'Nam: The Air War

F4 Phantom

The next air campaign that I intend to cover for my new game is the air war over North Vietnam.

F105 'Thud'

Accordingly, I have bought a few suitable 1:300 models from Scotia-Grendal's Collectair range. These are old fashioned metal models (lead alloy?) and some of the moulds are slightly ragged BUT they are excellent value for money. This whole collection cost less than £30 including postage.

Mig 17

The Soviet fighters are really small compared to American planes. These obsolete 17s gave the USAF and USN some real headaches.

Mig 19

The Mig 19 was not exactly a roaring success after the 17 and 15, and was not used much by North Vietnam.

Mig 21

The 21, armed with two reverse-engineered Sidewinder missiles, was a formidable opponent. The fighter/interceptor is the same generation as the Lightning and Starfighter.

Star Wars - X Wing

I managed to turn up late for the club the other day and took over a pair of Rebel Starfighters, an X& Y Wing. They were in a rather awkward configuration so I decided to sort myself out into a fighting element. Until I find out better I intend to treat X Wing as an air combat game.

A pair of Imperial Starfighters turned in on me.

Always turn into the attack and always use both planes in an element to  support each other.

I was disappointed to do very little damage on the lead Imperial but  pulled out and away to give myself space to set up another attack.

The Imperial Flight Leader turned in for another attack on my X Wing.

The X Wing fired Photon Torpedoes and the Imperial blew up. The second Tie turned away from me.

My XWing followed him through the turn and pumped lasers into the Tie's unprotected rear: bang.

And that was it as far as my contribution to the scenario went.

This is the second game of Star Wars I have played. My thoughts on the game are as follows:

X Wing is an airgame based on Wings of War.

Fantasy Flight have added lots of Special Effect Cards to try to turn it into one of those collectible card game - type designs like Malifaux, where choosing killer units is much more important than the wargame element. Fortunately FF have failed and X Wing is still a manoeuvre game because the fighters mostly just fire forwards.

So all the usual airgame tactics apply:
Fight in element formations not individual planes
Manoeuvre into your opponents rear and stay there
Be patient and manoeuvre to set up a favourable attack
Follow through when committed to an attack
Get in, fire at the closest range possible, and get out to set up another attack

The Camels Are Coming

Regular readers of this blog, i.e. my daughters and son in law (he likes a laugh) will have noted that I have taken on my friend Shaun Murphy on a number of occasions at Wings of War - and have had my clock-cleaned each time. I therefore challenged Shaun to a grudge match. This time my gallant lads of the Royal Flying Corps would triumph. This time it would be different. I chose two Camels, arguably the best British scout, and supported them by a Tripehound. Shaun ga;llantly opposed me with a couple of Roland two seaters and a single scout, albeit the exceptional Fokker DVII.

I charged straight in with the Camels to use concentrated fire on a single Roland, while sending the manoeurable but fragile Tripehand out to the wing.




The plan worked perfectly. I shot up the Roland, split the camels and came back in with another round of fire from both scouts, shooting the poor Hun to shreds. The two seater fired back once with his pathetic little gun - and hit one of the Camels in the fuel tank causing it to explode in flames. A perfectly clean, two gunned Camel just burst into flames from a popgun. The Roland required four Camel bursts!!!


I was really up against it now. The Triplane came in on the surviving Roland's tail and got set on fire bya pathetic little burst from the two-seater's rear gun. The fire spread and the Triplane rolled over and crashed. The sole remaining Camel's guns jammed. It disengaged and ran for home.

Would anyone like to buy a Wings of War set - going cheap.

AEG GIV - Bomber 1916

The AEG G bombers were short range tactical bomber with an internal bomb bay between the pilot and rear gunner. Theye were not hugely successful and were often used as general fighters. They had more success as tactical night bombers as they were very easy to fly so non-tiring for the pilot. One pilot on the Italian front mounted seven raids in a single night.

They had two engine in tractor layout and a crew of three with typicaly a front and rear gunner with good arcs of fire.

Pedantic note: 'Fighter' in WWI was a general purpose warplane with two or more crew that was armed and so theoretically did not need escorting, as in Bristol Fighter. A single seater interceptor was a 'scout'.



The Skytrex model was the usual nightmare to put together. I used copper rods to hold the upper wing on and abandoned the complex struts between the upper wing and the fusalage. The decals are a particular source of irritation. They are the worst I have ever encountered in five decades of model making. Nevertheless, the finished product ain't so shabby and Skytrex are a reliable good-service company.

The camoflague is copied from a model. I think it is for night bombers.

Skytrex Fokker E1

I have not had much chance for modelling lately, let alone playing but have finally finished a couple of E1s. These were the first true fighters with an mg firing through the propellor arc using mechanical interruptor gear. They were so successful in shooting down the RFC antiquated BE2s that this period of the war was known as the Fokker Scourge.

Steampunk Planes

I am a fan of steampunk and have a novella being published in April's Baen's Universe Magazine.
These pics are from the Englishrussian.com site. They are digital pics of what a K7 giant Russian aircraft (from a 1930s design study) would have looked like engaging German flying saucers (from a 1940s design study).
The CIA mounted an investigation in the 60s to investigate whether UFOs were Russian-built based on German secret technology. Such was the paranoia of the Cold War.

Albatross DIII

I am still a sucker for WoW miniatures. This is a twin-gun Albatross DIII. It was the finest fighter of its time, outclassing and outshooting all the allied scouts resulting in the Bloody April debacle.

Bloody April - Wings of War

In April 1917, the French and British launched the latest Big Push, aka lunatic attack. The RFC were ordered to fly army support operations into German territory. The British had about 25 quadrons, a little more than 350 planes. Two thirds were two seaters who carrried out the reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions, leaving about 120 scouts to escort them. The Germans concentrated 8 fighter Jasta, say 80 scouts, in the area.

This looks OK on paper but the RFC scouts were largely obsolete. The twin-gun Albatross scouts outclassed them in all regards. Nevertheless, the RFC was obliged to go on the offensive.




This scenario takes place in Bloody April. The British two seaters have been slaughtered so the RFC sends two single-gunned Airco DH2 pusher scouts on a deep reconnaissance. They have added a Royal Naval Sopwith Triplane as an escort. The Triplane has only a single gun but can at least match the Albatross in performance, which is just as well as the formation runs straight into an Albatross trap.



The formations close.


The Albatross break.


After an initial exchange of fire, in which one of the DH2's gun jams on the first burst, the British planes loop around on the tail of the purple Albatross. It's partner makes an attack run on the Triplane.



There is a swirling dogfight in which the scouts fire when they can while twisting to evade being attacked themselves. The powerful spandeaux of an Albatross punch through a DH2's fuel tank causing it to explode in a ball of fire. The second pusher is set on fire and the Triplane's engine is hit. It nevertheless tears straight at the purple Albatross riddling it at close range. The wings collapse and the German falls. The DH2 does not survive to celebrate. The onboard fire spreads to a petrol line and the DH2 explodes.

The Triplane escapes while it can, the pilot nursing the stuttering engine.

In the real world the Britsh lost 245 aircraft. The Germans lost 66. So this scenario was quite accurate. Two guns are a big advantage.

Thanks to Shaun who piloted the Albatross scouts.

New Wings of War Products

Gioconomicon shows some new about to be released Wings of War products abot to hit the shops.

http://www.gioconomicon.net/

Major Hawker VC, Skytrex DH2

I have painted up one of the DH2 scouts. This is plane registration 5964 of No.24 Squadron, Bertangles, November 1916, flown by Major Lanoe G Hawker VC. I have simplified the paint job slightly to suit the small scale. The Airco DH2 was Britain's first purpose-designed air superiority fighter. It was the plane that ended the Fokker Scourge. The pusher layout was one way of solving the problem of how to mount a forward firing machine gun. Not using interruptor gear allowed a higher rate of fire.

The problem with pushers was that the mass of wires and struts caused drag. Initially this was not an issue but became one as fighters got faster. By November, 1916, the DH2 was obsolete. Bloody April was coming.







I made a mistake in the colour scheme. The horizontal booms were aluminium and should be silver grey. An easily fixable error.

It is dusk here even at midday, so the pics are taken with a flasgun.


















Major Hawker was the "English Boelcke", He led the first air superiority squadron, No. 24 Squadron, and devised training and tactics. Often this was achieved against opposition of the aristocratic muppets at the top of the army. He was shot down and killed by the Red Baron, Richothofen, on the 23rd November 1916. Hawker was alone, outnumbered, flying an obsolete aircraft that was slower both on the flat and climbing, miles behind enemy lines, with a wind pushing him deeper to the east. It was not really Richthofen who killed Hawker but the horse-riding half wits in command who devised this master strategy.
(Picture copyright Guttman, 2009, Osprey, Pusher Aces of World War 1 - a very good book, by the way.)



















More essential sustenance while painting struts on a 1:144 model biplane.

Skytrex 1:144 Kits - Assembled

OK, I have assembled the Skytrex Triplanes and Pushers more or less as intentended. I used brass rods on the DH2s as recommended by Stephen Blease. I strongly recommend that you read Stephen's build suggesions (see Stephen's comments at the bottom of my Skytrex posts. I half used them and wished I had followed his advice unreservedly. You will need blue tack, epoxy resin & fine brass rod. The planes are mounted on Wings of War bases. I have put a WoW Camel in the pic for comparison.



I mounted the model by cutting the lug of a short Battle Fleet Gothic flyer stand, reversing it and cementing it to the bottom of the model in the centre of gravity. It then fits straight on top of a WoW stand.

Skytrex WWI White Metal Plane Kits 1:144

I have started assembling the Skytrex planes. Superglue is of limited value because (i) you need to repostion all those struts and superglue drys too quickly, and (ii) it does not provide enough support for the small contact points. I have therefore tried Araldite quick drying epoxy resin with better results. It is slow and messy but it does the job.







Essential tool when assembling white metal 1:144 triplanes and pushers.

Skytrex Red Eagle WWI Planes

I bought some Red Eagle WWI planes from the Skytrex site (see sidebar), a couple of DH2s and a couple of Sopwith Triplanes. cards for both these aircraft are available from Wings of War, but not the models.

Red Eagle planes are supposed to be a living nightmare to assemble: I will let you know in a couple of days. One trick, apparently is to use thin copper tube, rather than the provided white metal struts.

The models are a bit rough and ready and will need cleaning up but are only £4 a time. Skytrex have a wide range, including heavy bombers.

When assembled, they should look like the pics below.

John

Get Thee From Me Satan.....

The Bells of Hell

The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling

For you but not for me:

For me the angels sing-a-ling-a-ling,

They've got the goods for me.

Oh! Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling

Oh! Grave, thy victory?

And the little devils all sing-aling-aling

For you but not for me.

WWI RFC Pilot's song.




Das Mädchen unter der Laterne

Underneath the lantern,
By the barrack gate
Darling I remember
The way you used to wait
T'was there that you whispered tenderly,
That you loved me,
You'd always be,
My Lilli of the Lamplight,
My own Lilli Marlene

German WWI soldiers song, later popular with the Africa Korps and the Desert Rats (Britain's 8th Army) - Tommie Connor version, 1944.

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I have had a flypast of my entire Wings of War airfleet. As you can see, I managed to track down one of the coveted red Tripehounds.

A quick head count reveals about £100 worth. That has to be enough for anyone. So no more WWI airplanes, except maybe a Nieuport, or a Snipe, or a couple of Albatross DIIs - or maybe some Skytrex Sopwith Triplanes, or an Eindecker or a flight of DHII pusher fighters.

No, no, get thee from me Satan.......

The Hun in the Sun

The latest recruit to Jasta Lambshead has come in the post - the Fokker VII.

About 1,700 DVIIs were built in the summer and autumn of 1918 for the Die Fliegertruppen. It gave the hard-pressed German scout pilots a weapon of parity with the Camels, SEFas and Spads of the French and British air forces.

Wings of War - Battle Report

The Orientation Flight

Lt Algernon Smythe of the RFC was given the task of taking Capt Cornetto, a representative of the Aeronautica del Regio Eserciti, on a familiarisation flight over the Western Front. Smythe was of the Devonshire Smythes from Dartmoor, a place of few women and many sheep (and a hound).

Smythe flew his trusty Sopwith Camel while Cornetto insisted on using his Spad XIII, which was painted in the colours of the Aeronautica.

At 14.21 hours, Smyth spotted two dots approaching from the east. These resolved into a Roland two seater reconnaissance escorted by one of the new Fokker scouts. Smythe immediately waggled his wings and his moustache to get Cornettos attention and signalled his intention to attack.



Karl Ritter Von Schmidt, in the Fokker VII, noticing the approaching scouts, signalled to the Roland to close up on his fighter.


The two flights closed rapidly and Smythe opened fire, initially at too long a range, but soon fire from the Fokker fighter ripped through his wings. Cornetto slid around to the right flank.

The photo at left shows the control boards for the allied scouts. Note the system of three manouvre cards that are preselected for each turn. These must be used in order, simultaneously for all planes with simultaneous firing coming after each phase.

The intial exchange of fire was disastrous for the allies. The Camel took a hit in the rudder preventing right turns (the rotary engined Camel's party trick) and its guns jammed (see counters). the Spad took an engine hit that caused it to play at least one mandatary stall card each turn.

The position of the counters mark when special effects, such as jammed guns, can be removed.










The photo shows the position of the planes at the end of the turn. Note how the manouvre cards are used to 'fly' the planes.


Each plane has its own set of manoeuvre cards that show different distances, turn abilities and so on. The plastic bases have firing arcs on and other info.






The planes go into tight banks to dogfight with each other.


After another turn of three manoeuvre phases, the allied scouts have outmanouvred the dastardly Hun and are on their tails.


The Camel rakes the Fokker VII to no obvious effect. Fire from the Spad killed the Roland's observer. However, the Fokker snapped a long range shot at the Spad. Von Schmidt had spent his boyhood hunting boar in the Black Forest and showed himself again to be a skillfull marksman. There was a large bang and Cornetto's Spad fell out of the sky trailing black smoke.

In game turns, I had drawn a 'sudden death' damage card (see above photo) for the Spad.


Poor old Smythe was left to fight on alone. Army Intelligence had assured the RFC that the new Fokker was a poor piece of work. Smythe begged to differ when Schmidt made a tight Immelman turn and closed in on his rear, shooting holes in the Camel.






Schmidt was now in a 'tailing' position (can rearrange his manouvre cards) and followed the Camel firing all the time (its damagesum was starting to get close to the the total structure points of the machine).

Smythe took a pot at the Roland which had wandered out in front of his guns but both his Vickers jammed - again!







Smythe twisted and turned to stay out of the Fokker's twin Spandeau machine guns. In doing so, he had to accept hits from the Roland's single gun.




Finally, Smyth managed to disengage and flee.





The Camel limped back to the airfield. Smythe landed, taxied to the hanger and switched his engine off. The silence was only broken by his top wing collapsing.

Some time later he was fortifying his nerves with a snifter in the mess when the door flew open and in mached Cornetto with a blond on one arm, a brunette on the other, and a redhead following with his cap.

Apparently, he had crash landed on top of a detachment of the women's auxiliary balloon corps.

It was, Smyth reflected, going to be a long war.



I enjoyed this game greatly even though I lost (congrats to Shaun). The ergonomics are well thought out and slick. Cards are used for manouvre and damage - no dice needed. The battle took less than an hour. It would play well with multiple planes and multiple players.

Highly addictive.