Algernon Pulls it Off - Over the Isonzo & More

Algernon

I finished with the three scenarios I was working on for February 18, 1916. These are interesting battles that are completely unfair to the Italians as they have no fighter escorts. Yet, despite being outnumbered, the Italian held their own. I decided to send these to TFL for the Christmas Special. We will see if it makes the cut. So far I have not heard back from them.

Sharp Practice

Managed to get some painting done. I have a full group of 8 British Legion Infantry done on a painting stick. That with the two buglers and two officers. I have 3 more painting sticks full of the infantry. I am going to continue to work my way through them. Once they are done, I will work on the Horse Holders, and the mounted officer that I bought (Peter Pig through Brookhurst). I am still waiting on order from Old Glory 15s.

I am debating getting some Highlanders from Peter Pig. There is really only one pack of infantry, advancing. I'd like some variation. I have been looking at the Eureka Miniatures line of AWI figures. My concern is that they would be significantly larger than the existing miniatures that I have.

Cold War

Over the weekend, I had a great conversation with a vet from Operation Golden Pheasant (March 1988). I started thinkings about how to apply this to a Cold War game. I had an idea for something like a pint sized campaign with a Sandinista patrol moving across the Rio Coco into San Andrés de Bocay. The Sandinistas begin fighting against Contra rebels and possibly some Honduran troops before US troops arrive and engage to push them back across the river. I am looking at the different militias from the Peter Pig ranges. This could be interesting. I am leaving this as a possibility as i read more up on the operation.

I have US troops and some Soviets that I can use as Cuban advisors or more regular Sandinistas. I would need some more irregular units to field as Contras and Sandinistas. Anyway, it is just a thought. I will probably stick to Europe for my Cold War efforts. But it could make for an interesting game having Sandinistas dropped off by Mi-8 helicopters to head in to attack a Contra base.

Thirty Years War

I keep looking at the thirty years war. I want to game this in a skirmish game. I have looked at the Sharp Practice variants for this but am still not certain if this is what I want. I'd like to have some pike and Shot as well as dragoons. I have some figures but have not painted anything yet.

Algernon Distractions

So instead of maintaining a laser focus to complete my Singling project, I have been distracted by wanting to run a game of Algernon Pulls It Off again. I pulled out my miniatures and found that I have some that are painted. I want to do a Early 1916 project for the Isonzo Front. For my Austro-Hungarians, I have a pair of Fokker A.IIIs (The Austro-Hungarians gave them the A prefix instead of E). One is painted and complete. The other has paint but no decals. Luckily, I found my decals I bought for these.

I just ordered a single Hansa-Brandenburn C.I two-seater from eBay. Ultimately, I would like at least one or two more of these. The great part of this is there just were not that many aircraft above the Isonzo Front in early 1916. The eindeckers were held back over friendly lines as they were forbidden to pursue enemy aircraft back over Italian airspace due to the fear of the gun sychronization being captured by the enemy. The Hansa-Brandenburgs we the mainstay of the Fliks. With between 6 to 8 aircraft in a given Flik, this gives a relatively small force to model. Flik 4 in early 1916 had a pair of Fokker A.IIIs and some Lohner B and Hansa-Brandenburg C.Is at their disposal. I can't find a model in any scale of the Lohner B.

For the Italians, I have three of the later Spad aircraft from Wings of War. They can be a temporary standin for the Nieuport 11s that I really want. I have two Nieuport 10s, a two-seater aircraft heavily used for reconnaisance and artillery spotting. One is actually painted. The other is still as received from Shapeways many, many years ago.

The aim would be to buy some actual Nieuport 11s (probably 2) and some other aircraft like the Farman MF.11 or the Caproni Ca.3 or the Caudron G.3. I am only looking for a single aircraft of each. This should give a good mix of the different Italian squadrons that operated across from Flik 4.

Lastly, I want some observation balloons. These would be large in 1/144 scale. I found some models availaible on Thingiverse but they are way too big for my print bed of my resin printer. I will need to get someone to print them for me.

The plan is to use the Squadron Forward supplement from Joseph Legans to make a campaign. I have reprinted cards and the QRF for the base Algy rules that I will need. We will see what happens.

We will see how this goes. I also found some models in 1/300. The problem is, I am unhappy with how these look. I have a Vosin III bomber and three Fokker A.IIIs. All are painted. We will see where that takes me.