Sons of Mars?

I've been having a think about all of the projects that I could easily pick up and play, having completed most if not all of the elements that I'd require. I have several of these 'pre-baked' projects, most of which were used once or twice for actual games, then shoved back in a box when I moved on to other things, or when the interest fizzled out at the club. I'm now trying not to start any new projects but to finish off or revive these dormant but do-able ones instead, both for cost and convenience reasons.

A good example of one such abandoned project is my 28mm gladiator collection, which I originally painted up for use with the Warhammer Gladiator rules. These turned out to be a bit duff, so I only played a few games before shelving the models until another set of rules came along. I have nearly revived them a couple of times since then with both Morituri Te Salutant and Victus, the latter of which I really liked, but just didn't quite get off the ground. I also acquired some cheap Jugula figures at one point but didn't get beyond a brief flirtation with the larger scale models or the rules due to the ridiculous price tag and multiple player format.

J

Anyway, there's a new set of rules that have been recently published, aptly titled Sons of Mars. These look quite good and, from the reviews and videos that I've seen, could be the answer to my gladiatorial doldrums. They are designed for 28mm figures on a 20" square area and include all of the usual gladiator types, wild beasts and arena elements that you'd expect. There's also the ubiquitous campaign mode and rules for character progression through the ludus, via a variety of gladiatorial matches. If it plays well solo or as a one to one game, I'm definitely interested, as I only need to make a simple arena or training ground to be ready to go.

I've ordered a copy and will see if it ticks the right boxes when it arrives in a few days time?

Holiday!

I'm taking a short break but normal service will be restored in a few days...

1/144th Scale Lethal Skies?

I have been pondering the possibilities of larger scale modern aerial wargaming using Lethal Skies, the new air to air combat rules that I downloaded yesterday. These have been designed for 1/200th scale and upwards, rather than the usual 1/300th scale and downwards, which seems counter intuitive given the ranges and speeds involved in modern fighter engagements? Anyway, it gives me the excuse to dust off some old 1/144th scale Airfix, Revell and Minicraft plastic kits that I have stashed in the loft!

After a rummage, I have found a trio of the old Airfix MiG21PF Fishbed D plastic kits, which I bought really cheap in a Hobbycraft sale years ago, with a view to using them at some point for wargaming purposes. These models are re-issues of an even older Chinese kit, so they are pretty crude but ideal for wargaming as a result. I quite like the idea of painting them up for a Middle East or African air force, perhaps Egyptian, Syrian or Angolan, or even an imaginations air force from my AK47 Republic wargames? It's just an idea at the moment but I think it might be fun.

Lethal Skies

This is a new(ish) set of card driven miniature modern air warfare rules, available from Wargames Vault and published by Talion Games. The rules and some sample aircraft, weapon and trait cards are available as Pay What You Want downloads, with additional cards available for $2.00 each. The system is designed for larger scale models on circular bases, the blurb suggesting 1/200th scale as an ideal size, although I would have thought that 1/144th scale would be the obvious choice. 

You need to buy a couple of the relevant aircraft profile cards, then the appropriate weapon cards and trait cards before you can play, so it could end up being an on-going cost if you want to use more than a handful of types. However, once you have the required downloads you can use them again and print multiple copies. I think it looks interesting, as I've always fancied some 1/144th scale jet combat using model kits, so I think I'll download the core rules and some sample cards for a closer look:

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/252496/Lethal-Skies-Rules

FAS Civilianised B-26 Invader

I had pinched two Tumbling Dice B-26 Invader models from my MiG Alley unpainted plane back log to use as El Salvadoran aircraft for the Football War, only to realise that they weren't quite right due to the dorsal and ventral turrets. To replace them with a more accurate civilianised version, I cut and sanded away both turrets from a spare model, so that I can use it for my Corsairs and Cavaliers project. The two that the FAS acquired and the one that the FAH got hold of after the war, didn't actually participate in the 1969 hostilities, but I thought it would be cool to have one anyway.

Baltic Air Policing Noggies

It's been a long while since I thought about my Target Locked On! Flashpoint Baltic project but I am just about to order some 1/600th scale Norwegian and Czech roundels from Dan at Flight Deck Decals to give it a boot in the right direction. The Norwegian roundels will be used for some Oddzial Ozmy F-16's while the Czech ones will go on some Saab Gripens, which is one of my favourite modern fighter aircraft. In the meantime, here's a short but very interesting video clip  of a Norwegian F-16 fighter pilot, explaining just what it all involves:

Bag the MiG Cheatsheet

I've been meaning to do this for ages. I have stripped out most of the rules amendments for first edition Bag The Hun from the Bag The MiG article in the 2006 Xmas Special, to create a one page summary of the relevant bits, minus the rules for attacking B-29 formations. I can now give these to the players along with the standard Bag The Hun cheat sheets and the relevant Bag The MiG scenario briefings, which should make it a lot easier for everyone involved. I'm always in two minds about posting things like this, as I don't want to infringe any copyright or pinch someone's intellectual property, but you'd still need to get hold of the Special and the original rules to make use of it anyway, so I don't think there's a big issue.

Blue Monday

I've started on the aircraft for the FAH today, with an overall blue base coat on the Honduran F4U-4 and F4U-5N Corsairs. This raised an interesting question about exactly which shade of blue to use, as I have seen several alternative colours in photographs, paintings and profiles? I didn't want to use the gloss dark blue that I applied to the MiG Alley USN and USMC aircraft, as this is way to shiny for some battered, second hand 'one not so careful owner' flying machines.

In the end I settled on a very old pot of Citadel Night World Blue, from the long lost days when they had only three shades of blue in the entire Citadel Paint series. I think this looks spot on and will look even better with a wash and a drybrush. I have left one Corsair in matt grey undercoat, as one of the F4U-4's was left in an off white, light grey scheme similar to that applied to the AT-6 and T-28A's, so I'll paint this 'odd one out' when I tackle the rest of the Honduran Air Force.

Tumbling Dice Aircraft for Corsairs and Cavaliers

I've provided a break down of the different aircraft with matching Tumbling Dice Vapour Trails codes, for anyone who is interested in collecting forces for both sides in the Football War. I've also added a number in superscript for each of the aircraft types, to give some idea of the numbers available in the war itself, although this is a bit tentative as neither side kept detailed records and historians tend to disagree (a lot).

I've based the numbers on The 100 Hour War by Mario Overall and Dan Hagerdorn, which is my 'go to' source of information for this, as well as online articles and the Bag the Hun variant 'Anyone for Football?' by Tom Ballou in the 2007 Xmas Special. It's not often that you can assemble two complete air forces for an entire war for less than £20. I was even thinking of sending the rules and my notes off to Paul at Tumbling Dice to see if he'd put together a couple of Starter Packs?

Corsairs and Cavaliers Completed

I have now completed the adaptation of the Wings at War: Desert Spitfires rules for the Football War, so I'm ready for some play testing to see how the various changes fall into place or not. I've added the Bombing chart, the Victory Targets and Victory Points tables to finish off the main rules. I now have all the pages sorted and numbered ready to print and assemble into a rules booklet.

I've also added an optional set of rules for using the B-26 Invader, two of which were acquired by El Salvador during the war but which didn't arrive on time. Even then, they were armed with forward firing broomsticks painted black, as the FAS did not have machine guns or mountings to fit in the nose! They didn't even have a sting in the tail, as both of the rear turrets had been removed.

Here are some of the relevant sections so, if you have five minutes to spare, I'd appreciate some feedback especially if you are familiar with the Wings at War system. I'm not going to post the whole rules booklet here, as it's not my set of rules to start with and the copyright belongs to Chris Russell, who very kindly allowed me to muck about with them!