What Have I Done?

I suppose I have held a lifelong interest in WWI aerial games.  Beginning with Milton Bradley's Dogfight in the '60s, play moved to The Avalon Hill Game Company's Richthofen's War in the '70s and '80s.

The '90s saw me take to the air with miniatures using Canvas Eagles (CE).  I have vague recollections of a campaign game or two using these rules besides many one-off contests.  Having played CE, who can ever forget the stat sheet for each aircraft?  We really played CE a lot and I began building models so that I could take to the air.  I only maintained a small assortment of 1/72nd kits but I was always on the lookout for more.

Aircraft stat sheet

Meikraft Models of a German Pfalz DIIIa

While Canvas Eagles remained a staple when games took to the air, the late 2000s saw playtesting of Watch Your Six.  I wonder whatever happened to that ruleset?  Even more models were purchased as opportunities arose but the pile of unbuilt kits was not so great.

OK, maybe I exaggerate a bit.  There were probably more models than realized once I began discovering bargains on eBay.  I even managed to buy small chunks of large collections.

By the time COVID disrupted everyone's lives in 2020, WWI aerial combat had transitioned to remote play with players from far-flung reaches of the globe.  A long-running campaign was fought using Richard Lindley's Knights of the Sky which was perfectly suited to remote play via Skype, Zoom, or Google Meet.  In one of these campaigns, my pilot made it all the way through the war only to be met with disaster on the last sortie of the war.  Curses!

All along the way of this journey, newly acquired unbuilt kits were added into the tubs in which these models were placed for storage.  By this time, there were two such large tubs.  Oh, and a few that would not fit.  Did I expect to build and see these kits in a game?  Of course.

Knights of the Sky via Skype

Baron von Freitag's last flight

Where does this rambling trip down Memory Lane lead?

Well, to gain a sense of the scale of the number of models tucked away, I brought the two tubs out of the storage room and emptied their contents out onto the gaming table.  Stacking them up in a quasi-sort by size and manufacturer, I made a count.

Plastic Pile of WWI Aircraft

Now, many of these models are long out of production.  Some go back to the '60s.  How many are there?  More than 140 kits.  Some of the kits have more than one model and were counted as one unless I could verify.  I noticed several bagged kits had more than one model.  Such an interesting assortment of planes and manufacturers.  I had no idea the size of this collection.

What have I done?  Well, bought more models than I can possibly build or use.  Will all of these models ever get built?  Almost certainly not by me.  One resolution for the New Year is to grab a model or two out of the pile and build it just to remember the joy (and frustration) of putting these kits together.  Who knows, perhaps I will take to the skies in 2026?  At least, all of these kits actually made it out onto the table.

Time at the Table

After a busy week at the gaming table planning, hosting and participating, today's update is a brief recap amidst the confusion.  With a second Battle of Young's Branch on the docket for Monday, today will be spent resetting the table and getting all in order for the Monday gathering. 

The gaming front saw three remote games in the week past.  They were:

Tuesday: WWI Aerial Dogfight in 1/72 hosted by Richard.  Graham's battle report at Up in the Air.  All three German aircraft ended up on the ground.  Not a good result if you were a German!

Thursday: Punic Wars in 1/72 hosted by Peter.  Peter's battle report at Ancient Campaign Part 7.  If time permits, I may put together the account of the action from the Carthaginian perspective.

Saturday:  Battle of Young's Branch in 10mm hosted by myself.  Two player game against Stew from A Terrible Loss of Lead and Wealth.  This action saw Stew in his first remote game.  We experienced a couple of technical glitches through the six-hour session (whew!) but we made it through.  I will definitely be retelling my fight with Stew once the dust settles from Monday's replaying of this scenario.  For now, a couple of photos from early in the battle. 

Confederates race up in support
 of Evans on Matthews' Hill.

Hunter prepares his divisional assault
 against the Rebels on Matthews' Hill.

That is a wrap for now!

von Freitag Gets Kill #6!

For Tuesday's weekly remote game, Richard hosted a return to the skies over the war-torn landscapes of WWI.  Once again, I reprise my role as Ace Rittmeister von Freitag as the outnumbered German patrol attempts to intercept a larger British sortie.  Rumors quickly drift down to German command that a flight of four allied aircraft are flying over German lines.  The mission seems to be focused on the rescue of downed Allied pilots, lost in previous missions.  Regardless of the allied mission, the German mission is to stop these intruders.  As von Freitag lifts off from the airfield in his DR1 Triplane with his two wingmen flying DV Albatrosses, let's see how the action unfolds.

With a flight of four Allied aircraft coming into view, von Freitag's squadron prepares for action.  The enemy are flying a pup, a camel, and two strutter two-seaters.  On the ground, can be seen two planes.  German infantry are advancing toward these aircraft.  

Von Freitag pounces upon the pup as the enemy plane banks hard left to evade the German squadron.  The triplane puts a burst into the pup as tracers fly into the wing.

The pup tries to evade but the triplane keeps the pup in its gunsights.  Another burst goes into the enemy plane.  The two strutters are beginning a slow descending circle over the downed aircraft.  A flare goes up signaling the location of the downed enemy pilot. The two Albatrosses close in on the strutters and deliver a few long range bursts.  Neither strutter is carrying an observer!  This must be a rescue mission.  

While the two strutters fly in tandem, both descend to a very low level.  Are they planning to land?  The pup cannot shake von Freitag and the German ace puts two more bursts into the pup.  The pup's wing disintegrates and the plane crashes to earth.  Kill #6 for von Freitag!  

Seeing the enemy go down, Freitag sets his sight on the camel in the distance.  Let the wingmen take care of the strutters, the ace goes after the camel.  On the horizon, another pup is seen approaching the dogfight as the strutters prepare to set down in the field.

As the triplane swings around to get into a tailing position on the camel, the pup dives onto the triplane and sends a long burst into the ace's craft.  Structurally weakened from enemy fire, the ace watches helplessly as a freak accident causes the upper wing on his triplane to bend and then tear away.  My God! The upper wing is gone!   

With the pup still on his tail, the hunter has become the hunted!  Is this effort focused on avenging the death of his comrade?

With both the camel and pup on his tail, von Freitag skirts the mountain and comes up behind the strutters as they lift off.  The observer seats are now occupied in both crafts and they begin manning their guns.  This is a congested and complicated situation.  Where are Freitag's wingmen?

Flying passed the two strutters, the ace puts himself into a dangerous position.  Both strutters are pouring bursts into the triplane.  Besides missing the upper wing, the ace's airplane is taking a lot of damage.   

Von Freitag banks hard left hoping to evade his pursuers.  The ploy works!  The strutters break off and head toward allied lines. 

Unfortunately, not before the allies manage to force both albatrosses down to the ground.  Von Freitag limps back toward base while his wingmen have successfully set their planes down without serious injuries to themselves.

The Germans picked up two kills but this was another hard day at the office, for sure.   

Friday sees another playtest of Rein-Bow Warriors with the Egyptians and Hittites locking horns once again.

My Little Fokker in Action On the Front

Having been away on leave, ace pilot, Rittmeister von Freitag missed his Jasta's initial deployment of the new Fokker DR1 Triplane.  That initial combat trial ended in mishap as Heinrich Manove' narrowly escaped destruction in the new fangled aeroplane (see A Brief Update for details).  As luck would have it, von Freitag would return to his Jasta on the frontlines flying one of these new contraptions.

The German squadron takes to the skies

As Rittmeister approaches his airfield, he witnesses three DV's arising from the field.  Even from this distance, he can make out that Manove' is leading the sortie in his trusty, steel blue aeroplane.  Looking around, a trio of enemy aircraft is seen approaching in the distance. Without hesitation and without knowing the mission, the Baron banks hard to the right to join in the hunt.

First contact!

Before he can make contact with his comrades, action is already heating up over the river below.  Still a distance out from the fight, the Baron can just make out a two-seater on a possible recon mission escorted by two fighters.  Surveying the dogfight, only two German DVs are engaged.  Was the third already shot down or had it returned to base?  No time to waste!  The Rittmeister must come to the aid of his countrymen while trying to figure out how to handle his new steed.

Lt Manove' gives chase

Lt. Manove' signals that he is giving chase to the two-seater as the recon plane descends from the clouds.  The Rittmeister acknowledges and turns toward the action to engage the two enemy escorts and even the odds.  With a young pilot in the cockpit of the DV, against two pups, Lt. Schneckeneichener could use a hand.

Nice maneuvering, Manove'!

As Lt. Manove' lines up his initial attack on the two-seater, the two escorts dive to the strutter's rescue.  With both German fighters higher and out of position, the Germans must act quickly before Manove' becomes the hunted rather than the hunter.  

The Baron tailing the enemy

The Baron swings his triplane about and dives to get upon the enemy's tail.  He succeeds in positioning himself on the tail of one of the pups and sends a burst into its tail.  At long range, it is difficult to see where the bullets hit.

Hard to tell friend from foe

Unfortunately for the Baron, his momentum and unfamiliarity with the characteristics of the DR1 carry him through the enemy aircraft.  Curses!  Manove' has the bit between his teeth and continues tailing the strutter as it peels off and begins a steep climb.  Has the strutter completed its recon mission?

The two-seater spins out!

While still on the tail of his adversary, the Baron sees the strutter go into a spin.  Lt. Manove' may get his third kill!  Manove' follows his prey watching as it crashes lands into the field.

The duelists

With the two-seater down, time to put away these fighter escorts.  Positioning himself to face an enemy pup, the Rittmeister leads Schneckeneichener into the fight.  The Rittmeister pumps a burst into the engine of the opponent and then passes overhead.

The pup's engine conks out

Following up in the second attack, Schneckeneichener pumps two long bursts into the pup.  The pup's engine coughs and then stalls.  She is smoking!  Sputtering, the pup pulls away and begins to descend, the pilot frantically trying to restart the engine.  It is no use.  The pup glides to the ground as the second British escort breaks off.  A kill for Schneckeneichener!  Hooray!

Stoked with adrenalin, the young Schneckeneichener follows his adversary too close to the ground and clips a tree with his wing.  His DV crashes not far from the spot where he brought down his adversary only moments before.  

The Baron and Manove' return to base as Schneckeneichener is fetched from the field.  The young pilot will have some explaining to do during the debrief, of course, after a suitable convalescing period to recover from his injuries.

For Lt. Manove's account of the action, please visit Graham's blog at Back up in the air.

Very fun!  Thank you Richard for hosting another entertaining session.

Oh, and the purpose of the recon mission was to photograph the Fokker DR1 Triplane downed on the previous day's sortie. 

Austrian IR#30 and Other Stuff

With the Battle of Rivoli raging across my gaming table, the painting desk is seeing an uptick in FRW units in work.  Coincidence?  The latest units mustering out from the painting desk are three battalions of Austrian infantry from IR#30.  While IR#30 is not needed for the current Rivoli battle, they will see service another time. 

These 39 figures are from AB Miniatures.  A quick look into The Lead Pile finds enough of these figures to field two more Austrian regiments in casquet.

On the remote Battle of Rivoli front, mentioned before, the battle is heating up.  An hour and a half in game time (three game turns) is in the books and dispatches from the generals are flowing freely across the battlefield while French brigades and Austrian columns collide.  Without giving away any more details than the generals have at-hand, below is the battle situation at 1000.  I am having a great time coordinating dispatches and translating orders to the gaming table.  There have been a few tense moments already.  The Austrians are driving hard from the west and north but the French are holding on.  In the east, the cork is still in place in the Osteria Gorge and the Austrian columns remain bottled in the Adige Valley.

Rivoli situation 1000

Austrian Grenadiers attack at San Marco

Finally, I take to the skies later today in a remote, multi-player WWI aerial combat.  Seven pilots are slated for the action as we fight for supremacy in 1/72nd aircraft.  I will likely be piloting an Albatros DIII.  Perhaps, it will look like the aeroplane below?  After today's action, another new set of rules will be added to my repertoire.  That makes five new rules played in the last two months.  Whew!   

An ebay Find: Pair of Fokker Triplanes

Bargains can still be found on ebay for those with patience and a bit of luck.  I recently scored two pre-built and painted 1/72 plastic Fokker DR1 triplanes from an ebay  in this fashion.  I find mid-summer is a good time to keep an eye out on ebay auctions for bargains.  Mid-summer sees fewer bidders and, perhaps, even a few more willing sellers than usual.  That was the situation for these two fine models.

Both models were advertised as fully built and painted.  Opening bid on each was a mere USD$6.50.  Bids of USD$6.50 were placed on each and I began to wait expecting more activity as the auction end date approached.  Well, no other bids materialized and I won both aircraft for under USD$20 for two pre-built models postage paid.  What a great bargain!  For about USD$10 per model two nicely built Fokker DR1's enter service with no muss and no fuss.  

Well, almost no muss and no fuss.  Although well packaged, some damage occurred during shipment.  On one model the landing gear arrived broken at the fuselage joint.  On the other, the top wing had come off.  Both were easy repairs.  Both are ready to take to the skies.  The easiest two additions to the WWI air war collection yet.  It is good to be lucky.       

A Pair of 1/72 WWI Aircraft

This past weekend, the urge to build a couple of WWI airplane kits arose.  What sparked this inspiration?  A recent purchase, of course!  I picked up a small assortment of old kits that arrived in-house this week.  Using the Last In/First Out method, I grabbed two models from the recent acquisition.  Those two kits were a British Bristol F.2B two-seat fighter from Renwal and a Fokker DR-1 Triplane from Revell.  Both kits are likely of a 70s vintage.

First up is the Bristol F.2B.  The Bristol is a great kit from Renwal.  I have two Bristol F.2B kits from Renwal in the pile, one of which is packaged with an "aero-skin."  Maybe I have more than two!  Today's kit is a regular kit without the aero-skin.  While I am not happy with the way in which the decals came out (they were a little oversized and did not stick), overall the model is a good addition to my aero-force.   

The other kit is a model of a Fokker DR-1 Triplane sporting the signage of the Red Baron.  Another nice kit that goes together well.

The triplane is a good, little kit.  Compared to the Bristol, the triplane is little.  Whenever I build a DR-1, I am always a bit surprised at how diminutive the aircraft is.  The relative size is shown in the comparison photo below:

What land are the two aircraft overflying?  That is the battlefield layout for the 1859 battle of San Martino in Northern Italy.  Having cleared the table of the Maisnon battle, the San Martino battlefield is expected to hold an extended engagement on the table.