Blood Red Skies - MiG Alley painting

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well on your side of the internets! I thought I would do a quick painting update post today with the last starter box of MiG Alley jets that I had purchased back in the fall. So far I had finished 2 boxes and also received a replacement MiG from Warlord cause of breakage issues I had with the first box I received. 

So all in all, I had painted up 5 x MiG 15’s and 4 x F86 Sabres. The painting overall went really well but the decals were rather finicky. So this time, rather than paint up my last 4 jets in standard colours, I thought that I would find some alternate schemes. For the Sabres I thought I would tryout the Northwest Europe NATO scheme that the Canadian Air Force used in the 1950s. It is only 2 colours so it was pretty quick to get on the jets. For the MiGs, I found a few references with colour plates showing a fairly wide variety. In this case I ended up adapting a 3 colour pattern used by either the Chinese or North Koreans during the war…and it wasn’t metallic or silver…so, bonus!

I figure that these will work well for MiG Alley and Korean War gaming, but should also work for some smaller scale Cold War and maybe Afropia air battles as well.

Enjoy.

Running up that Lead/Plastic Hill...

Painted

1/200             4, +4 (BRS MiG Alley box)     

15mm          46    

28mm+          8

Fabricated

     

Bought        0 

Progress   +58

Beyond Mig Alley - BRS - North Vietnam Rumble

Howdy folks,

Here's to the first battle report of the year! I was able to get together with Duncan and Mike and we had the chance to give a try to Blood Red Skies/ Beyond Mig Alley. We have each been painting up fabulous aircraft that Duncan picked up from Lead Pursuit Podcast and this was a great chance to get them on the table.

The setup for the game was Vietnam War, US aircraft are pre/post strike (actual timing was irrelevant) and they get 'bounced' or ambushed by North Vietnamese aircraft (Vietnam People's Air Force - VPAF). So force composition was:

• US - 4 or 5 x F105 Thud's - strike aircraft, self-defense machinegun; 1 x F4 Phantom - air superiority on top cover, no gun, armed with AIM-7 and 9 air-to-air missiles; and
• VPAF - 5 x Mig 19's - air superiority aircraft, air-to-air missiles and guns.

A few quick thoughts: it was a pretty fast paced affair, the missiles were a little frustrating (so maybe they lived up to their historical references), and the gun shots were epic. The jet age is extremely fast, even with the movement distance capped, several aircraft end up moving at the cap of 16” which is about 3-4 times the average speed of WW2 BRS.

The game was a lot of fun…Mike was on fire with his gun rolls…and definitely looking forward to next iterations.

And now the pics…enjoy.

The Setup & Start: the Thuds blend in pretty good with the mat…but they’re heading South when a bunch of MiGs jump on their 6.

Mike was able to bounce in and be in advantage. If I remember correctly, Duncan’s Thuds were pushed to neutral. Mike lined up a few shots and is able to splash his first Thud. I think the MiG gets a heavy hitter rating and that ends up being pretty devastating. You can see the token where the Thud falls to the earth.

I was able to jump into the fight from my ‘high cover’ position on the edge of the table. I was able to take my full 16” move and get in behind the MiGs and reduce the advantage of one of Mike’s aircraft. Unfortunately the shot didn’t take, but it put him on the defensive a little.

Mike fended off my F4 attack, but was able to splash another Thud (second token on the table)

The furball move inch by inch on the table, Duncan was able to get into a tail chase situation as well, so Mike had to drive one of his MiGs into the clouds for cover. At this point we had taken enough boom chits that the Thuds would’ve left the field. Mike elected to keep the fight going…so we did.

Again, I try to line up a shot with my Phantom…no gun onboard really sucks, but I let loose another missile with no effect…or maybe I scored a damage, I can’t remember.

I try doing a maneuver in order to change my facing back northwards…given the characteristics of the F4,  this meant that the high G combined with the ‘complex’ layout kept me at neutral for the turn while the crew sorted out their bearings…

This gave Mike the chance jump in behind and put me at disadvantage which gave him the chance to hit me with a gun shot…which he did quite nicely…and down I went with a ticket to that fancy hotel in the North’s capital.

BRS - MiG Alley...and Beyond MiG Alley

Howdy folks,

I hope all is going well over the Christmas and holiday period for everyone. Continuing on with my latest distraction. Not only have I dipped my toe into the Korean War conflict with Warlord Games Blood Red Skies MiG Alley...I have also recently discovered Lead Pursuit Podcast who has license with Warlord to produce aircraft for said game. AND who also have license to produce aircraft for Blood Red Skies and Lead Pursuit's free expansion rules for beyond the 1950s. You can find them here, Lead Pursuit Podcast

I have 8 aircraft now, some A4's, a couple of F4's, and a couple of Mig 19's...these are 3d printed and are super super sharp looking aircraft. They are probably the cleanest 3d prints I've seen, and certainly some of the cleanest aircraft models I've seen. 

The models all came up very quickly, but I gotta say that right now my favourite are the MiG 19’s, they were the cleanest and took the paint really well. The detail and lining really came out well…I am somewhat disappointed with the F4 and A4’s, but they will definitely work for the tabletop.

Enjoy the pics. Take care.

Group shot of everyone…I painted up one of the MiG 15’s with a red nose after seeing a pic of the Soviet Air Forces paint scheme for their “advisors” flying with the North Koreans. I have one MiG 19 in plain gray paint scheme and the other with grey and green…both inspired by North Vietnam Air Force paint schemes. The pic includes aircraft from my previous post…the weather was above freezing today, so it was dullcote day.

The A4 tails were inspired by the paint scheme of the Skyhawk’s that were flying off the USS Independence circa 1965. I think I’ll keep them fairly clean, keep them rather generic for use with other Air Forces.

I am currently waiting for decals for the Phantoms, they will be getting the Sundowners tail…looks very cool and will really top of the F4’s.

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          16, +12 (2 x Sabre’s, 3 x MiG 15, 2 x MiG 19, 1 x F4, 4 x A4)

15mm         214

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        24 

Progress   +252

Latest Distraction - Blood Red Skies MiG Alley

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well on your respective sides of the internets. So yeah, another squirrel moment…I’ve played a game or two of Blood Red kids with Mike and Duncanover the last year or so. Most recently we gave it another go to give Duncan some prep for a tournament that he had signed up for. Well, we got talking about the game and the modern spin with BRS MiG Alley and the expansion from Lead Pursuit Podcast, Beyond MiG Alley for Vietnam and 1960s/70s Cold War.

Anywho, long story short…I’m now getting into MiG Alley…sigh/lol. I recently picked up a box from Amazon and finished up the 4 aircraft that came with it, a couple of F86 Sabre’s and MiG-15’s. The box comes with the cards, models, and decals to complete the models, USAF for the Sabre’s and Soviet Air Forces or North Korean Air Force for the MiG’s.

Hope you enjoy the pics…it was a bit tricky getting the silver finish of the aircraft paintjob without just hitting them with silver…you know what I mean, an OCD sort of thing.

Enjoy.

Journey up Lead/Plastic Mountain

Painted

1/200          4, +4

15mm         134

28mm+       44

Fabricated

Terrain        2

Bought        12, +4 (mig alley box) 

Progress   +172

An Attempt at Cruel Seas

Howdy folks,

I've been under the weather over the past week or so...just another top off to an outstanding start to the new year...ugh.  With all the awesome changes in the weather over the past few, it has been truly outstanding for my ears - unfortunately it does take some time away from painting and certainly steals time from gaming.  BUT, it can always be worse and I'm pushing with trying to get caught up with my postings...

Back in February sometime, I had the chance to meet up with Mike and Duncan to give Cruel Seas a try.  Not being very nautical by nature, I nonetheless had seen some excellent reviews and a lot of great looking painting in the blog-e-sphere so I thought what the hell.  First impressions, the game was very quick to grasp, the models looked great, and the gaming process was pretty relaxed and easy to pick up...I can't wait to try again!

Now, because I am a little...deliberate...with my postings (of course by deliberate, I am trying to put a much nicer tone to the word procrastinate)...Mike and Duncan have already went ahead and posted their versions of the tale.

Mike's version of events
The seas from Ducnan's perspective... and of course, thank you for hosting!

Rather than try to invent words and recollections, please enjoy the pics below...I'll have the odd comment with them, but please enjoy...it is an excellent looking game and with the painting and great looking matt...the game truly does look spectacular.

Looking forward to the next voyage...take care.

The setup on my side...left side of the board, Mike is my cohort with bigger guns...

a little wave to Mike...hello

a quick look to the opposite corner, Duncan is marshalling his convoy...

nothing to stress over...move forward, advance to contact, avoid the rocksand shoals...

The big picture...

moving my boats to hit the first one...

Mike, giving the business to Duncan's motor boat...

I push my one boat to the larger ships...my first 2 go after the quick muscle...

Duncan took some pain from my second boat...my first has a surprise in store for him...

...running him down like nautical roadkill!! It ends up working...I think...and I get some serious damage and the kill...

 

I realign my attack path...and let fly with some torpedoes!!

The big ships are skirting the torps pretty good...and there were some duds if I remember...

but some damage does get through...

I launch all 4 torp's from number 2...number 3 takes some hits from the convoy...and number 1 is limping from his 'minor' collision...

If I remember correctly, this was pretty much the end...Mike fired some torp's with some success, I was able to let loose from 2 of my boats finishing off Mike's work and getting a high roll with my second salvo.