I-94 Decals

For my next batch of decals I ordered a few sheets from I-94 Enterprises. I believe I am turning into a decal hoarder, but that's another post....

For my order with I-94, I was looking to pick up some items to help complete some projects and move forward on others. I have used I-94 decals before and they are quite good, and quite affordable. From what I gather what I-94 offers is mostly from the older Beacon range. I-94 also carries the Scale Specialties range, which includes some very unique and useful items, at a higher price point, but the sheets contain markings for numerous aircraft in most cases.

My first sheet is simply blue lettering, which also includes blue numbers. The blue letters are needed to complete my Swedish J 29s for my 1950s Baltic Encounter scenario. Not certain how much additional use I will get from this sheet, and while I could have simply left the letters off the miniatures, I wanted to have a "more complete" looking set of Tunnans.

The second sheet, having black lettering and numbers for United States naval aircraft, pushes me closer towards my Operation Torch project, the sheet also having some letters and numbers for Coral Sea USN aircraft. One of the items I have been working on is a small scenario book and guide to the American Atlantic portion of Torch and have about eight scenarios in mind.

A number of planes can be decaled with just this one sheet

The next two sheets are Scale Specialties offerings. The first is one I need for Japanese naval aircraft for Wake Atoll - I went with the Hiryu/Soryu sheet as that will work for both the Pearl Harbor Second Strike scenario and a few scenarios I have put together for my Wake scenario book. The sheet includes insignia and aircraft marking for Zekes, Vals, and Kates.

While not having a lot of Spanish Civil War decals, there are plenty for the early WWII period Messerschmitts

The second Scale Specialties sheet I ordered is catered to Bf 109s for both the Spanish Civil War and early WWII. However, I will be using these for my half dozen Heinkel He 100s. As these planes were never used in combat, taking a few oddball squadron insignia from the 109s doesn't really feel that off to me.

Updates on the Wake Project

Art by Marc Stewart

I am slowly moving forward on gaming Wake. I have now worked up six scenarios that are a mix of historical and what-ifs that will need a little playtesting. All will feature the newly painted Wake Island Atoll piece that was made by Fight's On, but seemingly no longer available. The scenarios also feature a variety of aircraft types - for the Japanese one will see the Nell, Mavis, Zero, Kate, and Val, while the United States Marines have Wildcats and at least one scenario with Buffalos. I am also looking at a couple more possible scenarios to add in to the mix. Once the scenarios have been completed and playtested a bit I plan on putting together a pdf with the scenarios, plane data, a bit of a background, and a listing of manufacturers.

The full mat will look like this - one can barely discern the hexes

I have ordered a cloth sea mat from Deep Cut Studio, using their waterworld file. The mat should turn out well as their other products I have ordered are crackin' good and their service is stellar. Deep Cut is located in Lithuania I receive my mats within 7-10 days. The Fight's On piece should blend nicely with the mat.

The finished Fight's On Wake Atoll terrain piece

I still need to collect Japanese aircraft, which is a bit of an issue. Buying a dozen Nells does not thrill me, and one can add in a couple of Mavis flying boats to that cost, let alone the Kates, Vals, and Zeros, none of which I own. Luckily I have gaming buds that have the carrier-based planes needed, but when doing a project I do like to have all sides covered. I also need to send off my Table Top Flights Wildcats and Buffaloes to Kevin at Miscellaneous Miniatures for painting. While I do have Nells, Wildcats, and Buffaloes in 1/600 scale (Pico Armor), I think adding magnets to such small fuselages would be an exercise in patience, which I am in short supply when it comes to such chores. However, it would be an easier way (meaning cheaper) to put together all the aircraft needed. And while Pico Armor does not make the Mavis, Tumbling Dice does.

Pearl II!

Yesterday I hosted a Pearl Harbor Check Your 6! event featuring the Second Strike scenario (found under the Downloads page above). Being that it happened to be December 7th, I thought it would be an ideal scenario to run.

We wound up with eight players for what is really about a six player game, but was able to get everyone into the game. Thanks to my long time friend Matt for providing the Japanese forces! Also, it was the birthday of another long time friend, so I hope you enjoyed your day, Scott!

Setup for the game see the Japanese approaching from the northeast, while the Americans heads in from the northwest. Six Zeros are escorting three Kates and three Vals, the Kates heading to Hickam Field and the dive bombers targeting Ford Island and Battleship Row. Unlike the first time I hosted this game, the Japanese had four successful bombing runs (at four victory points each) and a number of successful strafing attacks by the Zeros. The American anti-aircraft, particularly the medium guns, placed some hits on the Vals, and those four d10 should have shredded the fragile dive bombers, but passing robustness rolls seemed to be the mantra on the part of the Japanese players. One Japanese plane did run out of ammunition fairly early in the game, but it looked like it was going to be quite the overwhelming win for the Emperor's forces.

The American fighters, consisting of three P-40s and three P-36s, finally made their way into the fight. However, American gunners on the ground did not seem to care about national insignia and fired at the Americans nearly as frequently as they were at the Japanese planes. The Japanese, after having pounded their targets, were trying to move towards their friendly edge, but the American fighters started wreaking havoc, and Japanese planes started falling from the sky and several others were damaged. One Japanese plane took a blackout lucky hit (which I had never seen before in our games) but was able to recover the following turn. 

The Americans turned the tide, and by the end of the sixteenth turn, edged out a victory with a score of 28 to 24. It was a hard fought affair! I think one thing the Japanese might have done was to escort the bombers a bi more closely - the Vals pretty much fought on their own hook as the Zeros focused on Hickam Field and the area between Ford Island and Hickam.

The initial American force - a pair of P-40Bs

A gaggle of Zeros!

Kates and Vals making their way

A pair of pretty birds - the P-36/Hawk 75 has become one of my favorite aircraft

On the right, three Zeros strafe Hickam while the Kates line up for their bombing run. On the left the Vals are pounding Ford Island and Battleship Row

The mixed section

The Vals are now being targeted by a pair of P-40s

The strafing Zeros turn towards the northwest while the Kates have hit Hickam Field

Did I mention my affinity for the P-36/Hawk 75?

The Americans have scattered the Vals, shooting one down while damaging the remaining pair

One Val left, while the Zeros seem to flit about

Endgame

I used the custom mat I had made by Deep Cut Studio, the American planes are all Raiden, wonderfully painted by Kevin Hammond at Miscellaneous Miniatures. The Japanese planes I believe are a variety of manufacturers - painted nicely by Matt.

Pearl!

Last weekend I hosted a Check Your 6! event at the local shop. Using the Pearl Harbor Second Strike scenario, slightly modified to accommodate the number of players, we were able to recreate the scenario using the custom Pearl Harbor mat from Deep Cut Studio. We cut the Japanese by three Zeros, reduce the American anti-aircraft by half, and remove one P-40 and one P-36, trying to balance the game for five players.

The Japanese looked overly powerful from the start as the American setup seemed too far to have much impact. Luckily the Japanese missed on every bombing attempt, but were successful with several strafes, racking up points along the way. The American anti-aircraft caused a few hits, and one green American P-36 was very successful in not only fighting off the Zeros, but also causing damage in turn. The Americans closed the points gap, but by the end the Japanese squeaked out a victory.

Hoping to run this again with a full complement of players.

Planes - Americans are Raiden

Pearl Harbor Project

I have been hesitant to game Pearl Harbor - One reason is the vast amount of aircraft for the Japanese and the handful of American planes that made it into the air to give battle. Another reason is that once one has committed to painting P-40s and P-36s for Pearl, those planes cannot be used for much of anything else due to their distinct paint schemes and markings (and yes, I do like having, as much as possible, correct historic representation on the tabletop). One could also use the Pearl P-40s for the Philippines, but there are few scenarios available for the Philippines. And, I also want to use those P-36s and P-40s for other theaters, like North Africa or Finland for the former and China for the latter. There is only so many planes I am willing to buy! Oh, and let's not forget the mat one would need to show Pearl Harbor and/or some of the various airfields - this project now becomes very specialized and limited in scope.

There is an interesting scenario that was done by one of the chaps on the Check Your 6! group, so I have that as the basis for this potential project. The scenario calls for a smattering of planes (three P-40s, three P-36s, three Kates, three Vals, and six Zeros), and while I do not have any of the Japanese needed, I am canvasing the guys I game with to see if they do (and I have found out that one indeed does).

The mat is something that can be had from Tiny Wargames although it does not include Hickam Field (which is in the scenario).

In speaking with Tiny Wargames, the pricing for a standard Check Your 6 sized mat with a hex grid is something like $100.00, and that is before shipping, yikes! I have been looking for alternatives, like Deep Cut Studio. If I can find a 1940s color aerial of Pearl then I can have them make me a custom mat. I can locate crisp black and white photos, but not period color versions.

But, after some searching I did find this. It is a rendering of the Japanese maps of the period, and then updated by the Joint Intelligence Center. I loaded this image into the Deep Cut Studio custom map maker and have this:

The above should work rather well I believe...but not certain if I should drop coin on such a specialized project.