Bag the Blenheims: Card Deck Design

I've been playing around in WORD with few basic designs for a pack of turn cards to use in the Bagging the Blenheims* scenario this evening. This is what I've come up with so far but I'm not quite happy with the design and layout, so may well go back and fiddle around with them some more. I need quite a lot of cards for this game, with a total of around twenty being the current minimum estimate, so I'll need to decide what I'm doing sooner rather than later.

(* or possibly Buchanan's Party, if and when I make up my mind)

Flashpoint Taiwan ROCAF Update

I finished the Communist Chinese PLAAF aircraft for this Cold War air combat project way back in January, so you may have been wondering what has happened to the Republic of China Air Force half of the thing. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the Nationalist Chinese decals and extra F-104 Starfighters to arrive from Dom's Decals so the project is on temporary hold. As soon as they get here, which I'm sure will happen eventually knowing Dom, I'll be able to start painting the second instalment for use with Target Locked-On!, with the modern Flashpoint Baltic project following close behind.

East Coast Convoy Continued

It's been very slow progress on the workbench of late, partly due to being away at half term and partly due to work, which has changed again and now involves a full five days a week. I've also had a horrible cold and chest infection, which seems to have really sapped at my energy levels. As a result, I've had little time or inclination to sit in a freezing cold garage and paint things but hope to get started again, in readiness for which I have undercoated the various 1/600 scale merchant vessels that I assembled a couple of weeks ago for the coastal warfare project.

These are a the initial priority, rather than yet more warships, escorts and fast attack craft, as without a convoy there wouldn't be much of a game! I'll do a wet brush, dry brush and wash approach with these in an attempt to get them finished as quickly as I can. I also want to get round to some more naval wargaming stuff this month, with a couple of on-going projects being re-booted and an exciting new project on the horizon, based on the excellent Tumbling Dice range of 1/2400th scale warships.

Hidden Warbirds

As it is World Book Day today, I thought I'd celebrate with a second hand copy of this book on WW2 aircraft wreck recovery and restoration, if that's not a bit too much of a tongue twister? I actually got hold of it on Monday in the local charity shop for two quid, which I thought was a pretty good find, especially as it's good as new and in hardback. 

It is very well illustrated and there are some famous examples of extreme aircraft salvage including P38 Glacier Girl and B17 Swamp Ghost, as well as many that I wasn't aware of, like the P61 Black Widow discovered at the summit of a mountain in Papua New Guinea. I particularly liked the chapter on aircraft recovered from South and Central America. Really interesting stuff!

Bag the Blenheims: No229 Squadron RAF

The third element of the Operation Crusader Bag the Hun scenario is No229 Squadron RAF, which provided the top cover for the bombing mission by No14 Squadron. The Operational Record Book of No14 Squadron noted that the top cover was engaged in a dogfight with enemy fighters during the attack, with one Bf109F shot down for the loss of two Hurricanes. These were apparently two of the eleven Hurricane II's of No229 Squadron, which were escorting the Blenheim IV's on the 31st December.

I've tried really hard to find more information about No229 Squadron but have drawn a bit of a blank. I have two conflicting sources, one of which states that they were equipped with Hurricane IIb's and another which suggests that they had been allocated Hurricane IIc's by December 1941. I have decided to use the former in the scenario, as I already have them painted and based, albeit as No185 Squadron aircraft. I've also decided to scale back the numbers to a more manageable eight aircraft in two flights of four, which would give a better balance for the scenario.

The pilots will be a mixture of Veterans and Regulars, with a couple of Sprogs thrown in to make things interesting. In fact, the squadron had only been re-formed in September 1941, having initially been split up to reinforce other units, before being re-united as a squadron in it's own right when the Squadron Leader made an official complaint. It would seem reasonable that some novice pilots would have been used to fill any gaps at this point. Unfortunately, I have also been unable to identify any of the pilots by name, so the flight leaders will have to be anonymous, which is a bit of a shame.

The Hurricane II's will be flying at Altitude Level 5 and will enter the table behind and above the bombers, probably on Turn Two from the same short table edge. They will not be using bogey markers, however, as I'm going to reserve those for the pilots of Stab III./JG27, who will be attacking out of the sun from the next level higher up. This should reflect the superior experience of the Luftwaffe pilots and their tactical use of the sun to bounce the RAF fighters. I think this should give them the edge, at least to start with, and force the RAF players to over estimate the threat.

Tally Ho!

Bag the Blenheims: No14 Squadron RAF

Wing Commander J.K. Buchanan DFC and crew

The mission objective for the British players in the Operation Crusader scenario will be to bomb a convoy of Axis vehicles whilst not getting shot down by either the enemy flak or fighters. The bombing itself is the job of six Blenheim IV's of No14 Squadron, flying in tight formation at 6000 feet, each dropping four 250lb bombs fitted with daisy cutter rods to ensure that they didn't just bury themselves in the sand. This was the standard operating procedure at the time. In the actual mission there were six more Blenheims of the Free French Lorraine Squadron following on behind, forming what was described as a 'Buchanan Party', but I've decided to leave these out to keep the scenario manageable.

In Bag the Hun terms they will be flying at Altitude Level 3 for the full length of the table, using Level Bombing against a vehicle target which will be represented by twelve individual model bases in a continuous line, each occupying a single target hex. The convoy will be defended by flak but, to keep things simple, I'll use the rules for Flak - The Simple Way (p42) or Joe Legan's Lazy Anti Aircraft Formula, with the convoy itself chucking light flak at the bombers  rather than having specific flak units. There will instead be a flak zone through which the bombers and any escorting or enemy fighters will be forced to fly!

Wing Commander J.K. 'Buck' Buchanan DFC

The pilots of No14 Squadron were all highly experienced light bomber crew and so will be rated as Veterans. There will be a Top Ace leading the formation, however, in the form of Wing Commander J.K. 'Buck' Buchanan DFC, who was described by some of his squadron as '..an outstanding pilot, madly brave' and '..a pilot's pilot if ever there was one. He was utterly fearless and flew with tremendous skill'. Apparently, he was so keen on close formation tactics that pilots would end up with blistered hands from gripping their control columns so tightly!

In addition to Top Ace status, W/Cdr.Buchanan will also be allocated a character card to reflect his coolness under fire and evident skill as a bomber pilot. This will allow the formation to gain a valuable additional move in addition to its Formation Bonus and Formation Move cards. I will also let it be used to give an additional fire option to his aircraft, reflecting his tactical instructions via the W/T to the rear gunner. This will help to add some extra weight to the firepower of the formation, which otherwise will only get two Air Gunner Fire cards.

Bombs Gone!

Bag the Blenheims: Stab III./JG27

Hauptmann Erhard 'Jack' Braune (far left)

I've been tracking down some more information on the characters that will feature in the up and coming Bag the Hun Operation Crusader scenario. These will add a bit of colour to the game and give the Luftwaffe and RAF some extra flexibility, which the latter will need to complete the mission and the former to deal with being outnumbered. This is the real trick with scenarios and doesn't always work according to best laid plans, so I've had to put some additional thought into balancing the capabilities of both sides.

The Luftwaffe element will consist of four Bf 109F4's of Stab III./JG27, the head quarters flight (schwarm) of the fighter wing (gruppe). These would have been highly experienced, veteran pilots who fought through both the Battle of Britain and Operation Barbarossa. I have decided to rate all of these pilots as Veterans, which in Bag the Hun terms means that they will find it easy to perform manoeuvres as they gain a +1 bonus for pilot skill. It's been impossible to track down any names for these pilots but that isn't essential.

The schwarm leader, however, needs to be a bit special, so I've decided to use the Gruppe commander, Hauptmann Erhard 'Jack' Braune, to fill this role. On the 31st December 1941, Braune shot down a Hurricane East of Agedabia, which corresponds exactly to the engagement that I'm trying to replicate in the scenario, so it would seem entirely realistic to feature him in the line up. With twelve kills to his name to date, he will be rated as a Junior Ace which gives him a +1 Luck rating and a Junior Ace bonus card, allowing him an extra schwarm move and move/fire option.

He will also get a Character Card to reflect his status as a highly experienced leader and fighter tactician. The Character Card will, in effect, allow the Luftwaffe to make up to three potential moves in a turn and gain additional opportunities to fire, assuming the cards play out in a convenient order. I think this will more than make up for their numerical inferiority but they will still need to work hard to hit both the bombers and the fighter escort, even if they split the schwarm into two rotte or pairs.

Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation

I went back to the Eden Project with the kids today, having originally visited just after it opened. It's only about forty minutes from my folks and, as it was a wet and windy day, it seemed like a good idea to visit something tropical.

Inside the very impressive rainforest biome there's a replica Malaysian jungle hut, which reminded me of the Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation project that I was tinkering with last year. 

I would like to get this going again, probably in 15mm but I have other things to do first, so it will have to wait a bit longer. I have a lot of the figures and vehicles I need in the AK47 leftovers, so it is definitely on the 'to do' list.

Destroyers: An Illustrated History

I found this today in a second hand charity bookshop for only three quid. On first impressions, it didn't look like much and I just assumed it was one of those typical 1980's style re-hash books, all dodgy exploded diagrams and not much substance. 

After a closer look, however, it turned out to be not too bad. All in all, there's a pretty comprehensive coverage of destroyer development and usage from 1900 to the 1970's, with particular emphasis on the Second World War. A decent reference book for modelling and wargaming, if not for the specialist. 

It makes me think of what could be done with all those old 1/700 plastic waterline destroyer kits by Fujimi, Tamiya, Skywave, Matchbox and Hasegawa, perhaps with a naval 'skirmish' approach and some simple, fast play destroyer action rules of some sort. 

I quite like the idea of a Narvik style scenario or perhaps some night action off Guadalcanal, all in a scale where the destroyer models are big enough to look impressive but small enough to still have realistic engagement distances.

Bag the Blenheims Research

It's a bit clunky as a working title but the latest Bag the Hun 2 scenario is now in the research and development stage. I've narrowed the set up down to the following, based half on the actual historical events and half on the models I have ready to deploy:

6 x Blenheim IV's (14 Squadron)

8 x Hurricane II's (229 Squadron)*

4 x Bf 109 F's (Stab III/JG27)

This would seem a little unbalanced but will be weighted in the Luftwaffe's favour by assigning high ratings for the very experienced pilots of III/JG27 including the junior ace Oblt Erhard Braune, who already had twelve confirmed kills to his name by this time. The Axis players will also get a fair amount of nasty light flak to throw at the bombers as they make their attack run..

The RAF by comparison will be relatively inexperienced, with 229 Squadron in particular, being re-formed as a full unit only in September 1941. I will have some regular and veteran flight commanders but there will also be a sprinkling of sprogs making up the two flights of Hurricanes, which were also far less than an equal match for the Bf109F. 

The only exception to this will be the 14 Squadron C/O, Wing Commander J K 'Buck' Buchanan DFC, who will definitely be getting his own character card and possibly a 'special' card of some kind to represent his skill, experience and leadership. This would give the Blenheim formation a bit of an edge, even if their top cover lets them down.

It's already shaping up to be a really interesting scenario and should be a challenge for both the RAF and the Luftwaffe for different reasons. I'm hoping to get the scenario briefing sketched out over the next couple of days. In the meantime it's back to the books to fill in some missing details.

*these were possibly cannon armed IIC's but I will be using IIB's instead, as I have a reference that refers to a 229 Squadron IIB being shot down a few days earlier