Bag The Hun Bail Out!

I played a Bag The Hun 2  North Africa scenario against my ever victorious opponent Andy at the club this evening. This was a replay of the beginner Bandits scenario that we tried last year, this time with my Italian Fiat G50's against his RAF Hawker Hurricanes. It turned out to be an even bigger disaster for the Italians this time round, with three aircraft shot down and only one damaged Fiat off the table by the end of the game.

The phrase Catastrophic Structural Damage seemed to crop up quite a bit, along with Really Critical Hit, Fuel Line Damage, Pilot Wounded and Blackout. Not particularly good for the morale of the pilots of the Regia Aeronautica, to say the least.

In retrospect, it was fairly inevitable given the firepower and speed of the Hurricanes against the feeble armament of the G50's. It was also a bit unbalanced by the presence of an RAF Top Ace, who ran rings around the less experienced Italian section leader. However, there's no excuse for the poor flying skills of the losing side, even though I had premonitions of a doom based on previous experience with MC202's against Kittyhawks.

In the end, the Italians lost by 1 victory point to 7, which is pretty bad even for them. However, the Regia Aeronautica can at least claim the moral high ground having been strafed in their parachutes by the perfidious RAF! It was good fun, nonetheless, and helped me get a handle on the rules mechanisms once again. Next time, I'll reverse the set up to give the Italians a fighting chance or even move the action to later in the war, with FW190D9's against Spitfire XIV's or Tempests.

RAF North Africa [6]

I basecoated the aircraft this evening in my approximation of weathered RAF Dark Earth. This was a 50:50 wetbrush mixture of Foundry Rawhide Shade and Chestnut Shade, followed by a wash in GW Gryphon Sepia ink. I'm not sure it was worth it, as the end result looks almost identical to the finish on my Battle of Britain Hurricanes. I'm tempted to do a bit of drybrushing to lighten things up a bit but I'll try to resist the temptation and crack on with the Middle Stone camouflage.

RAF North Africa [5]

I didn't manage to get started on the North Africa RAF aircraft for Bag The Hun 2 last week but I'm hoping to find some time this week to move them in the right direction. I've also decided not to go for a Free French option, as I don't fancy painting all those Cross of Lorraine insignia freehand.

So, to make my life a lot easier, I've ordered a couple of the I-94 decal sets for North Africa, which include markings for both 274 and 185 squadron Hurricanes and the Blenheims of 14 Squadron. I also used the 15% discount in the Raiden Miniatures sale to soften the blow.

Corfe Castle

We have my brother in law staying at the moment so wargaming has been relegated to the periphery for a week or so. However, we did get a trip to Corfe Castle today which was very enjoyable, especially as it wasn't actually raining for a change. I've been several times before but it's always worth a visit. I didn't manage to wangle a detour to the Tank Museum on the way back though, despite the Battlegroup South show being on. As we have free entry to the museum, it seemed like a wasted opportunity to me but there's always next year I suppose?

Iron Cow Private Military Contractors [PMC]

I haven't had time to get any painting done over the last week or so due to a very busy time at work. However, I have been thinking about my existing projects and planning where to take them next. I'm waiting for the Brigade Models summer sale before I get any more Iron Cow things but, in the meantime, I've sketched out a third force for the East African conflict.

This is a PMC battlegroup, funded and equipped by ONESS and SAC to pacify and patrol the disputed territories in what used to be Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The force is built around German equipment, although making use of lighter AFV's like the Lynx and Thor, rather than the superheavy tanks of the ONESS German army. I've also cut down on the number of Tank and Infantry squadrons to one of each adding a Support Squadron, an Engineer CEV troop and an attached Logistics / Supply convoy of Thrall hover trucks to round things off.

It's not as powerful as the ONESS British battlegroup but I have been able to build in a wide variety of models from the German ONESS range, which is one of the nice things about it. I've drawn up a ToE for the battlegroup based partly on the Van Kliestmann chart in the rulebook but scaled down to reflect the lighter format of the force. I'm now thinking of a suitable name for it along the lines of Executive Outcomes.

It'll give the CDSU something to think about too?

BKC Aegean Campaign Update

Things have gone from good to even better for General Robusto Gorgonzola in the third turn of the club BKC campaign. The X MAS frogmen pulled off another audacious limpet mine attack, this time against the Soviet amphibious fleet with spectacular results. The Soviets have now lost most of their amphibious capabality for minimal cost to the Italian special forces. I'm not sure how much longer this can last but I'm determined to deploy them again as they're well worth the political points that I have to spend.

The Italians have also occupied a neighbouring island without a shot being fired in anger, taking them one step closer to their objective, which for security reasons I won't divulge. They've also made contact with moanrchist Greek partisans, who have provided much useful information and could be valuable allies. It will require a bit of financial lubrication and logistical assistance but I think there will be quite a lot to gain from this alliance.

In the next turn, the Italians will be pressing forward with their occupation of adjacent islands, in order to win political prestige and lots if shiny medals. The Italian paratroops may well be deployed, as will regular troops in an amphibious 'island hopping' role. I have some useful reconaissance assets that I'm hoping to utilise for clandestine missions and to support my new found guerilla alllies. I'll also be sending the X MAS out for what will probably be their final 'death or glory' sabotage mission.

I'm away next month, so whatever happens, I won't be around to see the results but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless!

RAF North Africa [4]

I didn't have much time this evening to do anything productive but did manage to compile a tentative palette of shades for the North Africa RAF aircraft. For some inexplicable reason, I only do this when I'm painting up 1/285th scale planes but it does satisfy the inner rivet counter, so fair enough. I'm aiming for something close enough to the profile above but have yet to decide exactly which shades to use.

Messerschmitt Roulette

As part of my Bag The Hun 1941 North Africa project, I've been reading this book which I found in the local Oxfam bookshop. It's a very well written account of an unusual subject and doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the reality of air combat and tactical recconaisance in the desert. I've nearly finished it, so will be moving on to Hurricanes over Tobruk as soon as it arrives in the post.

Raiden Miniatures Summer Sale!

I spotted a 15% off sale at Raiden Miniatures today, so have added four P40B Tomahawks to the North Africa Bag the Hun collection, to enable me to have a full squadron alongside the Hurricanes. I've also expanded the opposition with the purchase of eight Stukas and four Bf109E7's to eventually add to the Axis forces that I already have painted up.

http://www.raidenminiatures.co.uk/

I haven't had time to add any more layers to the undercoated Hurricanes and Blenheims yet but hope to move them a little further forward by the end of the week. I also failed in my attempt to try out Bag The Doodlebug this weekend, so I'll have to take the various bits and bobs up to the club on Tuesday next week to run it as a warm up for the main game.

Tankfest 2012

We went to Tankfest 2012 at Bovington today and had a really great time, despite some sun burn and a bit of a sugar rush from the ice cream. Here are a few of the many photos I took. It's a very good show and the range of AFV's on show is truly unique and well worth it if you can get there. It's only an hour and a bit from home, so I'm definately going again next time round. Superb!