Solo Vietnam Skirmish Campaigns

This popped up on the Ganesha Games group last week and I thought it sounded right up my street - designed for solo wargaming, a small number of figures, compact terrain and a full narrative campaign system - what's not to like? The rule book arrived while I was away so I've only just had a flick through but I'm enthused, which is a rare occurrence these days, being a grumpy old git. Anyway, I'm going to do some number crunching and rummaging in the lead pile, the current train of thought being either 15mm or 10mm with Hexon tiles for the terrain layout. If I can stretch it to French Indochina then even better. A project for next year perhaps? 

Magasin de Presse

 

A bit of a desert at the newsagents now, as the publisher of all of the excellent air, land and naval military magazines has gone under, leaving Vae Victis as the only magazine that is worth it. This month's issue includes a game based on the Paris Commune which looks good, as well as an article with scenarios for Indochina... not bad at all! I've been thinking about rebooting my 10mm or 15mm French Indochina war project recently, so this is a good result, once I've translated the text with my dodgy French! 

Post War Whirlibitds

 

The 3D printed helicopters from Lambda Gaming arrived today and, once again, I'm very impressed. I particularly like the Whirlwind as it really looks the part and is very sturdy, perfect for wargaming purposes. The Flying Banana is also really good but a bit more fragile in the tail department, so will need careful handling once assembled. The models come with stands and magnets to attach the rotor hubs, so will dismantle to pack away. I'll use the Whirlwind for the Sandbox Skirmish project, where it fits in perfectly, while the Shawnee will go to Vietnam for the Bohica project, as transport for the ARVN. Excellent!

Wars of Insurgency

                           

This is a set of skirmish rules that I hadn't heard of before bumping into a recommendation on a Facebook group. It's very much inspired by the original AK47 in style and content but with a system for skirmish level battles, rather than company level, and a slightly more serious tone. The army lists ate based around the same factions as AK47 and there's a clear emphasis on the political manoeuvring aspect, through a well designed campaign system. I really like what I've read so far and for only a few quid it's a bargain. I can see myself developing a 15mm or 28mm skirmish equivalent to my AK47 games or even using it for the Sandbox Skirmish project with a few minor adjustments. Very cool!

http://www.firstcommandwargames.com/wars-of-insurgency.html

Sandbox Skirmish Terraformer Terrain

I was looking at my box of models for the Sandbox Skirmish project the other day, wondering why I hadn't moved it on any further despite my best laid plans. The answer to the question is terrain and how to store it. I don't want to use a cloth, which is my usual approach, but would like something modular to allow me to set it up for scenarios in different configurations.

I'd thought about using the Sally 4th Terraformer system before, having been impressed with Jon's terrain for East Africa that he built with the tiles. However, I was put off by the cost and thought it would be easier just to make something from scratch myself. Now, after seeing some of the modules at Colours and another similar system, I'm having second thoughts.

https://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/product-category/terraformers/

I only need a 2' x 2' size board, with a 3' x 3' one being a maximum, so the starter set of four 12' tiles looks ideal. It consists of a hill side and a river or stream, which is ideal for Aden as the latter would make an excellent wadi. It's forty quid and I'd need to add the cost of the foam and materials, but that's not too bad and comparable to a terrain cloth.

I'll give it some thought but this looks like it might just kick start my project! 

MPL'I Starter Skirmish Scenarios

There's an interesting Q&A thread on the Mourir pour l'Indochine FB page all about how to start off with the rules, with the author, Shawn Taylor, suggesting a gradual approach building up the complexity as you go but starting small. His suggestion is to run a simple scenario on a 2' x 2' board, involving a patrol of a single squad of French troops on the hunt for a Vietminh sniper. I thought this sounded very much akin to the ideas I had for a section to platoon level set of games using No End In Sight, which I've had kicking about for several years. 

Jim's Wargames Workbench: French Indochina War Skirmish Starters (jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.com)

I really like the concept of making some bespoke terrain, which I actually had a go at before, and using the 15mm Eureka figures that I have, although possibly also cutting some corners by using my hexon tiles as a quick fix. As it's such a small scale and scope, I don't think it would be a massive effort to do either, with the bonus of being able to scale up to larger engagements over time. This is all very much my cup of tea and may well be a project for a holiday at some point this year, now that there is a dedicated set of rules to use alongside No End in Sight.

Mourir Pour l'Indochine

The pdf copy of the French Indochina War rules by Shawn Taylor, Mourir Pour l'Indochine, popped into my inbox this afternoon. I haven't had time to read through them yet but I'm really looking forward to exploring how they work and how I might use them for either 15mm platoon level skimish or 10mm company level games. 

It's a really under valued and relatively obscure conflict in wargaming terms but there is so much potential, with all sorts of fascinating scenarios beyond the obvious Dien Ben Phu, Foreign Legion angle which tends to dominate the subject, at least as far as the wargaming media is concerned. It's a credit to the author that these rules don't fall into that trap but include a wide range of fascinating scenarios across the length and breadth of the war.

Bag the Hun Franco Thai War Ki-30 Ann

I'll be working on a series of scenarios for the Franco Thai War for Bag the Hun later this year, probably as a holiday project, so I have been collecting together the aircraft I need in 1/600th scale. There are a couple of gaps that I need to fill, one of which is the Mitsubishi Ki-30 Ann flown by the Royal Thai Airforce, which isn't available in the Tumbling Dice range. I only need a few so don't want to go down the 3D printed route, so I have decided to use a proxy model, either a radial re-engined conversion of the Kawasaki Ki-32 Mary model or the off the shelf Kawasaki Ki-51 Sonia, which is similar enough to get away with it. This means I can write up a couple of scenarios that are dependent on the Ki-30, which was the most modern aircraft in the Thai arsenal and widely deployed for light bombing missions.

Mourir Pour l'Indochine Kickstarter

The Kickstarter campaign for Mourir Pour l'Indochine will be going live this evening, so why not have a look at the different options available on the MPI page. The figures and terrain pieces look really great, with a good choice of scales, so if you like 15mm, 20mm or 28mm skirmish level wargaming in hot places, this one is definitely worth a look. I'll be backing one or other of the pledges for sure, if only for 'La Gloire, La Baggare!'

Mourir Pour l'Indochine by Shawn Taylor — Kickstarter

15mm Squad Level Skirmish

The very last of my project plans for next year is to finally get round to some  squad / platoon level skirmish gaming in 15mm. This will be focussed on my long running but never ending Sandbox Skirmish project, which has been stalled for what seems like years due to a lack of suitable terrain. 

A chance discovery of a shed load of polystyrene sheets, in roughly 3' x 2' sections, at the local tip last week now solves the terrain problem, as I can use them to make some bespoke desert boards with all the contours modelled in, perhaps even in a semi modular design so that they can be used together.

I have also been thinking about other 15mm or 10mm skirmish options but will try to stick to the post-colonial and/or modern focus, as I already have quite a lot of stuff half finished, so it would be a shame not to get it wrapped up. It will be great to actually get some games of No End In Sight sorted in 2022!

Mourir Pour L'Indochine

 

I have joined yet another Facebook group, this one for a soon to be published set of rules for the First Indochina War, which look really interesting. It's actually two sets of rules in one, the first for platoon level skirmish games and the second for company to battalion level games, or skirmish plus as the author, Shawn Taylor aptly puts it. There's no exact date for these to be out yet but it seems as though most of the work has been done and they aren't far off. Who knows, it may even get added to my land projects for next year, with my 10mm Pendraken figures finally getting to see a lick of paint?

Mourir pour l'Indochine! | Facebook

The Franco Thai War with Bag the Hun

After some reading around the various options I have narrowed down the next Bag the Hun scenario project to the Norwegian Campaign and the Franco Thai War. The Norwegian option looked good on paper but had less going for it once I dug a little deeper, with the Norwegian Gladiators wiped out in a single day of fighting and the RAF really only engaged in the air defence of Narvik and some attacks on shipping, with a distinct lack of much dogfighting. 

It's still worth a look, perhaps as a basis for two or three scenarios on the 'Last Stand of the Gladiators', so I'll save that one for later and push on to research the Franco Thai option instead, at least for the moment. I haven't abandoned the other ideas either but need to find a lot more background material for Syria, for example, before making any scenario outline sketches. Thanks to everyone who has offered their ideas, as it's always useful to have a second opinion.

Bag the Hun Scenario Projects 2022

I've been looking ahead to next year and have some ideas in mind for another Bag the Hun scenario writing project, to be combined with some 1/600th scale model painting so that I can run some more, very enjoyable solo games and club multiplayer sessions. So far, I've come up with four potential themes, some of which cross over with Wings at War as an added bonus.

First up is the Franco Thai War in 1941, which is limited in scope but features some really unusual and interesting aircraft, with the added bonus that you don't need very many of them! I've mentioned this before on the blog and have at least four or five scenarios already sketched out in rough, with all the models in the lead pile ready to go.

The second option is the Norwegian campaign in 1940, with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and Norwegian Air Force taking on the might of the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine. This would have loads of potential, with lots of 'derring do' and some classic early war aircraft types to paint up. I'm keen on this idea in particular, as I don't know much about it and I think it would be a popular choice.

The third option is the campaign in Syria in 1941, again with the RAF and FAA but this time fighting the Vichy French, who put up a stiff fight by all accounts. This has the advantage that any aircraft I paint up can also be deployed in North Africa, where they can take on the Regia Aeronautica as well as the Luftwaffe.

The last theme that I've been considering is the 1948 War of Independence or 'Al Nakbah' depending on your point of view. I started on a Wings at War Desert Spitfires project before so have all the aircraft with some even painted, albeit in a half finished state, so this would be an easy option with lots of dogfighting thrown in for good measure.

What do you think?

What's on the Workbench?

The workbench is looking pretty busy at the moment but I'm making inroads into a number of projects and plan to clear the decks of at least one of them in the next few days. I'm really looking forward to moving these projects along and hopefully finishing them this Autumn, if it all goes according to the plan? 

The 1/3000th early war Italian fleet is now under coated and ready for painting, so that will be my big project for September and October. I've also been busy painting the Ki-21 bombers for the Bag the Hun Khalkhin Gol project, with only the canopies and engines left to do before I can add the decals. 

The air component of the naval project is also underway, starting with some 1/600th scale French fighters and dive bombers for the newly uptarted Bearn, the former having radial engines added to make them into Dewoitine 373's. There are a couple of Italian float planes sneaking onto the painting table as well, as they were just too cool to leave in the box. 

The 1/600th Tumbling Dice aircraft for the Franco Thai War have also arrived along with some cracking roundels from Flight Deck Decals, so that's another project for later in the Autumn. Finally, there's the 1/2400th extras for the War of the Pacific, which I'm going to focus on for my solo naval wargaming fun over the next couple of months.

Lots to do! 

Bag the Hun Thai Aircraft Characteristics

I've worked out the aircraft characteristics for the Royal Thai Air Force aircraft that aren't listed on the data tables in the rules. The Vichy French aircraft are listed, so there's no need for any number crunching, but the Thai ones are not, so here are the ratings that I've devised based on the guidelines, some reading and comparison with similar aircraft in the tables.

Curtiss Hawk 75N

SPD 5 / MAN 5 / ALT 6 / ROC 2 / ROB 1 / SIZ 1 / FF F:6 / AMMO 12

Curtiss Goshawk (Hawk III)

SPD 4 / MAN 5 / ALT 5 / ROC 2 / ROB 2 / SIZ 1 / FF F:2 / AMMO 12

Vought V93S Corsair

SPD 3 / MAN 4 / ALT 4 / ROC 2 / ROB 1 / SIZ 1 / FF F:1 R:0 L:0 R:2  / AMMO 12

Martin B10 (139WSM)

SPD 4 / MAN 3 / ALT 5 / ROC 1 / ROB 3 / SIZ 3 / FF F:1 R:1 L:1 R:1 / AMMO n/a

Mitsubishi Ki-30 'Nagoya'

SPD 5 / MAN 4 / ALT 6 / ROC 2 / ROB 1 / SIZ 2 / FF F:1 R:0 L:0 R:1 / AMMO 12

Dan is The Man

A big shout out to Dan at Flight Deck Decals.

I asked if he could scale down his 1/300th Thai roundels to 1/600th and less than twenty four hours later, they're available in his web shop thingy.

It now means I can start (and finish) my Franco Thai war project...outstanding!

Thanks Dan.

Top bloke!

(and his decals are pretty good too)

Flight Deck Decals (flightdeckdecals2400.com)

Franco Thai War Project Plane Packs

I've just put in an order with Tumbling Dice to supplement the models that I already have for the French and Thai aircraft. I have raided various boxes to find enough Fokker DXXI's, Morane Saulnier MS406 and Nakajima B5N Kates to equip each side. I've now ordered a pack each of Curtiss Hawk III Goshawks and Vought V93 Corsairs, as well as three packs of Martin B-10 bombers, which should be enough to cover most potential scenarios. I have also got a couple of Bristol Fighters from my WW1 stash which will possibly do as Potez 25's with a bit of reshaping and trimming, so it's looking like a very feasible project. The only thing I now need are some decals for the Thai aircraft?

Tumbling Dice Franco Thai War Aircraft

I've worked out what is feasible using the Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale range of aircraft and the options are pretty good, although the French are a little short on some types: 

Thai Air Force (RTAF)

Curtiss Hawk 75N - Fokker DXXI (ISA546) as it's almost identical in 1/600th scale.

Curtiss Hawk III Goshawk -  Curtiss BF2-C1 Goshawk III-IV (ISA223)

Vought V93 Corsair - Vought O3U-3 Corsair (ISA227)

Martin 139WSM - Martin B10 (ISA236)

Mitsubishi Ki-30 - Nakajima B5n Kate (ISA423) with added wheel struts

Vichy French Air Force

Morane Saulnier MS406 - same (ISA322)

Potez 25 - possible conversion job 

Potez 542 - N/A

Farman 221 - Farman 222 (ISA326)

I've left out any seaplanes or floatplanes but they're not available anyway. The absence of the Potez 542 isn't a big problem as it wouldn't feature in any scenarios but the Potez 25 would be required for at least one scenario, so I'd need to try a conversion of some sort based on a similar model, possibly one of the interwar Japanese or British aircraft?

Bag the Hun Franco Thai War 1941

I have a new Bag The Hun project to follow on from my very enjoyable foray into the Khalkhin Gol incident, this time a similarly obscure but very interesting excursion to Indochina. This time, I'm planning to write a series of scenarios for the Franco Thai War in 1941, which has some really interesting aircraft and a number of potential dogfights that would be excellent as the basis for games. I'm only just starting on the background reading and research for this but have already located a number of very good sources online, including these:

 The Franco-Thai War - Pacific Eagles

Warfare History Blog: Franco-Thai War: The Indochina Micro Campaign, 1940-1941 (warfarehistorian.blogspot.com)

It's looking like a project with a lot of potential, with most if not all of the aircraft available in 1/600th scale from Tumbling Dice, although there's only limited options in 1/300th scale from Collectair, Heroics and Ros and Raiden Miniatures. The scenarios would also only involve a relatively small number of aircraft, so more than manageable for solo play. Excellent!

10mm First Indochina War Project Plans

LVT Alligators with four platoons bussed up

I've been re-thinking the focus of my First Indochina War 10mm project, which is slated for later this year, from a Groupement Amphibie Company to a standard Far East Infantry Company with attached support elements. The problem with the first approach is that I'd need to transport the units around in LVT Alligators, which though lovely models in their own right, are really expensive. I do have four of these with crew blocks but I'd need to have empty ones too for when the platoons dismount, costing me quite a bit more on top. I'd also need some M-29 Weasels, which are only available as crewless 3D printed models as far as I'm aware? 

Fire Section

Shock Section

MMG, Mortar, RCL 

The revised approach will be to just do an infantry company of four platoons of two sections each, one 'shock' section with SMG's and one 'fire' section with rifles and an LMG, plus three heavy weapons bases, one MMG, one mortar and one RCL, topped off with a company command stand. This I can do quite easily and perhaps even add further companies to build something close to a full battalion. There isn't a great deal of variety in the Pendraken French range but I can add some WW2 US paratrooper figures into the mix, in order to make the section bases a bit more interesting. The idea will be to then add additional 'ad hoc' support units on top of this basic orbat including AFV's, armoured cars, transport, FOO's and so on.

CEFEO Convoy

One thing I would like to do is to run some typical road security and convoy scenarios, for which I already have quite a lot of vehicles. I need to do some more research on the composition of typical convoys but I've set out what I think looks about right. At the front there's a Bren carrier to trigger any ambushes, followed by an M8 Armoured Car and M8 Motor Howitzer for fire support. This is followed by two sections of infantry in M3 half tracks or armoured trucks and the CO in an M3 scout car, The convoy of trucks is in the middle of the sandwich, followed by two more sections in M3 half tracks or armoured trucks and an M5 light tank, with another M8 armoured car bringing up the rear.

I need to convert some trucks into armoured ones including one or two with 40mm Bofors mountings, as well as vary the other trucks a bit by using some WW2 French Citroen or Renault vehicles. I might also get hold of a couple of Panhard 175 armoured cars or even try to convert a Daimler armoured car into a Coventry armoured car, which were used for convoy escort early in the war. I think this would be a really good basis for some ambush scenarios, both using the full convoy set up but also with just the armoured vehicles and infantry for road security patrols, as well as having the basic infantry company to use for other types of games using the Fivecore Company Command rules.