Blast from the Past: Celtic Monastery (Part 2)

My scratch-built 28mm Celtic monastery with finished beehive huts and church

So, I wasn't quite done with the beehive monks huts on the last update. I still had to paint the doors, and then I found one other things I felt needed to be accomplished. The doors were easy, though. I did a base coat of black, then two dry brushes -- one of Camo Brown and the other Colonial Khaki. I used Howard Hues acrylics for my drybrushing because they are such thick paints. I followed that up with painting the clay rings that would be the cut stone base. I coated them black, did a dark gray wet brush and a final Rebel Gray dry brush. I wasn't sure if I'd made deep enough grooves in the air dry clay to be picked up with dry brushing, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

The finished beehive monk huts for my Celtic monastery

However, when I set the huts on top of the rings, something just didn't look right. Sure, they fit like a glove -- better than I was hoping, actually. I'd thought I was going to have to do some kind of magnet inset into the clay ring or similar to hold them down. The door as the notch and the clay ring doorway as the groove worked perfect. What didn't look right was the two different tones between the cut stone foundations (Hirst Arts block and the air dry clay ring) and the dry stone walls and roofs (Woodland Scenics coarse gravel blended gray). Even though I'd added a dark wash to "blend" it all together, I still thought the differences in tone were too noticeable.

So, I decided to use the same Rebel Gray dry brush highlighting that I did on the cut stone work on the dry stone. I really liked how it tied the look all together. It was the final touch that made it appear like it all belonged together.

The flocking begins...the first layer of medium ballast

The last step will be the flocking. In the above picture, you can see stage one of my flocking. I painted the entire surface with a mix of white glue, water, and earth red paint. While it was still wet, I poured Woodland Scenics medium ballast over it. This smooths out the different levels a bit and roughs up the ground texture. Next up, I paint the ballast with the same water, glue, paint mixture and sprinkle on sand.

My scratch-built 28mm Celtic monastery with finished beehive huts and church

I'm thinking I need to come up with a new method to flock large terrain pieces. My "new" method of applying ballast, sand, and then grass and shrubs is fine when I do something small. However, it takes a l-o-n-g time for 9"x12" areas. The bigger the piece, the more unwieldy it is when you're pouring the various flocking onto the base and not trying to spill it all over the desk. I have a large plastic tub I keep beneath the piece while I do this, but it is still a pain. Maybe I need to go back to trying Liquitex modeling paste for bigger pieces. We'll see.

View from above of the sand and turf flocking

As you can tell from the above soul-searching, stage two of the flocking of the Celtic monastery was frustrating. I think the end result looks okay, but it took more than an hour to do this. Maybe I just need a bigger brush or a new technique or two, but I am not looking forward to stage three! I also noticed that the sand appeared lighter colored because I did not have a solid earth red color on the base. I should have added in this step and hand-painted the ground that color. My mix of glue, paint and water was obviously not opaque and dark enough to provide the customary darker, earth-reddish color that it does on my miniature bases. To fix the lighter tone, I sprinkled quite a bit of Woodland Scenics brown "turf" over it to darken it down. That, mixed with stage three's grass should do the trick. I guess I just have to realize that doing things like this is a learning process. All the more reason to be doing a tutorial, eh? Maybe my missteps will help others doing similar projects.

Anyway, I'll let stage two dry for awhile, then spray it with dullcoate. After it dries, I'll add the grass either later tonight or tomorrow.

Close up of the upper area of the monastery

So, did I screw up the end game? Look at the photos, and you be the judge. I was actually happy (if not giddy) with how the monastery came out until I saw the photos. I think I really messed up the flocking. At the last minute, I decided it would look cool to have gravel or stones peeking through on the dirt path leading amongst the beehive huts and up the slope to the church. I put them on top of the flocking, and then didn't bother toning them down with a wash. I thought I could fix it by simply sprinkling a layer of Woodland Scenics "Turf" over it. When the gravel was still was too glaringly bright, I put another layer. And then when I dullcoated the whole thing, that flocking blew up and dusted the door of the church. It doesn't show up as much in person, but it sure does in the close ups of these photos.

The interior of the church of my scratch-built 28mm Celtic monastery

No, I'm not going to hurl it against the wall. However, I am rating this build beneath the graveyard and well below the Saxon church. A disappointing end to something I invested craploads of time on. I've learned my lesson to not rush things, and most of all, not be lazy and skip steps.

Another view of the Celtic monastery

The beehive huts of my Celtic monastery

The images of the saints I used for the walls (downloaded from various images on the internet and resized)

 Author's Note: Okay, here I am, years later, thinking I have no idea why I considered this a disappointing end to the build. I think it looks nice. My apologies for whatever snit I was in as I finished it that caused me to leave out description of the painting the interior of the chapel. I hope you enjoyed the step-by-step description of how I built this...!

Blast from the past: Celtic Monastery (Part 1)

My scratch-built 28mm Celtic monastery with finished beehive huts and church

Knowing that one day my original Lead Legionaries website will disappear, I'm reposting some of the better content onto this blog. Hopefully, it will not go the way of the dinosaur, too -- or at least, anytime soon! Here is part one of the scratch-build of my 28mm Celtic Monastery.

Work in progress shot of my 28mm Celtic Monastery for my Dark Age skirmish games

My next big scratch-built terrain piece for my 28mm Dark Ages skirmish games is a Celtic monastery. Although I drew inspiration from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Skellig Michael, this is a much, much scaled down version. In fact, after starting it, I scaled it back even further from my original plans. I like to fit my terrain pieces on wooden plaques that are no more than 12" wide or so. Once I started sketching this one out on the plaque, I realized what I would be creating would be way too big and unwieldy. 

Soft wooden plaque from the local craft store as a base for the monastery

So, as I often do, I began with a soft, wooden plaque from the local craft store. This one is about 9" wide by 12" long. I used a box cutter knife to carve a slope all around the edges. I like to use these because not only are they cheap (about $1), but they also are sturdy enough for a heavy piece of scenery. Plus, many important buildings during the Dark Ages would be built on rises or small hills. The plaque gives it some visual heft above the battlefield.

Insulation foam carved to create the upper tier of the monastery

I wanted the monastery to be divided into an upper section and a lower section. So, I grabbed a section of insulation foam and measured it out to fit. Then I used a sharp Xacto knife to carve a slope all around it, like I did with the plaque. I also carved out a gradual slope as a kind of ramp where it will join up with the lower level.  Yes, I know a wire cutter would be much easier, provide a cleaner cut, and look nicer. However, I am very leery about starting down the road of using toxic tools. The chemicals given off in the air when cutting foam frankly scare me. I know I could use a mask and all, but I'm going to flock it extensively anyway. So, my rough and ragged cuts will be covered up in the final product.

Holes drilled into the wooden plaque to help hold the foam upper level in place

To secure the foam to the plaque I drilled a half dozen holes with my pin vice. I then tacky glued in straight pins. I trimmed off the tops when dry and liberally coated the surface of the plaque where the foam would go with tacky glue. The foam piece was pushed onto the pins, which help hold it in place not only while it is drying, but make the bond stronger.

Hirts Arts rocks line the ledge between the upper and lower levels. Also thin "craft foam" was glued down as a surface for both levels

Next, I took some leftover rocks from the Hirst Arts molds I used to build my Saxon church and Pictish broch. My friend Zeke cast these up for me years ago, and I have found many uses for them. I trimmed up the foam to insert the rock pieces into the edge of it so there looks to be a rocky ledge between the upper and lower sections. I am also hoping this makes the monastery look like it is in a more wild and rocky location. Once that was done, I took a section of craft foam, sometimes called "fun foam," and measured out the flat surface of the upper and lower level. A piece was cut for each and tacky glued down. This enables the buildings and other architectural elements to be "sunk in" beneath the surface. I will cut the shape of the building away from the foam surface and glue it to either the board or foam core beneath.

Hirts Arts rocks line the ledge between the upper and lower levels. Also thin "craft foam" was glued down as a surface for both levels

I wanted a church and a collection of "beehive" huts in my monastery. So, I figured I'd put the church on the upper level and the huts on the lower. Once again, I dug out my leftover Hirst Arts block to form the foundations and front and back walls of the church. The long side walls would be made to look like "dry stone" -- a common type of architecture in Celtic monasteries. I used some of the window pieces to create the doorway and tiny windows in the rear wall. More Hirst Arts blocks were used to create a well in front of the church, which was sunk into the foam base of the upper level so only the top lip of the well projected above the surface. I also peeled away the craft foam surface to tacky glue the resin Celtic cross to the foam surface of the upper level. I'm hoping that the glue, lip of the craft foam and the flocking that will be added later will keep it in place. I'll have to be careful to remind players not to pick the monastery up by the cross, though! At this stage, the monastery is starting to come together nicely.

Work in progress shot of my 28mm Celtic Monastery for my Dark Age skirmish games

 While all this was drying, I cut out a couple pieces of foam core for the long, dry stone walls for the church. I simply covered one side with glue and then poured on Woodland Scenics Coarse Ballast (gray blend) onto it. I'd picked it out as looking a lot like dry stone, and the multiple colors in it will keep me from having to dry brush it different shades. I will put on a black wash and it should look great. I also began to work on the roof for the church. Its base was a rectangle of black styrene plastic, with succeeding levels of craft foam built upon it. I capped it with a triangular piece of balsa wood. The entire thing will then be painted with white glue and covered in the gray blend ballast to look like a dry stone roof. The picture shows the bright orange craft foam I used when I ran out of black. 

Close up of the church interior -- note the printed off "frescoes" on the walls, the jewelry cross, and the tile floor

I decided to keep focusing on the upper tier of my Celtic monastery. The above shot shows it about halfway done. The stone block foundation and front and back wall are painted. I got smart and am did the interior (see picture below) before I glued in the side walls. The side walls are not complete. I have to add more blended gravel to the front and back edges of them, and then do a black wash over the stones to make it look more shaded. The roof is ready for its coating of blended gravel, but is not in the picture. I really like how the resin cross I bought at Cincycon turned out. I'll have to take a better shot of it to show the nice detail. The church door is done, as well. It is corrugated balsa wood with jewelry rings and pin heads for the door handles. You can see the interior a bit better in this shot. The frescoes of Celtic saints are simply images taken from the internet and printed off and glued onto the wall. I gave the interior of the foamcore walls texture by gluing sand to it, then painting it black and drybrushing it two shades of gray (not 50). The tile floor is styrene from a local craft store. The cross is a jewelry piece from the local craft store, too. You can also see better here how I have to add gravel to the facing edges of the foamcore long walls.

Plastic domes from vending machines that will be used for the beehive monk huts

With the upper tier mostly finished, it was time to begin working on the beehive huts that the monks would live in. First, a word about them. They were constructed of "dry stone" -- which means no mortar is used. The stone was apparently angled out and downwards to shed rain because, well, it rains a lot in Scotland and Ireland! What I've read about them describes them as quite dry and cozy. Anyway, they most often had strong, wooden doors. That actually surprised me. I was thinking monks, with their taste for self-denial and mortification of the flesh, would have just a cloth or fur covering for a door. Apparently not.

The domes after roughing up their surface, inside and out, with fine sandpaper

Anyway, I went through three separate ideas on what to use for them. My first thought was those plastic half spheres which assemble into a ball that you can buy in craft stores. I picked up a few only to discover they were too big once I started laying out the surface of my monastery. Then I went to the dollar store and picked up a pack of those little one-serving cups of apple sauce. Still too big. Finally, I settled on those dome and cap containers that you find in vending machines with little toys or prizes inside. The first step is to use fine sandpaper to rough up the surface so that the paint will adhere better. I roughed up the interior, too, because I planned on painting the interior black.

The cardboard ring that each dome is affixed to

Next, I set them down on a piece of cardboard and traced their outline. I then cut a hollow ring from the cardboard for the domes to be "based" on. I figured this would give them a more solid fit onto the clay rings I would set them on (more on these next). It would also cut down on wear and tear on the edges of the domes themselves.

The domes after painting them black and then affixing the doors and coarse gravel to their surface. The doors still needed painted, of course!

I should have glued on the doors next, but got in a rush and spray painted them black first. The paint would have helped keep the doors attached, but oh well. I wanted them black so that any gaps that showed through the dry stone would look like shadow. The doors themselves were made from corrugated balsa wood. About half of the door projects downward from the dome. This will fit in the notch of the doorway of the clay ring. I wanted the huts to be removable so that things could be placed inside -- they're going to be used for skirmish games, after all! Once the tacky glue was dry, I painted each dome with white glue. I then poured Woodland Scenics coarse gravel blended gray over them to look like the dry stone. I made sure to cover the join of the door and the dome thoroughly in glue so the doors appear to be set into the stone. After the glue dried, I sprayed the stone with a clearcoat. Finally, I brushed on a heavy black wash to darken the stones and blend it all together.

Air drying clay available at the local craft store

I mentioned the rings, above. I thought I would give each hut a foundation of solid, cut stone. Since I don't like firing sculpy in my oven, I purchased a bag of air drying clay instead. I roughed out each ring, trying to give it a more square and somewhat irregular look. I immediately made impressions with a dull Xacto knife to represent the outlines of the stone. I wasn't 100% thrilled with how they came out, but then again, I never claimed to be a potter or sculptor! They should be functional on the tabletop and look nice once the monastery is all painted and flocked.

A clay ring to represent a stone base for the huts

Once the clay was dry, I traced each ring's outline on the lower tier of the monastery. Remember how I had put a surface of craft foam over the top of the wooden plaque's flat surface? Well, this was part of my reason why. I cut each outline with a sharp Xacto knife and then peeled back the craft foam, exposing the wood beneath. Then I used tacky glue to attach the rings to the surface. This gives it more of a snug fit and will serve to blend the stones into the surface of the ground. At least that is the plan! Next up, I will paint the rings like stone and begin flocking the entire monastery grounds.

Carving out the outline of each clay ring onto the craft foam skin that was glued to the plaque. You can also see the finished roof and dry stone long walls of the church in this picture.

Crusader Battle of Ascalon using Hail Caesar

From left, Joel, Allen, Andy, and Brett listen as Steve explains the special rules for the Battle of Ascalon, 1099 A.D.

Steve V has decided that his Spring convention game will use Hail Caesar rules to refight the Battle of Ascalon, 1099 A.D. This Crusader victory is considered the final battle of the First Crusade, and takes place after their capture of Jerusalem. According to reports, the Crusaders caught the Fatimid Egyptian army unprepared, and this is what Steve has simulated with his special rules.

Keith's center of Christian pilgrims, dismounted knights, and crossbowmen advance aggressively towards the Muslim camp

One of the deciding features of a game of Hail Caesar are the morale tests that units must take -- generally when they lose a round of combat. Steve instituted a sliding scale with Fatimid units receiving a substantial negative modifier in early rounds, but getting progressively less words as the battle moves on. Our battle plan was to advance as quickly as possible -- even charging on the first turn of the game, if possible.

Across the battlefield from me, Tim's emir orders his Saracen cavalry forward to try to hold up my advance

We won the Initiative, and chose to go first. Another key feature of Hail Caesar is that players are in control of a commands composed of a number of units (mine had two mounted knight units, one heavy infantry spear and one heavy infantry crossbow). One of my knights could actually reach one of Tim's Bedouin cavalry units, if I rolled well. I immediately set out to even the playing field for the Fatimids by failing on my first command roll -- which ended my turn prematurely. No advance. On the opposite left flank, Mike W followed suit. Hmm, now them's some bad omens!

One of Tim's cavalry units charge into my Crusader spearmen, but their crossbowmen and knightly comrades close up to add support (in Hail Caesar, flank and rear support give bonus combat dice)

Steve's modifiers for the Fatimids also extended to bonuses to the Crusader's command rolls early in the game, and negative modifiers for the Muslims. My opponent Tim failed his rolls, as well, and no advances were made -- we must have all been praying, we decided. Elsewhere, our center Keith was pushing forward quickly, opposed by Allen (who was rolling very well) and Andy. My command eventually got moving and we began to take the battle to the Fatimids. There is a substantial random factor with Hail Caesar with the command die rolls and loads of dice for combat, as well. Surprisingly, my rolling wasn't ALL terrible. I had my usual challenges, but never actually lost a unit while putting a number of Tim's units to flight.

Andy demonstrates how the Fatimids should hammer the Christian lines, while Joel watches on and Allen quaffs some of the beverage forbidden by the Prophet

In fact, we ended up winning the game despite our slow start and despite Keith's center mostly disappearing. It was shored up by the charge of his last remaining knight unit. Not a lot of maneuver, but like most Hail Caesar games, a definite slugfest. If you like historical refights that involve pushing lead and rolling lots of dice, look for Steve's game at Cincycon and Daycon in 2018.

Though it looked like they'd prevail when Keith's center nearly collapsed, the Fatimid Egyptians were doomed to repeat their historical loss to Godfrey de Bouillon's crusaders

Pulp High Adventure in Sumatra

The table with ruined temples, Skull Cave, a Pygmy Cannibal village (with cookpot) and more!

In honor of Halloween, I thought I would bring out the 28mm Pulp miniatures for Sunday night gaming. Cannibals, Skull Cave, ruined temples, and animal abominations that walk upright like men would haunt the table. More importantly, it would give me a chance to playtest my rules for convention Pulp games. Although I enjoy playing Pulp Alley (see Dakota Smith's Oriental Adventures), I am not sold on its use for a large, multiplayer convention game. I want something that is easy to learn, fast-moving, and gives me a chance to run a game for up to 8 players.

Von Jaeger's German archeological team, with German sailor muscle, moves to investigate a temple

Enter "War-Drums," a variant of Song of Drums and Tomahawks I'd written and ran at last year's March Through Time at the Ohio History Center. I tweaked the rules a bit to take it out of the American Frontier and into the "High Adventure" genre. I cooked up a scenario that would have my players control European adventuring teams with a squad of sailors or soldiers as backup. They were investigating strange occurrences on the island of Sumatra. Here was the U.S. player's briefing (all players received similar ones):

Their arch-rivals, Dakota Smith and his American archeologists, close in on the same temple

“…Hair-raising reports have been coming out of the Sumatran jungle for the last year or so. It seems cannibals have been raiding settlements and carrying off screaming captives for their fiendish feats. But even worse things have been spoken of, in whispers. Animals of the forests have begun to walk upright and forge weapons. They, too, have stalked settlements, stealing away with captives to devour (or worse).
    These dark forces seem to emanate from the area of the fabled lost city of Yothai. Untold riches are rumored to be buried there, along with arcane objects of immense power. Has someone uncovered one of these and is behind all this? You suspect the Nazis, whose lust for objects of power seems unquenchable. You have assembled a small force of men you can trust, and the government has given you a detachment of U.S. sailors to safeguard you. Your mission is to investigate Yothai, find what is behind all of this devilry, and see if you can put a stop it…”

The French party had to cross a series of bridges across a swamp to arrive

I set up a huge board with a hill in the center, surmounted by Skull Cave. At the midpoint of each board edge was a ruined temple. The cannibal village was on one side of the board, and the players started out spaced out around the board edge. When they came within a certain distance of one of the temples, it would spring enemies to appear (the player in question rolling 1d6 each turn to see how many). My Pygmy Cannibals, along with my Splintered Light Frogs and rats were the enemies.

When the French were partway across, a band of Frog-men rose up out of the swamp and attacked

I think the activation and combat system worked well enough. The scenario design was likely flawed, though. With each player having to run not only their own troops but a force of enemies attacking their neighbor it took way too long between player turns. Mike S's troops did not really get a chance to do much as they rolled very low for their enemy numbers. Meanwhile, Allen and Joel had their hands full with the Frogs and Pygmy Cannibals. Keith and Mike W also faced off with the cannibals, but between them were able to keep losses to a minimum.

Pygmy Cannibals swarmed out of the jungle and attacked the British archeologists, as well as the U.S and Germans

The game was not the most rousing success, but I learned some things for future scenarios. I think it would work best with an A/B movement systems with players in two informal alliances. That would pretty much cut out the long waits between turns and make it more fun, I think. Also, large numbers of non-player enemies will slow it down, too. The players suggested fewer, but bigger and tougher (tigers? crocs?) fauna.

Mike S's force of Diggers, unscathed by the intermittent attacks of Ratmen, investigate a temple

Still, it was fun to see it all out on the table again.

Mice Army - Splintered Light Miniatures

Brian Jacques' Redwall novels are the inspiration for much of the Splintered Light Miniatures line, especially my mice army!

I finished the last four stands of my army of Splintered Light Miniatures Mice. I know that SLM is billing itself as 20mm figures, nowadays. However, these mice are tiny! Which, I guess, is to be expected. The figures average about 11mm in height from the bottoms of their feet to the tops of their heads. So, after all the 28mm figures I've been painting recently, this was an adjustment.

Still, the figures are great, and are very cleanly cast. There tends to be little to no flash at all that needs to be trimmed off. And not so many nooks and crannies that are difficult to fit your brush into, like in some lines. Nor is there an over-abundance of equipment festooned to the figures. They tend to paint up quickly -- especially one you have whatever base coast and drybrush method you're using to depict their fur.

So, here it is, the third of my SLM armies based up for my own fantasy miniatures rules. Enjoy!

Mice Heavy Infantry
I thought it would be cool to give each heavy infantry unit of the army its own banner with slogan. The slogans would all be related to cheese. I am normally not given to whimsy in my miniatures gaming, but this was one I couldn't resist. Each heavy infantry base has 5 figures (light troops have 4). I painted them in the colors of Medieval Heraldry as my theme for how they look.

The "Meunster" and "Camembert" regiments

The "Edam" and "Cheddar" regiments

The "Gouda" and "Brie" regiments

Mice Light Infantry Slingers
Splintered Light Miniatures make mice with slings, so these were a natural for this army's skirmishing infantry. I put four figures to a stand with light troops to show their more dispersed formation. I also did not bother with banners for them -- figuring that only the heavy units would really use them. This photo, and the one above of the Gouda and Brie regiments, were entries I submitted in the Lead Painters League.

Mice slingers lurking at the edge of terrain

Mice War Elephants
Elephants and mice together? It just fit too easily into this slightly whimsical army to resist. I sorted through my 15mm Ancients figures and found a couple of Indian elephants that I would not be painting anytime soon (if ever!). I scratch-built a howdah using craft sticks and bamboo skewers. I armored it with some 28mm Dark Ages shields, and crewed it with a couple mice spear, and voila! The heavy fist of this mouse army was done.

Mice riding on elephants was just too perfect for me to resist...

Mice Heroes and Shaman
One of the many things I like about Splintered Light Miniatures are its "heroic" figures. For every line, there seems to be a number of leader or hero type poses that really give it spice. In some armies, the figures are so cool looking it is hard to pick which you want to be the heroes or leaders! These were the two I chose for this army, along with a wizard-looking type to be a Mouse Shaman.

A mouse shaman and two heroes

Japanese Bettys "Sweating" It Out After Bomb Run

Our formation of "sweaty" Betty bombers, and Allen's escorting Zeros

Check Your 6! is one of those games that we play only about once a year. So, invariably, we spend the first half hour trying to re-learn the rules. Mike S had cooked up a scenario featuring a flight of Japanese Betty bombers escorted by 6 Zeros. A U.S. force of 5 Wildcats and 2 P-39 Airacobras were attacking them after the Bettys had completed their bomb run.

My two Zeros take a left turn to sweep around and come in behind the Wildcats -- or so we thought!

I ended up controlling two Zeros flown by Veteran pilots. As we were filling out our sheets, I noticed our "robustness" -- how much damage we can take under the CY6! system -- was appropriately enough, a "0." That is a really fragile plane. So, I decided to take my two Zeros on a sweep to come in behind the Keith's Wildcats after they had made their run. I underestimated how quickly they could close with the bomber formation and ended up out of the fight for a good length of time.

Our enemy -- three of the five Wildcats and two P-39 Airacobras in the distance

In fact, I had no idea that they would simply dog-pile into the middle of the bomber formation and essentially be invulnerable under the CY6 system (and Mike S' really bad die rolls!). So, as I was hurriedly trying to close with the scrum in the middle, Bettys kept falling from the skies. I think that our defensive fire from bombers accounted for one damaged Wildcat in the entire game. Maybe that's accurate -- I don't know. Keith was clever and dove under their formation where they had fewer guns to bear, and Brett hung on the edges and shot in, but Steve just flew straight into the middle of the formation, guns blazing.

Yes, you must be bald to play in this game...ha, ha! Keith, Brett, and Mike S analyze the scrum (guess whose two fighters those are way out of the fight...?)

Slowly, my fellow Japanese Zero pilots (Joel and Allen) closed with the U.S. fighters. One by one, we began to damage or drop their fighters, too. I made a diving turn and got into fight (right onto the Wildcats' tails, as I'd planned) two turns before the end of the game. I managed to shoot down one damaged Wildcat. I never took any fire, but felt somewhat like I'd bungled my job as bomber escort. Oh well, dead men tell no tales!

The Wildcats boldly jump right into the formation of Betty bombers, ignoring the Zeros lurking on the edges

I do think that perhaps slightly larger hexes are needed. The bomber formation was simply a mass of airplanes and looked kind of silly, I thought. Of course, if it was fighter-on-fighter action, it likely wouldn't have looked as out of scale.

Okay, this looks a little silly, in my opinion...an argument for larger hexes with this scale planes

I learned some lessons about how to do bomber escort, which I will doubtless forget in the ensuing year before we play again...ha, ha!

One Betty bomber remains, but will soon be shot down. Zeros close in...too late!