Despite having a bout of man flu, in June of all months, I've bumped along the 1/600th scale Rolands, Albatros and Nieuport to the ink wash stage, ready to be cleaned up with highlights and detailing. They look pretty grubby at the moment but will be much better after some highlights and touch ups, which don't take long to do but really make a difference. I should get these finished at the weekend.
I'm thinking of devising a mash up of the dogfight game generator I designed a few months ago with the balloon busting rules (Section13 p31), to create a simple system for balloon busting sorties in Algernon Pulls It Off!
The initial ideas include a random number of balloons (1D4+1) placed by the defender, within certain restrictions, each defended by an Archie zone (6 hexes in radius)
There will also be defending fighter aircraft, again generated by die roll (1D6), which begin off table. They will enter individually after the attackers but will have to roll to do so each turn, possibly using a countdown mechanism of some sort.
The number (1D4) and skill level of the attackers will be randomly generated as well. Attacking aircraft will choose a high altitude or low altitude approach when entering the table. Attacking aircraft may be fitted with rockets and may also have incendiary ammunition.
All pilots on both sides will be Junior Ace, Veteran or Regular. No Top Aces (too sensible or too valuable to be risked) or Sprogs (too inexperienced to be permitted). I'm thinking of limiting the number of Aces to probably a maximum of one Junior Ave per side, so as not to imbalance the game.
One thing I might include is a chance that one balloon may be designated as a decoy, possibly on a die roll made by the defender. This will explode when the attacking aircraft is within 3 hexes. The attacker will then have to roll on the exploding aircraft table (10. 1.8) but modified to cause (2C) damage. The identity of the booby trapped balloon will be kept hidden until it goes boom!
I'm starting painting the 1/600th scale Roland C.II models but have decided to deploy exactly the same paint shades that I used for the Airfix 1/72nd scale equivalent, one of which I painted many years ago for wargaming. The shade of choice is a very old pot of Citadel Horizon Blue, which I bought in The Works after Games Workshop ditched the old range of Warhammer paints, I reckon about twenty years ago. It's still going strong and is the perfect shade of light blue!
A wet and windy afternoon better spent at the workbench rather than outdoors. Here we have three 1/600th scale Tumbling Dice Roland C.II two seaters, an Albatros C.III observation machine and Albert Ball's Nieuport 17, the latter a Tumbling Dice Nieuport 17 with the upper wing pinched from a Nieuport 11 model. I'm away tomorrow but hope to start painting these after the weekend.
I was looking for a potential scenario for Algy today featuring the Roland C.II, when I stumbled across this rather unusual action from September 1916, as illustrated in a painting by Michael Turner. Here are the notes accompanying the painting:
Rocket Man
In late afternoon on September 15th 1916, Captain Albert Ball took off alone on patrol to seek out enemy observation balloons, his Nieuport 17 armed with Le Prieur rockets mounted on its interplane struts.
Sighting a German patrol of three Roland C11s, he approached unnoticed from behind and below, and fired a salvo of all eight rockets into their formation. Completely taken by surprise, the enemy aircraft scattered in alarm, and Ball promptly shot one of them down.
I think this would make a great scenario, especially as it includes the very unorthodox use or Le Prieur rockets and a famous RFC ace to boot! It will take some further research and some rule tweaking to set up, but I reckon it would make a brilliant solo or two player game. I happen to have the 1/600th models I need for the scenario in the bits box, so I'll see what I can get sorted over the weekend.
I'm starting to get myself organised for the club Algy game in a couple of weeks, the Digger Dogfight scenario from the Jasta 18 Lard Mag scenarios, by editing and printing off the aircraft sheets and the card deck. I'll get these filled in, cut out and assembled at the weekend, which theoretically puts me in a position to paint up some 1/300th scale aircraft, if I don't get distracted by the other things in the next ten days or so? If not, this will be played out in glorious 1/600th scale, as I have all the models ready to go!
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| Digger Dogfight in Action |
I've set up an Algy game at the local club for June 16th as a refresher before I take it to the Sarisbury Green club later on. This will be the Digger Dogfight scenario from the Lard Mag Jasta 18 collection but, much as I like my 1/600th scale aircraft, I'm thinking of painting some 1/300th scale 3D printed models for the game. These will add a bit more visual punch and are also easier to distinguish when working out which aircraft is being flown by which pilot. I have a couple of weeks to get them sorted but can always fall back on the Tumbling Dice models if I don't pull it off. Tally Ho!
I bought some 0.3mm brass rod by mistake a couple of weeks ago, intended for 1/3000th scale warship masts but too thin for the job. Instead, I thought I'd try to use it for observer's Lewis guns on 1/600th First World War two seater aircraft. I had a go with a Tumbling Dice Breguet XIV model and I think it turned out looking not too shabby. It wasn't particularly tricky to do either, especially as superglue goes off at the speed of light in his hot weather. I might go back and add some guns to my painted models but I will definitely be using the brass rod on any new aircraft I assemble in the future.
This is the latest and quite possibly the last addition to my stack of Osprey Publishing WW1 aircraft books, a gap in my bookshelf that I've now filled and a source of potential ideas for Algy scenarios. I like the format of this series, at least for the aircraft focussed titles, and Jon Guttman really knows his stuff. I'm going to see if I can find enough information to put together a historical scenario that can be the basis of a good multiplayer game, with some cross referencing and research to fill in the gaps.
I've been farting about with some ideas for strafing in Algy, as it is conspicuously absent from the rules yet very much an aspect of air warfare, especially in 1917-18 for trench strafing sorties. I'm starting with the existing rules for firing but adapting the process by altering the firing arcs, dice roll modifiers and firing factors, along with a simple table to assess results for different ground targets. It's nothing too complicated but rear gunners do need to be factored in, both for firing and also for the use of hand held light bombs or hand grenades. It's a work in progress but I'm fairly confident that something simple but consistent with the existing rules can be designed.
After a little over one year, the Algernon Pulls It Off! Facebook group has hit the four hundred member mark, which is quite an impressive total and really encouraging, considering how old the rules are and how little visibility they have compared to other, more up to date systems. I'm hoping that this momentum will continue but it will really need some more input to keep things moving forwards. I recently raised the possibility of a revised, updated and improved version of the rules as a potential Lard Mag submission, so I had better start thinking about having a go at this if it's actually going to happen!
As Paul Sulley put a lot of time and effort into expanding the 1/600th scale French range, it is only fair that I order some of the models and paint them up! I've ordered some packs of Breguet XIV bombers and SPAD VII scouts, which I will paint up for late 1917 in the distinctive, but simple scheme before three tone camouflage was adopted, so a nice and easy job. I've also ordered a pack of the Morane Saulnier N 'bullet' monoplane scouts, which will be painted as RFC machines of No.60 Squadron, with bright red engine cowlings and spinners. Tally Ho!
I unearthed a scenario that I wrote fur the Rabens Ravens Lard Mag article today, one that didn't make it into the selection as I didn't have a chance to play test it. This is set in May 1918 and involves a 'bounce' by two highly experienced Jasta 18 pilots on three SPAD scouts of the American 103rd Aero Squadron, led by Junior Ace 1st Lt. Paul Baer. The outcome of the actual dogfight was a walkover for the Jasta 18 'experten', shooting down Baer and one of his wingmen for no loss. It's a good scenario for a quick game and ideal for beginners, as there are no formations, blinds or other distractions, with clear objectives for both sides and some aces thrown in for added fun! It's available to download from the Algy Facebook group.
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| Voisin 8 |
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| Caudron RII |
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| Breguet XIV |
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| Nieuport 28 |
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| Salmson 2 |
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| SPAD VII |
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| Morane Saulnier N |
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| Nieuport 17 |
Paul Sulley from Tumbling Dice was kind enough to send me some samples of the new 1/600th French aircraft he has just produced, although not yet available on the website. These fill some big gaps in the existing range, which is primarily early war, which means that the French, Italian, American, Belgian and Russian air forces are now feasible, give or take a couple of types. The Russian Civil War and Russo Polish War are also possible, so not just the First World War. I'm particularly impressed by the Breguet XIV, which is a lovely model and really looks like the real thing. Excellent!
