The President was a large and powerful man. As he walked into conference room, his every move conveyed this in a most menacing way. Once he was seated, his generals took there seats, each wishing that he would not have to speak.
Surprisingly he called first on his air marshal, a man who was already under great scrutiny, "Dear Mr. President, as you know, Uwanda has violated our borders, and our air space, but the People's Air Force has acted with quickness and great valor, and has inflicted significant losses in the enemy. We have indeed given, more than we have taken."
The Presidents face softened slightly, considering what was said. "Thank you", he turned to the Supreme Marshal of Armed Forces, and asked, "And what have you to say?"
Without salutation and slightly rushed, he offered, "Uwandan forces have crossed the border in six places, ranging from the central region to the northern end of our mutual border. They have taken the town at grid B21, and pushed our unsuspecting forces back, but they have made no significant progress at any of the locations in the north. We are currently activating units and formulating a plan to respond."
"Tell me Marshal, how is your family?" asked the President most thoughtfully, a weak smile escaping as he spoke.
"They are well sir", replied the Marshall, confused by this question.
"SO, you have had time to check the well-being of your family, but not to consider the well being of your nation?" The President seemed less thoughtful now, "Let me tell you sir, your family, and my family, are under attack. Your nation, and myyyyyy nation, is under attack. My family, and especially your family, are not doing well. They are in fact, in very, great, danger. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!
"Yes sir, we will have the plan immediately," the Marshall managed to squeak out.
"Your plan is to counter-attack with whatever forces are readily available." thundered the President, "You will expel those bugs from my nation, or I will expel you from this world."
"Except for the air marshal, you are dismissed. Get me the Soviet ambassador."
As a detail from the Presidential Guard was dispatched to "protect" the supreme marshall's family, the President sat in his office, admiring the beauty of the garden outside his window. He waited for the Soviet ambassador, and for the vice marshal of the army. Mugabia would need a better plan than that offered in the briefing, and just maybe, he could squeeze something extra from the Soviets as well.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Thursday, October 20, 2016
AAR21: No Plan Survives First Contact
Lt. Zuberi had seen battle before, but not on this scale. The force was so large, it was both exhilarating and terrifying. And he was proud. Proud to follow his commander; proud to lead his men, the men of first platoon. The order to advance came as he ended a silent prayer, " ...and please God, let me lead them well."
Uwandan forces advanced on Objective B21 in the first move (on the ground) in a much bigger war. Uwanda was taking Mugabia's little border game and pushing it to the heart of Mugabia in an all out war. Jets roared overhead in a battle that had already started, while Uwanda had yet to find the enemy on the ground.
Uwanda's attacking force was as follows:
1x Saracen, 1x Jeep (HQ)
8x Centurion
6x Sherman Firefly
13x Saracen
3x Saladin
4x Ferret
2x M42
1x Bren
4x M7 Priest
The Mugabian president simply did not believe that Uwanda would escalate the conflict, and even if they did attack at Objective B21, they would never intend to advance beyond that point. The Mugabian force based at B21 had however, been beefed up, given its strategic position relative to the contested territory along the border. The Mugabian defending force was as follows:
1x BTR60, 1x GAZ66, 1x GAZ69 HQ
3x T55
11x T34/85
10x BTR60
3x BRDM2
2x ZSU57
2x ZU23-2, 2x GAZ66
2x SU100
4x 122mm D30, 5x Truck
4x 122mm D30, 5x Truck
Word of the Uwandan build-up and probable advance had not yet reached the commander at B21. He deployed his force on the western edge of the city, with a firm defensive line established by his SU100s, two platoons of T34s, and about a company of infantry. He held a platoon of T55, another of T34, and a third of mechanized infantry in constant reserve, just in case. He also had two batteries of 122mm guns and four anti-aircraft guns, including two of the impressive ZSU57s, to support his force. Given past Uwandan actions, he was confident that his force could hold off any Uwandan attack.
The battle for objective B21 started off slowly with Uwandan recce of four Ferrets moving into position to locate and identify Mugabian forces. Before they were detected, Mugabian forces, finally warned that Uwanda might launch an attack, were alert and managed to spot a Ferret armored car making its way forward through a wooded area. Artillery was called and successfully hit the armored car, and continued to pound the perimeter of the woods.
This resulted in Uwanda dispatching two of its G91 attack aircraft to silence the Mugabian guns. And indeed they did, destroying 6 of 8 122mm guns, and dispersing the remainder. An event that had a very adverse impact on Mugabian asuccess for the rest of the battle.
The Uwandan commander decided to have his Centurions advance to the edge of the trees center and south from the west and try to use the range of their guns to pick apart the Mugabian defenses. The Uwandan infantry company would advance through the woods along the northern end of the board and attack Mugabian forces along the road extending north out of town. All the while, Uwandan artillery and air support would hammer obstinate targets.
The Centurions got into position first, but simply could not find targets. They advanced toward the Mugabians until they were able to find the enemy, and began to engage them. They also requested artillery against the Mugabian defenses.
The Centurions quickly destroyed T34/85s in the Mugabian defensive line, but had a little more trouble with a pair of SU100s that took out a couple Centurions prior to their demise.
At this point, a Uwanda Air Force Strikemaster flew over the battlefield looking for targets of opportunity only to be surprised by the ZSU57s, which scored a fatal hit on the Strikemaster.
A second Strikemaster succeeded in dropping bombs on part of the Mugabian reserve force, destroying a couple of APCs and infantry.
Centurions continued to pound the Mugabian line, as did friendly artillery. Despite the losses, Mugabian RPGs moved into position and accounted for a couple more Centurions, causing the Uwanda advance to stall. During all of this, Uwandan infantry advanced through the woods, eventually running into the Mugabian infantry along the north road.
Despite damage inflicted on the Centurions, they had caused a great burden to the Mugabian defenders. The Mugabian commander decided to call on his T55s which quickly moved into position on a small hill east of the north road.
The T55s and Centurions exchanged shots until two of the T55s were silenced. The third withdrew, with plans of seeking better cover. Once the T55s were dealt with the remaining Centurions, reinforced by Firefly,s continued the advance.
To the north, the Uwandan APCs, escorted by the Saladins, finally reached the open ground between the woods and the Mugabian line. The Saladins attempted to deal with the remaining T34s, but had little success, further complicated by stubborn Mugabian infantry with RPGs. In time support fire from the Fireflys met both the T34s and RPG gunners, and combined with steady artillery fire, finally caused the Mugabian line to break.
The time had come for Lt. Zuberi to do his job, and he gave the order for his men to dismount their Saracens. His first image outside the APC was of destroyed Saracens and dead comrades, but the horror went un-acknowledged. He had a job to do, and he simply did it. He found himself and his men in open ground with no cover, and observed that the Mugabian's were already withdrawing in disorder. He immediately ordered a clumsy advance into cover that had been the Mugabian defensive line. As his men took up positions, Zuberi thought, "We are lucky, they are already broken."
By the time the Uwandan infantry began to dismount, their action had turned into a mopping up operation, as the Mugabians repeatedly failed morale and acted accordingly. As his northern flank was rolled up, the Mugabian commander issued several orders for his reserves to first advance to support his southern defenses (picked apart by the Centurions), then to form a second defensive line in the south, and after the Uwandan advance didn't come in the south, to finally reinforce the north side of the battlefield. In the end, only the T34s ever made there way north, and by that time it was too late.
The T34s did their best, but found themselves over-matched, taking fire from Fireflys and Centurions to the west, and Uwandan infantry with LAW rockest to the north. Two of the three were quickly destroyed, with the third withdrawing despite being hit.
Arriving a little late, two Uwandan Magisters attacked the chaos in the Mugabian rear area, destroying various vehicles, until both aircraft took damage from anti-aircraft guns.
The Mugabian commander lost control of his forces, as one by one, units were destroyed or lost their will to fight. In time he ordered a general withdraw to those who were still listening. As Mugabians withdrew, Uwandans advanced, occupying the town, and achieving the first objective of the invasion.
The battle over, Mugabian remnants made their way east, while the victors carefully advanced through the city, collected prisoners, and tended to wounded on both sides.
Fires smoldered and the wounded were tended to. "Fate has smiled on us today", thought Lt. Zuberi, as he considered that his platoon had taken no casualties. Others were not so lucky. His best friend, Lt. Amani was gone, as were all of the second platoon HQ. Their Saracen turned into a human bonfire after being hit by an RPG. Zuberi's eyes began to well, as he decided to focus on the task at hand, ordering his men to re-stock ammunition and water. He didn't know if he had lead them well.
________
I experimented with a method of controlling orders, by creating personality profiles for the commanders of both sides, and having their actions and reactions swayed by the profiles and dice during the game. Mostly this tended to cause a lot of hesitation before orders would be issued, and maybe didn't work so well.
The result was a little odd, as the unsupported Uwandan armor resulted in a long stall in the attack on the south and center, and lead me to believe that Uwanda was losing for the longest time. As the game progressed, the Mugabian commander issued orders, then reversed or revised them multiple times, causing his reserve force to mostly just move around uselessly some distance behind the fighting.
Mugabia's devastating losses on the ground were offset a little by Uwanda's continuing bad luck with aircraft. Four of six aircraft were damaged or destroyed.
Anyway, losses were as follows:
Uwanda
5x Centurion III
6x Saracen
3x Saladin
1x Ferret
2x Magister damaged
1x Strikemaster damaged
1x Strikemaster destroyed
26 KIA
12 WIA
Mugabia
3x T55
10x T34/85
9x BTR60
2x BRDM2
1x ZSU57
2x ZU23/2
2x SU100
6x 122mm Gun
7x BTR152
81 KIA
24 WIA (18) taken POW
1 MIA taken POW
Uwanda Captured:
19x POWs
1x BTR60
5x BTR152
2x ZU23/2
Uwandan forces advanced on Objective B21 in the first move (on the ground) in a much bigger war. Uwanda was taking Mugabia's little border game and pushing it to the heart of Mugabia in an all out war. Jets roared overhead in a battle that had already started, while Uwanda had yet to find the enemy on the ground.
Objective B-21 is to the right center of the map.
Uwanda's attacking force was as follows:
1x Saracen, 1x Jeep (HQ)
8x Centurion
6x Sherman Firefly
13x Saracen
3x Saladin
4x Ferret
2x M42
1x Bren
4x M7 Priest
Uwanda's view of the battlefield looking east.
The Mugabian president simply did not believe that Uwanda would escalate the conflict, and even if they did attack at Objective B21, they would never intend to advance beyond that point. The Mugabian force based at B21 had however, been beefed up, given its strategic position relative to the contested territory along the border. The Mugabian defending force was as follows:
1x BTR60, 1x GAZ66, 1x GAZ69 HQ
3x T55
11x T34/85
10x BTR60
3x BRDM2
2x ZSU57
2x ZU23-2, 2x GAZ66
2x SU100
4x 122mm D30, 5x Truck
4x 122mm D30, 5x Truck
Word of the Uwandan build-up and probable advance had not yet reached the commander at B21. He deployed his force on the western edge of the city, with a firm defensive line established by his SU100s, two platoons of T34s, and about a company of infantry. He held a platoon of T55, another of T34, and a third of mechanized infantry in constant reserve, just in case. He also had two batteries of 122mm guns and four anti-aircraft guns, including two of the impressive ZSU57s, to support his force. Given past Uwandan actions, he was confident that his force could hold off any Uwandan attack.
The Mugabian view to the west, with some Mugabian forces deployed pre-battle.
The battle for objective B21 started off slowly with Uwandan recce of four Ferrets moving into position to locate and identify Mugabian forces. Before they were detected, Mugabian forces, finally warned that Uwanda might launch an attack, were alert and managed to spot a Ferret armored car making its way forward through a wooded area. Artillery was called and successfully hit the armored car, and continued to pound the perimeter of the woods.
Mugabian arty pounds Uwandan recce.
This resulted in Uwanda dispatching two of its G91 attack aircraft to silence the Mugabian guns. And indeed they did, destroying 6 of 8 122mm guns, and dispersing the remainder. An event that had a very adverse impact on Mugabian asuccess for the rest of the battle.
The Uwandan commander decided to have his Centurions advance to the edge of the trees center and south from the west and try to use the range of their guns to pick apart the Mugabian defenses. The Uwandan infantry company would advance through the woods along the northern end of the board and attack Mugabian forces along the road extending north out of town. All the while, Uwandan artillery and air support would hammer obstinate targets.
The Centurions got into position first, but simply could not find targets. They advanced toward the Mugabians until they were able to find the enemy, and began to engage them. They also requested artillery against the Mugabian defenses.
The Centurions quickly destroyed T34/85s in the Mugabian defensive line, but had a little more trouble with a pair of SU100s that took out a couple Centurions prior to their demise.
At this point, a Uwanda Air Force Strikemaster flew over the battlefield looking for targets of opportunity only to be surprised by the ZSU57s, which scored a fatal hit on the Strikemaster.
A Strikemaster takes a hit.
A second Strikemaster succeeded in dropping bombs on part of the Mugabian reserve force, destroying a couple of APCs and infantry.
Centurions continued to pound the Mugabian line, as did friendly artillery. Despite the losses, Mugabian RPGs moved into position and accounted for a couple more Centurions, causing the Uwanda advance to stall. During all of this, Uwandan infantry advanced through the woods, eventually running into the Mugabian infantry along the north road.
Mugabian infantry with armor support along the North Road.
Despite damage inflicted on the Centurions, they had caused a great burden to the Mugabian defenders. The Mugabian commander decided to call on his T55s which quickly moved into position on a small hill east of the north road.
T55s on the rise.
The T55s and Centurions exchanged shots until two of the T55s were silenced. The third withdrew, with plans of seeking better cover. Once the T55s were dealt with the remaining Centurions, reinforced by Firefly,s continued the advance.
To the north, the Uwandan APCs, escorted by the Saladins, finally reached the open ground between the woods and the Mugabian line. The Saladins attempted to deal with the remaining T34s, but had little success, further complicated by stubborn Mugabian infantry with RPGs. In time support fire from the Fireflys met both the T34s and RPG gunners, and combined with steady artillery fire, finally caused the Mugabian line to break.
The time had come for Lt. Zuberi to do his job, and he gave the order for his men to dismount their Saracens. His first image outside the APC was of destroyed Saracens and dead comrades, but the horror went un-acknowledged. He had a job to do, and he simply did it. He found himself and his men in open ground with no cover, and observed that the Mugabian's were already withdrawing in disorder. He immediately ordered a clumsy advance into cover that had been the Mugabian defensive line. As his men took up positions, Zuberi thought, "We are lucky, they are already broken."
By the time the Uwandan infantry began to dismount, their action had turned into a mopping up operation, as the Mugabians repeatedly failed morale and acted accordingly. As his northern flank was rolled up, the Mugabian commander issued several orders for his reserves to first advance to support his southern defenses (picked apart by the Centurions), then to form a second defensive line in the south, and after the Uwandan advance didn't come in the south, to finally reinforce the north side of the battlefield. In the end, only the T34s ever made there way north, and by that time it was too late.
A T34 that has come up the north road, turns to engage the Firflys.
The T34s did their best, but found themselves over-matched, taking fire from Fireflys and Centurions to the west, and Uwandan infantry with LAW rockest to the north. Two of the three were quickly destroyed, with the third withdrawing despite being hit.
Arriving a little late, two Uwandan Magisters attacked the chaos in the Mugabian rear area, destroying various vehicles, until both aircraft took damage from anti-aircraft guns.
Easterly view of the battlefield late in the battle. Destroyed Centurions
in the foreground, buildings smoking from artillery strikes, and plumes of smoke
in the background caused by the Magisters.
The Mugabian commander lost control of his forces, as one by one, units were destroyed or lost their will to fight. In time he ordered a general withdraw to those who were still listening. As Mugabians withdrew, Uwandans advanced, occupying the town, and achieving the first objective of the invasion.
Uwanda armor advances against destroyed and retreating
Mugabian forces to the south.
The battle over, Mugabian remnants made their way east, while the victors carefully advanced through the city, collected prisoners, and tended to wounded on both sides.
The Mugabian commander heading east, after things went south.
Fires smoldered and the wounded were tended to. "Fate has smiled on us today", thought Lt. Zuberi, as he considered that his platoon had taken no casualties. Others were not so lucky. His best friend, Lt. Amani was gone, as were all of the second platoon HQ. Their Saracen turned into a human bonfire after being hit by an RPG. Zuberi's eyes began to well, as he decided to focus on the task at hand, ordering his men to re-stock ammunition and water. He didn't know if he had lead them well.
________
I experimented with a method of controlling orders, by creating personality profiles for the commanders of both sides, and having their actions and reactions swayed by the profiles and dice during the game. Mostly this tended to cause a lot of hesitation before orders would be issued, and maybe didn't work so well.
The result was a little odd, as the unsupported Uwandan armor resulted in a long stall in the attack on the south and center, and lead me to believe that Uwanda was losing for the longest time. As the game progressed, the Mugabian commander issued orders, then reversed or revised them multiple times, causing his reserve force to mostly just move around uselessly some distance behind the fighting.
Mugabia's devastating losses on the ground were offset a little by Uwanda's continuing bad luck with aircraft. Four of six aircraft were damaged or destroyed.
Anyway, losses were as follows:
Uwanda
5x Centurion III
6x Saracen
3x Saladin
1x Ferret
2x Magister damaged
1x Strikemaster damaged
1x Strikemaster destroyed
26 KIA
12 WIA
Mugabia
3x T55
10x T34/85
9x BTR60
2x BRDM2
1x ZSU57
2x ZU23/2
2x SU100
6x 122mm Gun
7x BTR152
81 KIA
24 WIA (18) taken POW
1 MIA taken POW
Uwanda Captured:
19x POWs
1x BTR60
5x BTR152
2x ZU23/2
Saturday, October 8, 2016
15mm Modern African Buildings Completed
I managed to finish four of the five buildings that I started a couple of weeks ago. They are based on photos of buildings from Kenya and surrounding nations. Construction is from styrene and blue foam.
Hoping to get these into a game this week.
The Bright Future Store, for all your refreshment needs.
A particularly nice outhouse. It was located behind a small white cottage with a thatch roof.
The cottage looked to be more Tolkien, than African.
This was noted as having been the house of a prominent person. The actual house had been destroyed in the photos, this is somewhat speculative, but should be relatively close to the design of the original structure.
It was described as a bar.
Hoping to get these into a game this week.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
My Origins Haul
Earlier this year, I managed to make it to Origins for part of a day, but was really struggling with an ailment, so didn't stay too long. Despite being pre-registered there was still a significant wait to get in. I did manage to get through the dealer room and reinforced Star Fleet and the Klingon Empire a little, courtesy of Lou Zocchi's fine starship models.
In all, I picked up three Klingon D7 cruisers, seven Federations ships (a mix of scouts, heavy cruisers, dreadnoughts, and a tug) and some decals.
I had been concerned that these might no longer be available (and even read as much this past weekend), but need not have worried, as there were plenty to be had.
I had hoped to pick up some other stuff too, but Reaper didn't bring their metal figs (I'm not a big fan of the "Bones" casting material), and a couple others sold out of things that I was wanting, so didn't spend as much as I might have.
There is always a lot of neat stuff to see there, though I wish miniatures had a greater presence.
Anyway, here are pix of a couple of the ships:
In all, I picked up three Klingon D7 cruisers, seven Federations ships (a mix of scouts, heavy cruisers, dreadnoughts, and a tug) and some decals.
I had been concerned that these might no longer be available (and even read as much this past weekend), but need not have worried, as there were plenty to be had.
I had hoped to pick up some other stuff too, but Reaper didn't bring their metal figs (I'm not a big fan of the "Bones" casting material), and a couple others sold out of things that I was wanting, so didn't spend as much as I might have.
There is always a lot of neat stuff to see there, though I wish miniatures had a greater presence.
Anyway, here are pix of a couple of the ships:
A Klingon D-7.
My first Federation Scout.
All of the Federation ships are multi-piece plastic kits; the Klingon and Romulan ships are both one piece metal castings. All are very nice quality. In addition to the ships, he sells decal sets and has a huge range of ship names for the Federation vessels.
I'm going to paint the Federation ships in the color from TOS. I'll be working on these in the near future and will share some pix of them painted, probably around Christmas.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
A Busy Weekend
The weekend started out rough, having to replace the fuel pump in my wife's car, which was interrupted by several hours of monsoon-like rain. During a couple of lulls, I did manage to finally get the pump and sending unit replaced. Turning on the car afterward indicated that the pump was working, and that the exhaust line had broken again. I had replaced all but one piece a couple of months ago, and sure enough, the part that I didn't replace broke, when I started up the car. So, managed to get that fixed Friday evening.
Saturday was partially tied up taking my wife to a scrapbooking Expo (the reason the car had to be fixed during the monsoon). Funny part is that I actually found some bits for use in scratch-building space ships and sci-fi doo-dads at the scrapbooking Expo. After the scrapbooking adventure, we took a long-cut back home, so that I could drop the wife at her parents for awhile, and I got to stop at an old friend's and play a game.
The game presented by Craig of Gaming Models, and was a late WWII Western Front shoot-em up. There were four of us, with one guy playing his first ever miniatures game. The game was simplified somewhat in that there were no infantry, just vehicles and some towed guns for the Germans.
The Americans, played by myself and another of us old-timers, had to push the Germans off the high ground two-thirds of the way down the table. We had probably 25 Shermans and an assortment of other stuff, including some M10s, M5 lights tanks, armored cars, etc.
The Germans, run by the newbie with some help from Craig, had a couple of Tiger Is, a few StuGs, and an assortment of towed 75mm and 88mm guns.
The Americans had a 25 percent chance of air support each turn. I regained my old dice rolling for and failed on my first nine rolls, finally getting it on the last turn of the game.
Craig's games are always a blast, and this was no exception. Despite being a stripped down somewhat to teach the basic rules mechanisms to the new guy, it played out about right, with the Americans taking a pounding, the Germans doing well, all of us enjoying the typical bad gamer humor, bad die-rolls, and great times.
In the end, the Germans achieved total victory, smashing the Americans, and holding the high ground. The game was totally successful in creating a new miniatures gaming convert, who had a great time, and was already planning lining up his research sources, and planning miniatures purchases, by the end of battle. Unfortunately, I had to leave while the post game discussion was still going on, as I had to stop at the in-laws, pick up the wife, and drive 120 or so miles home.
Sunday I managed to get some work done on my latest batch of modern African buildings, got some much needed cleaning and organizing done in the basement, found my mis-placed Origins convention haul that had disappeared shortly after the convention, and made a little progress on a couple of new 15mm vehicle masters.
A rough start, but a great weekend in the end.
Saturday was partially tied up taking my wife to a scrapbooking Expo (the reason the car had to be fixed during the monsoon). Funny part is that I actually found some bits for use in scratch-building space ships and sci-fi doo-dads at the scrapbooking Expo. After the scrapbooking adventure, we took a long-cut back home, so that I could drop the wife at her parents for awhile, and I got to stop at an old friend's and play a game.
The game presented by Craig of Gaming Models, and was a late WWII Western Front shoot-em up. There were four of us, with one guy playing his first ever miniatures game. The game was simplified somewhat in that there were no infantry, just vehicles and some towed guns for the Germans.
The Americans, played by myself and another of us old-timers, had to push the Germans off the high ground two-thirds of the way down the table. We had probably 25 Shermans and an assortment of other stuff, including some M10s, M5 lights tanks, armored cars, etc.
The Germans, run by the newbie with some help from Craig, had a couple of Tiger Is, a few StuGs, and an assortment of towed 75mm and 88mm guns.
The Americans had a 25 percent chance of air support each turn. I regained my old dice rolling for and failed on my first nine rolls, finally getting it on the last turn of the game.
Craig's games are always a blast, and this was no exception. Despite being a stripped down somewhat to teach the basic rules mechanisms to the new guy, it played out about right, with the Americans taking a pounding, the Germans doing well, all of us enjoying the typical bad gamer humor, bad die-rolls, and great times.
In the end, the Germans achieved total victory, smashing the Americans, and holding the high ground. The game was totally successful in creating a new miniatures gaming convert, who had a great time, and was already planning lining up his research sources, and planning miniatures purchases, by the end of battle. Unfortunately, I had to leave while the post game discussion was still going on, as I had to stop at the in-laws, pick up the wife, and drive 120 or so miles home.
Sunday I managed to get some work done on my latest batch of modern African buildings, got some much needed cleaning and organizing done in the basement, found my mis-placed Origins convention haul that had disappeared shortly after the convention, and made a little progress on a couple of new 15mm vehicle masters.
A rough start, but a great weekend in the end.
Monday, September 26, 2016
WIPs: A Few New Buildings for Modern Africa
Got a little bit of work done on some new 15mm buildings for modern African games this weekend. Didn't get as much done as I had hoped for, but making progress.
Pins hold the foam together until the artist's matte medium the I use for glue dries.
All foam construction walls, except for the outhouse, which is patterned styrene sheet and strips. With any luck, I'll have them for next weekend.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
AAR20: Airwar Escalates
Umar sat in the cockpit of his F5E Tiger II, waiting to begin the war. He felt excitement, and fear, not fear of death, but of failure. He wondered if other pilots felt this. He knew that none would admit to it. He wouldn't. But still, did they share his secret.
As the hour of the attack approached, Uwanda maintained its normal air patrols. At the appointed time, additional aircraft would lift off, join up, and begin the attack. Over the last hour, Mugabian air activity had increased. Clearly, they had been alerted, but it would change nothing. the instruments of war were already in play, and soon a chorus of death and victory would join in.
Uwanda's air force needed to gain air superiority so that their significant close air assets could support the ground invasion. It was necessary if their numerically smaller ground forces were to achieve victory. As H-hour arrived, the first major battle of the war began to take shape.
____
Umar's radar found the enemy first, two aircraft, moving fast and directly toward him and his wingman. The Migs were 10,000 feet below and climbing, about eight miles out. As he closed within his missile's seeker range, Umar pressed the button, and thought, "Now we will see what sort of pilot I am."
The two F5E's closed with two Mugabian Mig21s, both F5s followed an advanced Sidewinder missile, each plane had been equipped with four of these new missiles. Both missiles closed with their targets, but were evaded. To the disbelief of the Uwandan pilots, four of these missiles would be evaded before the aircraft got into gun range.
A turning, twisting dogfight ensued, fought by similar machines flown by well trained pilots. Uwanda's pilots were trained in the United States, but Mugabia's pilots were thought to be trained in Mugabia.
As Umar struggled to line up a shot on the lead Mig21, the Mig's wingman disappeared from his view, then reappeared on Umar's tail. The GSh-23 shrieked, and 23mm projectiles were the last thing to go through Umar's mind.
Two Uwanda Air Force F5As desparately climbed, and arrived just in time to see the second Mig21 destroy the second of the F5Es. It appeared that fate would balance the battle, as the new F5s were to the rear and below the Mig21s. Both F5As tried to fire their older AIM9B missiles, but neither could get a lock-on, both missiles malfunctioning.
Already in gun range, the lead F5A happened into a terrific gun shot, which completely missed. A few seconds later, the third F5 of the day would blow up without a pilot bailing out. Within a minute, the Mig pilot would join his Uwandan counter-parts, as the second F5A would get his first gun kill.
A lengthy dogfight would ensue between the remaining F5 and Mig 21, with neither pilot able to get an advantage on the other.
Two more F5As would join the fight, both attempting and failing to get missile lock-ons as the Mig continued to dogfight the remaining F5A of the first pair. Eventually the Mig21 managed to get a shot, but range was not favorable, and the shot missed.
Out of ammo, and out-matched by three aircraft, while having only rear aspect K-13 missiles, the Mig pilot broke off the dogfight, accelerating and diving away from the inbound F5s. The pair would each fire a Sidewinder of their own, but the Mig was to far and too fast to be caught. The remaining F5 of the first pair managed to get two long ranged gun shots, that had no effect on the Mig before it was finally clear of the battle.
Uwanda had control of the sky over objective B21, at least for a little while, but the loss of three more F5s, two being the more capable "E" model, for a single Mig 21 was not part of the plan.
Losses on the first day thus far:
Uwanda
2x G91 (one killed, one badly damaged)
4x F5E
1x F5A
Mugabia
1x Mig17
1x Mig21
______
In total contrast to the last battle, this one started at missile range, with four missiles being fired long before guns came into play. Despite six missiles being fired, all kills were gun kills, and Uwanda missed out on five high probability hits early in this battle.
Umar's plane took six critical hits, three of which ended up as "pilot dead". Just wasn't his day.
The game represented about four minutes of combat, and took 2.5 hours to play with 2 to 8 elements to control at any given time. A little of that time was spent on noting position of other air-born aircraft not involved in this battle.
Regarding the rules (the second run of my homegrown system), the mechanics of climbing and diving maneuvers came more easily this time, but for the time that it lasted, running six planes and two missiles was challenging. There are 22 other aircraft in the air as this battle is taking place. I'm not sure if these rules are going to be manageable if a bigger furball than the one above occurs.
I think there will only be one more dogfight before the first ground battle takes place, but I have to look at the maps and timeline to make sure.
The border between Uwanda (left) and Mugabian (right).
This battle takes place in the skies near Objective B21 (center right).
As the hour of the attack approached, Uwanda maintained its normal air patrols. At the appointed time, additional aircraft would lift off, join up, and begin the attack. Over the last hour, Mugabian air activity had increased. Clearly, they had been alerted, but it would change nothing. the instruments of war were already in play, and soon a chorus of death and victory would join in.
Uwanda's air force needed to gain air superiority so that their significant close air assets could support the ground invasion. It was necessary if their numerically smaller ground forces were to achieve victory. As H-hour arrived, the first major battle of the war began to take shape.
The map above shows the relative positions of air assets as the start
of the game. The F5Es and Mig21s where about 2 minutes out
from where the dogfight would occur (green dot).
Umar's radar found the enemy first, two aircraft, moving fast and directly toward him and his wingman. The Migs were 10,000 feet below and climbing, about eight miles out. As he closed within his missile's seeker range, Umar pressed the button, and thought, "Now we will see what sort of pilot I am."
The Two Mugabian Air Force Mig21s climb to meet the Uwanda F5Es.
The two F5E's closed with two Mugabian Mig21s, both F5s followed an advanced Sidewinder missile, each plane had been equipped with four of these new missiles. Both missiles closed with their targets, but were evaded. To the disbelief of the Uwandan pilots, four of these missiles would be evaded before the aircraft got into gun range.
The F5Es fire Sidewinders at the Migs.
A turning, twisting dogfight ensued, fought by similar machines flown by well trained pilots. Uwanda's pilots were trained in the United States, but Mugabia's pilots were thought to be trained in Mugabia.
The Mig21s evade the missiles.
As Umar struggled to line up a shot on the lead Mig21, the Mig's wingman disappeared from his view, then reappeared on Umar's tail. The GSh-23 shrieked, and 23mm projectiles were the last thing to go through Umar's mind.
Two Uwanda Air Force F5As desparately climbed, and arrived just in time to see the second Mig21 destroy the second of the F5Es. It appeared that fate would balance the battle, as the new F5s were to the rear and below the Mig21s. Both F5As tried to fire their older AIM9B missiles, but neither could get a lock-on, both missiles malfunctioning.
Already in gun range, the lead F5A happened into a terrific gun shot, which completely missed. A few seconds later, the third F5 of the day would blow up without a pilot bailing out. Within a minute, the Mig pilot would join his Uwandan counter-parts, as the second F5A would get his first gun kill.
A lengthy dogfight would ensue between the remaining F5 and Mig 21, with neither pilot able to get an advantage on the other.
Two more F5As would join the fight, both attempting and failing to get missile lock-ons as the Mig continued to dogfight the remaining F5A of the first pair. Eventually the Mig21 managed to get a shot, but range was not favorable, and the shot missed.
Out of ammo, and out-matched by three aircraft, while having only rear aspect K-13 missiles, the Mig pilot broke off the dogfight, accelerating and diving away from the inbound F5s. The pair would each fire a Sidewinder of their own, but the Mig was to far and too fast to be caught. The remaining F5 of the first pair managed to get two long ranged gun shots, that had no effect on the Mig before it was finally clear of the battle.
Three F5As and two Sidewinders give futile chase to the fleeing Mig21.
Uwanda had control of the sky over objective B21, at least for a little while, but the loss of three more F5s, two being the more capable "E" model, for a single Mig 21 was not part of the plan.
Losses on the first day thus far:
Uwanda
2x G91 (one killed, one badly damaged)
4x F5E
1x F5A
Mugabia
1x Mig17
1x Mig21
______
In total contrast to the last battle, this one started at missile range, with four missiles being fired long before guns came into play. Despite six missiles being fired, all kills were gun kills, and Uwanda missed out on five high probability hits early in this battle.
Umar's plane took six critical hits, three of which ended up as "pilot dead". Just wasn't his day.
The game represented about four minutes of combat, and took 2.5 hours to play with 2 to 8 elements to control at any given time. A little of that time was spent on noting position of other air-born aircraft not involved in this battle.
Regarding the rules (the second run of my homegrown system), the mechanics of climbing and diving maneuvers came more easily this time, but for the time that it lasted, running six planes and two missiles was challenging. There are 22 other aircraft in the air as this battle is taking place. I'm not sure if these rules are going to be manageable if a bigger furball than the one above occurs.
I think there will only be one more dogfight before the first ground battle takes place, but I have to look at the maps and timeline to make sure.
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