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Eastern Express Nieuport 16c |
Jim's Wargames Workbench
Welcome to my blog. I have upwards of 100 projects in various stages of incompletion or total abandonment, so you may well find something of interest if you rummage about a bit. I concentrate on solo air and naval wargaming but other 'skirmishy' things quite often pop up out of nowhere, only to disappear again after something else grabs my attention. I even finish the occasional project now and again!
Saturday, 22 March 2025
Knights of the Sky Nieuport 16c RFC
Parachutes in Algernon Pulls It Off!
Here's a suggestion for a Bail Out! option for late war German pilots in Algernon Pulls It Off!
On the turn of the 'Springen!' (Bail Out!), Character or Pilot Move card, a pilot / observer may attempt to parachute.
Roll 1D6 and add / subtract modifiers:
+/- Pilot Luck
Aircraft on Fire - 1
Aircraft in a Spin - 2
Pilot / Observer wounded - 1
Result:
1 or less than 1 = Jumps but parachute tangled / fails to open.
2- 3 = Fails to jump (may try again)
4 - 6 = Parachute opens.
A parachute will not open in time if at Altitude Level 1 or 2.
Example:
A Veteran Pilot decides it's a good idea to jump from his burning Fokker Dr1.
D6 Roll = 3
Luck Modifier +1
Plane on Fire - 1
Result = 3
Try again next turn of the Move or the 'Springen!' card (luckily, he's at ALT 4 !)
I think this will work?
Friday, 21 March 2025
Algy Facebook Group Update
It's just under a week since I set up the Algernon Pulls It Off! Facebook group and there are now fifty five members signed up, which is pretty good going for only six days. It's still getting off the ground but, with some play test after action game reports on the way, I'm hoping it will start to take off over the next month or two. The aim is to get people playing the game again, or trying it out for the first time, so until that starts to happen it's still early days. If you haven't joined already, it would be great to have you along for a dawn patrol or two. Tally Ho!
Busting The Balloon
I've only got two weeks until I'm off to France for the Easter holiday, during which I'll be okay testing some of the Jasta 18 scenarios, so time is running out to complete the last of the 1/600th scale models. The big thing to do is to assemble and base the resin Tumbling Dice Caquot observation balloon, which I've already glued together, filled and sanded, ready for rigging. I'm busy next weekend with days away, so I really need to get this sorted this weekend, starting tomorrow with the rigging using thin gauge wire and fuse wire. It's going to be fiddly but I'm hoping it will look good when completed?
Thursday, 20 March 2025
Eduard 1/72nd Fokker DVII (OAW)
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Algernon Pulls His Parachute!
Algernon Pulls It Off! in the Clouds
For the last scenario in the Jasta 18 project, I needed some rules for clouds in order to give the R.E.8 crew a chance to hide from the attentions of Junior Ace, Ltn.Mendel, in his far more manoeuvrable Fokker DVII. The R.E.8 flew like a house brick and had a reputation as being a bit of a flying coffin, easy prey for a nimble high performance scout, so it was common tactical doctrine to run for the nearest cloud in order to evade an attacker. Here's what I came up with, designed to be very simple but also realistic in historical terms, while not unbalancing the chances for Ltn.Mendel to score his final victory.
SPECIAL RULES
At the start of the game, roll 1D6 and scatter this number of cloud templates, each the size of a medium blind, on the table. To determine the position of each cloud, divide the table into twenty four squares, and roll a D4 and a D6 for each cloud. The D4 corresponds to the short table edge and the D6 to the long table edge. Place a cloud template in the corresponding grid square. There can be no clouds in horizontally or vertically adjacent squares (re-roll for a different position). To determine the altitude of each cloud, roll 1D6+2 and mark the height on the template.
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
'Cat and Mouse' Algy Bonus Scenario
I'm not entirely happy with one of my scenarios for the Jasta 18 project, 'Baer's Really Bad Day', so I'm going to swap it out for a different one. This has already been written and so just needs to be slotted into the sequence in chronological order. It revolves around Ltn.Karl Albert Mendell, shooting down an R.E.8 of No.4 Squadron on 4th June 1918, for his seventh and final victory.
In this game, the R.E.8 crew of Lt.Maltby and 2nd Lt.Simms must evade and escape from the Jasta 18 ace, using cloud cover to bugger up his chances of shooting them down. I've included a mechanism for cloud deployment and rules to cover popping in and out of clouds, tying in with the blinds system. It's a simple system and so should work well, hopefully enabling the RAF crew to get away relatively unscathed.
It's great that I can have a 'Harry Tate' in at least one of the games, as it's my favourite aircraft and often gets flown in Knights of the Sky games at the club. I also have one painted up in 1/600th scale and have another pair in 1/300th scale 3D printed form, which are going to be a lot of fun to paint up. At any rate, the scenarios are all completed now, so it's on to the play testing phase of the project.
Monday, 17 March 2025
Pilot Record Sheet for Algernon Pulls It Off!
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Fokker DVII Filled In Sheet |
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Blank Template to Edit |
Jasta 18 Scenario Seven
The last scenario for the Algernon Pulls It Off! Jasta 18 project is about to be drafted and I've chosen one that I think will be a really good game. This features the famous American ace, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, in a four to one dogfight with a kette of Jasta 18 Fokker DVII scouts. In this action of 14th September 1918, Rickenbacker ambushed the Jasta Raben pilots, claiming to have shot one down before making his escape unharmed.
He believed that he was fighting against Richthofen's elite 'Flying Circus', being very impressed by the German pilots flying skills and aggressive tactics, but in all probability he was up against Jasta 18, although exactly who is unknown. This should be a bit of a cracker if I can work in the use of blinds and possibly some special characteristics for Rickenbacker, who will otherwise just be classed as a Junior Ace.