Colorful Skies

My Table Top Flights Bavarian blue Fokker Dr.I and the Ares Kempf

Recently I had the chance to play in a Colorful Skies game at the monthly Wright Flight session. Colorful Skies is a set of rules modifications for Check Your 6! for the Great War and are included in the similarly named series of scenario books, all available from I-94. While I will not give much of an after action report, I do want to mention some basing solutions created by a friend that easily allows the use of Ares Wings of Glory planes for the Check Your 6! setting.

The alternating colored pegs in place - here the Dr.Is are at TAL 6, speed 3

I had a pair of Fokker Dr.Is, fairly maneuverable in Colorful Skies but tempered with a low robustness. Across from me were a pair of Camels, similar in maneuverability, but more robust. There were also a pair of Snipes matched against two Fokker D.VIIs.

The Camels Are Coming - here they are at TAL 4, Speed 4

I was able to avoid being shot at as I closed on the Camels by climbing out of gunnery range, but then came in behind the Camels by executing a Split S. Alas, my to hit rolls were too low and the Camels escaped to engage the D.VIIs. I was able to close in, after a D.VII and a Snipe had been shot down, and the remaining D.VII had run out of ammo. I was able to close in on a Snipe for a kill while my other Dr.I, having received both an engine hit and a lucky hit that reduced its speed to 1, dove out of the fray. At that point we called the game.

Come back and fight!

The bases are 3D printed. In this case they are two inches across to adjust for the 1/144 scale planes. The first bottom TAL is represented by the post that is part of the base, then printed pegs, in alternating blue and white, denote the rest of the TALs. A dice is used to indicate both speed and CAB. The pegs worked well, fairly tight and printed to accept the post on the bottom of the Wings of Glory planes. The alternating peg colors were ideal for easy TAL identification. My friend has also made bases with slots to hold colored pieces to denote different aircraft, much like the Check Your 6! official bases use a red, blue, white, black, yellow, or green indicator.

Moving in for the kill, while the Camel missed my Fokker.

Truly the only issue I had is when I climbed to a higher CAB to TAL 1. Changing the red dice to a white one to represent the higher CAB, as I was at TAL 1 I only had one peg on my stand, and my miniature was actually much lower on the playing surface then the Camel that was in the lower CAB. Other than that minor quibble, the bases worked very well! 

I am working with Mike at Table Top Flights to order some 1/200 scale World War One aircraft that has a post that still fits the Wings of Glory pegs. He is hopeful this will work. If so, I look to start a 1/200 project, possibly using a 1.75" hex base and having a custom mat in the same hex size. That is a good compromise between the official Check Your 6! gaming surface and adjusting for the size of the planes.

Salvaging SPADs

Paul Baer and his SPAD VII

Two of the more prominent Allied fighters during The Great War were the SPAD VII and SPAD XIII, yet they are not valued by Wings of Glory players as their maneuver decks, to put it bluntly, are shite. While both fast for their time, they suffer from a lack of maneuverability, having no broad sideslips or sharp left or right turns, making them less than desirable when facing Central Power planes that are more nimble, such as the Fokker Dr.I and D.VII. SPADs are thought of as being boom and zoom aircraft, or are they? According to the book WW1 Aircraft Performance. written by Anders F. Jonsson (published by the author in 2023), the SPAD XIII had a sustained turn rate comparable to the S.E.5a at 1,000 meters and slightly better than the Fokker D.VIII at the same height. At 5,000 meters the XIII can turn as well as the Sopwith Camel and Nieuport 28, and better than than Fokker Dr.I. 

What does this mean for the SPAD VII? Certainly with its smaller engine and only one gun, it must have been discarded as soon as the SPAD XIII was available. However, that would not be a correct assumption. As late as April 1918 there were more SPAD VII models in service than XIIIs, and some pilots preferred the VII, including men of the United States 103rd Aero Squadron. They chose to keep using the VII model as long as possible due to the engine issues found with the XIII. As well, found on page 23 of Jon Guttman's SPAD VII Aces of World War 1, French ace Andre Henri Martenot mentions that although he had a SPAD XIII available that he would use on group flights, for solo sorties he preferred the slower SPAD VII because it was more maneuverable than the SPAD XIII. 

How do we enhance the SPADs in Wings of Glory? Should the SPAD XIII use the sharp right and left turns found in the N Deck? So does that mean the SPAD VII goes to the F Deck or at least uses the sharp left and right turns found in the F Deck? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. The SPAD XIII did suffer from an slower instantaneous turn rate when compared to most contemporary aircraft - even the Pfalz D.IIIa and Albatros D.Va would jump into a turn faster than the SPAD. But over a full turn the SPAD would show its speed and complete turns faster than most other aircraft of the time. How do we reflect this within the construct of the game? 

Additionally, the data in the book bears out the perception that the SPAD XIII was a great diving and climbing aircraft, climbing faster than most of its contemporaries, due to its inherent strength and stability. The SPAD VII would also have similar properties. One might consider treating both the VII and the XIII in the same manner as the Pfalz D.III and D.IIIa by giving them the High Speed Dive card found in the Werner Voss Pfalz D.III, which states the following:

High Speed Dives: (2019)

• If this optional rule is in use a Pfalz D.III/D.IIIa can plan an extra stall directly after another stall or a dive, even if they are two steep maneuvers in a row.
• If the pilot has no ace skills he must draw an A damage card. If there is any special damage symbol the airplane spins out of control and is eliminated.
• If there is no special damage symbol ignore the card and shuffle back into its deck.
• If the pilot is an ace, no A card is drawn and the maneuver is safe.
• In any case if altitude rules are in use when the second stall is executed the airplane loses an altitude level.

Belgian Aircraft

While some of the following aircraft might be a tad difficult to find, here are the pre-painted and color printed Wings of Glory planes for the Belgian air force (Aviation Militaire Belge). Some are Ares, some are Nexus, and some are Reduced Aircraft Factory via the now defunct Shapeways. I own most of the following, but still need to add the RAF Strutter, Breguet, and two of the Hanriots to my collection, which should be possible as RAF might have found a new printer for his color printed offerings!

Reduced Aircraft Factory

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter (4me Escadrille)

Breguet 14A2 (5me Escadrille)

R.A.F. B.E.2c (4me Escadrille)

Sopwith Pup (11eme Escadrille de Chasse)

Hanriot H.D.1 (1ère Escadrille de Chasse)

Hanriot H.D.1 (1ère Escadrille de Chasse)

Hanriot H.D.1 (1ère Escadrille de Chasse)

SPAD VII (5éme Escadrille de Chasse)

Nieuport 23 (5éme Escadrille)

Nexus

Sopwith Camel (1ère Escadrille de Chasse)

R.A.F. R.E.8

Ares

Hanriot H.D.1 (11eme Escadrille de Chasse)

A Bevy of Belgians

Perhaps not as complete as I would like it, or even as impressive when compared to some others' collections, but I am decently happy with my Aviation Militaire Belge selection of aircraft. I still needed to add the color printed Reduced Aircraft Factory Sopwith Strutter and Breguet XIV, but waited too long and they are now no longer available.

Might have to add some decals to the Hanriot and Camel as I am not liking the more modern 1:3:5 Belgian roundel. Yes, they were used, but the 1:2:3 ratio roundel looks much better!

Organizing a Belgian Bloody April scenario to feature a few of the earlier period planes.

Mat - GripMats

Snipes on the Hunt After Action Report

At the Wright Flight monthly Wings of Glory gaming day I hosted the Snipes on the Hunt Polish-Soviet War scenario. Five players took part, and we used some modified rules (covered within the scenario found on the Downloads page above).

Using the random starting location generator from the Wings of Glory Aerodrome, the Poles, being on the defense, started in the center of the table, while the attacking Bolsheviks were two range sticks to the Poles' starboard. Within a few turns the planes engaged, with one Ansaldo taking some early damage. I had the Camel, and climbed to maximum altitude while the two Ansaldos became also separated in height. The players took a few turns to grasp the changes to the diving and firing rules, but worked both changes pretty well for the remainder of the game. The Soviet ace continued to lay down some heavy damage on the G Dog's Ansaldo, flown by an ace and representing Meriam C. Cooper's plane, he of later King Kong fame, continued to take a beating as his damage cards were of higher values in the A deck. Down went G Dog.

Down goes G Dog - note the heavy amount of damage inflicted

The other Ansaldo started taking damage, including the boom card (which we play at half damage rounded up) and limped off the board with just a point or two of damage remaining on the stricken aircraft. While  had a nice run at one at the Snipes, my altitude was too high for firing, so I decided that as the Soviets had two planes in excellent shape still on the board that it was time for some discretionary valor and headed for the safety of friendly lines.

All in all it was a short game, even with the modified altitudes for firing. The Ansaldos were given diving turn cards to enhance their historical performance, but the nimble Snipes were too much to overcome.

We laid out a second game in which I hosted and another player swapped in. The second game saw a much longer combat, with no planes shot down, but a couple forced off the table.

Starting locations for the second game

Planes: Table Top Flights Ansaldos, Ares Camel and Snipes

Mat - GripMats

Magnets - K and J Magnetics

A Proper Ponnier

Another project nearly completed - this one being a French made but Belgian used Ponnier M.1. The Ponnier was rejected by the French as they were focusing more on other types (the Nieuport line in particular) while the Belgians were scrambling for whatever they could get their hands on. 

The Ponnier story is one of controversy. I addressed this on the Wings of Glory forum, but will repeat here.

Table Top Flights' Ponnier M.1

One of the smallest of Great War fighters, which might have led to its perceived poor performance as being nose heavy. Nungesser disliked the plane after flying it in January 1916 with the initial smaller rudder, and the unknown (at the time) Willi Coppens did not want to fly it either. But Coppens would have had no "clout" in 1916, and Nungesser was performing acrobatics at 200 meters in an unfamiliar plane that led to him being injured. Jean Navarre also mentioned the plane was demanding to fly, but then again so was the Sopwith Camel.

However, I feel that the Ponnier has been unfairly represented.

As a American Civil War historian, I often deal with those who cling to misconceptions that permeate history, such as Braxton Bragg was a terrible general and everyone hated him. But the historical data does not back that argument as many of his soldiers, writing private letters home, wanted Bragg back in command during the Atlanta Campaign, over Joseph Johnston. You see a small but vocal portion of Bragg's army that did indeed dislike the man, but many in his army respected Bragg. Much like Bragg I have a feeling that there is a misconception for the Ponnier due to one bad report that other pilots gravitated towards without understanding the circumstances, and without having flown the plane themselves.

Noted Belgian aviation expert Walter Pieters in his definitive account of the Belgian Air Service (The Belgian Air Service in the First World War - Aeronaut Books, 2010) includes two photos of the Ponnier, with the caption of stating that the Ponnier was used by two Escadrille de Chasse (the 1st and 5th). No derogatory commentary is included. Pieters, in his book Above Flanders' Fields (Grub Street, 1998) provides one brief mention of how a Ponnier was tested during the summer of 1916, and mentions that several Belgian pilots were photographed with the plane. A thought to ponder - if the plane was so bad why would a pilot be seen in a photo with this plane? Pieters goes on to mention that Jan Olieslagers convinced higher authorities to not purchase the plane. However, there is no evidence I have been able to source that Olieslagers ever flew the plane, and perhaps was simply using Nungesser's comments. So, has the Ponnier been given the short end? It is rated by the Unofficial Stats Committee as a K Deck for maneuverability, and only six points of damage, again, as far as I can tell, based on the common misconception taken from Nungesser's flight in an unfamiliar plane at low altitude. The Nieuport 28 was not highly thought of, with the fabric shredding issues, until its pilots learned how to use the plane more effectively, and two of its squadrons wanted to keep the Nieuport instead of taking on the SPAD XIII. The Ponnier was not given much of an opportunity, but could it have performed, in the hands of a pilot who knew how to use it, like the Nieuport?

I suggest a revision to the Ponnier - as it used a rotary engine it might be considered for an I Deck. That might feel extreme to those who look through Nungesser lenses, so perhaps a compromise of a J Deck is in order? As for damage, if we believe that this plane has been given an undeserved reputation, then an 11 or 12 for a light 1916 plane is in order.

The coat of primer applied - one can really see the print lines that are enhanced by a digital camera

I've toyed with obtaining a Ponnier for years now, but Kampfflieger is was the only Shapeways option before they went tits up, my dallying about kept me from picking up a SRAM version when they were still available. However, the Shapeways version was offered in white natural versatile, which to me is code for "too damn grainy" and "too much damn prep work." Being a relatively lazy modeler, I like to spend less time in prep and paint and more time gaming. So when camelbeagle brought me a Ponnier from his recent trip to Origins, I was ecstatic! You see, this version is made by member mikejr74 (Table Top Flights), who produced his model in a high quality material that feels a bit more like plastic and is certainly less grainy than white natural versatile.

Base colors added - Vallejo cork brown and AK Interactive clean doped linen (version 2)

I have since painted the rudder with the Belgian colors and have added decals to the top wing. Once I have completed all the decals I'll hit the rudder with another coat (the yellow I have is very thin and needs several coats) and apply matte varnish overall. 

Kościuszko!

After a couple of months of not touching any of my Wings of Glory projects, I have been slowly working on a pair of Ansaldo A.1s for the Kościuszko Squadron. I believe I have them completed from a painting perspective - now I just need to order decals to mark the planes. They are not perfect, but looking pretty decent I think, and once the decals have been added and a final coat of sealer has been applied, they should look good on the tabletop. 

These are resin prints, from Table Top Flights. Good prices and service from Mike over at Table Top. Painted with Vallejo cork brown for the fuselages, and AK Interactive clear doped linen version2 for the wings and tail.

Oops, just noticed I forgot the radiator on the top wing, so I have now taken care of that task, and with a little more touchup around the radiator, the painting will be completed.

I've put together the framework of a scenario, pitting the two Ansaldos, along with a Camel, against two Soviet Sopwith Snipes. Balance should be decent - the Ansaldos are similar to the SPAD XIII, so think boom and zoom. The Snipes are speedy and maneuverable, but slightly balanced by the Camel. The scenario, called Snipes on the Hunt, is available on the Downloads page above.

The Polish-Soviet War

The blogging function on the Wings of War Aerodrome has been changed, not allowing for pictures to appear within the blog, and posting pictures upside down, so I will be blogging about my various Wings of Glory projects and gaming here!

Yeah, I need an intervention as I have plenty of projects to work on, but this one intrigues me. At one time I was going to do a 1792 Russian-Polish War project in 15mm, but alas the company that started making the figures never released more than a few packs, and the project withered on the vine. But as part of that project I read a bio on Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko and find the chap fascinating. Since I cannot game the 1792 affair, I CAN game the 1920 war, in which American and British pilots formed a squadron in honor of Kościuszko.

I have two books now on the Kościuszko Squadron. I have a pair of Table Top Flights Ansaldo A.1s to paint. I picked up a Sapozhnikov Sopwith Snipe. I made a trade with camelbeagle for a Polish Sopwith Camel repaint. I plan on getting one more Sapozhnikov Snipe to do a minor "repaint." Based on this I would say that this is enough!

The Ansaldo's are fast and good diving aircraft, and balanced with a Camel, these three Polish crates might be a nice mix against two Snipes. The Snipes utilize a fast and maneuverable deck, and Sapozhnikov should have an ace ability or two as he had four kills during World War One and two in the Russian Civil War. The Kościuszko Squadron pilots should have at least single ace ability as well - they are referenced to being well trained several times in the book Kościuszko, We Are Here!: American Pilots of the Kosciuszko Squadron in Defense of Poland, 1919-1921. This just might turn out to be a balanced three on two game, and a five or six player game is about all I like to manage on the table top!

UPDATE:

While not a lot has happened on this front in terms of getting aircraft painted, I was able to grab a Sopwith Camel repaint that camelbeagle picked up I believe from an eBay purchase (if the Camel in the picture was painted by one of the members of this forum, please let me know!). I know of at least one Camel in the Kościuszko Squadron that was brought in by one of the British members of the unit, however the artwork I have seen has the squadron insignia closer towards the tail, and does not show a red cowling...but as this plane has a spiffy paintjob already on it, I am leaving it alone!

For the pair of Soviet Snipes, I will most likely leave one as is and paint some sort of distinguishing feature on the other...perhaps adding red to the cowling and/or adding a red section to the upper wing.

I have slapped a little paint (Vallejo cork brown on the fuselages) on the Table Top Flights Ansaldos (like weeks and weeks ago). The focus now will be to complete these two aircraft and then create a scenario using all five aircraft.