Doncaster 2021

I've just been told off for not posting anything for a while, so here's a brief report on the 2021 "Wings of Glory" weekend that took place at the South Yorkshire Air Museum in Doncaster a couple of weekends ago. I was suitably put in the mood by attending DSEI at the Excel Centre where I got to see lots of really big toys, and on completion I headed North.

The event takes place over a weekend at the air museum, with three games run on Saturday and the "Ace of Aces" super-melee on Sunday. This is how it played out

Game 1 - Wings and Waves of War 

I ran this game, in which a pair of British CMBs are seeking to sink a stranded German U boat. Support is provided by an 80' Motor Launch (its really just a distraction), and both sides have a variety of seaplane fighters to try and destroy (Central Powers) or protect (Entente) the CMBs. I've run this before and its quite popular since the aircraft are unusual and Rod Langton's 1/200 surface craft are quite attractive. Points scored for each enemy plane downed, if the Entente sink the U Boat (get within 1 firing ruler's range) each player scores an additional point, Central Powers players score apoint if the sub survives. 

This was a REALLY close fought game. The CP were distracted by the ML which ultimately cost them the game, since they wasted a few attacks damaging it whilst the CMBs closed. A W-29 shot up one of the boats and a W-12 caused havoc on the other but in the end the last CMB closed to launching range with only 3 damage points remaining. There were quite a few "Bang" cards drawn, with Tim (aka "Flying Helmut") exploding twice, much to his frustration (players whose aircraft were shot down could come on in a new crate after sitting out for a turn. Tim very kindly sent me some photos from the game, I was too busy running the game to take any of my own

Game 2 - Sails

In this game I'm driving a French frigate. My orders are to recce a Spanish port on the coast of Africa and a coastal silver mine further along the coast. I have another frigate in company with the same orders driven by another player. There's a British frigate, a couple of Spaniards, some locals (who turn out to be rebels), a(suitably black painted) pirate and a British frigate about. My French frigate oppo recces the port then goes "off piste", shooting at the British frigate (we aren't at war), then runs aground and it then boarded, captured and burnt by the locals. The British frigate has a run in with a local frigate and the pirate and is sunk. I sail across the board, recce the silver mine, turn about and exist. Not a shot fired, mission competed 100% (I would have given the pirate a few broadsides on the way out but the game was called before I had a chance).

Lovely terrain :)

Game 3 - Whirlwind Attack

My first proper game of Wings of Glory WW2. I'm flying two Westland Whirlwinds, aiming to bomb and sink a German fuel tanker escorted by two S Boats. There are four Fw190s flying top cover, I have 4 Spitfires covering me. I run in, drop bombs, get shot down by the superfantastic AA on the S boats (!) but discover I've put four bombs into the tanker and it sinks. Game over. We we-run the game, I get to drive the tanker and S Boats as the air wargamers want to see how a naval wargamer conducts a defence of a high value unit.  So I deploy and manoeuvre the S Boats such that they stand between the Whilwinds and the tanker so I get to shoot at them before they reach their bomb release point. I shoot one down, draw rubbish damage chits against the second so it gets to the release point but its bombs only cause minor damage, then my AA shoots it down anyway - plus two Spitfires that got too close. Those S Boats are MEAN (and of course ahistorically powerful, but c'est la vie)

I love Whirlwinds :)

So ends day 1

On the Sunday we play the Ace of Aces game, 12 players a side along a long, thin table. SE5s for the Allies, Fokker D.VIIS for the Central Powers. 4 points for a kill, lose 2 points if you are shot down. I end up facing a player who may or may not have been keeping an accurate record of their  damage (its all hidden), get a stupid number of jams, shoot down the same player (he's been shot down by someone else in the meantime). Not the greatest of games for me this time but plenty of banter.

Ended up 5th overall, won a mint condition Sails of Glory HMS Victory special pack (I didn't realise at the time that I hadn't got one before, and so it was the only missing item in my SOG collection), then depart for the long drive home.

Assuming the date doesn't change to the end of the month I'll be there again next year. I've already started 3D printing the special models for the game I'm planning to run....

Thornbury IPMS 2019

Well dang it, we only went and won "best participation game" at the Thornbury show again. More news later but worth noting that Tim won the award for most damage taken in a single game turn. Well done Tim :)

Doncaster 2017

The Wings of Glory Aerodrome annual gathering took place at the Doncaster Air Museum this last weekend. I wasn't able to make the whole thing but I did get to be there for the "Ace of Aces" megadogfight on the Sunday.

Some of you may remember that when we ran the first of these events a few years back I was struck down with the lurgy - which I then inadvertently spread to many of the attendees, and that the following year I was also poorly (it seems i'm quite susceptible to colds and chest infections in the mid-September period!). Anyway, this year was similar in that I was recovering from a bout that stopped me making it to the Colours show at Newbury (well done Simon and Stuart for switching games), but family duties meant I had to be in Manchester that night and it was only an hour or so's drive across the (misty and foggy) Peak District.

My arrival was a (hopefully pleasant) surprise to many, and Tim (aka "Flying Helmut" on the Aerodrome) must have been especially pleased as it allowed him to prep his chums and give me the following welcome as we prepared for the game :D

To say I was chuffed is an understatement!

Anyway, the game was a couple of hours of "Wings" mayhem and for once I shot down more aircraft than I lost myself (4-3, although it should have been 5-3 but I was a victim of someone's dodgy maths) which learnt me a 9th place out of 30-odd players and a prize of a Barraca Nieuport 17 which was a welcome addition to my collection.

An excellent weekend, lovely as always to catch up with many old friends, an opportunity to make some new ones (and have a good old natter about mt FLoB and Action Stations rules), and made very special by having the opportunity to meet and chat with Andrea Angiolino, who as anyone who has ever met him knows is a thoroughly nice chap!

Looking forward to next year, and hoping I can make the whole weekend.

First Models of 2017

As the daylight wanes here at Cambridge HQ the first models of 2017 have been completed. To be fair these should have been the last models of 2016 but I ran out of time :)

The biggest is a renovation of the Skytrex Felixstowe that I completed some years ago. Alas time hd taken its toll on this model, several of the struts were dropping out and it was obvious that a rebuild was necessary. But I also had a spare Shapeways Felixstowe from when I was sent a damaged print a couple of years back, so I decided to cut out the central section of the Shapeways model and graft the wings and upper fuselage on to the Skytrex model in place of its original wings. All went well and the result was, I think, a success.

Of course now I had the nose and tail of a Felixstowe going spare, so I decided to make a vignette of a crashed aircraft, with thoughts to use this as the "objective" in a Wings of Glory rescue scenario. I may put some more work into this piece to add further details later but for now I'm happy with the result

The other four models left to finish were a pair of Spad XIVs and a pair of FBA Type Hs, all seaplanes to add to my burgeoning seaplane/flying boat collection. Lovely models, especially the FBAs, and I hope I did them justice. Still a bit of work to do on the Spads as I have mislaid my stock of aircrew figures.

So, 2017 off to a flying (ha!) start

Another Win at Thornbury

In what is becoming an August tradition I once again lifted the trophy for "Best Participation Wargame" at the IPMS show at Thornbury yesterday. This year I was back with the Wings of Glory Aerodrome, the game that won the award in the first two years (I broke the Aerodrome run last year by inning with my "Stingray" game). As usual a fun day out with plenty of games played and for once I managed to shoot down a few opponents whilst not losing a plane myself!

The rest of the show was its usual collection of modelling loveliness, and I snapped some of the models that I enjoyed the most. Here's a selection.....

At the end of the day worrying developments were spotted at the Wings of Glory game. what is this we see tucked in to Chris' "Wings" box of essentials?

Closer examination reveals the truth.....

Dice in the diceless game!! Shocking :)

WMMS 2016

Today I headed to the midlands for the WMMS show in Wolverhampton. It is a jolly, friendly show made notable for the annual sounding of the fire alarm and everyone trooping into the car park. At least this year it was sunny and warm out there, and the alarm was cleared in double quick time :)

As usual I was helping out with the "Wings of Glory Aerodrome" participation game, which also had an added "Sails of Glory" table. As is often the case a slow start, but once us gamesrunners start to play the punters come out of the woodwork and we played several very active games of each. Good fun as usual.

I had a short(ish) shopping list and came away with a small pile of goodies, including a copy of "Bloody Big Battles", a stash of Zvezda german and Russian trucks and some Peter Pig kubelwagens and infantry to round out my Eastern Front "Skirmish in the Snow" setup (of which more in future posts). I also made a purchase at the Bring and Buy which brought back memories from 30 years ago :)

It was also good to catch up with some old friends, especially Steve Blease who I haven't seen for ages - good news from him on the growth of Hysterical Games and some other things which the world may hear of one day :)

There were some lovely games on display this year, and also some nice kit from the local WW2 re-enactors (this year their 37mm anti tank gun tripping hazard was replaced with a rather nice motorbike on a trailer)