Old Wine in New Bottles

I've been playing Bag the Hun for years, right the way back to when the first edition was published in 2003, but have kept my original pdf copy of the second edition rules in the same tatty folder since printing it out in 2010.

The folder is now way too small and the pockets are splitting at the seams, so when my other half bought me some nice new 200 page plastic folders in France as requested, I decided to replace the crappy old one with a nice, shiny new one. 

I now have my much scribbled in and well thumbed rules neatly sorted in a bigger, better clear plastic folder with plenty of space to add more sheets in the future. I really should have done this ages ago but at least I'll have the rules ready for the next club game.

Tally Ho! 

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)

Club Game Scenario Write Up

I've word processed the scenario for the game on Tuesday, taking the time to fine tune the victory conditions and set up, so that it is a bit more focussed. I've added some victory point targets for both sides to make it more specific than just 'shoot down three planes', so now they'll get three points for an ace kill, two for a veteran or regular kill and one point for a forced off enemy aircraft. The scenario will still end when one side shoots down three enemy aircraft, at which point the totals will be added up to see who actually won. I think this will help to make things a little tighter?

Bag the Hun Scenario H Playtest Report

That was another really good game, with plenty of action and not a little bit of tension at times, although the end result was a decisive victory for the Japanese. The top ace, Sgt Maj Saito shot down two I-16's, one with a hit that killed the pilot outright and a second with an explosion which blew the fighter to smithereens! The veteran shotai commander, Lt Okamoto, also shot down one I-16, which suffered a catastrophic structural failure, although this time the pilot made a successful bail out and hit the silk to fly another day. 

However, Lt Okamoto himself was wounded and blacked out, recovering just in time to fly off the table pursued by two of the tailing Soviet fighters. I decided to roll for his fate, using his luck rating to determine what happened next and giving him a chance to crash land, which he managed to do and was able to walk away from. The unfortunate junior ace, Sgt Maj Ishikawa, spent most of the game trying to evade the Soviet fighters having suffered fuel line damage early in the game but he did get a shot in right at the end on one of the I-16's, albeit to little effect. 

The Soviets lost three fighters and two pilots but forced off Lt Okamoto, so claimed one kill as he did actually crash land. In the real dogfight they shot down two Ki-10's for no loss, so this is the only game so far that hasn't had an historical ending. I decided during the game to set some victory objectives rather than just play on until the end, so gave the Japanese the goal of shooting down three or more I-16's to win, while the Soviets had to shoot down all three of the Ki-10's. This seemed a fair arrangement, given that the Soviets outnumbered the Japanese by three to one! I'll write that into the scenario when I eventually get round to it.  

Apologies for the limited selection of photos but the camera died half way through.

Khalkhin Gol Club Game

I've set up a game at the club for next Tuesday, the first time I've been up there for over a year due to lockdown, so it'll be great to get some proper wargaming for a change. I'll be running the Stalin's Eagles scenario with five players signed up and a probable sixth, which I will fill in if needs be, so that each player will have either a shotai or a zveno to command. If I get time, I'll write up a proper scenario outline so that we're all singing from the same song sheet, but all of the players are Bag the Hun veterans so I'm sure they will get along fine anyway.

Bag the Hun Scenario H Play Test Progress

I've been playing the Scenario H game this evening and I'm now on Turn 8, which is much further on than I thought I'd be, expecting to have had the Japanese shot down in short order by now. Instead, the Japanese Top Ace, Sgt Maj Saito, eventually got on the tail of Zveno Three Number Two and hammered away until he got a pilot hit, which ended up as a kill after the dice were rolled on the relevant table. In the meantime the Junior Ace, Sgt Maj Ishikawa, got hit with fuel line damage, so has been going round in circles at his base speed of 5, trying to get a shot on the Soviets but never quite getting there. 

At the end of Turn 7, Sgt Maj Saito is being tailed by the whole of Zveno Two and can't seem to shift them, while Lt Okamoto is tailing a lone Zveno One pilot, after Lt Cheremukhin managed to split his formation with an ill judged evasive chandelle which only he managed to pull off. However, the Zveno Three leader and his wingman are now on the tail of Lt Okamoto, so it's all a bit like rush hour in the skies over Mongolia at the moment. I'm planning to finish off the game tomorrow afternoon, but at close of play this evening it's looking like the Japanese just have the edge....

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?

Bag the Hun Scenario H Playtest Set Up

I've prepared all the cards, sheets and models for the next play test game, although I'm not sure when I'll be able to run it. This looks like a very one sided scenario, until you take into account the fact that the Japanese have a top ace and junior ace in their shotai of three pilots, while the Soviets are a mixed bag, a third of which are only regulars. I may play around with the skill ratings of the Soviet pilots if they turn out to be too competent but I think the Japanese, whose objective is to go down fighting to the last man by ramming if necessary (!), will more than compensate for their inferior numbers?

Bag the Hun Scenario G Playtest Report

That was a right humdinger of a game! 

It all started out with very disciplined and professional formation flying and ended up with only one or two intact formations and a swirling, frenetic dogfight, with both sides performing some impressive manoeuvres and pulling every trick out of the bag at some point in the game. The end result was a decisive Soviet victory, as they managed to shoot down three Japanese fighters for the loss of only one I-16, which literally exploded under the guns of Junior Ace Sgt Maj Saito in Turn 2. 

The Japanese lost two aircraft to the Soviet Top Ace, Major Gritsavets, including their very unfortunate squadron leader Captain Kani, whose Ki-27 had a catastrophic structural failure late in the game, after he'd already run out of ammunition and had a gun jam. However, man of the match must go to the irrepressible Major Smirnov, the Junior Ace and Zveno Two leader, who was wounded, then blacked out and went into an uncontrolled dive, almost crashed but recovered and shot down one of the Japanese fighters. He also effectively neutralised the lethal Sgt Maj Saito by smashing his cockpit, which meant a crippling -3D6 dice penalty for the Japanese Junior Ace. 

It was all very exciting stuff, although the turns were quite long as I was playing solo and had twenty five cards to cycle through each time. In the end it went to eight turns, after which the surviving Japanese aircraft flew off the table in defeat. It's another scenario that I can tick off the playtest list, however, so I'm now onto the last one for the moment, which is Scenario H. I'm surprised at how smoothly all of the scenarios have played so far, with a minimal amount of post game tweaking required, if any at all in some cases. It's also pleasing that they've all turned out to give a historically resonant result, in this case a pasting for the Japanese!