Blue Max Game and Updates

Well, I got in a game lately and took photos too!  

Last weekend, Dave S & Adam J ran two Blue Max games using the new board game rules.  I got in two games with the group at Adam J's table.  It probably has been close or just over 20 years ago since I played Blue Max last.  The basics are similar from what I remember, but you use cards instead of chips for damage now.  Back in the day, I played Blue Max in St Louis and in Memphis when I lived there.  I use to really hate Blue Max, not for the mechanics, but just about 75% or better of the games I played I always drew a "Pilot Killed" or "Fuel Explosion" during the game.  Also, I rarely ever got any kills because someone else would put the final hit on an the plane that I had been shooting up all game...I even threaten one of my allied players that the next time he did that I was going to shoot at him instead...(he had a nasty habit of cutting between me and cripple target so I couldn't shoot and he could, and yes, I did finally had to shoot him to realize that was starting to get me PO'ed.)  Anyways, I like the system.  I still like Wings of Glory too, so I play both.

So the first game was a two on two engagement.  The Germans were Ray R & Ravi R flying Fokker Dr I's.  The British were myself and Bob S flying Royal Navy Sopwith Triplanes.  We had attitude advantage and were determine to keep it.  Bob & Ray started to traded shots as I made a hard left blank away and started to turn back into the fight to trade shots with Ray.  Ravi's Fokker got between me and Bob's Sopwith's coming in at Bob's 10 o'clock and I was coming in Ravi's 6 o'clock high.  I did a long burst and rolled really well ripping Ravi's tail off and sent him spinning into the earth.  Unfortunately, I jammed my gun and never got it cleared again to tangle with Ray before he fled from getting heavy handed by Bob.  Bob was also in bad shape, but I was totally unscratched and Ray decided running away was a wiser move.

I am trading shots with Ray (Green Fokker) and Ravi (Red Fokker) is just about to fly right into the front of my gun (Sopwith with the red stripe

History books need to be changed!  I shot down the Red Baron!  But I didn't shoot no deputy!

 In the second game, we had a three on three game.  The Germans were flying Albatrosses under the command of Adam, Ray, and Johan H (our local Swede).  The French were piloting Neiuport 24's under Ravi, Bob, and me.  At the start of the game, Bob was flying in middle of our formation, with Ravi on the right and me on the left.  Both Ravi and I broke off to go wide and come back in towards the fight in the center as it seemed to work so well before.  I got Adam lined up in my sights to fire and figured out that I was one hex too far out even with a long burst.  So cranked it up and flew in to the center and got Ray in my sites instead and fired off a good roll with a medium burst.  However, Johan came up on my 4 o'clock and did a long burst with only one Blue (minor) damage hit...however it was a horrible hit for me!  It only did two hits to my fuselage, but it destroyed my only machine gun!  (Blast you, Johan!  However, justice smiled on me as Johan later told me that his machines guns were jammed for the rest of the whole game after that shot!)  So I decided to bug out of the fight, which I was successful at with only allowing Ray to get one shot at me (with no effect) before I broke free from the fight.  But in this game, there was several mid-air collisions, luckily for the pilots all managed to only have minor damage in all of the collisions.  Bob was extremely unluckily to be around as he was responsible for two of the three collisions!  Including one with his own team mate too!  In the end, the Germans won this round as Bob was finally shot down, Ravi and I both ran away.  But Johan also fled the field and Ray & Adam where both in bad shape, but they controlled the air.  

Opening attack!  Johan is the white tail Albatross, Ray is the one in the middle, and Adam is in the red one.  Ravi is in the most top Neiuport, Bob is in the green one, and I am in the bottom right corner.

Double Collision!  Bob runs into Ray and Ravi runs into Johan!  I  just lost my gun the turn before and starting to run away while Adam is too far back to catch me.

Bob is at it again!  Bob collides with Ravi.

So in other news, I finished off King Leopold's Ghost.  What a depressing book.  It is a must read, but be ready to be depressed.  I also finished off Weird War II: Wunderwaffe by Timothy Brown.  I also listened on audiobook to Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Charlie Chan in the Pawns of Death by Bill Pronzini and Jeffery Wallmann, and great classic, Who Goes There? by John Campbell.  I am getting ready to start reading Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada by Peter Vronsky.  This is to get all of the details to redo my 15mm Battle of Ridgeway project from 20 or so years ago.  This is the book to read if you want uniform information and detail accounts & information.  For my listening pleasure, I am going to start listening to one of my favorite top cops, Chief: My Life in the LAPD by Chief Daryl Gates and Diane Shah.

 As a side note, I picked up a book on Ebay that I am still waiting on, but I am really looking forward to reading (mostly likely right after I finish Ridgeway!).  It is Strange Soldiering: Major Lawson's own dramatic story of his experiences with the Third Nigerian Brigade by Sir Richard Lawson while he was a Major seconded to the Nigerian Army with the UN forces in the Congo during 1961-62.  The Congo in the 1960s is one of my favorite periods to study.  To find any accounts in English that is not on the Mercenaries, the Irish UN troops, or about Operation Dragon Rouge are hard finds in my opinion.  So I am looking forward to reading about the Nigerian UN troops.

Be seeing you

Sapper

Solo Board Games: 'Toe-to-Toe Nu'klr Combat with the Rooskies' and 'We Must Tell the Emperor'

This is sort of an odd coincidence that I would be publishing this blog entry when you read my next one!

Anyways, I found a board game company that has several solo board games based on various topics called Victory Point Games (website).  I ordered several of the games a couple weeks back and got them this Saturday.  I also picked up one of their out-of-print games on eBay ("We Must Tell the Emperor") which I also got Saturday.  

If you click on the names of the games, it will take you to their respective Board Game Geek entries. I played around with only two of them so far, "We Must Tell the Emperor" and "Toe-to-Toe Nu'klr Combat with the Rooskies".  I had a hoot with both of them!  Very easy games, only took 2 hours at most for a game.  If you are into solo gaming, they are well worth the cost.

In "We Must Tell the Emperor", you play the Japanese in WWII and must try to marshal your resources and chose which Allied Army Front to fight and try to push back.  In my first game, I failed to keep Nimtiz's Front in check and he pushed to far inwards, but I had destroyed the ABDA Front, and pushed both MacArthur and the British all the way back and had several attempts to try to deliver a Knock Out Attack and destroy both of them, and the Chinese were pushed pretty far back.  Then the Mid-War started to occur and things where starting to turn ugly.  Then late war broke out and things really got ugly!  The game end with Japan defeated (barely! I only had two more turns to go for a draw and I was still looking good for my resources) with the British Front pushing into the Home Islands.  But all of the other fronts were right there too, so I doubt that I could have held on anyway.  Man, I hated that B-29 fire bombing event card!

In "Toe-to-Toe Nu'klr Combat with the Rooskies" you play the crew of several B-52 bombers flying into the USSR to drop your nuclear payload and fly back home.  This was a complete hoot as it is heavily influenced by one of my all time favorite movies, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.  I keep humming "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as I cruised in to bomb the Rooskies.  It has almost inspired me to go looking for a 1/600 or a 1/1200 scale B-52 bomber to paint up for the marker.  Oh, and there is even a Survival Kit card!

 Just by also a weird coincidence, I discovered that next Strategy & Tactics magazine (#283) will feature a board game called, "Fail Safe."  I might have to break down and buy that game. 

Cheers

Sapper

144th WWII fighters

Hello again! Well this is some work in progress pictures I have taken of some 144th scale WWII fighters that I have been working on. They will be for some dogfight games about the air battle over the Philippines in 1941-42. I am trying to decide if I want to paint the panel lines in a darker color (like dark Olive Drab) or mark them with black ink. There is an advantage and a disadvantage to both methods. I still have to make a final decision on what I want to do.

Two of the models will be P-35A's for the USAAF and the other is for a P-26A for the Philippine Army Air Force. I will work on P-40's for the USAAF and Japanese airplanes later.

Recruits 2008 Convention

On Sept. 13th, I went to the Recruits Convention http://recruits.mtswebsites.com/index.php along with my friends, Steve (CombatColours) and Curtis. We missed the morning session, but was there for the afternoon session. Steve ran his BKC game there and from what I was told had a lot of fun. Curtis was not able to get in a game (BUMMER!), but enjoyed the shopping. 

I got into a 1/144th game of "The Marianas Turkey Shoot" run by our Kansas City friend, Dave Yates. I had fun. I started off on the US Navy side and scored 2 kills with one pilot and 1 kill with his wingman before I switched sides due to several Japanese players having to leave early. Unfortunately, I was not able to down any of the Hellcats, but did manage to hit a couple of them. 

The game was massive. There was 12 Hellcats, 8 Zeros, and 16 Judys. I don't know the actual score at the end of the game, but I believe the last count was 4 Hellcats and 24 Japaneses planes were shot down (the Japaneses were able to bring in six more planes after losing six planes...it was an endless wave...)

I had forgotten my camera, so I had to use the camera on my cell phone...sorry for the bad pictures!

Thunder Over Michigan

Hello! Well I just got back from "Thunder Over Michigan" air show at Willow Run air field. I thought that you might enjoy a few photographs from the show.

 

The P-51D is painted up to be the fighter of Capt. Jim Browning, 363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group. The C-130H in the background is from the 179th Airlift Wing (Ohio Air National Guard), which traces its history to the 363rd FS. This C-130H was specially authorized to carry the colors of the 363rd FS.

The next picture is a TBM-3E Avenger.

Achtung!!! Jabos!!!

 
P-47D Thunderbolts flying in wingmen formations...nuff said!

In addition to the air show, Thunder Over Michigan also holds probably the largest WWII armor re-enactment in the US. There was eight tanks (if I recall correctly) and probably another half dozen or more halftracks! That is not even counting the trucks and jeeps!