More On Aerial Bases

Dawn Patrol and a copy of the Avalon Hill General featuring Mustangs - also the flying base that will revolutionise my aerial gaming!

I have had a good long look at the various aerial board games and rules that I own and I reckon I am on to something with my basing idea. As it stands the base I put together would be suitable for use with Dawn Patrol and also Mustangs although with a caveat. Mustangs counters are double sided so I would not look to be gluing them to MDF anytime soon. I could get some high quality copies taken and use them instead - certainly this is an option I am thinking about and it would be cheaper than buying two sets of everything -  or, and this is something else I am thinking about, I could have the top base (the sky end if you like) fitted with a rim so that the counter could be dropped in and taken out as required. The counters for Mustangs are of a standard thickness so the sky end base would need to be 2mm thick rather than the 3mm used for the much thinner Dawn Patrol counters.

I plan to add a 7mm dice frame to the ground bases as this will enable me to record height when playing either Mustangs or Axis and Allies: Angels 20. Crucially it also brings into the mix Bag the Hun and Algernon Pulls It Off - both from the Two Fat Lardies stable. All of these use altitude levels of 1 to 6.

The following record aircraft height in feet which is plotted from move to move - the Air Force family including Wings, Spitfire, Aces High including the Blue Max and Dawn Patrol. Using six levels makes life far easier although at the expense of some detail.

So what does all this mean then?

Well, the biggest advantage is that I can use some very nice full colour counters for my aerial games that will at least look like they are flying if nothing else. It will save me a lot of time painting models and the practical advantages of storage etc are obvious. The downside is that I am limited as to what I can use although I note that Topside Miniatures in the US produce a range of WW2 aircraft counters that include bombers - neither Dawn Patrol or Mustangs do (with the exception of some two seater WW1 types for the former). I am sure the internet will provide some additional inspiration.

In the meantime then, all I need to do is to get some bases assembled and painted and I can then take to the air for some aerial action.