A Trio of Vals for CY6

These had been sitting around on the bench forever, so I just did the final touchups and got them on their way. I haven't had a CY6 game in a while, but really should, I have so much stuff now.

These are painted up slightly differently than previous Vals, with the IJN green finish rather than the grey/white previously. No specific reason, I just wanted to mix it up a bit.

Raiden 1/285 models with mostly Testors paint, with some Vallejo.

Spartacon 2013 Report

Hall overview

Another good Spartacon has come and gone. I think I made it down in record time - no snow or ice this year! With record high temps in the upper 50s, it was a great day in downtown Lansing.

As for the con, the first thing to note was a new room, across the hall from the usual venue. This one is MUCH nicer. There was even carpet! And some lounge chairs. And no headache inducing echoes. So major plus there.

I started the day joining one of my long-time gaming colleagues in an ACW game using Regimental Fire and Fury. The scenario was a portion of the Battle of Atlanta. The minis were incredibly well painted, especially for just 6 mm (!) and the terrain very well done. The setup was very well organized, with all units, terrain, etc. labeled. It's just that none of us were familiar with the rules, and it was a bit overwhelming at first. In the final analysis, I'd say I like the rules and they show great promise, and I'd like to try them again, but I have so many other irons in the fire at the moment the ACW stuff will have to wait. As for the outcome, I was on the Confederate side. It was basically a straight ahead assault on the Union positions that more closely resembled the Somme. My buddy, already notorious for unlucky dice (I know, every gamer claims to be, but this guy is a sight to behold), was in for a rough day. The Union player directly opposite him kept rolling 10 after 10 after 10 (good in this game), while he kept rolling 1, 2, 3, etc. Unreal.

So on to game two. The plan was to join Dave Winfree from I-94 Enterprises in a CY6 game, but we were a little late getting back from lunch. Dave is a good guy and was more than willing to accomodate, but we had enough extra players that in the end we went off and played a side game using the planes I had stashed in the car. We combined two of my Pearl Harbor scenarios into one and had a nice four player game. Once again, the dice were against us! It got kind of comical after a while: Need a 9 to hit, roll an 8. Need an 11, roll a 10. Need a 6, roll a 5. It was crazy. In the end, the American shot down two Kates, but one P-40 was out of ammo and skedaddled, and the other Americans were square in the sights of the Zeroes before we ran out of time. I think they enjoyed it.

As for purchases, of course I left my list at home! But I ended up getting the Road to Rabaul scenario book, some new flight stands, and a nice assortment of new planes and decals from I-94. If you are into CY6, I highly recommend I-94.

Without further ado, some photos:

Fort Detroit, 1812

Union works, Atlanta

Fort Detroit

Samurai 25 mm - outstanding scenery

Samurai

Samurai

WWI

WWI

Persians and Hoplites

CY6 on the eastern front

WWII naval

Union works, Atlanta

Napoleonics?

Union works, Atlanta

DBA tourney

WWII desert convoy

The rebels advance

Napoleonics

The Nuthouse - great food

That's Ben. January? In Lansing?

CY6 Pearl Harbor

CY6 Pearl Harbor

Vietnam

Vietnam

FIW?

Muskets & Tomahawks - looked very cool

Muskets & Tomahawks

Muskets & Tomahawks

Muskets & Tomahawk

First Finished in 2013: CY6 Aircraft

Actually, I started these way back in 2012, but just finished them up. The intent here is to play out some Sino-Japanese air war scenario, going as early as 1937. Biplanes! Not quite WW1, which is still on the "to-do" list, but this will do for now.

The Japanese planes are Nakajima Ki-10 Perrys, which saw extensive use in the early war years against China, but were pretty much obsolete by Pearl Harbor. The Chinese have a mix of American and Russian aircraft (and pilots, but shhhh). The biplanes here are Curtiss Hawk IIs. I'd like to get some Hawk IIIs, available from PT Dockyard in 1/300. But if I order from him, I just know I'll want to order some of those lovely looking small craft (read: PT boats). And I do NOT need another period right now! But they do look nice... Both the Perrys and Hawk IIs are from Heroics & Ros.

And of course the other aircraft shown here are Russian I-16s in Chinese markings. These are Scotia minis. I have a few more to paint that might be given Russian markings, allowing for some early skirmishes against the Japanese, or for an expansion to eastern front action, and Finland...

It's Still About Gaming, Right? Some CY6 Japanese Bombers

The initial purpose of this blog was to chronicle my hobby exploits in general, but I believe it was understood that the focus should be on miniature wargaming activities. Alas, there have been too few posts to that effect of late, so here is an effort to get back on track.

How about some Japanese twin-engine targets, er, I mean bombers, for CY6? The sharp-eyed will note there are two different types included in this initial half dozen. And you would be correct. I picked these up at a con in January, and pulled what I thought were six Sallys out of the bin marked, quite obviously, Sallys. Only when I got home did I notice the discrepancy, and found I had two Helens as well. Oh well, not really that significant in the grand scheme of things. I have six Bettys also awaiting paint (they might get the solid green treatment rather than the camo scheme shown here), and in the end they will probably all see duty as "Japanese twin-engine bombers." I'm fussier when it comes to getting the fighter-types accurately represented for the game. Does one really need 12 Sallys AND 12 Bettys, especially when gaming on a budget? Now I won't say a B-24 will do for a B-17, given engine count and all, but I can live with this.

Scotia models, painted with the usual mix of acrylics. In this case IIRC, it was IJA light grey, with IJA green and Chestnut brown. Most of my aircraft have been fairly clean, but I dirtied these up a bit. I drybrushed some aluminum paint to represent the chipping that is commonly seen in photos, and used a technical pen to go over panel lines, followed by a light black wash.

Now, about those Flying Tigers...

Posting Game Scenarios: Technologically Deficient

So last week I had to take some work home with me, which fortunately doesn't happen often. But while rifling through my case, I found some old AWI scenarios I wrote some years ago for The British Are Coming! I had started reentering them, with the thought of either compiling them in some sort of booklet, or just making them available online.

I have some CY6 scenarios written up as well, mostly small stuff for Pearl Harbor and the Aleutians. Nothing finalized, really, and they need additional testing.

The question is, how best to do that? How best to host them for download? On the assorted Yahoo sites? I'd like to put them here, somehow, or at least direct link them but I'm a bit technology challenged.

Would anyone be interested in seeing these? The CY6 stuff is probably more immediately ready to go, but I could try to do some AWI in my spare (hah!) time.

Help?

Airacobras!

Here is the rest of the CY6 project I was able to complete last weekend. Yes, I know that totals out to only six aircraft, but at the rate I am going, that’s a lot.

As you can probably tell, this is a pair of P-39 Airacobras. Sorta. I should probably clip that cannon off the front of the one. My original intent was to do four P-400’s for use with the Guadalcanal campaign book. But partway through, I got new info on the paint scheme (who knew those were camouflaged similar to the Flying Tigers?), and so in keeping with recent themes, these ended up as P-39’s in early-war livery. They are most likely destined for use in the Aleutians as well, hence the numbers that match photos I found of P-39’s in that theater. Rest assured I do have some more unpainted P-39/P-400’s, so I will be able to get some painted up for Guadalcanal.

In other news, I did bottle up the latest batch of homemade brew last night. It’s an American blonde ale, sounds pretty good. It will be ready for drinking in about a month. I need to get a shot up of the Cascadia Pale Ale I just did. I must say that it turned out quite well, and may rank among my favorites to date. I have ingredients for another pale ale, I might try that one next.

Lightnings!

A couple more that were finished up over the weekend, a pair of P-38 Lightnings. These are from Scotia and painted up better than I thought, actually. While these may be a later model, I painted them up in an early-war olive drab over neutral gray. The immediate idea is that they will see service in some Aleutians scenarios, among others.

(Wow, I called these P-39s in the original post. Oops. Edited for accuracy.)