Four MiGs have just bounced your two Phantoms - what do you do now?

We are very fortunate to have a growing number of charity shops in our local area (sadly, also reflecting the levels of misfortune in our society). These present a treasure trove for the wargamer - loads of opportunities to pick up odds and ends that supplement terrain and other such goodness.

I always cast an eye over the games in the kids section just in case there is a classic to be had. Recently, I picked up a 'new in the box' copy of that classic Australian game of sheep stations - Squatter - for all of $5.

However, last Saturday I hit the jackpot. Sitting in a dark corner of the window display was a copy of Avalon Hill's Flight Leader: Game of Air to Air Jet Combat Tactics, 1950 to the Present (which in this case was 1986!).

Now, I'm not really a 'modern' air combat kind of guy - a copy of Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Ironclads, or Jutland would be the ultimate find (all of which I have owned years ago but foolishly divested myself of).

The price tag? $10! There was also a copy of the old 1976 Jedko Games classic - Field Marshall. $50 (a bit pricy for me). While I am firmly a miniatures gamer these days, every school holidays of my early teens (in the 1970s) would include a pilgrimage through the industrial parks south of Moorabbin Airport (Melbourne, Australia) to Jedko Games (in Fonceca St).

My best mate, Gary, and I (both dedicated warmers) would make the trek by bus to Moorabbin (with refreshment stops along the way) and then walk through the (then) almost post-apocalyptic industrial landscape to Jedko Games in a tiny backstreet. They were the Australian mail order distributer of every wargame under the sun - they had a little shop in the front of the warehouse. A few mad minutes spending our saved paper-round wages and then home to two weeks of school holiday gaming!

Board wargaming was the natural extension of my early years 'fighting' with 100s of Airfix soldiers and tanks in the back yard. But I 'moved on' in my late teens and sold the huge collection of games I had (I guess I sold them - I have no idea where they went).

So ... I walked by this 'blast from the past', not initially drawn to the subject matter of the game. A few hours later I was kicking myself. What was I thinking - $10! I could easily make more than that on-selling it. Especially if it is unpunched and in good conditions (the box looked good).

Then I started to think of all those classic Cold War scenarios of my youth: MiGs vs Mirages over Gaza, Argentinian A-4 Skyhawk's and Sea Harriers over Bomb Alley off the Falklands etc. ... OK, I was hooked!

It was a very wet weekend so I hoped that there would not be too much passing traffic and late on Sunday afternoon (as they were packing up) I managed to get back and left $10 lighter but with a good-as-new copy of Flight Leader (30 years old!) wedged under my arm.

I've not had time since to delve into the rules, but thought it would be fun to do an 'unboxing' of sorts. Some pictures follow ... enjoy the nostalgia!

Flight Leader (IMHO) ranks among the best cover art of the Avalon Hill Bookcase Games

The blurb on the box hints at an interesting game - 30 second per turn, playtime 30 mins to 3 hours, game design by a USAF fighter pilot, high solitaire playability! 

A d10 in a board game was pretty unusual in those days from my experience! The first glimpse suggested
the game was in good order.

Huzzah! Unpunched counters, all the components in good order. This has sat on a shelf and never been played. 

The introductory rules hint at an easy way into the game. You can add detail from the advanced rules
at your own pace, it seems.

Aircraft status cards - looks like plenty of room to add colour to the game here.

I quite like the old sillohuette images - has that plane spotter feel to it! Homing in on the Harriers in this shot! 

The Swedish Saab Viggen was designed with the "..ability for it to be operated from straight stretches of rural highways only 500 meters long; this was considered critical to reducing the vulnerability to attack in the event of a pre-emptive strike upon the nation through the dispersal of aircraft from established airbases to more austere improvised landing strips." Source: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Saab_37_Viggen

Some of the the Eastern Bloc et al!

Loads of status counters!

... and then there was the map. Looks really nice for Europe and maybe Vietnam ... perhaps looses a little of the feel for encounters in the Middle east and Falklands. Still, a nice board by any standards.

Board detail.

Of course, the obligatory 'affix a stamp and return' card to get on the mailing list! Not an email address or URL in sight - love it. Also, who can forget General magazine!

That's it for the unboxing. Its probably obvious by now that it's not getting sold! I might even post a report of a game at some stage. Best $10 I've spent in some time!

Thanks for dropping by.

Battle of Elli - fleets completed

This weekend saw the Ottoman and Greek destroyers completed for the Battle of Elli (16th Dec. 1912). This completes both the Ottoman and Hellenic Navy fleets for this battle. This brings to a conclusion my first 1:2400 scratch building project.

The ships have been based with the intention of using Grand Fleets third edition rules particularly as the Grand Fleets: Tsar & Emperor scenario book has all the stats for this battle.

Part of the challenge ahead is to decide how - if at all - to incorporate the destroyers (both Greek and Ottoman) into the scenario. The Greek destroyers seem to have stayed out to the west of the action and the Ottoman destroyers and the Protected Cruiser Mecidiye clung to the Aegean coast near the Dardanelles.

Anyway, the main reason for the post is for some pictures - so here's the fleets conducting some initial maneuvers!

The Ottoman fleet sorties out from the Dardanelles.

The Ottoman destroyer division with the protected cruiser Mecidiye.

The Ottoman capital ships.

The Hellenic Navy's 'heavies' - the Georgics Averof and the old battleships Hydra, Spetsai and Psara.

1:2400 scratch-built First Balkan War fleets

The First Balkan War naval project is in full gear with all the capital ships completed. All have been scratch built using PVC modelling sheet and tube.

The fleets represent those engaged at the Battle of Elli or İmroz Deniz Muharebesi (Battle of the Dardanelles) that took place on 16 December 1912.

The battle was the largest navel battle of the First balkan war and saw the Hellenic flagship - Georgios Averof - almost single-handedly drive off the Ottoman fleet.

Here are a few pictures of the capital ships for the Ottomans and the Greeks.

The Hellenic Aetos Class Destroyers underway.

Thanks for looking.

Somewhere in Palestine, 1916 ... If the Lord Spares Us

A bloke needs a shed. I have one, but it has been perpetually full of junk for years now (good junk, but full nonetheless). But, after a number of merciless 'chucking sessions' in recent weeks, I have finally come to the point where the shed becomes a plausible gaming venue – even if it is somewhat lacking in creature comforts (e.g. leaking roof (not over the tables), hot in summer and cold in winter).

A New Hope! Wargaming in the shed!

I've been keen to get some serious gameplay under my belt using the Too Fat Lardies classic, If the Lord Spares Us (WW1 in the Middle east). Previously, trying to war-game in a busy household had led to rushed set-ups, late at night when all was quiet, only to have to pack up after a few turns to clear the decks for morning. No longer shall the domestic needs of the many curtail the wargaming needs of the few (well, me).

So, my first decent attempt at ITLSU with my Eureka Miniatures 15mm troops, was a 'somewhere in Palestine' encounter where a brigade of British infantry supported by a troop of armoured cars, assault and Ottoman stronghold surrounding an Oasis town of El-Gouna. The British have occupied a small Oasis from where they will launch their attack.  but not enough to maintain their current position. Their only hope is to capture the wells held by Johnny Turk, a few miles to the 

The task of capturing El-Gouna and its wells, intact, fell to Brigadier-General A.W. Tufnel (classified as an Eaton commander) and the 126th East Lancashire Brigade:

• 1st Battalion, 4 companies of 4 bases, infantry + 1 x MG (Jolly Good Fellows, spunk rating 0)
• 2nd Battalion, 4 companies of 4 bases, infantry + 1 x MG (Saturday Boys, spunk rating 1)
• 3rd Battalion, 4 companies of 4 bases, infantry + 1 x MG  (Saturday Boys, spunk rating 1)
• 2 Armoured cars (1 base, Jolly Good Fellows, spunk rating 0)

Initial deployment with the Ottoman forces deployed in two redoubts overlooking the oasis. I randomly allocate troops to each blind once they are spotted or choose to come out of cover. The Empire troops have limited water at this oasis (bottom of picture) but must push on to secure the more reliable water supply at El-Gouna.

The Empire troops advance cautiously across the open ground before El Gouna. On the British left cover is taken behind a rocky hill.

The Empire forces are spotted from the air by a lone Taube (due to the Biggles card turning up this turn). 

I've never found time to finish this post so will upload the pictures I have to hand. Ultimately, the British force managed to push the Turks off the hill on their left (by sweeping around the wire). However, the Turks managed to hold the hill on the British right flank.

The 3rd battalion of the East Lancs in the British centre manages to push along the wadi with support from a pair of armoured cars on their left. This was the beginning of the end for the Turkish defence.

Scratch built Barbaros Hayreddin, Turgut Reis and Georgios Averof (update)

The learning experience from my first attempt at 1:2400 naval scratch building has been that with moderate effort I can produce something equal to or better than the ships I have been used to purchasing.

While I aspire to greater detail and refinement, there is also something to be said for building wargame quality ships that make it to the table in reasonable time!

Here is the current state of the Ottoman pre-dred battleship the Barbaros Hayreddin.

I think if I bothered to do a cost-benefit analysis of scratch building this fleet, I'd probably find it'd be better to purchase them. But for me it's often more about the journey than the destination!

Update:
This weekend I've virtually completed the sister ship to the Barbaros Hayreddin - Togut Reis. They are Brandenburg Class (pre-drednaught) battleships laid down in 1890 and the Togut Reis was completed in 1894 starting her life as the SMS Weissenburg and later sold to the Ottoman Empire in 1910.

Waterline hull and superstructure formed from PVC sheet

Drilling the holes for the fore and aft masts.

Gun barrels (brass rod) fixed and steel masts (old comb teeth) cut to length.

Masts fixed in place with 'spotting tops' made from small sections of PVC tube glued in place with spars of brass rose.

 The Turgut Reis is now ready for texturing of the base (I use acrylic caulking compound) and a paint job!

Next, I'm going to start on the arch nemesis of the Ottoman fleet - the Greek Cruiser Georgios Averof
(Θ/Κ Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ). This Pisa-class armored cruiser was built in Italy and commissioned in 1911. She saw action in the two main actions of the First Balkan War and nearly single-handedly defeated the Ottoman fleet at the battles at Elli (3 December 1912)!

The hull of the Georgios Averof ready for its superstructure. It is formed from a layer of 2mm and 1mm PVC sheet. 

The superstructure is formed and glued in place. Holes are drilled for the fore and aft masts.

The Armoured Cruiser Georgios Averof has been launched and is undergoing her final fit-out and paint job, before being commissioned into the Πολεμικό Ναυτικό (Hellenic Navy)!

1:2400 scratchbuild: Barbaros Hayreddin

My latest project has been inspired by two excellent posts on TMP:

1. An alternate history of the Ottoman and Greek naval build up in the years leading up to WW1 by Leadhead PhD: The War thet Never Was - The Greek-Ottoman War of 1914
2. The inspiring (to the point of being intimidating!) scratchbuilding of some 1:2400 pre-drednoughts by Austerlitz06 on TMP.

I wanted to try my hand at a little 1:2400 scratch building and have become increasingly interested in the naval actions of the Balkan Wars leading up to WW1.

As well as the 'what if' scenario around a wider Ottoman-Greek naval conflict, the plan is to build the necessary ships for some naval actions from the First Balkan War. Such as the Battle of Elli (16 December 1912) - an Ottoman defeat in the mouth of the Dardanelles - and the Battle of Lemnos (18 January 1913 - the Ottoman Empire's last ditch effort to regain supremacy in the Aegean by breaking the Greek blockade of the Dardanelles.

OOB for the Battle of Elli (with thanks to the Age of Steam and Coal)

OOB for the Battle of Lemnos (with thanks to the Age of Steel and Coal and Steel)

A quick trip to the model train store for a selection of PVC sheet, and I was in business. My first attempt was the Ottoman pre-dead, the Barbaros Hayreddin - a Brandenberg Class battleship of the Impreial German Navy (1890) sold to the Ottoman Empire in 1910.

My first attempt at 1:2400 scratchbuilding is not in the league off Austerlitz06's work, but I'm pleased with how it's shaping up.

Now, there is nothing like a photo of a miniature to show up its short comings!

The tube used for the funnels is too big and the wire for the main gun barrels is similarly a little too thick. This comes from wanting to finish the first one with available materials rather than holding out for the right stock. That said, I'm quite happy of the look of the masts - made from the 'teeth' of a fine hair comb.

The yards for each mast are next, then lifeboats and the secondary guns in the casements.

Perhaps I'm quietly declaring my bias by building the Ottoman Barbaros Hayreddin first! The Torgut Reis next!

Adobe buildings and some naval gaming from the Tin Shed

At last the Easter long weekend has come and a chap can spend more time in his tin shed!

Having the opportunity now to use larger war gaming tables brings with it the need to increase my terrain holdings. The first project was to construct some more Adobe dwellings (in 15mm) to bulk out my villages for ITLSU.

A few simple cork buildings and the corner towers for a Ottoman fort for use in Gallipoli (in particular Sedd el Bahr castle for V-Beach landings) and Middle East scenarios.

I've been using Woodland Scenics plaster cloth over the cork to give a better textured finish. Here you see the plaster laid over the roofs with the walls to follow.

With the new set-up in the shed, I've been keen to do a little naval gaming and in a moment of creativity decided to create a backdrop on canvas which I can use to improve the feel of the table. I was rather pleased with what was achieved with three acrylic colours and absolutely no pre-planning - I just mixed a few blues and greys on the fly and slapped it on. Now the base cloth looks rubbish - so that is next!

A set-up atmospheric shot of some Panzerschiffe 1:2400 ships taking advantage of the new backdrop.

Battle off Ulsan
A favourite encounter of mine (because it's the only Russo-Japanese War naval scenario I have the ships for!) is the engagement off Ulsan, Korea, in The Sea Of Japan, on 14 August 1904, 0500 Hrs.

I have played this scenario with a number of rule sets (see earlier posts), but this time I return to Coaling Stations, a set of quick play pre-dreadnaught rules by Twylite Games I keep coming back to. I really like the card mechanism for giving orders - it tends to add a little 'fog of war' to solo naval gaming.

Here's a shot of the opening salvo!

Through the light mist that persisted to midday (in this scenario) Admiral Kamimura (right) spots Admiral Iessen's Vladivostok Squadron at a distance of 3.2 nautical miles and opens fire with his 8-inch guns scoring a hit
on the Gromoboi.

I've been working on improving the way I store gaming aids on the table. I've recently transferred all my markers into old tobacco tins as I feel they give a nice feel to the table. In this case, the Capstan Old Navy Cut tobacco tin seems quite appropriate (even if it hales from 30 years after the RJ War)!

Britain Detail and Herald toy soldiers -

Ahh the nostalgia. At the market today my young fella was tugging at my shirt ... "Dad, Dad! Soldiers." He has a good eye for a vintage item and sure enough there was a rag-tag collection of the Britain's Deetail (metal base) and Britain's Herald (plastic base) toy soldiers (circa 1970s-1980s).

They were a bit worse for wear, with a few missing arms (and thus weapons - sigh) but I could not resist for nostalgic reasons alone. I had a few of these when I was a lad - Paras and Modern Brits I seem to recall. They were obtained from a school-chum whose parents were English through one of the endless rounds of 'swaps' we did as kids.

I'd love to be able to get the missing parts - very unlikely - but great to have them for nostalgic reasons alone!