Biting the Bullet with Bombers over Germany

It's almost the end of our time in quarantine and it's not been too bad, although the novelty is definitely wearing off and we're all desperate for a decent bit of fresh air and exercise. I've also got exactly a week before I have to go back to work, so to cheer myself up I have ordered a load of shiny metal things from Tumbling Dice for Bombers Over Germany. 

After some thought, I decided not to do the Battle of Britain despite having all the models required, as I can do that later on. I also rejected the late war Defence of the Reich option, which seems daft given the focus of the rules and all the whacky jet aircraft that the Luftwaffe can deploy, but there is a method to my madness.

Instead, I've opted for the mid-war 8th Air Force daylight bombing campaign over France c1943, partially due to my existing interest in this subject but primarily because I can have a selection of my favourite escort aircraft including P38H Lightnings, birdcage P47B Thunderbolts and even Spitfire Mk IX's for the RAF. The Luftwaffe also get mainly Fw190-A3/4's but also Bf109-G's, Bf110-G's and even a handful of  Me410's as interceptors.

The bombers will be B17F's without the later G model chin turrets, so classic mid-war aircraft in olive drab rather than the slightly boring bare metal finish of the late war period. I already have four of these but have ordered ten more to make up a slightly small but perfectly large enough bomber box formation. There's a opportunity here for some interesting unit markings too, so fun to do if I can pull it off.

I'm also going to recycle a load of hex flight stands that I saved when I switched over to magnet basing for 1/600th scale aircraft. For this project I'm going back to rigid wire stands in mdf hex bases but using longer 100mm wires for the extra height effect. I have a pack of spears that I can use for these, so again a cost cutting option that will look really good and much less stress than all those tiddly magnets.

I'll set this project aside for some point in the next few months, once the 1/2400th scale ironclads have been completed and launched, but I'm looking forward to it already!