Scratch made WW1 wagons and the next wargaming project

I have continued with the WW1 Middle East theme from my last post by making some very simple supply wagons for both the Turkish and British forces. I often end up with spare cavalry figures after painting units, as the HaT 1:72 scale figure boxes usually contain 16 figures while my cavalry units are made up of 12 figures. Rather than leaving the spare figures unused, I decided to put them to use as wagon teams.

The British wagons on the move.

Turkish wagons guarded by cavalry.

The wagons themselves are simple scratch-builds. They made from off-cuts of wood, with balsa-wood shaped to form the canopy. The wheels are made from washers and card glued together. Each wagon is drawn by one of the spare cavalry figures and a horse with the saddle removed. Like much of my WW1 armies, they are very basic models with any detail painted on so they look the part when viewed on the tabletop.

The almost completed wagon. The toothpick axles just have to be trimmed.

The wheels begin as washers glued to card. Once the glue is dry, they are cut out. This approach provides a nice round wheel with a good thickness.

A toothpick acts as the axle.

Any remaining wagon detail is painted on. I will often use a combination of a dark colour and lighter colour when painting details such as the wheel spokes.

Alongside the wagons I also completed a couple of howitzers crewed with some spare Indian figures that were converted and an officer. These will provide the British forces with some more artillery support. Again all the figures and models are HaT 1:72 scale (although the officers may be ESCI - not sure as the come from my spares box).

Indian crewed Howitzers

My next project arrived a couple of weeks ago. A large box with a selection of HaT 1/72 plastic figures for the Anglo-Zulu War. Prior to doing much with these kits, I have been waiting for a couple of second-hand books to arrive. This project was not planned, it was opportunistic, and came about when I saw Hannants.co.uk had a good number of boxes of HaT Zulus boxes available in stock.

The next project arrives.

Some reading.

Possible rules.

More on this project in the coming weeks (and months) as it progresses... 

WW1 Middle East adding landing boats and Royal Marines

While painting the Indian units for my WW1 Middle East games (see the previous post) I decided to continue with the WW1 theme by adding a few landing boats and a unit of Royal Marines. This will give more options and variety when setting up scenarios, as British naval forces supported a number of land operations during the war, eg, the Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, the defence of the Suez Canal, and Red Sea operations supporting the Arab Revolt.

A unit of Royal Marines are landed ashore.

The Royal Marines are HaT 20mm WW1 British Infantry (Early) simply painted in a dark blue. Although this uniform was replaced by khaki fairly early in the war, but I chose to keep the blue help them stand out from the other British units on the tabletop.

The Marines advance.

After they were painted, I decided to have a go at making some simple landing boats. They were cut from 19mm MDF board into basic boat shapes. For their crews, I used spare HaT WW1 cavalry figures that had previously lost their horses to making some supply units. These figures were cut in half at the waist and glued into the boats. After initially painting them grey, I thought they would look better if I added a second crewman to each boat along with a rudder made from a cut down matchstick.

You can see how simple the models are. Along with an additional crewman I did attach a cut down match stick to the stern to represent a rudder.

The models are very simple, but they are robust and quick to make. Rather than modelling detail, I rely on the overall shape and paint to give the impression of landing boat. I use a rather loose painting style and try to give the impression of detail, rather than painting details themselves. Sometimes this approach works, while other times it does not and the models will get undercoated again until I get the look I want. For models that will not get a great deal of use, and are viewed at three feet, I am quite happy with the results.

A closer view of the model boats shows the loose strokes of paint to give the impression of detail.

A wargamer's view from three feet.

I have a small ship made from wood off-cuts to represent the Campbeltown from when I setup a St.Nazaire game which I can re-use to support the amphibious scenarios.

A basic block ship from which troops are ferried ashore.

The next post will either about adding some more supply wagons to the WW1 collection, or a post about my next planned project which has been recently delivered, and was not on my planned list of things to do in 2026.

Star War Legion and WW1 Middle East painting

Before I became absorbed with painting aircraft for the Blood Red Skies game over the past few weeks, I had been adding a few models and making conversions to my Star Wars Legion forces. Four of these models were straightforward builds, AT Walkers for the Empire and Rebels, along with a couple of Speeders.

AT Walkers painted for the Empire and Rebels.

A couple of Speeders.

The first conversion involved turning a Luke Skywalker figure into Obi-Wan Kenobi. I reversed the pose to give the impression of Obi-Wan deflecting a blaster shot or standing in a defensive guard. This required removing Luke’s head and replacing it with a spare, along with adding a cloak from the bits box. Green Stuff was used to make the hood and also lengthen the shirt to be more robe like.

A comparison between the figures. Obi-Wan on the left and Luke on the right.

A cloak from the spares box proved very useful as when I make them from Green Stuff they lack movement.

A view of Obi-Wan from the front.

The second conversion made use of the spare torso from the AT walker kit. I added an alien head and cloak from the ever-useful spares box and mounted the figure on a cheap plastic dinosaur, which was slightly modified and fitted with reins and a saddle to create a suitably Star War beast rider.

A beast rider

Another spare cloak was added to this conversion.

With the aircraft painting done (for the moment) I am now reinforcing my WW1 Middle Eastern forces with some additional Indian units. So far I have added one unit of Indian cavalry and two units of Indian infantry. All are HAT plastic 1:72 scale figures. A battery of howitzers is also on the painting table, which will be crewed by some converted Indian figures, although they are not yet finished.

Indian Cavalry - HAT Bengal Lancers were used.

Two units of HAT WWI Indian Infantry. The Officers were added from other WW1 kits.

I hope to get these units onto the tabletop for a game soon.

Battle of Britain additional models and a game report

I have managed to play a number of quick Blood Red Skies air wargames this week while also expanding my aircraft roster. For the moment I have enough fighters and bombers to play a good variety of scenarios using up to four aircraft per side on a 4 by 4 foot tabletop. I find this number keeps the games fast without the tabletop getting too overcrowded.

Some German bombers (Heinkel 111, Dornier 17, and Messerschmitt 110).

My current roster of aircraft is:

Luftwaffe

• 4  Messerschmitt Bf 109
• 1  Messerschmitt Bf 110
• 1  Dornier Do 17
• 1  Heinkel He 111

RAF

• 3 × Spitfire
• 2 × Hurricane
• 1 × Defiant

An additional Spitfire and I could not resist getting a Defiant.

A couple more Messerschmitt 109s.

The rules I am using are from the Airfix Blood Red Skies Starter Set, which came with two Spitfire 1:72 scale models and two Messerschmitt Bf 109s. This differs from the Warlord Games Blood Red Skies Starter Set, which provides six 1:200 model aircraft per side and also has rules for using "Trait" cards. For my games I have kept to the core rules, but I have adapted them for hex play to avoid the measuring which speeds up the game. In moving to hexes I have had to trade-off the loss of some of the finer speed differences between aircraft. For example, a Hurricane moves 6 inches and a Messerschmitt 109 moves 7 inches in the original rules, but when converted to hexes both aircraft move 3 hexes.

The standard game uses 1:200 scale aircraft that are tilted on their stands to show advantage, neutral, or disadvantage. That approach is awkward with 1:72 models, especially with the bigger bomber models, so I instead mount my aircraft on telescopic rods, using height to indicate altitude state (see the previous post).

It has taken me a while to write up a game report. I found it challenging to find a way to describe the games. The action unfolds very quickly as aircraft are moved around the tabletop, and the point-in-time photographs really do not capture the flow of the game. Land battle games are far easier to document. Anyway, here is an after-action report from a recent game that shows just how quickly these encounters can be resolved. This game one took only 15–20 minutes from setup to finish.

Scenario – Patrol over the Channel

A section of two Hurricanes on patrol sight a pair of Messerschmitt 109s. Each section is led by a Veteran with a Regular wingman.

Game Setup

Place two clouds on the tabletop. They must be more than 4 hexes apart.

Next, dice to determine which player deploys first. The higher scoring player places their section of aircraft within four hexes of any table edge. The second player deploys their aircraft within 4 hexes of an edge and more than four hexes from the enemy. 

After deployment, altitude was rolled for each section (1–2 Disadvantaged, 3–4 Neutral, 5–6 Advantaged).

The Hurricanes get the advantage after initial setup.

Game Report...

Flying Officer Moore, a veteran RAF flyer, led his trusty wingman, Flight Sergeant Hurst, on patrol keeping their eyes peeled for trouble. It was Moore who first caught the glint of sunlight on the enemy's wings, two Messerschmitt 109 flying off to their left at a lower altitude.

“Here we go!” came Moore’s crisp order over the radio as he led the pair of Hurricane fighters to cut off the enemy fighters, increasing altitude as the went. The German pilots were no novices, they powered their machines upward at once, but the Hurricanes still held the advantage, as the distance shrank to firing range.

The Hurricanes move to intercept.

First Moore struck! Using his advantage with guns blazing. Tracers stitched the sky and rattled across the lead Messerschmitt 109, forcing the aircraft to drop a level in a bid to escape the storm. Next came Hurst, before the enemy could not dive away to safety, followed Moore through a tight banking turn that brought the rear enemy aircraft into his sights. Another burst, more strikes! As with the other 109 it wavered and dropped altitude.

The Hurricanes engage.

The odds were now all in favour of the Hurricanes, and Flying Officer Moore meant to press them home! Before the startled Hun pilots could gather their wits, he shoved the stick forward and dived on the rear 109, his guns chattering a fierce stream of tracer. The German pilot jinked wildly, throwing his machine into a desperate weave. Enough as it turned out to only sustain minor damage. “Blast!” snapped Moore over the radio. For a moment he had been certain the Hun would be his, another victory to be chalked on the Hurricane’s fuselage, but the wily enemy had slipped away this time!

The second 109 sustains further damage.

Sensing fate was against them, the German pair of 109s opened their throttles and broke for home, using their engine power to get clear. They had escaped the trap with only light damage, but there was no doubt the honours of the duel belonged firmly to the RAF.

The 109s break off and head for safety.

"Time for a game of football before tea?" asked Hurst, as the Hurricanes turned around and headed for their home base.

Wrap up...

The games can end very quickly without any aircraft being shot down because of the "Boom chit" mechanism. Each hit adds a Boom chit to a section, representing both minor damage and pilot stress. These accumulate even when the worst effects of an attack are avoided. Once a player's Boom Chits exceed a limit, normally the number of aircraft, the game is over. A hit that is not dodged forces a drop in the altitude status, and if an aircraft already at a Disadvantaged state it is destroyed.

I am still finding my feet (or should that be wings) with these rules. In this engagement the 109s should have avoided closing while at a lower altitude. Instead they should have kept their distance and climbed to gain an Advantage state before committing to combat.

I am waiting on the post for some more telescopic rods before I can get the bombers into a game. Once they do I will post more game reports.

Battle of Britain project continues at a pace

My Battle of Britain project using 1/72 scale aircraft, mainly Airfix kits, continues to take up all of my available hobby time. I am just having so much fun building and painting these models, so other wargaming activities have been set aside.

The bombers have arrived.

Two Hawker Hurricane models and a Heinkel He 111 model have been completed over the last couple of days. These model kits will often include some very small and delicate parts. I tend to remove these fragile pieces to prevent breakages later on while wargaming and handling the models. Where necessary, I will replace them with sturdier alternatives, for example, the Heinkel had some beautifully moulded and tiny machine guns which I swapped for lengths of plastic rod that would be better suited to regular handling and the occasional aircraft toppling over.

Hurricanes give chase.

To improve the stability of the Heinkel model when it is mounted on the telescopic stand. I increased the MDF base from the 3″ by 3″ size used for fighters to 3″ by 4″ and added a little extra weight with some washers. It turns out washers are neatly covered by the pilot skill token used in the game, but I will eventually paint them to match the base. Using washers allowed me to add weight without enlarging the base further than 3" by 4", that way they would fit neatly into a hex.

A comparison between a fighter and bomber base.

Next on the painting table is a Dornier Do 17. I also have two more Messerschmitt 109s and a Messerschmitt 110 on order, which will hopefully arrive this week. They should complete purchases for now, as my aim is to field up to four fighters per side and a single bomber at any one time. This number should be enough for an interesting game without overcrowding my 4′ by 4′ table. Later on I may add a couple of Boulton Paul Defiants and perhaps some Junkers Ju 87s. Both aircraft types saw action early in the Battle of Britain but proved to be too vulnerable to enemy fighters and were relegated to more limited roles later in the campaign.

A Hurricane and Heinkel 111.

In my next post I hope to have a game report where I am playing an air wargame using Blood red Skies rules on a hex grid.

Air Wargames - Somewhere over the English Channel

For a Christmas present to myself I picked up the Airfix Blood Red Skies starter set, which includes two Spitfires and two Messerschmitt Bf 109s Airfix kits in 1/72 scale. It was very much an off-the-cuff purchase as I thought it would provide some quick Air wargames. The Airfix version of the game appears to differ from the Warlord Games release, in that it uses the same rules but provides four aircraft in 1/72 scale rather than 12 aircraft in 1/200 scale that come with the Warlord Games version.

Another wargaming project begins.

A Christmas present to myself (which seems a long while ago).

The game system is based around the concept of aircraft being in a state of Advantage, Neutral, or Disadvantaged, representing relative altitude of the aircraft. These states are used to drive the game’s activation order and aircraft activation options. In the standard rules this is shown by tilting the aircraft nose up, level, or nose down on their stands. While I imagine this works well with the smaller 1/200 models, it looks rather awkward with the larger Airfix aircraft and can create practical issues when models are close together.

Aircraft nose up indicates advantage.

Aircraft nose down indicates disadvantage.

Aircraft level indicates neutral.

I remembered in my old battered copy of Donald Featherstone’s “Air War Games” there was a chapter where altitude was shown by mounting aircraft on telescopic car aerials that could be raised or lowered. This seemed like a much better solution. 

A battered copy which was once a library book which I bought secondhand a few years back.

Not wanting to purchase car aerials (do they still make them?) I did a bit of searching for a cheap alternatives. I eventually found and purchased a pack of six telescopic back-scratchers for $24. Removing the handles and ends left me with the telescopic shafts. These slot neatly into 18mm MDF square bases drilled with a 10mm hole in the centre. The aircraft slot into the top via a toothpick fixed into the fuselage. I used a little masking tape wrapped around the toothpick to increase the diameter to prevent them from inadvertently spinning around during play.

Telescopic backscratchers. On the right one with the plastic handle cut off and end removed.

A square base mad from 19mm thick MDF (leftover from making shelves). A 10mm hole is drilled for the telescopic bit to slot into.

A toothpick is attached to the model and slots into the telescopic stand. To stop the aircraft spinning, masking tape is wrapped around the toothpick to increase the diameter.

These new stands are easily adjusted up or down to give three clear height levels for Advantage, Neutral, and Disadvantaged. I can also make minor height adjustments so aircraft can be positioned close together, as often occurs during dogfights. A secondary advantage is that clouds do not have to be cut-out pictures, they can instead be made from soft-toy stuffing (easily obtained from craft stores). I have yet to make models of barrage balloons to replace those cardboard cut-outs.

The three heights indicating Advantage, Neutral, and Disadvantage.

Minor height adjustments allow aircraft to be close together in dogfights.

Cut-out clouds used in scenarios.

The telescopic bases allow for toy-stuffing clouds.

With the aircraft painted and mounted I have played a few introductory games to learn the rules. However, it was not long before I began looking at how to modify the rules to be suitable for a hex-grid, which was something I always had in mind when I made the bases so they fit neatly into a hex on my blue cloth. This rule modification reduces some of the finer differences in aircraft movement distances. On the other hand it does speed up play, which I hope suits the fast and chaotic nature of aerial combat.

One of the advantages of using 1/72 scale models is the ready availability of kits in model shops here in New Zealand. This means I avoid the expensive international postage costs. There are a couple of shops within a reasonable drive, so I collect models in person, though my browsing while at the shop often leads to a few extra purchases.

Next models to add to the game.

I am now adding two Hawker Hurricanes, a Dornier Do 17, and a Heinkel He 111. After that I may include a couple more Messerschmitt Bf 109s and perhaps a Bf 110, which should see this project wrapped up as I am not looking to play large games, but ones with a handful of aircraft. That said, air wargaming shares some of the same temptations as skirmish gaming, in that there is always another model that would add variety to future scenarios or add interest to a campaign.

One last comment. I have found the Facebook group “Blood Red Skies Ready Room” along with the Warlord Games website useful sources of aircraft statistics, scenarios, solo suggestions, and FAQs.