Gaming - Hammerhead play test done

A few of us met up this weekend to do the play test for next weeks Pulp game at Hammerhead. Martin has written a quick and simple and very bloody set of rules for it. Its Tales of the Golden Monkey meets Jurassic Park , meets Tarzan meets Indian Jones... cue the music...

the idillic south see island has some nasties in store

we played it through 4 times , and decided a few tweaks and changes , so it was worth doing

i just need to finish off the transport and scenery piece - its a 1/48th scale Grumman Goose .. aka "Cooke's Goose"... we will see if it gets well and truly cooked eh!

Blast markers - mark 2..

I have completed some more flashing blast markers, this time a new improved mark 2 version with added optical fibre effects.

1- Take one cheap LED tealight (or even a lot!)- paint the casing black.
2-Snip off the top of the plastic flame cover to get direct access to the LED
3-Hot glue some fibre optic strands to the LED. - Hold these all together inside a straw or some cable sheathing while it dries and to get you through the next few stages

4-Hot glue some cushion filling around the tea light casing and shape it - if need be tack it together in places with hot glue
5- Spray a dark colour around the bottom of the marker , lighter at the top.
6-remove the straw/sheath -  - optionally then . apply some heat to the end of the fibre to melt it to make a lerger surface area at the end - I did this with a quick touch of a soldering iron

Night time view!

7 - Make suitable kaboom sounds when using!

Normandy 44 - More terrain bits.

I am continuing to build up the terrain items for the Normandy game. This time adding in more trees , hedges and and another small bridge

Next up is another 25 feet of hedges in a range of lengths , 3 , 4, 6 , 8 , 9 and 12 inches sections. some have had fences or gates added in too to break it up a bit. The fencing is an  MDF kit that  was sourced from Blotz.

nexp - storage wars I think!

Wings of Glory WW2 - Battle of Britain campaign - games 5 & 6

Monday saw another couple of games on the BoB campaign, following on from the Battle of France it was the opening battles in the channel.

Game 5 

July 10th 1940 - Kanalkampf

This was the passage of convoy through the channel , being attacked by 2 Dornier Do17'S escorted by two ME109's. The RAF had a vic of Hurricanes to defend the convoy and try and shoot the bombers down. 

The Luftwaffe had their two experienced fighter pilots and we classed the bomber crew as experienced too. 

The bombers head for the convoy

A vic of Hurricanes , heads in 

Hurricanes fly over the convoy - 1 destroyer , 3 merchants

The opening shots from the fighters saw an ME109 taken out by two Hurricanes and then the return shot took out Pilot officer McMillan , who's plane exploded - fortunately he was seen to to be thrown out and parachuted into the channel

German bombing is not too accurate 

This left two Hurricanes to deal with the Dorniers and and ME109 - the convoy anti aircraft fire was also proving withering 

The Hurricanes had downed a Dornier , and were between the Germans and home - the Dorniers didn't make it! 

Dornier crashes into the channel 

British Hurricane sqdrn

Pilot Officer Thompson , assisted in shooting down and Me109 and a  Dornier - , Campaign XP5 , promoted to Flying Officer.

Pilot Officer Wallace , assisted in shooting down a Dornier , , crash landed on return the base , minor wounds , falls in love with nurse in hospital who rejects him! Campaign XP1 - experienced 

Pilot Officer McMillan , assisted in shooting down an ME109, shot down, parachuted into the channel and rescued by the convoy, is blind in one eye from his injuries - may still fly when recovered.

Germans:-

ME109

Lt H Steinberger , shot down a Hurricane , shot down himself , parachuted into the channel , made way on a dingy to shore , no injury , Campaign XP7 

Lt Hans Franz, returned to base with ME109 shot to bits , Campaign XP 4 

Dornier Do17

Shot down , Pilot and gunner survived ,, rescue by float plane .Navigator and bomb aimer drowned in the channel

Shot down , Pilot and gunner survived,  rescued from a dingy.  Navigator and bomb aimer drowned 

British Victory 

Game 6

July 14th - No Immunity

This game sees the Luftwaffe rescue float planes being the target of the RAF. London suspects that these rescue planes are also spotting convoys , and decide to focus on destroying them

2 Spitfires Mk2 , mission to destroy the float plane  , v 2 ME109 ,protect the foot plane.

A pair of Spitfires diving on from height heading for the floatplane 

The fighter cover heads out to intercept 

This proved a quick , decisive game for the British with the Spitfires coming diving in and out manoeuvring the ME109s, they caught the floatplane , inflicting enough damage on two passed to sink it. . The ME109;s again really struggled with the tight turns on the Spitfire . Once the floatplane was gone , the Spits turned and raced  for home.

Brits - Spitfire 

Pilot Officer Cooke - Shot up the float plan , and damaged an ME109 , returned to base , 5 XP , failed a promotion board, and no medals either. 

Pilot Officer Anderson ,destroyed  the floatplane , made it home 2XP 

Germans- Me109E4

Lt Baumer - 1 mission , returned to base ok

Lt Hess , 1 mission , returned to base ok

Campaign Tally:- 

German Victory - 3 , British Victory - 3 , Draw 0 

The channel made life hard for the Germans these two games -- the bomber crews paid a heavy price and the rescue organisation is in tatters too. 

The next games see the Stukas try their hand at  bombing the convoys  , and the RAF light bombers head off to the continent to bomb Luftwaffe airfields - pay back.. 

Wings of Glory - Dornier Do17s

In our Wings of Glory Battle of Britain campaign we have played out the Battle of France , our next scenario is the attack on the channel convoys. Ares the game manufacture don't currently do a Dornier model  so I have sourced a couple from the US made by Dave at Armaments in Miniature (who covers a lot of the holes in the main game range)  lovely little resin models they are too. The game forum does have a good list of aircraft data and stats so these are now ready for duty.

I need to add in some squadron numbers yet , bit more research required and the sourcing of decals too. 

I have added in a ball bearing to the underside by using a countersink drill bit to make the hole and superglueing the ball bearing in before painting. This allows it to be added onto a peg top with a suitable ring magnet glued to it to.

Preparation for Hammerhead - The Savage Seas

Myself , MartinC and JamesM are heading down to Newark for the Hammerhead show. Martin wanted to put on something a bit different using some of oddities from his various collections, so we have gone for something Pulp based  in the South Seas. So here is my contribution of 10 native islanders with pointy sharp weapons! The terrain here I already had and Martin has more to add to it. i still have a big piece to finish for this , so its on the workbench this week

cracking figures by Bob Murch , from the Savage Seas range.

Wings of Glory WW2 - Battle of Britain campaign games 3 & 4

Yesterday saw another two instalments on the Battle of Britain campaign (more info & ideas here).

Game 3 

May 23rd 1940 - Bf109 vs Spitfire .

Two Me109 E-3 verse 2 Spitfire mk1 , escorting a Miles Magister trainer piloted by Squadron leader Leathhart and rescued colleauge Squadron Leader White. The aircraft must cross the table and exit - simples!

Tally ho!chaps ! Bounce the Me109's

The Spitfires managed to bounce the Me109 who were intent on shooting down the rescue plane.  However both Me109's were shot down , with almost no damage to the Spitfires - the turning circle and manoeuvrability of the Spitfires did come as a bit of shock to the Germans - if it wasn't for a very last minute cannon burst from Lt Steinberger who had managed to manoeuvre a last shot just before himself being shot down then the Maggie would have escaped the board.

The Yak is doing duty for the Maggie - Spitfires continue to chase the German fighter..

British  - 54 Sqdrn
Pilot Officer Cooke - 2 Me109'S shot down (4XP gained) - landed safely
Pilot Officer Walker - 1 assist (1 XP gained) - landed safely
Squadron Ldr Leathart - crash landed the "Maggie" behind French lines -, sustained a serious chest injury - presented a medal for his bravery in attempting the rescue.
Squadron Ldr White - faired somewhat worse in the crash landing , with serious life changing crippling injuries and is now in a wheelchair.

German. Staffel 9 
Leutnant Hans Franz - Shot down - Baled out successfully no injury , landed near friendly forces got drunk!
Leutnant Helmut Steinberger - Shot down crash landed in friendly territory  - no serious injury - his "Golden Touch" skill is now recognised. . Gained - 2 XP for shooting down the "Maggie" - failed a a promotion board , but was awarded an Iron Cross 2nd class.

Germany Victory

 *************************

Game 4

May 31st 1940 - Dynamo , The Great Evacuation

Spitfires try to get in the way of Me109s heading for troop targets 

German shooting in this game was lethal , with the cannon fire from the aircradt being very painful - the Brits aircraft equipped with 8x 303 Brownings  seem under equippped!

didnt work though!! the Me109's triumphed, shooting up a both target troop cards 

British 

Pilot Officer Walker - Shot Down , landed in France , rescued by French forces , minor wound , transferred to hospital - which was then bombed by the Luftwaffe causing him to miss out on the next lot missions.

Pilot Officer Cooke , managed to hit an Me109 , but not down it. Returned to base and landed safety - 1-XP gained.

German

Leutnant Hans Franz - Shot down a Spitfire - , strafed and wiped out target troop card - 3XP , landed safely

Leutnant Helmet Steinberger - wiped out a target troop card - 1XP , landed safely 

German Victory

Current Tally    German Victory 3  , British Victory 1 , Draw 0

With the battle of France over we now move on to the fighting in the channel. I am painting a couple of Dornier Do17 for next weeks battle - for bombing a convoy in the channel - its a big game with with lots of aircraft. Should be good fun . The new gimble mounts I have really help to as you can now position the aircraft in the correct attitude easily - looks the part.  We are also getting attached to our pilots as well - its a great campaign system.

Normandy 44 - Bridge

A few other terrain bits this week - not strictly for Normandy - more like Market Garden . First up "Martins Bridge' - Well only if his paras actually manage to capture it - last time somehow my relief force reached the bridge before his paras did...!

I do like bridges for wargames scenarios - they are great for capturing , destroying , defending , retreating across etc. I wanted a decent sized one for my WW2 15mm forces - so here it is .

The central span arch girder was sourced as a OO gauge railway MDF set - cost £8.50 free delivery !
I built the piers and ramps from foam board and MDF sheet with the brickwork from a brick pattern embossed sheeting - the railing on the ramps is made from pins and wire. A quick bit of kit bashing later and voila!

rom end to end its 30 inches long 3 1/2 inches wide 5 inches high its 12 inches wide between the piers -  damn it i need some wider river sections.. ! it never ends!

Normandy 44 - Uncle Red beach ahead

Along with JamesM and MartinC I have been doing a number of Normandy themed games.  With this year being the 75th anniversary of the D Day landings I had a hankering to do something related. James and Martin already have Brits and Canadians so my natural choice is to look at the American army -it was also a revisit of one of my very early wargame collections. I settled on the Utah beach landing , the beach opposite causeway no2 , leading onto the Cotentin and it’s associated para drops.This is Uncle Red beach

So here we have the initial assault sections of the 2nd Battalion , 8th infantry regiment , 4th Division,  and the DD tanks of the 70th Tank Battalion.

really nice kits from Battlefront

I made up some specific decals for the LCVPs which were all launched from USS Barnett APA5 and added these - for interesting bit of history its worth reading about that ship - it participated in 7 major assault landings - and spookily it was built about 10 miles from me in the North East UK at Haverton Hill ..

backed up with swimming Sherman Duplex Drive (DD) tanks swimming to shore

Tanks of the 70th Tank Battalion appear from the sea.

Add caption

its SURPRISE time!

 I have some Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM) to finish along with engineers to complete the assualt wave.