Bag the Springbok Record Sheets

It's been a very, very long day but I have started working up the record sheets for the Bag the Springbok scenario playtesting that is scheduled for this time next week at the club. The original design for these record sheets is mine but they've been liberally sprinkled all over the interweb, so you've probably seen the layout before. I have a much-needed day off tomorrow, so after walking the dog and doing the usual stuff around the house I'll have some time to get the rest of these sorted out, as well as the cards and the aircraft required for the two or three scenarios I'm hoping to run through next week.

The Little Things in Life

 

My local hardware shop is an Aladdin's Cave of useful bits and bobs but has sold out of the 40mm panel pins that I use for scratch building flight stands. I've tried other ones but these little yellow and blue Challenge boxes are the best by far, with no wonky or bent pins at all. I was down to a handful, so hunted about all over the place for some but with no luck. However, I have found an affordable source on line so have splashed out on two boxes to restock the supplies. It was a bit more expensive than off the shelf but well worth it now that my usual source has dried up. 

Bag the Springbok Scenarios Sorted

 

The scenario writing bit of the Bag the Hun project is now finished, with eight scenarios typed up and ready for play testing. These cover the whole stretch of the East Africa campaign although with more of them set in 1940 than in 1941. They are all based on actual historical events and wherever possible feature the actual aircrew concerned, with a little bit of logical deduction involved where the details are elusive or entirely missing. Without giving too much away the eight scenarios are designed for beginners and solo play but scale up to some more complex games towards the end of the series. I've shot them off to Nick Skinner for a look but I don't think there's anything that will scare the horses, subject to a spot of play testing. Tally Ho!

Cawsand Fort

 

I was at a family wake today and, as my family are from Cornwall, the ceremony and meal were at a pub in Cawsand overlooking Plymouth Sound. After the meal I went for a walk and had a closer look at Cawsand Fort, which was constructed c1867 but which had an earlier phase as a ten gun battery built in 1779. It's private residential property now but when I was a kid it was still unchanged from its original design and layout. I can't help thinking it would have made an excellent museum and restoration project.

Bag the Springbok

 

A brief update on the Bag the Hun East Africa scenario project, now tentatively labelled as Bag the Springbok. I have six scenarios written up, the latest of which features CR.32 fighters ambushing Ju-86 bombers and Hurricanes, so only have a couple more to hammer out before I'm done. I will also write a brief introduction to the scenarios to set the scene. Unfortunately, I've had to shift the play testing along a week due to an unexpected family funeral this weekend, but otherwise I'm on track to get things sorted out in time for the deadline.

Barbette and Battery

 

I had a message from David Manley, of Long Face Games, yesterday,  asking if I'd be interested in looking at some rules he's developing based on Dahlgren and Columbiad, for the transitional ironclad period c1880 to 1890 in which all sorts of experiments were made ending up with the pre-dreadnought. This has been an interest of mine for years and I've done some of my own tweaks to Broadside and Ram to try to model things like barbette mounts, disappearing guns and central battery armament combined with fore and aft firing guns, not to mention turret ships as opposed to monitors. I'll be very interested to find out what David has come up with!

Montgomery Castle