Angels 20....Game Number 6, Part 2

A 'Vic' of three Spitfires - looked good at air displays but not a great deal of use in combat

Before taking to the skies for game number 6 I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce some of the cast and the background material I have been reading over the last week or two. I am still waiting for a second starter set to complete the set up prior to the repaint but am now considering acquiring another two of these and a brace of Spitfires for some additional theatres (e.g. the Med) but this is opening up a route that I may not want to follow just yet....I did say JUST YET!!!

"Never, in the field of aerial wargaming, has so much information been contained in so many pages for so few pennies!"

The book I have read covering the Battle of Britain is a 50p boot sale acquisition from some time ago and what a gem it has turned out to be! The Battle of Britain - The Jubilee History covers the entire period of the battle together with a lot of background concerning the earlier fighting over France. It is a very balanced account in my opinion and after having read it one cannot but wonder at the narrow margins by which success or failure is measured. To borrow a phrase from another famous battle it was a 'near run thing'. There are lots of maps, orders of battle and some anecdotal paragraphs from some of the participants which all contribute to making this very much a 'complete' history.

Thus far I have eight models - the six contained in the starter set and an additional pair of Spitfires allowing me to field a 'Vic' of three aircraft should I feel the need to give the Luftwaffe some target practise....;-)

The backbone of Fighter Command in 1940 - a brace of Hurricanes

The Hurricanes are painted in the early war France scheme and the later Battle of Britain version and the latter represents one of the Polish 303 Squadron aircraft...."Repeat please....!"

Bf 109s - the colour scheme used on the right hand model has completely foxed me!

The two Bf 109s look good (except for the all grey 'wingman') but are certainly going to get a radical repaint. I am planning to paint them in the official 1940 scheme as used by the fighters in the film of The Battle of Britain - red spinners and green splintered top surfaces very clearly delineated from the light blue under surfaces. the markings have been 'sanitized' so no tail swastikas are in evidence.

Finally the Bf 110 'Zerstorer'. Promised much but delivered little during the battle but certainly made up for it as a night fighter against the RAF later in the war. Again, this will need a repaint and the temptation to put a shark's mouth design on the model will be very hard to resist!

So there you have it - the book I have been devouring for some background and the models I shall be using for the game. I will be fighting on the Hexon tiles and these have been set up to cover an area of 9 hexes by 14 which is larger than the game maps provided which cover a miserly 7 hexes by 11.

It will be a lot of fun methinks....;-)