Air War:C21 2025

In my thus far futile attempt to find a set of air wargaming rules that doesn't either confuse or frustrate club gamers, while simultaneously not ending up too gamey or ahistorical, I've decided to give AirWar:C21 a spin. I've had a copy of these modern air combat rules for years but have never tried them out. After reading some excellent after action reports on Facebook recently, I think it will be worth taking another look, with the Alto Cenepa war offering an option for play testing the system in 1/600th scale, followed by the Angolan Border War as a direction of travel. This will be for next year, as one of my potential projects, so plenty of time to plan ahead 

Falklands Air War Resources

I had to pick up the other half this afternoon so had some time to kill in town. I haven't been to the Oxfam bookshop for ages so popped in for a look. I was chuffed to find a hardback copy of this book, which I've heard on the grapevine is very good, for the bargain price of £3.50. I had a quick skim read while waiting in the car park and there's loads of fascinating detail to be mined for Flames Above the Falklands, Air War: C21, Target Locked On et al. Brilliant!

The Beagle Conflict

 

Another of the excellent Helion Publishing Latin America at War titles just added to the library. I've had an interest in this conflict for 'What If?" naval wargaming but I'm also thinking of branching out into the air warfare side of things as well.

Here's the blurb: 

The Beagle conflict was a territorial dispute between Argentina and Chile over the determination of the layout of the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel, which affected the sovereignty of the islands located south of the channel, and east of Cape Horn and its adjacent maritime spaces.

The first antecedents of the conflict date back to 1888, seven years after the signing of the Treaty of Limits. In 1901, the first Argentine map appeared in which some of the islands in question were drawn as within Argentina’s control. Despite the small size of the islands, their strategic value between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans caused a long conflict between the two South American states that went on for  much of the 20th century, causing a number of ‘minor’ incidents, and almost culminating in a major war.

The conflict focused on the dispute over the sovereignty of the islands and the oceanic rights generated by them to Chile, but it was not limited exclusively to these islands.

Volume 1 of The Beagle Conflict mini-series covers the origins of the dispute and border clashes between the two countries from the time of the independence of Chile and Argentina from the Spanish Crown, until early 1978, and is illustrated with original photographs, custom-drawn artworks and maps.

Angolan Air Force Decals

 

The Angolan and South African 1/600th decals from Dan at Flight Deck arrived yesterday, so I can now get started on my Angolan Air Force aircraft for the Border War Wings at War project. This will include MiG-23's, MiG-21's, Su 22's, Mi-8's and Mi-25's. I'm also thinking of including some more up to date aircraft, specifically the Su-27 and Su-25, so that I can do some modern 'What If?" games as well. No rush as I have plenty of other things to do!

Deepcut Aerial Desert Diversion

 

I finally found the time to un-roll my Xmas present today, a 6'x4' Deep Cut Studios Aerial Desert Mat. It's a cracker and will be excellent for Wings at War, Airwar:C21 or any other hex less but desert themed rules. To my surprise, it also works really well for 15mm too, as you can see from the photos of an AK47 supply convoy, so I think my Sandbox Skirmish post colonial project may just have had a bit of a boot up the bum?!

Flames Above the Falklands Finished

 

I finally got round to finishing off the 1/600th aircraft for Flames Above the Falklands that I started way back before the summer holidays. I'd been putting this off due to the fiddly decals but it wasn't actually that difficult to do, mainly due to the quality of the Flight Deck Decals transfers. The paint work isn't that great but they are definitely useable, if not for a whole game then for some dogfighting. That's another one of my 'to do' projects done, so time to move on to something else on the list.

Falklands Air War Harrier GR.3's

The latest batch of aircraft for the Falklands Air War project have now been painted and I'm just waiting for the decals to arrive so that they can be finished off. I have the decals I need for the Harrier GR.3's, so they are now ready to deploy. Job done! I'm taking a short break from the project now to focus on some ironclad scratch building and scenario writing foe the Battle of Iquique.

Falklands Flight Deck Decals

 

Thanks to a timely tip-off (Cheers Rog) I have now ordered some wing anchor insignia and some RAF low vis roundels from the ever brilliant Flight Deck Decals range. These won't arrive for a week or more, by which time I'll be away for a bit, so I'll finish off the aircraft to the decal application stage then wait for them to arrive in the post. This also means that my summer wargaming will only involve the aircraft I've already painted plus the GR1 Jaguars, but that's not a problem as I can also bring along some Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Taiwanese and Chinese aircraft to run scenarios with Air War C21. Incidentally, if you are wondering why there are some Central and Northern African roundels in the order, they are for Nick Jones' Merry Xmas Mr Sankara campaign, which I'd like to try out later in the year.

Falklands Air War Uppdate

 

Some more progress on the latest batch of aircraft for the Falklands Air Wat project, now on the fiddly tail painting bit then canopies and decals. The Argentinian naval aircraft won't have any anchor insignia on the wings, as I haven't got any and no one makes them, but I will try to add the ARMADA labelling to the fuselage if I can fit it into the tiny space on the A4-Q Skyhawks? The Sea Harriers will also have to have full colour roundels, as I can't afford to get a sheet of low vis ones from Flight Deck Decals if I'm only use eight of them from a sheet. Hoping to get these finished over the weekend, then it's back to the FAA Mirage IIIE's and the Canberras.

Falklands Air War Painting Update

 

I've made some progress with the Falklands aircraft today, completing the base coats and giving them all an ink wash. I mistakenly started painting the GR3's instead of the Sea Harriers, so decided I might as well crack on and paint both! I blame my ever deteriorating eyesight. Anyway, they all look a bit mushy at the moment but should scrub up well, once I've done some tidying up and detailing. 

Falklands RN Warships

 

As a bit of a break from painting aircraft, I thought I'd assemble some of the Seawulf 1/2400th scale Royal Navy warships for the Falklands Air War project. These are pretty ropey models, with some mis-cast hulls and lots of flash to clean up, but they came together okay in the end and are much more detailed than the 1/3000th scale alternative. There's a Type 21, a Type 42 and a Rothesay class frigate, so they are ideal as targets for the Argentinians to attack. I'll paint them up as soon as I have finished the latest batch of fighter bombers and strike aircraft.

Falklands FAA Fighter Bombers Finished

 

That's the Argentinian Air Force sorted, apart from the Mirage III's and Canberras, so I'm cracking on with the naval aviation side of things now. Once again, I apologize for the crappy photos as I'm using my equally crappy phone to take them instead of a proper camera. The planes actually look not too bad in daylight, although a bit less than amazing in the photos (honest!).

Falklands Flight Stands

 

Apart from the painting, the other thing I need to do for the Wings at War Flames Above the Falklands part of the project is to make a load of flight stands. These will be scratch built using my tried and tested method, which consists of 30mm x 30mm mdf bases with a single dice frame glued onto one corner, then a 40mm, 30mm or 20mm panel pin attached as the actual stand itself. 

They're quick to make and very cheap. I'll texture these and paint them with a sea surface effect to match my sea cloth, as I'll be mainly doing anti-shipping scenarios. Talking of which, I also have a couple of 1/2400th scale RN warships to assemble and base, a Type 21 and a Type 42, both from the Seawulf range, so that the Argentinians have something to actually attack!

Falklands Naval Aircraft Away!

While I sort out the decals on the FAA fighter bombers, I've based and undercoated six A-4Q Skyhawks and two Super Etendards for the CANA or Argentinian Naval Air Force. I've also decided to paint the remaining four Sea Harriers in a later war low visibility scheme, as the Royal Navy is starting to look a little bit outnumbered! I'll get started on these this week and, in the meantime, finish off the decals on the air force Daggers and Skyhawks. 

Falklands Argie Aircraft Painted

 

  

The FAA fighter bombers are now finished apart from the decals and a final varnish, so I'll be on to the naval Skyhawks and Super Etendards next. The Mirage III's and Canberras will be the last of the Argentinian aircraft I'll be doing for this project, which I'll hopefully wrap up by the end of the month, so that I can play some games over the summer break. 

Falklands Argie Camo Cock Ups

                            

I spent a frustrating hour or two painting the camouflage patterns on the Mirage III's, Daggers and Skyhawks this afternoon. I tried to follow an accurate colour scheme but it went a bit pear shaped, so the Mirage III's have had to be resprayed in matt white and will be repainted at another time. The Daggers and Skyhawks came okay, however, so I'll get them ink washed and crack on. 

Falklands Warships

 

You can't really do the air war over the Falklands without some warships, so I have ordered some 1/2400th scale Royal Navy targets from the Seawulf Range that is sold by QRF. These aren't great and are showing their age a bit, but they do have a bit more heft than the other option, which is to use Navwar 1/3000th scale models. The latter are cheaper but not as good as the larger, more detailed 1/2400th scale Seawulf models, especially for the likes of HMS Fearless and Atlantic Conveyor. I'll see how well they paint up and, if they don't look right, I'll just revert to the Navwar tiddly ships.

Falklands AirWar:C21

 

To get the most mileage out of the aircraft I'm painting for Flames Above the Falklands, I'm going to use them with Air War C21, which is a set of rules I've had for years but have never tried out. There's a very handy Falklands War  scenario supplement for the rules which will be great for starters, with the added advantage that it's a hex less system, so I can use my sea cloth, which I'll be taking with me on holiday for naval wargaming. I'm really  looking forward to test driving the rules once I've finished the models and sorted out some bases. 

Falklands FAA Camouflage

I've started on the camouflage for the Argentinian Air Force planes today, with an overall basecoat in either Tan Earth or Reflective Green. This will be over-painted with the rest of the camouflage shades, from dark to light, so it's really just a key for the main pattern. I will crack on with that tomorrow, as it's a bit more fiddly and will take time to get right. It's surprising how long a simple base coat takes to apply but you have to get this bit right otherwise there are numerous headaches later on!

Skyhawks

 

I haven't had much time over the last couple of days for any wargaming pursuits, primarily due to an unplanned round trip down to Plymouth and back in my day off, so the Falklands Air War project is temporarily on hold until the weekend. To make up for this, I'm expanding my Argentinian Air Force line up to include the eight A-4B/C Skyhawks that I have already prepared, as well as magnet basing and undercoating six A-4Q Skyhawks for the Argentinian navy which arrived in the post from Tumbling Dice a few days ago. I do like a Skyhawk!