This Sunday’s Wargame

Since we just got back from Historicon and I have part 2 of my eye surgeries on Thursday, we will be “keeping it simple” for this upcoming Sunday. I’ve had a hankering to play Check Your Six Jet Age for a few weeks now, so we will return to the skies of Vietnam for some Phantom v. MiG action. I picked up some new stand mounts at Historicon that allow you to show banking and climb/dives on the Check Your Six stands, as well as some cool new markers to show special maneuvers. Game time as always is 1 PM at Unique Gifts and Games in Grayslake, IL. Hope to see you there.

1/300 Check Your Six! Jets…and a Test Felid

I’m getting ready for this Friday night’s Check Your Six! Jet Age game at Unique Gifts and Games. First up are four 1/300 scale Phantom II’s painted for Vietnam.

 

Four Phantom IIs for Vietnam

 

 

Close up of a Phantom II

 

I got a little silvering on the wing decals. They are from an “off-brand” because I didn’t have any Dom’s Decals for the Americans handy. I plan to go back and edge the decals with the original paint colors to reduce the effect. Next time: Dom’s Decals!

Next up are four Mig 19s for Vietnam:

 

Mig 19s for Vietnam

 

 

Close up of one of the Migs

 

The Vietnamese decals are from Dom and the difference is noticeable. Thanks, Dom, for putting out a great set of products.

We will be playing a scenario straight from the Check Your Six! Jet Age rulebook involving four Phantoms jumping a solitary, low-flying  Mig 19, and in turn being jumped from above by three Mig 19s. Game time as always is 7 PM sharp at Unique Gifts and Games in Grayslake, IL.

Finally, I have continued my descent into the madness of 15mm (1/100) scale science fiction figures for Tomorrow’s War. I will have more photos later of my projects, but I wanted to share a few photos of a test figure for my 15mm Felid (think human-sized intelligent tigers) forces from Khurasan Miniatures.

 

Can't tell if he's angry or hungry...or both!

 

 

His left side is his best side...or so he instructed me while taking photos.

 

 

Yes, definitely his right side...pretty kitty!

 

Closer to actual size.

Again, these are 15mm figures and they have an impressive level of detail. I wanted a simple paint scheme to set against the tiger fur, so I went with a ochre-brown color. The first coat on the base was still drying when I took these photos. I plan to give it a quick drybrush and add some static grass.

Cakewalk at Umm Qasr

Last night’s game was a playtest of a scenario for one of the upcoming Ambush Alley supplements set in Umm Qasr. As I constantly remind myself, we playtest scenarios for a reason and last night was no exception. The US Marine force butchered the jihadists within three turns of the start. Some of the cake walk was some misinterpretation of the scenario start conditions, but some of it was devastating USMC firepower concentrated on a handful of buildings. I’m not at liberty to go into the specifics of the scenario as it will ultimately be published by AAG, but I did get plenty of notes on what went well and what went poorly. We plan to playtest the very same scenario again today.

As for getting Check Your Six! Jet Age off the ground (pun intended), it looks like we will be doing 1/300 Vietnam as our first project. For those of you frequenting Ken’s hobby shop, Ros Heroics makes jets (same company that makes the 1/300 WW2 planes that Ken carries). If you’re looking to paint stuff up for play, here are some of the more common aircraft that we will need.

United States

F100 Super Sabres, F105 Thunderchiefs, F4 Phantoms, A-4 Skyhawks, A7 Corsairs, F8 Crusaders

North Vietnam

MiG 17s, MiG 19s, and MiG 21s

I think rather than running a campaign, we will play some of the scenarios from the book until we get the hang of things. I am shooting for Labor Day weekend as the first game, so you have plenty of time to order stuff from Ken and slap some paint on things.

This Week’s Ambush Alley Offering

We will be playtesting a few scenarios from the upcoming Ambush Alley 2nd edition book and providing feedback to the design team on new game mechanics. Ideally we will be testing two different scenarios, time permitting. The first will be set in Iraq 2003 and the second will be a scenario I wrote for the 1973 Arab Israeli Yom Kippur War. Game time as always is 7 PM. Location is at Unique Gifts and Games in Grayslake, IL (see link at left for directions).

I also should mention that I got my copy of Check Your Six! Jet Age rules and I am quite excited about a little Mig Alley action in 1/300. I have a number of planes for both Vietnam and the Arab Israeli Wars and hope to have these painted up and ready to go in the next few weeks. I also purchased some SAM sites, AA sites and Suez Canal tiles from Fight’s On!, as well as air-to-air and surface-to-air missile markers.

Markers from Fight's On in action (photo from Fight's on website)

SAM site markers from Fight's On (photos from website)

Look for me to be running this game sometime in August.

Back from Germany

We just returned from vacation; spent 10 days in Deutschland, mostly Munich and Frankfurt. We also hit the Rhine Valley and Heidelberg while we were at it.

The family on the Romantic Bridge over the Nekar River in Heidelberg.

From a wargaming perspective, there were a few highlights on the trip. One was while we were in Munich. We toured the Deutsch Museum and got to see some really cool things.

Me262 with interior visible and motor covers removed.

Yes, it IS a Me163 Komet. I had no idea that any survived the war!

The two jets are in perfect condition and lovingly cared for. The museum also has V1 and V2 missiles.

V1 missile.

Looking down the stairway from the top of the museum to the base of the V2 rocket.

I must say I was quite surprised at the next two exhibits.

German Rheintocher, the first(?) surface-to-air missile c.1942.

German helicopter from 1942

The museum also had a Ju-52 on display. You were able to walk into the cargo area, see the cockpit and view some of the tools used to build and maintain the aircraft.

A full-sized Ju-52.

Ju-52 cockpit (behind glass unfortunately).

Inside the Ju-52 cargo area (not in original condition, but gives a feel for how cramped it is).

One other item on display really caught my eye: a Roland two-seater with the original fabric still on the frame!

The lozenge pattern is in excellent shape for being original fabric from WW1.

All in all, we spent the better part of an afternoon at the Deutsch Museum and really enjoyed ourselves.

Over France, 1940

Skip Peterson invited a few of us over to his house to play in his homegrown Legends of the Skies dogfight game. The scenario for the evening was Luftwaffe Stukas in support of  the advancing Germans attempting to bomb a French river defense line. The Stukas were escorted by two Schwarms of Messerschmidts. RAF Hurricanes attempted to support their French allies.

France 1940, as recreated in Skip's basement.

Things did not go well for the RAF initially. Lining up for shots on the Stukas, the Hurricanes of my flight managed only a few scratches on the Stuka frames.

My Hurricanes head for the river where the Stukas are gathering.

The Stukas answered by diving and dropping their bombs on the bridges (after strafing a few French trucks on their way to their main target).

The first bridge is destroyed, soon to be followed by a second.

Amazingly, the RAF’s luck changed, and soon several Stukas were crashing into the French countryside. The German Emils managed to get one of the Hurricanes (Skip was unable to shake off his pursuers), but the German fighters paid for the attack, too. At the end of the night, the score was three Stukas shot down, one Messerschmidt, in exchange for the loss of one Hurricane. Sadly, both river bridges were destroyed, so the scenario was somewhat of a draw, with a slight edge to the RAF in points.

A tangled fight after the Stukas released their bombs.

Skip continues to refine his rules, and it shows. We had an absolute blast and were able to play 12 complete turns in just about 3 hours. I’m looking forward to the next game. Tally ho!

Check Your Six! on Hiatus

Well, after six months of flying, it’s time to move on. After speaking with Ken at Unique Gifts and Games, the Friday night Check Your Six! campaign will end. Please note that we will continue to play the game on occasion, but it will no longer be a regularly scheduled event. Some of the players, myself included, want to play some of the scenarios in the books versus having a set campaign, so we will most likely do that.

Check Your Six! Resumes Flying this Friday Night

It may be Black Friday for retailers, but it’s a fine night for flying WWII aircraft. Now that I am no longer stuck painting only Lord of the Rings miniatures (that convention game is done-phew!), I hope to get a few new aircraft ready to go for Friday night. As always, wheels up at 7:15 PM. I picked up some War at Sea miniatures from Axis & Allies, so we may feature a bombing run on some naval targets. Hope to see you there!

Flying this Friday/Update on Projects

The Check Your Six! campaign continues this Friday night at UGG in Grayslake, IL. Wheels up at 7:15 PM. We’d like to see all pilots turn out this Friday night so we can push for two separate games.

Meanwhile, Rohan continues to take shape. I have finished my stables and started work on two more houses. Eric is painting my Uruk-Hai pikemen for me, and I have started the brushwork on my mounted Riders of Rohan. After the houses are finished, I am going to scratch-build a watchtower, similar to the model found in the War of the Ring rulebook. I have also purchased about 12 Uruk’s carrying torches (from the Siege box set) for my scenario. That just leaves the Dunlendings, townfolk and Rohan foot to finish by November. Whew!

An Ace for an Ace

Zeroes and Wildcats flew over the Pacific last night…and the second ace of the campaign lost his life. Lining up for a shot on two Zeroes, Will’s newly minted ace got caught in the crossfire and was unable to bail out successfully. After several more game turns, Ken’s veteran pilot exacted vengeance on the Zero who got Will, and became the third ace of the campaign. My ace managed to shoot down another Wildcat and damage yet another, so Ken and Will had to beat a hasty retreat back to the carrier with their remaining planes. Later that night, several Japanese pilots flew over the area of the battle and dropped wreaths into the ocean in honor of their fallen adversary.