Dom's Decals Delivered

I arrived home today to find an unexpected parcel containing the 1/600th scale Chinese Nationalist insignia that I ordered from Dom's Decals back in January. This sort of postage time isn't unusual for Dom and, as long as you are aware that the stuff you've ordered will arrive at some point, there's no problem. I know that the decals business is very much a part time side line for him, so I'm happy to wait as the decals are really good and he's the only source in 1/600th scale anyway! At least I can now get on and finish the F-104 Starfighters for the Flashpoint Taiwan mini-project, so that I can then use them against the Chinese Communist MiG's and Beagles that I've already completed for Target Locked On!

Magasin de Presse

Superb cover art by Romain Hugault!

I'm heading home over the weekend, so before I set off I've done the usual trawl of the newsagents for wargaming and military magazines. There are loads to choose from but I've narrowed it down to three of the usual suspects - Vae Victis, Los! and La Fana de l'Aviation, all of which have some interesting articles this month as well as some cracking artwork. On the way, I'm also going to try to grab a copy of Militaria, which has an Indochina uniform article on the 1er BPC, together with the current edition of Aerojournal. Au Revoir!

Tank on Tank: Eastfront

I've been playing a few games of Lock 'n Load's excellent Tank on Tank: Eastfront boardgame over the holidays and there are some after action reports over on the other blog:

http://teaandawad.blogspot.fr/search/label/Tank%20on%20Tank

This really would make a brilliant miniatures game for a show, using 15mm Zvezda and PSC tanks and Hexon terrain instead of card counters and a hex map. I think I may put this idea forward at the club as a suggestion for the participation game at Warfare this year?

Atlantic Wall Treguennec

I went for a walk on the beach this morning and took some photos of the bunkers at the northern end of the industrial complex at Treguennec. These bunkers and associated structures were part of the defences of the aggregate extraction works nearby which supplied material for the construction of the Atlantic Wall in Brittany and Normandy. These bunkers were originally located in the dunes but eighty years of erosion have left them at the low tide line, with the inevitable consequences, although they are still quite well preserved. A really interesting site and well worth a visit, especially on a lovely sunny day like today.

Rise of the Battleships Revised

One thing about the holidays is that I have the time to sit down and read through a set of rules properly, rather than just doing a quick skim read in between doing other less interesting things. I've been reading through Rise of the Battleships, the second re-formatted edition of which is now available via Wargame Vault.

The new version has been tidied up a bit, with an improved layout and design in line with Rory Crabb's other rules, which has made them easier to navigate. I thought the original set was well laid out and easy to read already but I guess the devil is in the detail. It certainly looks more professional and has a few tweaks and explanatory bits, which can only be a good thing.

I have also been sketching out a second 1/2400th scale fleet to use against the Japanese pre-dreadnoughts that I have collected from Tumbling Dice. This will be a British squadron rather than the obvious Russian option, which would seem to be counter intuitive but actually makes a lot of sense from a semi-historical, counter factual perspective. I'll explain more about how that works later.

Oh bugger, it's.....

I am conscious that a bad case of mission creep has started to cloud my judgement of late, with too many ideas whizzing about to be healthy. I should really be sticking to naval gaming this year, with a bit of aerial gaming thrown in for variety, not 15mm or 28mm skirmishy stuff, whether it's colonial, post-war or modern. I need a bit of a reality check, as I think I've definitely been over cooking the 'ooh shiny' project pie in the sky.

So, in an effort to come back down to earth and stick with what I've told myself to do, I've decided to postpone anything terrestrial to the Summer holidays and the latter half of the year. Instead, I will be concentrating on my 1/600 scale WW2 coastal warfare project, my long in the tooth 1/2400 scale 1864 Schleswig Holstein naval war project and my latest nautical interest, the Tumbling Dice 1/2400 scale pre-dreadnoughts. I will also be doing some more 1/600 scale modern and Cold War aircraft for Target Locked On!

I think this makes a lot more sense than chasing my tail with unrealistic and over enthusiastic sidelines.

Aden Hawker Hunter Close Air Support

I'm a big fan of model aircraft in wargames, so have been keen to incorporate some close air support in the 15mm Aden and Radfan project. This was an easy thing to do, as the RAF provided a very effective air to ground attack capability in the form of two squadrons of Hawker Hunter FGA.9 ground attack aircraft. These were tasked with strafing, bombing and rocket attacks on rebel targets especially hill forts, towers and sangars. These were particularly effective and often mentioned in accounts of the campaigns as being instrumental in breaking the enemies ability to fight on.

I also happen to have two Revell 1/144th scale kits of the Hawker Hunter FGA.9, a model which is hard to find and now out of production, despite being released only a few years ago. I would normally use 1/100th scale aircraft for this sort of thing but, as I'm trying to do this for minimal outlay, it makes a lot of sense to use what I've already got in the plastic kit pile. The smaller scale also gives a very effective forced perspective, which makes sense when you consider the relative height and speed of the jets in relation to the ground.

There are no rules for close air support in No End in Sight but I'm sure I can work something out using a mash up of the rules for Supporting Fire and Air Assault. In the Fireteam rules, fixed wing aircraft are included and there is a straightforward mechanism for calling in air strikes on ground targets, which is ideal for the situation I'm focussing on. You can even determine the type of ordnance that each aircraft is using against the target, so I can feature the use of 3'' rocket rails or SNEB pods and ADEN cannon in the strafing role.

Tally Ho!

Fire and Steel in the Sudan?

I've been wondering what to do with the box of Perry Miniatures plastic Beja warriors that I've taken on holiday to glue together over the Easter break. I don't want to use them for The Men Who Would Be Kings or similar rules, as that would require many more figures than the box set provides, for which my 15mm lead pile is more than sufficient. 

Instead, I have been looking for the colonial equivalent of a Western gunfight rule system much like A Fistful of Lead: Reloaded. In fact, this was my first port of call, with the Horse and Musket variant being an obvious option for colonial skirmishes in far flung corners of the British Empire. I really like these rules and reckon they would be great for small scale skirmish actions in the Sudan.

However, I remembered that I also have a copy of the old WRG skirmish rules, Fire and Steel, which I acquired many years ago for just this sort of thing. These would be perfect for colonial skirmish games with perhaps ten to twenty figures a side, exactly the right size for a box of plastic figures to cover. I'll have to dig them out and sketch out some ideas but, in the meantime, here's an excellent overview of the rules, albeit from.a now dormant webpage:

http://www.stapells.com/wargames/rules/f&s.php

Reaping the Whirlwind

I picked up the latest copy of Flypast in the airport today, only to find a feature article on my favourite WW2 fighter aircraft, the Westland Whirlwind. This includes a range of photographs and a detailed coverage of Whirlwind ops for both No137 and No263 Squadron, the two units which flew this iconic but much maligned aircraft. 

I have written several scenarios for Bag the Hun based on the ORB of No263 Squadron, a couple of which have even been published in a Toofatlardies Summer Special. I have several more scenarios up my sleeve so may well have a go at writing at least one more over the holidays, now that I've been inspired by this excellent article.

Easter Holiday

I'm of holiday for a few days so will be packing some stuff to keep me occupied on rainy afternoons. I vaguely remembered buying a box of Perry 28mm plastic mahdist figures ages ago on a whim, so had a rummaged in the loft and found them. These were originally destined for PITS in 28mm but I shelved that idea. I hate assembling plastic figures but thought this would be a relatively painless diversion over the Easter break, with a view to some low level colonial skirmish gaming of some sort, perhaps using a variant of Fistful of Lead: Reloaded, which is a splendid set of rules.