Blood Red Skies

 Blood Red Skies is an excellent set of rules for WWII Aerial Combat. I have always loved the game system with one exception - the movement system is a big challenge particularly for a new player. I have addressed what I consider to be a potentially fatal drawback by adapting the rules to a hex based movement system. 

Here is a pic of a game in progress using the hexes:

I make a one to one relationship of inches to hexes so I do not have to change the rules in any way. Even though the hexes are 1.25” each, the rules are unaffected. I have models face a hex side and make a 45-degree turn as on hex side and 180-degree turns as three hex sides. I also have developed a template to show when an aircraft is ‘tailing’ an opponent and when the shooter is in range to fire and when in short range. 

We played several games of BRS as part of a recent Northern Conspiracy club game day. The game day was a combination of land (Blitzkreig Commander Rules), sea (General Quarters Rules) and BRS for air combat to recreate a fictitious Italian and German invasion of Malta in 1942. This campaign gave me an opportunity to paint some really interesting aircraft and paint schemes. Here are some photos of planes I painted for the game day:

These aircraft are a combination of Warlord resin, 3d prints and Warlord plastics. All of the decals are from Miscellaneous Miniatures. 

The day went well with three BRS games.  The Axis definitely had the better of the games through out the day. There were some interesting scenarios being generated by the pre-game campaign play. I do not have access to game photos on my current device, so I will have to do another post for game narratives/recaps. I think the hex system worked really well and I look forward to more games in 2025. 

Reboot After a Long Absence

 Ok.  Wow!  It has been more than two years.  Hard to believe all of that time has passed by.  It has been a busy time in my wargame experiences as I have branched out into several new areas and worked on completing new projects in my normal gaming areas.

I think I will spend the next couple of months sharing some photos and recollections of games that I have been playing.  I also will be reporting on my gaming experiences during 2023 on a much more regular basis.

I will begin by going back to January of 2021 and show some of the gaming/projects I undertook at that time:

The year began with a wonderful event (especially for the COVID era!).  Our son married his sweetheart.  The ceremony was small due to the pandemic.  Her dress, his uniform and the simplicity of the event gave it a WWII era feeling that was incredible!  We were all very happy!

Early in the year my gaming focus was on Blood Red Skies and Cruel Seas.  The collections grew immensely!

Among my favorites were these He-162 Volksjaeger jet aircraft.  They bring the "Jet" rule into BRS without the overwhelming force of the Me-262.  During this time I also developed a movement and firing system that used hexes instead of the movement and firing sticks for the game.  I feel that the hexes make movement and combat resolution much easier, but does not affect the feel of the game.

He-162 and Fw-190 on the gaming table.

F4U Corsairs of the Fleet Air Arm in their first game.

Also in early 2021 I worked very hard on my Cruel Seas navies.  At the same time, I took the plunge and purchased by 3D printer.  Here are a couple of photos which combine both of these.  This is a picture of an RAF Rescue Launch that I printed and added to my RN Coastal Forces.  This in one of my favorite models in the collection.

3D printed RAF Rescue Launch. I am mounting my ships on clear acrylic bases to help with movement.

RAF Launch for the top down.  Print lines are prominent, but do not detract too much.

So, this covers the first few months of 2021.  During this period, we were still pretty deep into COVID restrictions so the gaming experiences were not that great.  But I have to say, I certainly added significantly to my painted forces.  Also, I was 3D printing my heart out on the new printer.  I hope to get some additional photos up of my boats and other vehicles/terrain in the near future.  So stay tuned.

Blood Red Skies Collection Continues to Grow

Here are some photos of aircraft that I completed since the start of the COVID 19 situation.  I have really gotten back to my hobby desk as of late and hopefully this is the first of several posts as I complete some long dormant projects and get started on other efforts.

Russian Lend-Lease Hurricanes.  Still want to add some patriotic slogans, but I may wait until they have been through a battle or two and become 'veterans.'  These appear very dark, almost black, in this photo but they are actually Bronze Green and are much lighter in person.

Bf-109's for the Mediterranean Theatre.  They will be the primary foe for the Martlett's below.

Il-2 Stormovik's ready to take on some German ground targets.  Need to work out some better bases, but for right now these will be ok.

Here are the Martlett III's to take on my Africa/Italian themed 109's above.  These are painted as 880 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm.

Good start to the year.  At the moment, I have several things on the painting table, including the other three Stormovik's.  These three will be in some form of winter camp scheme but I don't know exactly what they will end up being.

Blood Red Skies

The game system I have been working on the most lately is the relatively new WWII Aerial Combat rules from Warlord Games called Blood Red Skies (BRS).  I have played a few sets of air combat games in the past and quite frankly I found most to be 'fiddly'.

I think the cliche of a game mechanic being 'elegant' is overused recently.  But I have to say, that is the most appropriate word for BRS that I can think of as I play it.  The combination of cards, pilot skill, boom chits and plane status is simple but gives a real feel for the descriptions I have read of air to air combat in WWII.

Here is a very good summary of the game mechanics that I found on the RPG.net website here.  I think it really captures the essence of the system and I have to agree with most of his conclusions on the game.  This is a relatively easy review, however, having been done in November, 2018.  In December a full BRS Rulebook titled Ground Attack (yeah, I don't get it either but that is Warlord Games for you!) is due out.  The new book will bring all rules together in one place - not three - and will incorporate all of the FAQ comments and addendums that have come out over the past couple of years.  Sort of like a Version 2.0 of the rules without the fanfare.  Ground Attack will also introduce rules for bombing (including dive-bombing) and strafing.  These were major components of the air conflict in WWII and so it will be beneficial to have these aspects addressed with official rules.

Like all modern gaming systems, BRS has wealth of social media support including the Facebook Page called the Ready Room.  If you use FB, look at the Ready Room and you will find some really neat ideas and supports for the game.

So one of the best parts of the game is that it has given me the opportunity to collect and paint new forces for my game room display!  Here are a few of the planes I have painted and there are several more on the painting table as I write this so stand-by for more!

Hurricanes attack a flight of Do-17's during the Battle of Britain.

A pair of Me-110 Night Fighters on patrol.

A close-up of the Nachtjagers preparing to hunt some British intruders!

Me-109's dive into the Hurricanes to save their bomber comrades!

British P-51 Mustangs of 200 Squadron RAF

A BRS 'Squadron' of British Mustangs.  Each aircraft will receive a pilot skill level tab on its base for the game.  For most games this would be the maximum number of aircraft that a single player would control.  In most games that I have played in, players have controlled between 2 and 4 aircraft comfortably even if they were new to the game.  Games I have played averaged about an hour to complete.

Mustangs prepare to escort a flight of Allied bombers to target and back.

The dogfight continues.

Another aircraft falls burning from the sky!

So that is my introduction of the new game system.  I hope to host a couple of games at Adlernest Hobby Store on November 9th so be on the lookout for a battle report or two in the coming weeks.

Gaming for the 2nd Half of 2019

As I was looking at my Hobby Activities for the Year (See Below), I noticed that so far in 2019 I have played the largest number of different rule sets than any other year I've been in the hobby - by far.

It just seems that I have been willing to go out on a limb and try new things (such as Star Wars ver 2, Warlords of Erehwon, and GW Kill Team).  More so, it seems, then ever.  I'm not really sure why this is, it just seems to all be piling up this year.

And I don't think that the trend will be slowing down either.  Right now I am planning to play in a game of 'Fistful of Lead' later this month (I'm painting up some US Cavalry and Plains Infantry, complete with Gatling Gun for that game!).  I also have planned to try a game of Black Ops from Osprey War-games sometimes later this summer.  And right now I am reading another set of rules from Osprey, Rebels and Patriots, that I want to try out for that all elusive 'great' rules set for my War of 1812 skirmishes.

So many games, so little time!  I really want to settle on a rules that I enjoy playing and that I have enough painted minis to do effective games and/or campaigns.  There will always be one off games like the Fistful of Lead at my local hobby store, but I am talking about rules that I play enough to get comfortable with, or that I 'work harder' at so I can become somewhat proficient.  I don't ever want to 'work' on game system to be a competitive player, but I would like to develop a feel for some game systems so I can game master a game or campaign and be do a pretty good job.

Right now I think that is the following games in the indicated period:

Napoleonics
Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale
Napoleon's Rules of War

War of 1812
Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale (Ed's Edits) - For battles
Rebels and Patriots - For skirmishes

WWII
Cruel Seas - Naval
Blood Red Skies - Air
Bolt Action - Skirmishes

Modern
???

Sci Fi and Fantasy
X-Wing ver 2
GW Kill Team
Warlords of Erehwon

Ten sets of rules plus at least one for modern gaming!  Too many, I think.  But these are all rules that I have tried out and I really have enjoyed each one of them for their own reasons.  I think that I will have to consider them one-by-one and pair out the ones that I really don't want to play on a regular basis.

I have figures for most, if not all, of them so painting isn't really an issue - just have to finish off lead that I already have as I go along and then get stuff out to the table.  Terrain is also not an issue as I have all types of terrain already made for all of the scales of figures that I have and for all of the time periods and settings (Europe, N. America, etc.).

I will update the blog as I play through these.