"I'm a Bag the Hun sprog and have a few questions" Topic

ok,
I've dragged out my old copy of RAF by westend and played it recently done some reading and ive got the bug.

BTH from what ive read on TMP sounds like my kettle of fish and appently BTH2 is at the printers so i've timed it well..
just waiting to see the rules.

1. the perennial question: 1/300 or 1/600.
raidens look lovely..
im tempted to go raidens(1/285/300) for dogfighting fighter only games.games and
1/600 for bomber escort/interception games.
tumbling dice seem to be highly recommended but have few pix on their site..
while ive been through the galleries here I cant tell one range from another, no
scales in comparison.
anyone offer other suggestions?

2. Basing.
I saw some CY6 bases on ebay and the dials gave m the horrors.
from what ive read BTH does have altitude bands, how are these represented in
play? chits? adjustable stands? swapped out variable length pegslike litko flog
for WoW

please tellme I dont have to fiddle with stands in playtoo much itd slow things
down.
what role ave magnetics to play here? ive seen some planes connected with some
in the photos? KJ magnetics sell some stuff I was going to use for full
thrust(1/8 inch discs fitting the top of the ubiquitous plastic stand.).

3. Mats

what hexes go best with which scales? given im thinking of using both 300 and
600 scale.. whats a good compromise considering i'll be short on space (but ooh
those raiden look nice! !)

any recommended manufacturers or roll your own instructions?
never applied hexes to a diy mat before. is t easily done?
any links to patterns, designs or photos I might use?

4. BTH rules scenarios etc?
I'll grab BTH2 when it comes out. I'm primaily interested in doing 1940 at the
moment and there appears a plethora of stuff TFL have released in various
annuals etc over the years.
looks like a BTH compendium is in order!
will BTH2 have campaign rules/scenario generation OOBs or will I have to fudge
that or buy some thign else for doing 1940 stuff?

You might like to try out my 1/600 Yahoo Group bobblanchett.There is quite a lot of pics of the Tumbling Dice/Vapor Trails,Oddzial Osmy, Skytrex,JTF600 minis there. Both painted and unpainted. There are also free rules,playing aids,links to information and manufacturers of rules ,minis and accessories among others. The members there, of which many here are also members,are a great bunch of guys. Very helpful and informative :). You can post your questions there too. Also Dom at Doms Decals has a few pics of some of the Tumbling Dice/Vapor Trails minis. Robert

My 1/600 scale aircraft Yahoo Wargaming Group
link

Doms Decals
link

Bob,
I have close to a thousand 1/300 scale aircraft. This being said if I had to do it over again I would go with the 1/600. The main factor for me is table space. The 1/600 can use smaller hexes, so smaller tables, and you can do larger battles with tons of bombers.

BTH II will include rules for attacking navies. So 1/600 will allow you to use smaller ships too. All in all considering cost, table size, and ships the smaller scale I would prefer to have the smaller aircraft.

Another thought is stands. Smaller aircraft are more stable and you can use smaller stands.

Mats: I use 3" hexes for the 1/300. This is about as small as you should go when using Bombers.
Both BTH I & II use several elevations for the games.

More to come,

I've played it with 1:300 scale planes [including bombers] and it worked really well.

The bases can be ordinary flight stands… you just need to mark altitude bands somehow: a small dice or counter works fine.

I have a hex mat with 3" hexes which are really too large…it works ok but if I was getting a new mat I'd go for 1.5" or 2" hexes.

Great rule set and highly recommended…I'm not sure what the differences between BTH 1 and BTH 2 will be.

Be carefule if you have 1/300 bombers and you are using 1.5" to 2" hexes. It can be done but.

Be carefule if you have 1/300 bombers and you are using 1.5" to 2" hexes

I'd agree…I can get away with it because I use 3" hexes but the downside is that the space isn't really big enough and if the action veers off the edge of the table I need to sideslip everything back to the centre!

1/285 (Raiden) He 111 is just about OK on 2" hex. Four engined bombers will need bigger hexes.

I am a big fan of TDs 1/600 aircraft but they have a few problems. When you get a look at them on either the Yahoo group (I am a member) or Doms Decals site you will notice they do not always capture the look of the aircraft. Dont know how else to explain this. If you want to go small you might also consider using the 1/700 aircraft made by several of the Japanese model companies. You can put a bucketfull on the table for a very modest price. They can be purchased off eBay fairly often and from Pacific Front Hobbies and Hobbylink Japan. On both sites they are accessories to 1/700 ship models (dont ask me why). Another up and coming 1/600 manufacturer is Odzial Osmy available in the UK from Fighting 15s and in the USA from Pico Armor. I find them to be smaller than TDs 1/600 which some say are closer to 1/550. The Odzial Osmy range is limited but grows monthly and they are really gems. If you are a gamer first and a painter second I would go with either 1/600 or 1/700.

Al

P.S. If you are really crazy there are also CAP Aero which are 1/1200. You can put up huge bomber formations in this scale.

Wow!!!! Looks like a bug hit this thread too LOL There is certainly more then just 2 posts LOL. Robert

This keeps coming up the last two times I posted,

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I took a tentative step into BTH just over a year ago. Invested a fiver in TD planes and got a pdf of BTH.
Now I have around 250 painted TD planes, have scooped all the TFL specials with any BTH scenarios in and have played at least twenty games.
Your questions..
1 – I'd advise oging for TD 1:600 – with BTH you can easily handle 9 to 12 planes, and you'll want to. 1:600 are fast to paint, cheap to buy, take up little space and look nice when painted. Here's some examples I've done..

link

I agree that TD planes are sometimes a little 'wrong' but also look at the Odzimal range to fill gaps where you don't like TD versions. The OO planes are true 1:600 scale and are smaller than TD, so they look a bit weird if mixed. The OO metal is VERY hard, which makes cleaning up a chore and you have to assemble the wings…
For me the 600 planes have exactly the right properties for a wargaming piece, as stated above.

2 – For stands I use the generic hex clear GW style stands from MISC miniatures. Very cheap. I stick a bit of wire in the top and the plane to give a bit of variety and I also found it hard to stick the stand directly to the aircraft. I use a D6 next to the stand for altitude.

3 – I use a blue 1.5" hex mat I had for naval gaming – I'd advise a bit bigger for 1:300. I'd like a fields mat rather than a blue one, but I use the blue when we do Pacific carrier attacks.

4 – There are a load of scenarios for BTH – including the BoB one. There's also Bag the Mig – I love this! and also Fox2 for supersonic jets. The specials contain scenarios and are cheap in PDF.

BTH2 promises to bring a lot of the specials pieces together and also provde a lot more scenario fodder in terms of ground attack and shipping rules that will lend them selves to scenario generation.

In terms of outlay; BTH pdf, a handfull of TD planes, a hex mat and some dice has got to be one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get in to any sort of gaming.

Be wary though, it is habit forming… my fiver turned in to 200+ planes, several target ships and even a pacific island…

Tally ho!

Si

Hey Si. I just put up your Vampires as the Group photo earlier yesterday :). I had a hard time deciding which to post next LOL. Robert

Robert
Cool – thanks.
As soon as BTH2 is out there'll be some acton shots coming!

I've been adding decals to those Mig17s…takes ages, but I have a lot of migs.
Si

MASS.

ok ive put an order in with dom for TD 1/600s MSP11 spits, hurricanes, extra 109s and bf110s and sundry bombers, plus decals of course
though paypal is being a but that could be my fault.
hope the order got through.ive emailed dom.

got Finest hour off the lardies and its sumptuous.
Well done Nick!
will pick up the MiG special once ive seen whats in the main rules.
bring on BTH2

given ive gone 1/600, can I get away with 1.5 inch hexes
for bombers as well?

as faras mats go the hotzeurofields look nice though this guy
link
has rolled a very nice mat of his own

stands ill use will be clear gzg type stands with KJ 3/32 d203 magnets..I can get double duty on those with Full thrust

have I missed anything?

BB

Dice. You'll need a pile. I use different coloured micro dice for different sections. red 1, 2, 3. Blue 1, 2, 3 etc.

Plus a bag of dice for firing and saving (I use black for firing, white for saving so they don't get muddled on the table). I got mine from EM4.

You'll need to make up some cards for the game. I put mine in clear plastic protectors – those are on ebay. Tally ho.

Oh if you haven't already get the Battle of Britain film to watch.

LOL I was going to point out the dice and the cards. You can find some BTH cards to download and print on the TFL site. And some here too from Tim. link

Robert

got the walton/godwin soundtrack playing as I type this..
hmm ringtone perhaps!
my fiancee is german and im north of frankfurt right now (though im a Melbournite normally) so I use headphones..

I saw someone has been using 7mm dice for altitude and colour coded chips for section markers,

colour coded dice? excellent! colour for section, pips for elevation..
Squadron lettering for plane id? or just numbered stands?
come to think of it does anyone do 1/600 RAF squadron ID codes decals? I know what IDs I'd like to use already.
or is it paint your own?

do Luftwaffe have a similar scheme?

speaking of painting, I read in another post here by a Rocky Russo on TMP that fighter upper wing and Fuselage camo of this time was of two set patterns (as opposed to colour combinations )an A and a B.. can anyone provide ideas?
I chose the A1 and B decals sheets for my hurricanes and spits.

got the cards off Aussie Tim's blog but couldnt see anycards for download on the lardies site per se.. though the tfl and bth yahoo groups had cards of various descriptions..

any thoughts on hex size for bombers in TD 1/600? is 1.5 a squeeze or should I go 2? still might do up raidens – no stop it Bob sigh

Sorry. The various cards were the ones I was thinking of LOL. There is a set of cards I know in the Files section of my Yahoo Group under Bag the Hun Files. :) Robert

BB

I sense your excitement. As on the TFL site I say get a double sided Hotz mat 1.5 on one side 2" on the other.

Nobody does 1/600 sqd codes but I-94 do them in 1/285 and Doms decals do german fighter codes. For your bombers you need the Scale Specialities sheets from USA.

Buy a couple of Raidens and some TD to see. The Raiden Hurricane and the Me109E are very characterful.

has rolled a very nice mat of his own

That mat is stunning!!!
I can't find out how he did it or where he got it though…
Si

Tim has sent me links to the files with and without hexes..
theyre a bit over 30mb each.
the lucky bastard has a PLOTTER at work (who said al kader wasnt helpful?)

and a mate who does GIS for a living..

I can confirm the mats are fabulous

GOD knows how much it'll cost to print and laminate.

I will ask if I can post the links here or if he will post them on his blog.

TMP link will blog furtheron the map making process ina little while.
in the meantime hes said its ok to post the links to the map file above,, ne with hexes and one without..
he said the hexes came out at a smidgn nuder 1.5 inches about 1 7/16" or 36mm

link
link

enjoy! they really are fabulous..
but dont tel me.. tel the man himself at his blog:
if genius is perspiration, he is it.

EDIT: tims blogged on the map wrap up.. go and read it,

The TMP link you posted doesn't work Bob. "There is no Topic with this ID number." Robert

dunno how that first link got in there.. I typed "Tim" only just noticed it..

btw: anyone have any sources for the RAF A and B fighter camo patterns for 1940?

NP Bob. Thought Id let ya know LOL. Here are a few sites that might be helpful a little just off hand.Robert

link

link

wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/79/9/5/40_b1

wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/79/9/4/49

picture

picture

picture

ok my orders in with dom for a hatful of TDs
ok
my SECOND orders an with dom for a few sample raidens on top to see how they scrub up with a bit of luck he can combine shipping and possibly squeeze something extra into the order.
basing the 1/300..? slightly stronger magnets? or?
suggestions?

ive decided to plash on sea and euro field dublesided hotz mats 1.5/2 and maaaybe run off one of tim coombs mats too.

Bob – has your TD order arrived and what did you think?
I'm in a similar position as you with BtH2 being released tomorrow!

cheers
Paul

my first batch arrived.. from Doms while I was still in germany I got back to Oz on monday last..

I got the collectedpot Fridayand opened it ata club bbq..

first impression flash not too serious.. and they should do up nicely..
will blog more on it in the next few days with out of the box pics after some sleep. im still jetlagged

Monday Monday!! Bag the Hunday!!

With most of the miniatures I have gotten from TD,O8 and others the only ones with any real flash problems are usually the resin cast ones. Robert

My 1/600 scale aircraft Yahoo Wargaming Group
link

Hey Kaoschallenged,

Great blog. Love the flight stands and markers for them.

Are you using magnets to attach the planes? If so which ones?

Thanks!

PS. Anyone know if Two Fat Lardies are re-releasing their WWI dogfight rules? I think it's removed from their web site.

the d203 magnets from K&J magnetics are the ones people have recommended to me the higher the N number is the stickier the magnet is!

Algernon pulls it off has erm been pulled off as the next edition is in development

Hey akudjinn. Quite a few of the members of the group use magnets to mount their miniatures. Some use the magnets from K&J magnets and others. Depending where you are. And bobblanchett is right. They were pulled until the new addition comes out. Robert

kjmagnetics.com
Or,
powermagnetstore.com

OK,I'm in too!

Order placed with TD for Spits,Hurricanes, 109s, 110s, Stukes and He111s. Plus some Dom's decals of course!

attaboy paul!

Welcome to the Dark Side Paul LOL. Robert

PS. Anyone know if Two Fat Lardies are re-releasing their WWI dogfight rules? I think it's removed from their web site.

I think its due first half of this year.

Algy will indeed be returning in the first half of this year.