Adding to the Collection

Kepford's Corsair

While gaming on Saturday with the group, one of the members was checking out the Misc Minis website and came across a few new listings under the painted miniatures categories. There were a few for 1/285 scale, so I have added a flight of resin VF-17 Corsairs and another of metal Raidens. Price points are good at about $9.00 per plane (keep in mind the cost of the plane itself is about $3.00, so the cost of painting and decaling is about $6.00 per plane - and Kevin does amazing work! While I did not have an immediate need for either of these aircraft, in reviewing the various scenario books, I think they will fit into a few places and my next exercise will be to create lists of the scenarios that feature each type of plane. 

A Raiden Raiden

I hope Kevin at Misc Minis will keep offering painted 1/285 scale aircraft as it is a more convenient (or is that addictive?) way for me to add to my collection!

Color Choices - Part II

Glossy sea blue Corsair and two colors applied to the Mustang

100 Hour War

• F4U-5 Corsair - My Honduran F4U-5s were painted in USN Sea Blue (71.295) which is close to the dark navy blue seen in artwork, but is flat with some gray overtones as opposed to the more traditional glossy sea blue finish. While I have seen some who paint their Honduran Corsairs very dark, I have found no hard evidence as to the F4U-5s being painted in anything but the standard United States Navy blue which seems to be the correct color.
• F4U-4 Corsair - One Honduran plane had what equates to Light Gull Gray (71.121) overall, while the rest of the Honduran F4U-4s were given USN Glossy Sea Blue (71.300).

Looks more splotchy in person

• FG-1D - The Salvadoran Corsairs are painted in Glossy Sea Blue with a pattern of U.S. Dark Green (71.289) and IJN Ash Grey (71.311) over top, giving a three color camouflage.
• Mustang II - The few Mustangs that were utilized by the Salvadorans during actual combat were given the COIN United States Air Force South East Asia scheme. This would be a combination of US Dark Green (71.289), USAF Brown (71.125), and US Forest Green (71.294) upper surfaces with USAAF Light Grey (71.296) underneath. I have seen illustrations of the Mustangs having black instead of the dark green, but I do not believe those to be 100% accurate.

USN Sea Blue and Light Gull Gray on the Honduran Corsairs

New Toys Ordered Part IV - 100 Hour War

I have gone on a recent spate of ordering new planes. Some are to be used for future projects, others for expanding existing projects, while others will be to replace existing metal planes with higher quality 3D prints and more accurate paint schemes.

Next up - upgrading my 100 Hour War aircraft. As the 3D prints just look so darn nice, and I want to give a try at painting camouflage, I thought this small project would be perfect as camo only really needs to go on the Salvadorian side of the affair - the Honduran aircraft are in a solid color scheme. I have been able to add more possible scenarios, yielding a total of eighteen possibilities (some involve aircraft on just one side, bombing raids and such). To that end I have ordered the following:

Flight Deck Corsair (.50 cals) and P-51D - El Salvador

Flight Deck 20mm and .50 cal Corsairs - Honduras

Flight Deck Decals

F4U-1C Corsair (to be used as F4U-5) - 3

F4U-1A Corsair (to be used as Goodyear FG-1Ds and F4U-4) - 7

P-51D Mustang (to be used as Trans Florida Aviation Mustang II) - 5

C-47 Dakota - 1

The possible scenarios

The Last Dance

After one turn, one Salvadoran Corsair is already down

The 100 Hour War planes made it back onto the table, this time to do Tom Ballou's The Last Dance scenario. I made some modifications due to more recent research that Tom did not have access to, and also added in the other planes that were nearby but that did not become involved.

The setup placed the Salvadoran Corsairs in the center of the table, with the Honduran Corsairs in their tail arc, but more than seven hexes away. The Salvadoran Corsairs flipped about, but the Honduran Corsairs both opened up with long range shots, needing a 10 (skilled on green) and an 11 (green on green) to hit. The skilled Honduran Corsair pulled off the shot, and opening up with four 20mm cannons, blew his target out of the sky. One turn in, one Corsair down. 

While the other Salvadoran Corsair takes an engine hit

After dancing about a bit, the second Salvadoran Corsair took an engine hit, resulting in the skilled Honduran Corsair to run out of ammo - shite, this was turning into not a fun scenario, but the pair of Mustangs made their appearance, while the out of ammo Corsair buggered out by exiting the CAB. Now t was the turn of the Mustangs to take some long range tail arc shots at the remaining Honduran Corsair, which resulted in an engine hit. The Honduran went for the CAB exit, but failed his aircrew check, resulting in a destroyed Corsair (flying over enemy territory as it were).

Ending result - five VPs for the Hondurans an four for the Salvadorans.

From six hexes away, the green marked Mustang puts an engine hit on the remaining Honduran Corsair

I used the Dockfighters bases for the first time - the players liked the visual aspect and how we could change TALs using the combination of two different sized posts. They also liked the speed dial since it could not be bumped out of place. However, the stands are very wobbly in action, which is a concern.

Planes - Raiden and MSD Games

Mat - Hotz Mats

100 Hour War - Planes Needed

The Mustang is incorrectly shown with no wingtip tanks and with yellow recognition bands. The tanks were removed and the bands added after the last air to air combat.

On the Check Your 6! discussion group one can find five well written scenarios, and a background history, for the 100 Hour War, generously provided by Tom Ballou. Tom assembled the scenarios prior to the release of The 100 Hour War - The Conflict Between Honduras and El Salvador in July 1969, written by Mario Overall and Dan Hagedorn, so Tom's take on some of the actions are a little different than the most recent historical interpretation, but the core components are in place. The five scenarios call for an interesting mix of propeller driven aircraft.

Using the aforementioned book, I am developing several additional scenarios, both historic and "what-if", with a target of creating a scenario book. The scenarios will allow players to ease into Check Your 6! through a variety of missions, and there are cooperative scenarios in which the opposing side simply consists of ground targets and anti-aircraft assets. What follows are the aircraft needed for the various scenarios, including some changes to what Tom had initially offered, based on the updated information from the book.

Finding the specific aircraft however might a challenge. Only GHQ make a specific F4U-4 in 1/285 scale, but at $7.00 each they are ridiculously priced. Raiden handles the basic F4U, which should stand in as the FG-1D model used by the Salvadorans. MSD Games makes an F4U-5N in 1/300, but there is some question as to if the Hondurans had the radome in place or not (one photograph, taken before the war of an Honduran F4U-5N, shows the radome in place). Otherwise an F4U-4 work, filing down one of the protruding guns on each wing to represent four cannons instead of six machineguns. Flight Deck Decals and Table Top Flights both have F4U-1A and F4U-1C Corsairs. My suggestion is to use the 1A as FG-1Ds and F4U-4 models, while using the 1C as the F4U-5N. This is a far more affordable option than using GHQ.

Mustangs are even more perplexing. First, there is understanding just what Mustang is being used. The vast majority of Salvadoran Mustangs were Trans Florida Aviation, modified for counter-insurgency (COIN). One needs castings with wingtip tanks (the tanks were not removed until the last day of the war, and those Mustangs did not see any combat), and hardpoints. Scotia Grendel, in their Collectair range, does offer the III model, but it is not what one needs for this war. The photographs of the III model do not have an under fuselage air scoop, which the II model would have, and the engine used in the III drastically altered the appearance of the Mustang. I suggest to simply use a P-51D, which can be easily sourced, and either add some sort of wingtip tank, or use the casting/print as is. Raiden, Flight Deck, and Table Top all offer affordable P-51Ds. 

The Trojan T-28 is yet another issue. Before Shapeways went belly up, one was available in 1/285 scale, although with landing gear down (if my memory serves correctly). There are no alternatives in 1/285 or 1/300 for the Trojan. There are files available for those who have 3D printers, which I do not have. If anyone has the ability to print me a pair of T-28s, I would be happy to purchase the file and the planes!

The AT-6 (SNJ-4) Texan is easy to come by as several manufactures carry the venerable trainer. I have some from Table Top Flights to use for Syrians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and they should work well enough for Central America.

The C-47 is covered by several companies, my preferred would be Flight Deck Decals as the quality of Flight Deck's resin print is amazing. 

100 Hour War - Airplane Stats

Short post, mostly for reference for those who might be interested. Here are the Check Your 6! ratings for the various aircraft used in the 100 Hour War.

Besides the Soto Gets Three scenario found here on the blog, there are also a series of scenarios posted in the Files section on the CY6! forum. 

The Focke-Wulf Ta 183

As some of my gaming friends know, I like the obscure. I also like the look of certain aircraft - the iconic Corsair F4U, the nimble Nieuport 28, the sleek Pfalz D.IIIa and the beautiful Pfalz Dr.I. An aircraft that fits both the obscure and look of cool is the Focke-Wulf Ta 183 Huckebein (from Wilhelm Busch's "Hans Huckebein, the unlucky raven", a cartoon raven that traditionally makes trouble for others, and is often pictured with a decanter of liquor - my kind of bird). 

While the Ta 183 was never built, one can see its influences on 1950s jet fighters such as the MiG-15. The Ta 183 was intended to counter the large bomber formations that devastated Germany late in the war, particularly the threat that far ranging B-29s would be used in Europe. Heavily armed with four 30mm  MK 108 cannon, the Huckebein could also carry four Ruhrstahl X-4 wire guided air to air missiles or 500 kilos of bombs. Top speed was projected to be nearly 600 miles per hour, and climb rate was 4,020 feet per minute. With a ceiling of 46,000 feet, it would have been able to intercept Allied bombers with punch and speed, no matter the altitude.

Art by Marek Rys from the luft46 website

Check Your 6! ratings for the Ta 183 might look as follows: 

Interestingly enough, there are a few companies with miniatures for the Ta 183. Raiden, Table Top Flights, and MSD Games/Scotia Grendel (the Collectair range) are all available. The Table Top Flights version is in 1/200 scale, but can be special ordered in a smaller scale if desired (as pictured below). 

I'll have these two Ta 183s painted up for some 1946 "what if" scenarios against Allied jets and bomber formations.

Korean War AAR

 Well, maybe not so much an after action report as I simply cannot remember all the details, but today I hosted a four player Korean War game, the scenario being The Leatherneck "Checkerboards" from the Korean War scenario book - Marine Corsairs vs. People's Republic of China MiG-15s. As always with Check You 6, crew quality is often the deciding factor. I took a pair of MiGs while waiting for one player who we knew would be arriving a bit late. On the first turn I maneuvered the pair into a firing solution but the range, difference in skills, and the fact it was a deflection shot made the attempt futile. That sums up the Chinese players' day...when we could get into a firing position, the to hit modifiers were such that it was tough to bring cannon rounds onto the Corsairs. The Chinese had green pilots, the Americans had three skilled and one veteran.

The Corsairs are Raiden, and MiGs a mix of Raiden and CinC. 

The Marines drew first, and for that matter second, blood. The cannon-armed Corsair is a beauty with its good maneuverability and hitting power. A few turns in, after I handed off my pair of birds to the late arrivee, and BOOM, down goes a MiG. A turn or two later same thing happened. However, finally a MiG bears down and takes a tough shot with success and a Corsair shuddered then fell from the combination of 37mm and 20mm rounds. Pilot rolls were also not successful on either side for bailing out. Another Corsair took some airframe damage, but by this time both remaining MiGs were out of ammo and making time for the Yalu.

Over overwhelming American victory as they gained four additional victory points for each destroyed MiG in top of the normal Check Your Six scoring.

Some pictures from the game. The actual battle took place over the Yellow Sea, but I have yet to obtain a sea mat with hexes on it, so my standard Hotz map had to substitute today.

Corsairs in their starting position

Lined them up nicely, but the mods were against me

It became very interesting...

 ...and then there were three...well just two on the Chinese side

Mat - Hotz Mat

One Hundred Hours War - Gamed!

I finally got around to hosting the Soto Gets Three scenario (check the Downloads page above) after breaking down and doing the chore of adding magnets to the planes. While the scenario is a mosh of two actions on the same day, and some of the variable rules are more hypothetical in nature, I hosted a game at the Dragon's Guildhall on the east side of Dayton. As I had five players, I went ahead and added all the variable rules that added more aircraft to allow enough planes on the table. It was a fun time, and some good feedback from the game. I am tweaking the scenario a bit, after re-reading my book on this conflict and seeing some interesting posts on the Check Your 6! group. 

It was a tough go for the Salvadorans...losing three planes while the Hondurans suffered no losses. The 20mm guns on the Honduran planes caused a ruckus, but one of the tips on the CY6! group can counter this a bit - each time a 20mm Corsair fires, any ones means a jammed gun moving forward. 

For my planes, I do realize that some of the castings used are not quite right - some of the Mustangs should have wingtip tanks, and the Corsairs with radar domes should not have the domes at all, but as these were spare aircraft from other projects, I made do with what I had. I think it turned out well!

Mustangs in trouble

Splash one!

Salvadoran Corsairs trying to look badassed

Does it hurt?

Closing in

A Corsair furball. 

Meanwhile, other Mustangs join the fray.

More damage for the Salvadorans.

Planes - Raiden and MSD Games

Mat - Hotz Mats

100 Hours War Scenario

Having picked up a Helion title on this conflict, I have come up with my own Check Your 6! scenario, entitled "Soto Gets Three." It has not been playtested, but I believe I have captured the historical details to give the proper setting. Enjoy!

Here is the aircraft data:

I have also added the file as a pdf (on the Downloads page above).

The 100 Hours War

Honduran Corsairs on the left, El Salvadoran Mustangs and Corsair center and right

Recently I had Chris Geisert from I-94 paint up some aircraft used in the 1969 100 Hours War (known also - albeit incorrectly - as the Football War). El Salvadoran Corsairs and Mustangs taking on Honduran Carsairs, something quite different, especially for 1969. I have created a Check Your 6! scenario based on two historical events that took place on July 17th. This should be a fun game to host at conventions. The scenario can be found on the Check Your 6! group.  

I believe the turnaround time was something less than two weeks! Chris does nice work for an affordable price. I placed my order with I-94 and sent Chris some artwork on how I wanted the planes to look. They are not 100% accurate in terms of the base models used as Raiden and MSD do not make the proper Corsairs yet, but using proxies with a proper paint scheme should overcome any objections from gamers.

Korean War Plane Collection

I am taking some time to go through my 1/285th aircraft to get them a bit more organized, and finally got around to straightening out my Korean War planes. I have more than I thought! Here is a picture of the collection, nearly all Raiden, and of course using Check Your 6! Time to get some aircraft on the game table!

Check Your 6! - New Projects

After another great Game Day I have decided to expand my Check Your 6! collection a bit. I am selling off my Spanish Civil War planes so that I can start a few oddball projects that I have more interest in.

At Game Day I picked up the remaining aircraft that I needed to complete all the 1948 Arab-Israeli scenarios I have collected, written by Rob Wubbenhorst and published in Wargames Illustrated. I also picked up a few P-40B/Cs to start either a Pearl Harbor or Flying Tiger project. As I already have some P-36s doing a Pearl Harbor scenario might be fun, but I also now have, via a trade, a few Ki-27 Nates, so I might hold off on Pearl as that involves buying all the Japanese forces as well.  

I haven't purchased the planes yet, but the 100 Hour War (known incorrectly as the Football War) saw Corsairs and Mustangs used in Central America, and I have the workings of a scenario in mind.  

I also have an idea for Swiss/German fighting during World War II that could be interesting, and have completed a bit of research to create a scenario for that. I am getting some Bf.109s in a trade as part of the Spanish Civil War selloff.

Weird Wars - Check Your 6!

A placeholder for some of the stranger conflicts to explore using Check Your 6!

Football War

El Salvador

F4U Corsair

P-51 Mustang/F-51 Cavalier

Honduras

F4U Corsair

T-33

T-28 Trojan

I have a couple of P-51s already, but would need to find some sort of scenario information. Got this title on my wishlist as it might do the trick.

Air War Korea - Part VII: And Now, Back to the Air

As I get closer to running Check Your 6! events, I realize I need to add a few gaming items in order to do several of the scenarios in the Air War Korea scenario book. As it stands, once I receive my latest batch of planes from Chris G. at I-94, I will be able to recreate sixteen of the thirty-two scenarios published in Air War Korea. Realistically I could opt to do more, but as I am sticking with Raiden for all my miniatures (with a few CinC exceptions) some scenarios are still out of reach as Raiden does not yet produced the needed aircraft, plus I really refuse to buy nine B-29s! In looking in greater detail at some of the scenarios I can host forced me to rush over to the Fight's On! website and place an order for some goodies that I am still missing. I have ordered from Fight's On! one time previously, picking up some damage markers and a parachute marker, thinking that would be enough, but some of the scenarios that I have the full complement of aircraft for call for things like anti-aircraft positions and target markers. This evening I ordered the required items, along with some game markers that weren't needed but perhaps will be handy to use. Once the order comes in I will need to paint up the AA positions and target markers, but those will get knocked out quickly enough.

In the mail today I received a copy of Squadron/Signal's USN/USMC Over Korea. This is a classic work by Squadron/Signal, filled with black and white photographs along with color aircraft profiles. I can't believe I never bought this excellent work prior to now. As the F9F is my favorite Korean War aircraft, and the F4U one of my favorite World War II planes, this title, which of course brings these two and other fine aircraft into one publication, will always be a handy reference. And it was interesting to see the appearance in the Korean War of the TBF Avenger, used to evacuate Marines during the breakout at Chosin.

Air War Korea - Part V: Yes, Even More Toys!

Oh man, oh boy, oh bliss! Got a little box in the mail yesterday from I-94, and it contain some of the most wonderfully painted planes I have ever seen. Chris Geisert, who does painting gigs for I-94, painted and decaled these little beauties for me, and I am more than pleased with his work, and the pricing.is superb! I do not have the patience to do such small decal work, so having Chris add some character to these babies was well worth the cost. Depending on the amount of paint and decals, the prices ranged from $3.50 to $4.50 per plane. Add to that the base cost for a Raiden model, and you can have such great work for well under $10.00 a plane. I almost do not want to tell you how good these are as more work for Chris means more waiting for me! But, I cannot help but to give props where it is due. Chris was easy to work with, communicated very well, and the turnaround time was about six weeks (I was fourth in his work queue at the time).

As you can see by the photos, I had several planes commissioned. One MiG-15 in North Korean colors to go along with the three I bought painted from Zippy off of a Bartertown ad, and two MiGs done up in Soviet markings.

Add in four F9F Panthers, probably my favorite Korean War airplane at the moment, from both a design, color, and Check Your 6! performance perspective.

Six, count 'em, six F-86s, four in 51st Fighter Wing and two in 4th Fighter Wing markings. The amount of decals Chris added to these are stunning. I now have John Glenn's MiG Mad Marine in three scales!

And let's not forget four Marine F4Us!  Again, just great work!