Welcome to my blog. I have upwards of 100 projects in various stages of incompletion or total abandonment, so you may well find something of interest if you rummage about a bit. I concentrate on solo air and naval wargaming but other 'skirmishy' things quite often pop up out of nowhere, only to disappear again after something else grabs my attention. I even finish the occasional project now and again!
Tuesday 31 August 2021
Black Powder Napoleonic Club Game
Monday 30 August 2021
1/2400th Ships for the Battle of Arica
Huascar (Peruvian and Chilean) |
Alianza and Republica |
Manco Capac and Alianza |
Sunday 29 August 2021
Chilean Torpedo Boats
Goodnight Natascha
I've written up the first scenario from the Khalkhin Gol project, giving it the working title of Goodnight Natascha in reference to the Polikarpov R-Z 'Natascha' that is the focus for the game. I've tweaked a couple of elements including, for example, rating the rear gunner of the R-Z as a 'Dead Eye Dick', which gives him an additional +1D6 when firing. Other than that, I've left it pretty much as play tested, as I'm confident it works well as a game and gives both the Japanese and Soviet players a good chance of success.
Saturday 28 August 2021
War of the Pacific Plan B
Hurricane
I've read most of the books on this aircraft but, somehow or other, this one slipped through the net. I spotted it in The Works for three quid yesterday, but as I'm not a fan of paperbacks I downloaded a digital copy for just a little bit more. It's actually really quite good, despite the ridiculous strap line on the cover, and I'm enjoying reading through the first couple of chapters now. It is one of the most common aircraft in my Bag the Hun games over Malta, North Africa or in the Battle of Britain, so I'm hoping to find some good scenario material that I may not have come across before and in some new locations like Burma, Russia or the North Atlantic.
Friday 27 August 2021
Traffic Lights
Bolt Action 'Hold Until Relieved' Club Game
I was going to run a naval or air wargame of some description at the club next week but it turns out the lad isn't working that night, so we're going to have a go at Bolt Action second edition, with his late war Germans against my Americans. I've played Bolt Action before and found it a bit 'gamey' but I'm prepared to try it again, if only because I don't have enough figures for Chain of Command yet and it's relatively simple to pick up and play. We're going to use Scenario 10: Hold Until Relieved, as I have a nice model bridge that will work well as the objective, together with my snow terrain cloth and trees. It should be fun!
Thursday 26 August 2021
French Naval Aircraft for Find, Fix and Strike
Vought V-156F-3 Vindicator (in service July 1939) |
Dewoitine D373 (in service March 1936) |
As well as the Ki-21 bombers for the Khalkhin Gol project, I'm going to be painting some Italian and French aircraft for my 1940 Find, Fix and Strike Autumn project. I've had a painted model of the French carrier Bearn for ages but somehow never got round to equipping her with any aircraft, which is something I need to rectify. To do this I will be magnet basing and painting four Vought V-156F-3 Vindicator dive bombers and four Dewoitine D373 fighters, all from Tumbling Dice in 1/600th scale.
Khalkhin Gol 1/600th Ki-21 Sally
Wednesday 25 August 2021
Bag the Hun Khalkhin Gol Club Game Two
After the Soviet drubbing yesterday I thought they'd like a chance for a revenge grudge match, so have written up the Scenario D game for the club in a couple of weeks time. This is a big old dogfight over Lake Buir Nuur in June 1939, with the Soviets having some advantage in terms of numbers but a potential slight disadvantage, depending on some random dice rolls, when it comes to pilot ability. It also features the use of bogeys for both sides, which is always an added dimension for a Bag the Hun game, and a time limit of ten turns, by which time night will have fallen and the surviving pilots will have to disengage. I'm hoping that there will enough people interested to be able to run the game relatively soon, but I may try to give it a go solo tomorrow if I can find the time.
Bag the Hun Khalkhin Gol Club Game Report
Tuesday 24 August 2021
1/3000th Italian Fleet Underway
Now that most of the play testing has been done for the Bag the Hun Khalkhin Gol project, I'm back on to the 1/3000th scale Italian fleet for Find, Fix and Strike. These are all Davco models, which I bought ages ago as a battle pack and have since added some extra bits to, rather than my usual Navwar. They're a bit cleaner and better cast than some of the Navwar models but are also more expensive, so it's swings and roundabouts, especially as they are a little bit larger than the equivalent so don't always mix well. I have some destroyers, light cruisers and a second battleship to prepare now, which I'm planning to get sorted today.