Brits' 11. 

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Planes - Raiden painted by Jamie (more on those HERE)

Progress on the Slovakian Front

The draft front cover

I have been reformatting the Slovak-Hungarian War scenario booklet (at twenty pages and eight scenarios, I can't bring myself to call it a book), getting all the scenarios "cleaned up" as the scenario template found on the discussion group is a bit janky. I also have had three vendors send over ads to include in the guide, provided gratis as all three entities have been gracious to me in the past through our communications and dealings. I am still awaiting one more advert, and then once the formatting has been completed I will see if the self-publishing portal I have used in the past for some Civil War projects can also do a smaller page count project (lulu.com). 

The cover, pictured left, is looking decent. The booklet will have color aircraft profiles, color photos of games, a listing of where to obtain miniatures for the war as well as a bit of a background to the conflict. Six of the scenarios have their roots in historical events, meaning they are, as much as I could make possible, based on the real deal. One scenario is purely hypothetical, and the final scenario is based on an event that almost took place had the orders not be rescinded due to the cease fire that ended the shooting war.

I hope to have the scenarios all reformatted in a few days, then the process of uploading to the self-publishing site might take a day, then it will be ready for sale if the price points make it affordable for gamers. Profit margins will be minimal as I simply want to get this, the first of what might turn into a few Check You 6! scenario books, available to gamers.

UPDATE: I realized that the cover art is indeed art, and as I cannot make out the artist's signature to locate the artist to obtain permission to use the cover, I instead "cheated" and will be going with this as the cover art.

Yakkety Yak After Action

A pair of Yak-7s, nicely painted by Misc. Minis

Yesterday for the Check Your 6! Southwestern Ohio group I ran a strictly hypothetical encounter, which featured the Yak-7 vs. the Heinkel He 100 (and found on the Downloads page and entitled Yakkety Yak). 

The scenario calls for five players, but since this encounter is a figment of my imagination, one could remove two of the Yak-7s, or add a pair of Heinkels, just to have a little fun or to adjust to the number of available players (we usually give a pair of planes to each player).

It is a bit of a bounce on bounce scenario, with four Heinkels closing on a pair of Yaks. A few random turns later four Yaks drop down from the clouds practically on top of the Germans.

The first game's initial setup

We ran the scenario twice as the first game was a rather short affair. The aircrew quality really showed through, but also the poor robustness rolls led to the destruction of three Yaks within the first handful of turns. So we changed the aircrew qualities with random die rolls, which yielded a result of all crews being skilled. This, on top of the Soviet "rabbits" changing tactics in the second game from running to turning into his foe, made for a heck of a game. The German players really danced about the board, and they had to due to being outnumbered 3:2. One turn saw the Yaks clustered together, and I thought the Germans would have a tough time the next turn. I took my pair of Heinkels and dover through and below the reversing Soviets, which also brought the other pair of Heinkels into a pair of perfect firing solutions. Our dice were fairly meh, but it did scatter the Yaks, and caused some damage. After seventeen turns, with one Yak shot down and another suffering an airframe damage (and one other running out of ammo) we called the game. No damages to the Heinkels resulted in a German victory.

The "rabbits" - my pair of Heinkels, have dove through the Yaks...

...setting up a pair of nice opportunities for the remaining Heinkels

And then the dance really begins with a decent amount of separation

Jamie obtains another great firing solution, but Mr. Robusto (Matt) makes his rolls

I tweaked the aircrew ratings a bit and have uploaded the revised version of Yakkety Yak. It was a fun game (both games for me - I had three kills in the abbreviated first game).

Yak-7s - Raiden Miniatures painted by Misc Minis.

He 100s - Table Top Flights painted by me, decals are Scale Specialties.

Mat - Deep Cut Studio.