1/285th JG2 Fw 190 Decals

I spotted a set of 1/200th scale decals for JG2 Fw190-A3 fighters on the Sieben Schwaben Facebook page yesterday. I thought to myself that this sheet would be fantastic as a way to start up my 1/300th scale Fw190 models for Bag the Hun, if I could get them rescaled. These models have been used in scenarios that I've either written, like Sinker Saves the Day, or worked on as part of the Westland Whirlwind project, including S-Boote Strike and Itching to Mix It!. I sent a cheeky request to Bernhard and he immediately jumped on it! He's rescaled the sheet to 1/285th and I've ordered it, ready to start up the otherwise vanilla fighters, which will look so much better with the added details. A big thumbs up to Bernard, who I'm now going to pester for some No.263  Squadron Whirlwind and No.129 Squadron Spitfire VB decals! 

Magasin de Presse

There are some excellent magazines published in France including these new series that have replaced the defunct magazines previously published by Caractere. They're very much in the same style as Los! or Aerojournal, with an interesting mix of contents, some excellent art work and fascinating text. I'm really looking forward to reading the Coastal Command article and P-47 article, both of which will be great as source material for Bag the Hun. 

Gladiators over Malta

I was reorganizing the book shelves last night when I found a long forgotten paper back copy of this classic account of the defence of Malta in 1940, focussing on the famous Gloster Sea Gladiators, often referred to as Faith, Hope and Charity. There were in fact six of these but only three were airworthy at any one time. This will be really useful to fill in some gaps in my Bag the Hun scenario research notes and will also be a good book to read over the half term holidays. Tally Ho!

Malta 1940 Forward Momentum

The Malta 1940 project is now in the offing and the background research has already identified at least four potential scenarios featuring the Gloster Gladiators of the Hal Far Fighter Flight and No.261 Squadron, alongside the Hawker Hurricanes that arrived from July 1940 onwards.

I've dug out my models from the lead pile that I've accumulated over the years, in both 1/600th and 1/300th scale, with almost everything I need already in my stash. In fact I'm only missing one CR.42 in 1/300th scale and one Hurricane in 1/600th scale, so pretty much good to go! 

I now need to decide if I'm going to go back to my Bag the Hun roots and paint up the 6mm models, which include the absolutely stunning Leasing Edge SM.79, Macchi MC.200 and Hurricanes, or go for the quick option of Tumbling Dice in 1/600th, some of which I've already assembled and based for another project. 

...answers in a postcard?

Malta Gladiator Scenario Project

I've decided to move the Bag the Hun Spanish Civil War project to one side for the moment, as it's a long term project anyway, to focus instead on some Gloster Gladiator scenarios instead. I have at least four potential historical actions to develop into play test games, which makes it a worthwhile exercise and something I can get my teeth into over the next month or so. The plan is to paint up some 1/600th scale aircraft for play testing or perhaps even some 1/300th scale models for a change, while also researching and writing the scenarios. Tally Ho!

Malta Gladiators

               

I had a query from a wargamer about Malta scenarios for Bag the Hun yesterday, specially ones involving Gladiators, or Sea Gladiators to be precise. I had written some Malta scenarios a few years for No.85 Squadron, which can be found in the 2014 Summer Special, but haven't returned to the subject since then. 

I had some spare time today so decided to investigate the subject using Fighters over Malta as a starting point. I was looking for potential historical actions that went beyond the Faith, Hope and Charity period, and it soon became apparent that there are some possibilities. In fact, I think there are at least three or four engagements that could be worked up into viable games.

I'll carry on looking into this as I'm pretty sure it would be a vote winner for Bag the Hun players. The next thing to do is a bit more digging to add some detail to the potential scenarios, specifically the Italian side of the equation, bringing it all together as a series of sketches, after which I can start writing something up for play testing. 

I am also thinking of submitting the end result to Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine, if they are interested in some Malta air wargaming content. I'll contact Guy Bowers to see if he thinks it's something he'd like to explore and where it might fit into the editorial plan? If not, I'll send it all off to Nick Skinner for the Lard Mag!

Early War SCW Aircraft Extras

I wasn't really intending to add any early war aircraft to the Spanish Civil War Bag the Hun project, but I have given in and ordered a few that can be used for both the Nationalists and Republicans. These include some Nieuport Delage NiD 52 fighters, some Bregiet XIX light bombers and a handful of Dewoitine D.371 fighters. I also have some assorted models that can be used in my spares box, so they might be added to the mix if I need some bombers, reconnaissance or transport aircraft. In the meantime, I'm still working on the later war Republican stuff, most of which is Soviet supplied.

Utilising Speed in Algernon Pulls It Off!

I re-leaned something today that I had completely overlooked, assuming that Algernon Pulls It Off! uses the same system as Bag the Hun 2 to calculate and utilise aircraft speed.

After re-reading the relevant bit of the rules, it clearly stated that you can 'slow down or speed up within the maximum speed' but the D4 modifier has to be applied on top of that, depending on your pilot skill level.

To be honest, I have been playing using the system in Bag the Hun 2, where you have to move the full basic distance. I should have realised that this was wrong, having originally played the first edition of Bag the Hun, where the same flexibility is included.

I'm actually looking forward to playing some games with the correct speed rules to see just how it speeds up, or s possibly slows down, game play. It will certainly give players more opportunity to manoeuvre into position and get on the tail of their opponents, which is an exciting opportunity for them to shoot things down rather than spend ages plotting their moves.

Tally Ho!

Bag the MiG Card Deck

I was off work today as I wasn't required to go in, which meant I could have a go at putting together a basic, printer friendly card deck for Bag the MiG, based on one I designed for Bag the Hun play testing a long time ago. It's been tweaked a bit with a few customisations, replacing the Tally Ho! cards with something more appropriate, for example, but otherwise it's fairly generic. It can also be easily adapted to add extra character cards or scenario specific cards, so it's pretty flexible. 

The cards are quite large, as they were originally designed for multi player games, but they can be scaled down on a photocopier if preferred. They are designed for use with the original, first edition of Bag the Hun but will work fine with Bag the Hun 2 mechanics, apart from the use of blinds rather than bogeys. They are available to download from the Bag the Hun FB group files as a handy .pdf document. 

Bag the MiG Momentum

I've recently become a moderator on the Bag the Hun FB group, giving me the opportunity to encourage players to give the system a go. One thing I'm keen to push is Bag the MiG, partly as I've always wanted to try it out myself but also to pick up some interest on the group for something a bit different. It's a great option for me as I already have the aircraft, flight stands and hex cloth, so just need a deck of cards for it to be a solo game project this year. I'm not going to be writing any scenario content, however, as there's already a good selection available, especially if the CY6 MiG Alley book is used as a source of historical actions. I'm looking forward to some games in the not too distant future!

Spanish Civil War Plane Painting

I was going to try and mix and match some paint shades for the Spanish Civil War Republican aircraft models but found this set of base paints to experiment with instead. I've used AK paints before and found them a little thin, so you need more than one coat for effective coverage, but it will save me some time trying to work out alternatives. They should arrive fairly soon and I'm going to get started when the postie drops them off.

Spanish Civil War Republican Air Force

The 1/600th scale models for the Spanish Republican air force have now been assessed and just need magnet basing. This is the line up based on mid to late war:

12 x I-16 Mosca

9 x I-15 Chatos

6 x I-15bis Super Chato

9 x SB-2 Katyushka

3 x MB 200

1 x Polikarpov R-5 Natasha

On to the painting!

Spanish Civil War Republican Air Force Progress

A long afternoon spent at the workbench and I'm nearly finished with assembling the 1/600th scale aircraft for the Bag the Hun Spanish Republican air force. I got sidetracked into converting a Mitsubishi torpedo bomber into an R-5 Natasha, but apart from that I've stuck to the plan. I have six I-152 Super Chato fighters to glue together, then I will be ready to add the magnets and start painting things. 

Early War Aircraft for Bag the Hun

I discovered a fantastic range of 3D printed aircraft for interwar and early war scenarios yesterday, as usual while looking for something completely unrelated. These are available in three different scales including 1/300th, from Bayonets and Brushes and are intended to be used for the Spanish Civil War, Dutch East Indies and Blitzkrieg. However, they incidentally cover just about everything you could need for the Winter War, Khalkhin Gol and East African campaign, which ticks all of the boxes for my Bag the Hun Lard Mag articles, and then some! I'm sorely tempted to order a few to fill the gaps in the East Africa stash for Bag the Bok but can't really justify spending pocket money on more stuff at the moment. 

Republican Fighters and Bombers

A bit of a frustrating day for various reasons but I have made a good start on assembling some 1/600th scale fighters and bombers for the Republicans. I have some more to do but at least count I have twelve I-16 Moscas, six I-15 Chatos and three Bloch MB.200 bombers, the last being all I had in the box but soon to be joined by six more. I'm focussing on 1938-39, so haven't included any of the earlier aircraft just yet. 

Air War Over Spain

I used to have a tatty hard back copy of this book but it literally fell apart after the loft leaked and it got soaked. I've now found a new copy in much better condition and I'm hoping that it will give me some really good material for a set of scenarios, as well as a better grip on the course of the war in the air. The research for scenario projects is something I really enjoy and I'm looking forward to getting started in a couple of weeks when I have done holiday reading time.

Bag the Hun Spanish Civil War Scenario Project

I've been looking for a focus for a Bag the Hun Lard Magazine article for 2026 for a while. Although I do have an existing theme under research, the Arctic Eagles project, its not really ready for development into a full article. As a result, I've been trying to pin down a more manageable alternative. I've decided that this is going to be the Spanish Civil War, a conflict that hasn't been covered in any depth before fir Bag the Hun, apart from some aircraft data tables in one of the old Specials. 

A key factor in this is that I already have the 1/600th scale Tumbling Dice models that I need and some decals from Flightdeck, so any expense will be minimal. I also really love the interwar aircraft involved, especially the Soviet fighters like the Rata and Chato, for example. I'm going to do some preliminary reading and research then plan to get painting as soon as I know what's needed. Tally Ho!

Spanish Civil War Bag the Hun Wargaming

Two new titles from Helion Publishing for my birthday at the weekend, both focussed on the Spanish Civil War, a long time interest of mine but something I haven't yet tried to do. The initial interest is in the potential for a Bag the Hun scenario project, once again focussed on the interwar / early war era. I do like the idea of some linked scenarios focussing on the Republican Air Force, both before and after it was re-equipped with Soviet fighters and bombers. Excellente!

Bag The Hun 2 Aircraft Record Sheet

Blank Template

Completed Sheet

A member of the Bag the Hun Facebook group asked if anyone had a template for an aircraft record sheet today, so I had a dig about on the hard drive and have uploaded a .doc and .pdf of my one. This was designed by me for the first Lard Day game that I ran back in 2018 but was developed from many years of experience playing the game, so is pretty much the mutt's nuts. It's been used by other people to design their own 'flashy' colour versions, but I like it in its basic format as you can easily edit it for whatever scenarios you have planned. You can grab a copy from the Files on the Facebook group for free. Tally Ho!

1/600th Finnish Continuation War Aircraft

It's chilly at the moment here in the UK, so I've decided to pick up a project for Bag the Hun and 'finnish' it off this month (see what I did there?) I've completed the 1/600th scale Soviet aircraft for the Continuation War and so now have the Finnish models to paint, starting with the Curtiss Hawks and some prepared Blenheims, Fokker DXXI's, Hurricanes and a single Fokker C.V, then moving onto some more fighters later on. This will enable me to solo play some of the scenarios I wrote in the 2024 Lard Mag and some new ones that I hope to devise this year, focussed on 1943 onwards. Tally Ho!