Finnish Fighter Decals

I was dead chuffed to spot a new sheet of decals from Sieben Schwaben decals on thei Facebook page yesterday, as they are markings and insignia for Curtiss Hawks of LLv32, the squadron for which I devised a whole set of Bag the Hun scenarios in the 2024 Lard Mag. They are in 1/200th scale but Bernhard is a good bloke and will resize then on request, in my case to 1/300th scale. This is excellent news and will make it possible to mark up all of the aircraft that feature in the scenarios. I already have the models for this in 1/600th scale but could now also get up and running in 1/300th too! 

 

Painting Puzzle Solved

After a lot of trial and error and a few false leads, I've cracked the painting conundrum for the skin shades of my Nyanmwezi army. This triad of Warpaints brown shades is spot on I reckon, with Oak Brown as the base and Tree Ancient as the highlight. I might also pick out some details in Dryad Brown, if it enhances the skin tone highlights. These paints are also nice and thick but water down well and give good coverage, so painting the skin tones should be relatively quick. Nice! 

Lard Mag Algy Article Away!

Nick and Rich try to work out WTF it's all about

The introduction and background blurb for the Algy Flies Down Under article is now finished so, without further ado, it's been sent off to Lard Island along with the scenarios. As the deadline for submissions was only announced yesterday as the end of the month, I haven't had time for any play testing yet but, as the scenario use set ups that are well tested already, I'm not expecting any issues. There's no guarantee it will make it into this year's Lard Mag but I think it has a fighting chance? 

Sopwith Camel Painting Progress

A quiet weekend for a change means that I have been able to get some time at the workbench to block in and wash the Sopwith Camel flight for the Lard Day game. These are 3D prints and I'm not used to painting resin, so it's been a bit strange especially as I haven't painted any 1/300th models for ages. I can't say I've enjoyed it that much but they are looking alright at this stage and will hopefully brush up well with some highlights, details and decals.

Baluchi Mercenaries

I realised yesterday that I have enough Arab figures from Foundry to kit out a unit of four bases of elite, untrained Baluchi mercenary soldiers (44 points) as an alternative to the four bases of untrained, elite Arab Noble skirmishers with breechloaders (48 points) that I have already based up. This would give the Nyamwezi a bit more hand to hand clout. 

It also started me off on a train of thought that I could use these units as the core for a small, 150 to 200 point army. I would have close to the former and could add a couple more units, including a cannon and some more skirmishers, to get up to the latter. This would be an easy way to expand my Death in the Dark Continent project and start to play the rules, without starting an army from scratch.

Tally Ho!

For the Algy Flies Down Under scenarios I'm changing the formation bonus move cards, Tally Ho! and Flying Circus! to something more appropriate for the Middle East theatre. For the Australian Flying Corps I'm going to use 'Bung on a Blue', slang for getting into a fight, while the Germans get a 'Hun in the Sun' card, given the hot desert climate. I thought these substitutions would give the game a bit more colour and a touch of a character, which is what it's all about!

Germans for Death in the Dark Continent

I have been thinking about a second army for Death in the Dark Continent, one option being a German force for East Africa using the army list in the rules. I have planned something very similar before but for In the Heart of Africa, Chris Peer's original set of Darkest Africa rules, which used individual figures. I did a trawl of the blog way back to December 2009 and have found my original army orbat, which consisted of these elements:

1 x White Man Leader + Aide de Camp (attendant) + Servant (attendant) = 40 points

1 x Scout = 50 points

1 x White Man + gun bearer = 60 points

1 unit of 6 x Marines (regulars) @ 28 x 6 = 168 points

2 units of 6 x Askaris (soldiers) @ 20 x 12 = 240 points

1 unit of 8 x Agile Spearmen Allies @ 4 x 8 = 32 points

1 Artillery = 50 points

1 x Gunboat = 100 points

Total = 740 points

This isn't far off the list options in Death in the Dark Continent, with a few exceptions like the marines, but could be adapted to fit the naval landing party list with a bit of a wiggle. I'll have to check the points totals, as the system is different, and perhaps expand the unit sizes to three or four bases each. The good news is that I have all of the figures in my lead pile! It's just one of the options I may pick but I think it would be a really good choice and would allow me to actually test out the rules while I paint up my armies.

Sausages for Breakfast

There were not many aces in the Sinai / Palestine campaign, especially on the German / Ottoman side. One exception was the rather splendidly named Vzfw.Gustav Schniedewind of Jasta 55, or Jasta 1F as it was titled locally. Already a veteran with Jasta 17 on the Western Front, when transferred to Jasta 55, he added to his score including a couple of observation balloons and an enemy scout. Rated a Junior Ace in Algy terms, he will be making an appearance in a balloon busting scenario shortly...aptly titled 'Sausages for Breakfast'.