The Hurricats

I read this book a few years ago and it stuck in my head as a potential Bag the Hun scenario project, although how it could actually work has been a bit of a sticking point too, to say the least. After some thought, I've come up with a potential solution, which is to develop a solo scenario system based partially on the Bag the Doodlebug V2 interception mechanisms in the Bag the Hun rule book. In this variant, the German aircraft would be controlled by the system, while the player would fly the Hurricane to launch, intercept, bail out or ditch then be picked up by the convoy escort. 

The focus would be on intercepting the Fw-200 Condor, BV-138 and Ju-88 long range aircraft that shadowed convoys, rather than convoy protection against waves of torpedo bombers. There's no reason that the latter couldn't also be included in a set of scenarios but it wouldn't fit with the solo focus of the game. and would require a full convoy of shipping. It's a minimal outlay project as a result, requiring a handful of Tumbling Dive models, with all of the required aircraft already available in the 1/600th Vapour Trails range.  I'll give this some more thought and see what I can work up.

Winter Hammer Homework

My order from Heroics and Ros arrived today and I'm very impressed by the 6mm figures, guns and vehicles for both the Soviet and Finnish forces. I'm lining this up as my land project for next month, as the 2mm Pike and Shot project is currently on hold until I sort out some replacement bases. I've been working out the basing system already and reckon on using 40mm x 80mm bases for the infantry, with 40mm x 40mm bases for the support units and vehicles, which sounds a bit odd but will look the part and also work well with the rules. I need to do some more planning but this is definitely coming together.

Lozenge Camouflage Challenge

Roy Cross Box Art 👍

One of the challenges I'm going to have to face for the 1918 German aircraft is painting the ubiquitous lozenge camouflage pattern. In most cases this will just be on the upper surfaces of the wings but in others, such as the Hannover CLIII above, I'll have to tackle the fuselage and tailplanes as well. I have some ideas for how to go about this but it's either going to be a piece of cake or a complete nightmare!

1918 Aircraft Additions

It's my day off on Wednesday but I always have so many things to do that the stuff on the workbench gets left to the last minute. Here are the aircraft I managed to assemble today, including three Albatros DV's, a lone Fokker DrI and three Halberdtadt CLII two seaters. The latter are lovely models and I'm looking forward to painting them. Next up will be some more Albatros DV and Fokker DVII scouts and a flight of Hannover CLIII's.

Ravenfeast Big Battles

In light of my recent experiments in 2mm and 6mm figure scales, I thought this variant of the Ravenfeast skirmish rules looked really interesting. The basic rules remain the same in most respects but the individual figures are replaced with multiple based 6mm figures, using in the examples provided the Baccus range of Viking, Saxon and Norman armies. The free supplement also includes a mini-campaign for 1066 with all three battles linked together, and there's an additional scenario for the Battle of Ashdown available on the website. I think this may be an even better option than 28mm and would allow me to recreate the Battle of Hengestdun in 838, for example, which is something I've always wanted to do. Yet more food for thought?

Ravenfeast

This year I'm aiming to not start any new projects, apart from the Winter Hammer one, but instead work on things I have already begun, if possible with a new twist to make them more interesting. The focus is on small, solo friendly projects with simple rules and a minimum of terrain, figures and cost.

One idea I've been mulling over is to finish some 28mm Viking figures I've had in a box for years, at least since 2010 or so. These are Foundry figures and were originally destined for SAGA. I have played a few games of SAGA with my Norman warband and enjoyed the rules, but they're not designed for solo play.

Instead, I'm going to use the free Ravenfeast rules which require fewer figures, are simple but also good for solo games, and also need a minimum of terrain as games are played on a roughly four foot square area. The warbands, for want of a better word, are about a dozen figures each, which is just about covered by the ones I've already based, perhaps with a handful of extras like bowmen and berserkers. 

I like the sound of this a lot and may even make it next month's land based skirmish project. It will make use of some stuff I've already got, won't take a lot of time to set up and the figures should paint up nicely, being full of character. It's also scalable and I could even use the rules for larger battles with smaller scale figures, possibly even in 6mm or 2mm. 

Jasta 18 Extras

Jasta 18 was re-equipped almost entirely with the Fokker DVII in early 1918 but retained a few Albatros DVa scouts and at least one Fokker DrI triplane. One of the latter was flown by the staffel commander, Lt August Raben, in addition to a standard Fokker DVII. I thought it would be fun to add a few Albatros and triplane models to the Jasta 18 line up, so have set some aside for assembly later this week, as it's far too cold in the sub zero garage to be playing around with super glue tonight.  

Jasta 18 'Red Nose' Fokkers

I've made a start on some Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale aircraft for 1918, with eight Fokker DVII scouts and a single Fokker EV / DVIII. These will be painted up as Jasta 18 machines, conveniently avoiding the need for any lozenge camouflage while also looking pretty nifty in their iconic red and white scheme. I may add a couple of Albatros DV models to the Jasta 18 line up, as they were flown alongside the DVII's by a few die hard pilots. 

2mm Pike and Shot Cock Up

I painted the bases on the 2mm Pike and Shot Royalist ECW army yesterday but I'm really not happy with the results. I think I over cooked the texturing on the bases which makes them look like they are at sea instead of marching across the West Country, and the green colour is a bit off too. I've salvaged the ones that are okay, the cavalry and artillery in the main, but will replace the infantry units, as they are not really useable. Oh well, ces't la guerre!

1/600th WWI 1917 Aircraft Album

Albatros DV and Fokker DrI

Albatros DV

Albatros DV

Albatros DV

Albatros DV

Roland CII

Fokker DrI

Fokker DrI

SE5a

DH5

FE2b Bristol Fighter

Sopwith Triplanes

Nieuport 17

BE2e

RE8

That's the first project of 2025 to be  completed, two opposing forces for the RFC / RNAS and the Luftstreitkräfte in early to mid-1917. Although I haven't added fuselage or tail insignia, to all intents and purposes they are ready for the wargaming table. They can be used for any WWI set of rules but I will be trying out Spandau and Lewis as the first choice. Tally Ho!