Hande Hoch! Aircraft Record Sheets

I've got a Friday off for a change but haven't really had any time for wargaming pursuits, as I've had lots of little jobs to do. One thing I did scrape together are the aircraft record sheets for the Hande Hoch! scenario, which I've uploaded as a .pdf to the Facebook group files. It was a relatively straightforward job for the No.3 Squadron R.E.8 but the Schlasta 13 Halberstadt CL.II had to be worked up from scratch, taking longer than I expected to get everything into place. If you want to try out the scenario, you now have everything you need apart from your own models and a hex cloth of some sort. Chocks Away!

Hande Hoch! Card Deck

I worked up a card deck for the Hande Hoch! scenario yesterday. It's only nine cards so should give a quick turnover of the deck each turn, hopefully resulting in a fast moving game. The German crew are represented with genetic photos of actual Halberstadt crews but the Aussies are the real pilot and observer, which is a nice touch. The deck can be downloaded from the Facebook group files.

Arctic Eagles Lard Mag Material

I've just ordered a copy of the latest Helion Publishing title on Soviet Curtiss Kittyhawks, as it's spot on for my Arctic Eagles Bag the Hun scenario article, which I'm planning to write up in the Autumn for the Lard Mag. The review pages look really intriguing and potentially very useful for combat reports, maps, photos and painting reference material. It's not out for a week or two so I'll have to wait and see!

Summer Naval Project WW1

After thinking through the problems caused by Navwar probably shutting down, I've decided that the South American interwar naval project is not really feasible, at least until Navwar finds a new owner. So, to cut a long story short, my Summer focus will be the 'Get the Goeben' project from last year, or at least the Ottoman Black Sea fleet which I have already assembled, based and undercoated, ready for painting. I will also be assembling some opposing naval forces, with some Royal Navy battle cruisers top of the list but potentially also some of the Russian Black Sea fleet as well. 

Hande Hoch! - A scenario for Algernon Pulls It Off!

 

I completed another 'learning' scenario for Algernon Pulls It Off! today, based on an actual event in June 1918 when a German two seater ground attack aircraft surrendered in mid-air to an Australian crew in an R.E.8, who just happened to be passing by on an artillery reconnaissance sortie. I've written about this before so won't go over all the details but it's a slightly different scenario in that the Australians have to try to make the crew of the Halberstadt CL.II surrender, rather than just shooting it down. I think I've worked this into the victory conditions and created a nifty dice roll mechanism called the 'Hande Hoch! test to cater for this, but I'll need to play test it before I know if it actually works?

Interwar Argentinian Fleet c1937

This is what I've sorted out for an interwar Argentinian Fleet c1937, using the old Navwar models. There are the two dreadnought battleships Moreno and Rivadavia, two Vienticinco de Mayo class heavy cruisers, five Cervantes / Mendoza class destroyers and three Sante Fe class submarines. Not a lot but better than the Brazilians, who are in need of some modern reinforcements which I'll have to order from the old Davco range. The stern of one of the cruisers was miscast, so I'll have to mend it with plastic card, but otherwise I'm ready to start cleaning up and painting the fleet for a mini solo campaign with Find, Fix and Strike.

Jasta 11 Painting Progress

Much to my surprise I actually had a spare hour today to finish blocking in the base colours on the Jasta 11 triplanes. These will be entered in the Algernon Pulls It Off! Facebook group competition this month, which involves painting something in primary colours, which is pretty much spot on for the 'Flying Circus'. I've washed the models now and will crack on with adding the highlights over the next few days, even though I'm back at work and have a very busy week ahead.

Summer South American Project?

The half term holiday is almost over and, due to DIY and gardening duties, I've barely scratched the surface of what I hoped to cover in wargaming terms. At the moment, I'm painting the Jasta 11 triplanes and I'm going to continue with those over the next week or two, but I'm now switching from an air to a naval project, as planned for the summer.

In a change of focus, the Napoleonic naval project is going to be left for the summer holidays in about six weeks time, both for INWarD 2025 and as to assemble the Spanish fleet, so the decks are clear for something else. I did think of painting the 1/2400th scale Turkish WW1 fleet that I've prepared, so that's a definite option but I also fancy something a bit different. 

About a year ago before Navwar went off line, I bought two opposing 1/3000th scale fleet packs, one Argentinian and one Brazilian for the Second World War. I was planning to use them for another South American 'What If'? solo campaign, this time set in the 1920's or early 1930's but didn't get further than a few sketchy ideas 

I quite like the idea of getting this going again, although I'll need to add some WW1 'E' class destroyers for Brazil, which were not included in the packs. I do have all of the principal battleships and cruisers though, which makes this a very feasible, quick painting project for this month, if I get on with it. I'll have to take another look at my notes first though, as it's all a bit 'back of a fag packet' at the moment!

Jasta 11 Blocking In

After a week of gardening, DIY and digging holes, I've found some time today to make a little headway with the four Jasta 11 Fokker Dr.1 models. These are being blocked in with the correct colours for four specific pilots, which takes a bit of time but does look good when finished. I'm not sure if I'll have any time tomorrow but it's all going in the right direction for a change!

Sixty Squadron Somme Scenario

A potential 1916 scenario I may well write up at some point, with a few tweaks to make it manageable for Algernon Pulls It Off! 

'Commanding officers of squadrons were instructed not to fly, but this order was often ignored. Major 'Ferdy' Waldron commanded 60 Squadron, flying from Vert-Galant and took off with a patrol on 3 July.

Both Armstrong and Simpson fell out, through engine trouble, before we reached Arras.... Waldron led the remaining two along the Arras-Cambrai road. 

We crossed at about 8,000 feet, and just before reaching Cambrai we were about 9,000, when I suddenly saw a large formation of machines about our height coming from the sun towards us. 

There must have been at least twelve. They were two-seaters led by one Fokker (monoplane) and followed by two others. I am sure they were not contemplating 'war' at all, but Ferdy pointed us towards them and led us straight in. 

My next impressions were rather mixed. I seemed to be surrounded by Huns in two-seaters. I remember diving on one, pulling out of the dive, and then swerving as another came for me. I can recollect also looking down and seeing a Morane about 800 feet below me going down in a slow spiral, with a Fokker hovering above it following every turn.

I dived on the Fokker, who swallowed the bait and came after me, but unsuccessfully, as I had taken care to pull out of my dive while still above him. 

The Morane I watched gliding down under control, doing perfect turns, to about 2,000 feet, when I lost sight of it. I thought he must have been hit in the engine. After an indecisive combat with the Fokker I turned home, the two-seaters having disappeared.

I landed at Vert Galant and reported that Ferdy had 'gone down under control.' We all thought he was a prisoner, but heard soon afterwards that he had landed safely but died of wounds that night, having been hit during the scrap'

A.J.L. Scott  - The History of 60 Squadron

Sandbox Skirmish Source Material

This was a bargain in a National Trust second hand bookshop yesterday at only three quid, especially as it's a hardback and in 'as new' condition. Not that I'm really interested in the Royal Leicestershire regiment to be fair, but it does have extensive detail on Aden so a bit of a gold mine for my Sandbox Skirmish 15mm post-colonial, semi-historical 'imaginations' project, which I've sadly neglected for months, if not years now? Anyway, too good to miss, so I snapped it up!

Jasta 18 Scenario Play Test - Cat and Mouse

I put a request out for play testers on the Algernon Pulls It Off! group last week and was pleasantly surprised that two teams of wargamers volunteered. I've sent off the 'Black Thursday' scenario and cards to them, one in Australia and one in the UK, so that they can organise their play test games. This means that I won't need to rush a solo play test of the scenario, just yet anyway, but can leave it until the summer holidays, when I will have plenty of time. 

I owe a big thank you to Andy and Gary for stepping up and they'll definitely get a mention in the Lard Mag article too.

As this has let me off the hook this half term holiday, I am going to have a crack at play testing the "Cat and Mouse' scenario instead, which is far more manageable as a solo game. The card deck is much smaller for starters and it only includes two aircraft, one RE8 and one Albatros DVa, so I will be able to manage a couple of run throughs, assuming I don't get interrupted. I just need to print the record sheets and cards, then bodge up some blinds and clouds to be good to go!

Knights of the Sky Club Game

A rare night out at the local club this evening to play in a Knights of the Sky game, the house set of rules for First World War dogfighting. The Roland C.II was deployed in a fighter bomber role, scoring eight victory points for bombing a fuel depot, with some effective damage to enemy Sopwith Strutters by both the observer and pilot. The game was good fun but fizzled out a bit towards the end, which was a shame as I'm rarely around on club nights these days due to other commitments. 

Dawn Patrol Scenario Card Deck

I completely forgot to design a card deck for the Dawn Patrol scenario that I write a couple of weeks ago, so I've quickly adapted a similar deck to make a printer friendly, easy to use deck that can be downloaded from the Algernon Pulls It Off FB group files. If I have time later in the week, I'll give the scenario a run through, as it's designed as a quick to play, easy to learn game for beginners, so shouldn't take long to play.

Indonesian Confrontation Naval Revival?

David Manley has drafted a set of rules additions and amendments for his Find, Fix and Strike WW2 naval rules, so that they can be used to wargame the Indonesian Confrontation c1965. This is great as I have already played a solo campaign based on the conflict using Naval Command, so have most of the forces required, apart from the carriers and aircraft. I will give this some more thought, potentially adding the missing ships and repainting the bases on my existing models, as they are a bit too dark. David has also hinted that he may produce a campaign supplement for the conflict, which would really make this a feasible project revival, perhaps even for INWarD 2025?

Happy INAK47WD 2025

Holiday Half Term Project

I was looking for a little 'side project' for the half term holiday when I remembered that this time last year, I'd organised a flotilla of American ships for the Quasi War and War of 1812. I had a rummage and have dug them out of the lead pile, ready to be assembled over the week, although not painted as I have the Jasta 11 triplanes on the go too. I enjoy gluing these Tumbling Dice ships together and I'll be able to paint them in time for INWarD 2025 in a couple of months, when I'll be in Brittany and will have plenty of time for some solo Napoleonic naval wargaming.

Fly Fight Win - Honcho

 

A week or so after I printed off all the sheets for the Fly Fight Win series of air wargaming rules, lo and behold, a completely revised edition is released for all three versions of the rules. Not that I'm complaining as they are all still free to download from Wargame Vault and the new editions have been streamlined for faster play, all of which is a bonus. I am pretty enthused by this system, which has shades of Bag the Hun and Fistful of Lead, two sets of rules I really enjoy. I'm going to give the Korean War rules a try out over the holiday and see how they play solo, then think about doing the same with the Cold War / Modern equivalent. It's great that I don't have anything to prepare for this, apart from some printing, as I already have an extensive collection of Korean War aircraft in 1/600th scale, flight stands and a hex mat, so I'm good to go!

Here Comes The Summer

I'm on holiday next week, which for me marks the start of the summer, so I'm going to be spending the time on Algernon Pulls It Off! painting and play testing. After that, I'm going to move on to new things, as I think the WW1 air wargaming itch has been scratched.

I'm not sure what I'll be moving on to but Chain of Command is clearly one of the top options, assuming my pre-order copy of the new second edition arrives sooner rather than later. This would be in 15mm using Peter Pig figures, guns and vehicles, focussed on NW Europe and the 5th Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. This has been something I've wanted to do for years so with the new rules coming out now, there's no time like the present!

Black Thursday Play Test

I'm on holiday next week and so will be running some more solo play test games for the Jasta 18 'Raben's Ravens' project, something I just haven't had time to do over the last couple of months. The one I really want to test drive is 'Black Thursday' but it's really a multiplayer game and will take a long session to play through on my own. I would take it up to the local club but they don't really like Bag the Hun, so it wouldn't be a very worthwhile exercise. Instead, I've offered it for play testing on the Algernon Pulls It Off! FB group, which may pick up some interest and result in some third party play testing feedback. I'm not holding my breath...but who knows?

The Duellist After Action Report

The Duellist.

In the first few turns of the game, Capt. Bishops-Tipple inflicted some telling damage on Oblt.Hofmeister's Eindecker, with two Minor and one Critical hits, despite jamming his Lewis gun at one point and using up half his ammunition.

The critical hit caused some elevator and wing structural damage but an over confident Hofmeister then fluffed a hard manoeuvre and lost control, going straight in from ALT 2. 

After this, in the second half of the game, Lt Lowenbrau managed to skilfully evade the fire of the RFC Junior Ace, who only managed a single minor damage hit in a twisting, turning dogfight.

However, in an attempt to get on the RFC pilot's tail, by trying to pull a low level Immelman, Lowenbrau also lost control, spinning in again from ALT2 with no chance to recover.

RFC 17 points / Luftstreitkrafte 0

It was a fun game but the Germans were unlucky to roll high on the pilot ability table and ended up as regulars, which made hard manoeuvring very risky. The RFC in contrast rolled low and gained a Junior Ace, so had a definite advantage. 

Definitely worth a re-play to see who comes out on top next time, as the Eindeckers did put up a good fight and, with a bit more luck, would have given the RFC a run for it's money.

(I've removed the -1 modifier for the RFC ability roll and reduced the bonus VP's for shooting down a plane, but otherwise the scenario is good to go.)

Play Test DIY Free Day

I have my day off tomorrow and, as far as I know, I don't have any jobs to do around the house or in the garden for a change. This means that I can actually get a play test game sorted, so I'm going to set up 'The Duellist' scenario for a proper solo run through. It's all ready to go so I just need to roll some dice. Fingers crossed I don't get ambushed with any DIY?