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'. 

Hat Trick

The latest and possibly the last scenario for the Lard Mag Algy Flies Down Under article has been written today. For want of a better title it's called Hat Trick and features two No.1 Squadron Brisfits in a dogfight with four Albatros scouts of Jasta 1F, after an actual skirmish over Nablus in April 1918. The Aussies claimed three Albatros 'out of control' for no loss, while the Jasta 1F records acknowledged the loss of Ltn.Fritz Botzow, who was shot down and killed. 

I've tried to balance the scenario with various tried and tested tweaks, so I think it will be a fair fight for both sides. Unfortunately, there are no records of the Jasta 1F pilots, apart from the unfortunate aforementioned Fritz, so I've had to extrapolate from the information I do have to fill out the pilot roster. 

I now have one more scenario to draft if I want to add a fifth, bonus game, but I'm in two minds whether it's really needed. Instead, I'll probably crack on with the introductory article, as it's more important, leaving the last scenario to later, if I do decide to include it. I also need to start some play testing, as far as possible in the time I can find this month, just to make sure it all works!

Schnellfeuergeschutzen!

I'm planning ahead for a second army for Death in the Dark Continent, one of the options being a German East Africa column, as it is a good opponent for the Nyamwezi. I have most of the figures for this already but no artillery or machine guns, but I've located a resin 3D printed Hotchkiss 37mm revolving cannon that would do the trick. This is available as a Special Rule for the Germans from 1889 onwards and is treated as a light field gun, give or take. I also have a spare Maxim machine gun from my Back of Beyond Turkish army stuff, which I can convert into an earlier version by replacing the sleeved barrel, the crew just needing a head swap to be sorted. Excellent 👍🏻