Le Plan

I've worked out a plan of sorts to enable me to complete the 1/2400th scale French Pre-dreadnought fleet over the next couple of months or so. There are quite a lot of models to paint, although they're nearly all assembled, based and undercoated, so I'm going to tackle them in five phases:

Phase 1 Protected Cruisers

Phase 2 Armoured Cruisers

Phase 3 Battleships 

Phase 4 Coastal Battleships

Phase 5 TB flotillas and TBD flotillas

This should make it easier to get the whole lot done over a couple of months,  if I steadily work my way down the list and don't get distracted by 'ooh shiny' things ...that's the theory!

Protected Cruiser Tage

I've been out visiting with friends most of the day, which means time at the workbench has been minimal. The time I did have was spent assembling and basing a model of the protected cruiser Tage, as modernised between 1900 and 1901, to go alongside an existing model of the earlier version with full sailing rig. I had the modernized model in the lead pile and thought it would be a nice extra. I have a couple of Descartes class protected cruisers that I could also assemble but I think I have enough for now!

French Pre-dreadnought Protected Cruisers Block In

A positive start to the French Pre-dreadnought painting this afternoon, with nine protected cruisers blocked in with Army Painter Matt White. I have a few more to work on tomorrow including armoured cruisers, but there's only so much you can complete before you lose your focus, so I'm calling it a day. I'm a bit short of armoured cruisers for the fleet, so I may take a break from painting to add three Gueydon class cruisers at some point, while I finish off the blocking in on the ones I've already prepared. 

Ace of the Iron Cross

A few weeks ago I was trying to track down a copy of Ernst Udet's autobiography, Ace of the Iron Cross, for a scenario writing job, but could only find very expensive new copies. Yesterday, while clearing out the loft I found an old second hand hardback edition of the book, which was a bit late for the scenario writing but a turn up for the books, so to speak, in other ways. Tally Ho!

French Pre-dreadnought Autumn Painting Plan

After some futile attempts to source missing Russian dreadnought and pre-dreadnought battleships for the Black Sea fleet, I've decided to switch over to painting these Tumbling Dice French models instead over the next couple of months. I've had these prepared, based and under coated for literally years, so it is high time they were completed. I will also add some destroyer and torpedo boat flotillas, based for When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Seas and Broadside and Salvo, although this lot will keep me more than occupied for weeks!

Somme Success

I was browsing through my Kindle archives this morning and spotted this book, which I downloaded years ago but have never read. I thought it would be perfect as a half term holiday read, with a view to some Algernon Pulls It Off games with my freshly painted DH2 models. Tally Ho?

AK47 Foundry Paint Palette Plan

It's the half term holidays at last and I've set myself a painting challenge for the next couple of days, just for fun. I have a very old collection of excellent Foundry paints that have seen better days but are still, on the whole, good to go. I've selected a set of triads, with a few even older Citadel substitutes here and there, to paint up the COIN aircraft for AK47. Some of the paint shades are relatively fresh but others are a bit long in the tooth, to say the least, so it will be a challenge to use them to best effect. I'm looking forward to some layering for a change, with a bit of a wash here and there to add some subtle shading. I wonder how it will turn out in the end?

PC10 Painting Challenge Completed

I finished off the 1/600th scale Tumbling Dice Airco DH2's and a Be2c this afternoon, adding decals from Dan at Flight Deck, although not to the fuselage sides of the pushers as life is just too short for such miniscule shenanigans (I also didn't have roundels small enough...that's my excuse anyway). I'll need to paint some Albatros DII scouts and Roland CII two seaters for the opposition at some point, but it's on to naval things now for a bit of a change.

South American Interwar Naval Project Update

A couple of years ago I started a 1/3000th scale "What If?" South American interwar naval project, based around the WW2 fleet packs from Navwar, one Brazilian and the other Argentinian. This required some replacement models for interwar destroyers and additional ships for Chile but, when Navwar went out of business temporarily, I had to postpone the project as it wasn't viable. Now, apparently, Navwar is back up and running so I'm putting in an order this week* for the missing models I need, with a view to starting the project again in 2026. I'll be using Find, Fix and Strike and also Victory at Sea First Edition but may well tinkle about with other options too. 

(*assuming the web site is still functioning, that is?)

Samurai Skirmish

I've been away for a few days for my eldest son's graduation, hence the radio silence, but had some time to spend with the family in a cottage in deepest, darkest Devon. The boy has been working for six months for the Forestry Commission but that job is now winding up, so he's got time on his hands and wants to do some wargaming, specifically samurai skirmish. We've decided to give Test of Honour a try, although it's a bit 'gamey' for me, so we'll be picking up the rules and a couple of sets of figures for a project over the winter months, possibly taking advantage of a good deal or two at Warfare in November?l. If it's not up to scratch then the fall back option will be Ronin, which I've always wanted to use for Sengoku era skirmish games using the wonderful Perry Miniatures figures.

COIN STOL for AK47 Competition

There's an 'Air Support' competition on the AK-47 Facebook group this month, with the aim being to build a model aircraft, helicopter or similar ground attack asset. I built an old VEB Plasticart light aircraft a couple of years ago, with added gun and rocket pods, which will fit the bill and I'm planning to paint it up at the weekend. It will be a really nice change from tiddly 1/600th scale WW1 aircraft!

Happy Trafalgar Day

... unfortunately not for me, as I've got a stomach bug that means I'm not going to be able to join in the Trafalgar club game tonight. I had hoped I would feel better by now but I can't seem to shift it, so will have an early night instead. 

PC10 Painting Progress Part Two

The Tumbling Dice 1/600th Airco DH2's are pretty good much finished as far as painting is concerned and now just need a tidy up and some decals, followed by a coat of Matt varnish. They've come out looking alright but less nest and tidy than I would have liked. I'm hoping to wrap them up tomorrow after work.

Get the Goeben Ship Stats for When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Seas

I've had a crack at working out the ship profiles for the Ottoman Navy warships not already covered in the First World War version of When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Seas. These include the two ex-German Brandenburg class pre-dreadnought battleships and the armoured cruiser Hamidiye. Its not too difficult to do the number crunching except for armour hull boxes but I think I've come up with some reasonably accurate ship stats, give or take a bit of guesswork. This means I can crack on with painting the models as soon as I've finished the 1/600th scale Airco DH2's for the PC10 project. 

Italian Pre-Dreadnought Potential Project

I was reading through the Russo Japanese War scenarios in When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Seas yesterday, working out how many 1/2400th scale models id need to build and paint for a game. This wasn't an insurmountable number but it would take some time to be completed, even if I already have a lot of the principal warships in the lead pile. 

I then remembered that I have already assembled, based and undercoated about a dozen Italian pre-dreadnoughts that just need to be painted up to be rest for action. These range from the mid 1880's through to just after 1900, so a good range of interesting vessels, from turret and barbette battleships to proper pre-dreadnoughts. 

With a few additions, this would be a really good starting point and eventually useful against both the French and the Austro Hungarians for 'What If?' scenarios. It needs some more thought and I'd have to work out the ship sheets but I think this might be a good project for next year, especially if I go for a wartime grey paint scheme to speed things up a bit.

When Dreadnoughts Ruled the South American Seas

 

I mentioned the Battle Box Studios naval rules to Geoff at the club earlier this week, as I thought he might be interested in the Russo Japanese War version, and he's now had a trial game with his Anglo-French pre-dreadnoughts. It looks like the rules are right up his street. Anyway, following his example, I'm going to work out the ship data cards for my Chilean and Argentinian pre-dreadnoughts, which I hadn't thought of as an option to use the rules with before. It shouldn't take long to run up the numbers and perhaps even have a try out game myself in half term in a couple of weeks?

Armoured Storm Eastern Front 1/600th Scale Reinforcements

I enjoyed the Armoured Storm game at the club yesterday so decided to start organising my Heroics and Ros (ex-Skytrex) tanks for the mid-war Eastern Front. These include Tigers, Panthers and Churchills, backed up by some Oddzial Ozmy T34/76 models and air support from Tumbling Dice. I have more Tigers and Churchills on the way,  as well as some StuG IIIG tank destroyers, so will have a good range of kit and enough for several companies. I'll start painting them all up as soon as the order arrives in a week or so.

Armoured Storm After Action Photo Report

A jolly good game of Armoured Storm in the Western Desert last night at the club, even if the Axis got thrashed by the Eighth Army. It's the first time I had played the rules but it was quick to pick up and rolled along swiftly, despite the large number of units on the table. In the end, a combination of terrible dice rolling, poor tactics and inexperience with the way command to tokens could be used, resulted in a bit of a pasting for the Italian and German forces, but they did give the British a bloody nose along the way. 

PC10 Painting Progress

You wouldn't know it but I've made some progress with the DH2 painting today, after a busy weekend scuppered my PC10 project plans. The grey parts have been blocked in with Army Painter Uniform Grey and I've also blocked in the undersides in Vallejo Tan Yellow, tidying up as I went along. Next up will be the Vallejo Cold White rudders and the Vallejo Matt Black wheels and engine.

Over the Front with the French Aces

 

The next phase of my First World War air wargaming with Algernon Pulls It Off! will be to focus on the French, assembling a collection of 1/600th models when Paul at Tumbling Dice finally adds them to the range. While I'm waiting for the aircraft to be sculpted for 1917-18, I'm doing the background reading and research toward the scenarios, so this book will be very useful in tracking down some of the leading pilots. These usually go for quite a lot of money but I've found a very good quality hardback copy for a tenner, which is an excellent price to pay. I have some half term holiday time coming up in a couple of weeks too, so time to do some proper background cross referencing and research. 

Armoured Storm Club Game

I'm off to the club tomorrow night for a game of Armoured Storm, which was supposed to happen a couple of weeks ago but was postponed. It'll be a Western Desert scenario with all the kit provider by Geoff, so I'm looking forward to having a crack at the rules. We are both bringing our boys along for the game, which will make it a father and son effort, or perhaps the oldies against the whipper snappers? As always, I'll post an after action report, but will probably get thrashed so expect some stiff upper lips and schadenfreude!

Algernon's Got a Big One

 

I've been doing a bit of scenario research for Algernon Pulls It Off! and I reckon I have enough to put together a couple of scenarios featuring the Spad XII in 1917-1918. One of these involves top French ace George Guynemer and the other the equally famous Rene Fonck, but I also might be able to include a lesser known ace or two, if I can get some more details squared away. The main stumbling block is identifying the opposition, as records are a bit sketchy about who was shot down, but I can always use some educated guesswork to fill in the blanks.

Jasta 18 Fokker DVII Decals

I've ordered some 1/285th scale decal sheets for Jasta 18 Fokker DVII fighters from a German company, to use with the 3D printed models I acquired a few months ago. The decals are highly recommended by other people and look very accurate, but it will be a challenge to apply them and not muck then up I think? The designer has just added  similar sheets for Jasta 18 Albatros DV fighters and August Raben's Fokker Dr.I, which I will order once I've had a try out with the Fokker DVII equivalent. Excellent!

https://www.siebenschwabenspiele.de/shop?store-page=Kaiserliche-Luftwaffe-c187617262

Les Cigognes

I had a tip off about this book by Norman Franks the other day and went on the hunt for a second hand copy on eBay, managing to find one for about a tenner. I am determined to add some French aircraft to my 1/600th scale air forces, despite Tumbling Dice only having a very limited range and no SPAD VII or XIII. Not to be put off I've asked Paul Sulley to add some more French models to the range and he tells me he's going to get round to it later in the month, despite being busy with shows and painting commissions. In the meantime, I'm going to start reading around the subject to identify potential scenarios for Algernon Pulls It Off! which makes this new addition to my library well worth while.

SPAD XII Special Rules for Algy

Here are the rules I've devised for the cannon armed SPAD XII in Algernon Pulls It Off!

SPAD XII

SPD 7

MAN 3

CLG 10 

ROC 2

ROB 3

SIZ 2

F/F Front  2 or 8*

*Vickers 7,7mm machine gun (35 seconds of ammo ) or 37mm S.A.M.C. (single shot / 12 rounds)

Only available to Junior Ace or Top Ace pilots. 

Only one aircraft may be deployed per game.

Vickers machine gun and 37mm cannon cannot be fired at the same time.

37mm Cannon

Burst Duration - divide maximum length of burst in half, rounding up (representing time to aim)

Modify Fire Factor for Length of Burst and the usual +/- die modifiers. 

Calculate Attacker / Defender hits vs saves as usual.

If a hit is scored, refer to the Hit Effect table (10.1)

Results

Firer Sideslips = as normal

Overuse of Anmo = cockpit fills with smoke and pilot is disorientated. 

Make a Pilot Control Test counting the test as a Hard manoeuvre and apply the results.

M* or M = C

C = 2C

2C = X

X = X 

Shift columns to the right on the Critical Damage Table accordingly.

Note: Pilot Hit = Pilot Killed.

The 37mm cannon must be reloaded after each firing (9.7) 

Vickers 7.7mm machine gun

The Vickers machine gun may be fired instead of the cannon unless cannon is being reloaded.

Use the normal firing procedure.

PC10 Painting Challenge

I was reminded by one of the regulars on the Algernon Pulls It Off! group that I hadn't set up a competition for a couple of months, so I came up with this. The October challenge is to paint a model or models in a scheme that includes PC10, or protective covering ten to give it the full title, an elusive shade of dark green over which much discussion has been had by aviation nuts. 

I use Foundry Phlegm Green Shade for this but there any numerous alternatives, so it should be a simple task for people to have a go. It's obviously aimed at RFC or RAF aircraft c1916 to 1918, so there's lots of choice to be had. I'm picking up some Tumbling Dice 1/600th DH2 scouts of No24 Squadron and a single Be2c for late 1916, which is a slight change of plan but a good thing to get sorted. Tally Ho!