F-5 Freedom Fighters - W-I-P Part 1

 Just a quick update today.  Back in March I finished a Hasegawa Norwegian F-5 which you can see here.  I was so chuffed with the little guy, that I decided to start on the 2 other F-5s I had in my stash.

They are another ancient (1975) Hasegawa F-5A kit

and an almost as ancient (1991) Matchbox CF-116 (F-5B) kit

These are as I've said - older kits, and have mostly raised panel lines and odd issues like no cockpit - which I was a little surprised at.  The Hasegawa kit comes with a pilot but a very basic chair, while the Matchbox kit has no crew figures and the ejector seats look like comfy Lazy-Boy chairs.  No other cockpit details are provided so I had to make them from scratch.

For the Matchbox kit this included adding such fundamental things as the cockpit floor!

Anyway - their built now and look like this prior to undercoating:

The Matchbox F-5B (two seater) is the white one on the left and it will be painted in Canadian colours and armed with 4 AIM-9 Sidewinders.  I'll be using some very nice looking Hasegawa sidewinders from one of their weapons sets.

The Hasegawa one is in grey - it will be in Dutch colours and armed with 4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, 2 bombs and a central fuel tank.  I like the idea of this one being totally loaded for bear.  Not to far to fly to engage the enemy so it can afford to have every station armed.  I hope the Dutch F-5 to eventually look something like this:

I really like this simple, subtle scheme in the right timeframe for what I'm doing.  All these scheme's come from the 1/48 scale Kinetic Models F-5s plans.

The Canadian one is a bit different.  I don't want to paint it in the standard scheme Canadian Air Force scheme but rather paint it up as an Agressor aircraft, that been drafted straight into action with no time for a repaint.  I have options for this one and am stuggling with which to choose.  Here are the choices:

This is probably my least favourite option

So this is probably the easist one to paint - I do like my greys...

I probably think this one is the coolest - but also likely to be the hardest to paint.

So I'm struggling to decide what to do.  Throw your 2 cents in and help me decide!

Thanks for looking

Richard

US Speculative Armoured Fighjting Vehicles

Hi everyone.

Today I'm uploading a set of AFV Data cards of Speculative Weapon systems of the US Army. This set combines some of the cards previouisly seen in the USAEUR set and the 9th (Motorized) ID set into one and adds a few new vehicles. These come from a range of sources - from Twilight 2000 to a model kit company to the US Armor magazine.

You can find the cards here or in the Cards Tab above.

So you can now field this from Twilight 2000:

This from Magic Factory Model Kit Company (in 1/35th scale I'm afraid)

and this from US Armour Magazine(July-August 1996)

or this - straight out of real life:

The last two have so many weapon systems I had to make extra large cards!

It's all just to add a bit of fun to the game system. I really like these speculative systems which allow you to manipulate history in anyway you want to turn your imaginary Cold War conflict into anything you want.

Some of these vehicles are available to purchase or print, others can be converted by mashing a couple of things together. If interested I'd be happy to post up ideas and options for the models.

I'd be interested to know what you think about including these sorts of systems in the game. Are you a:

• Purist that thinks if its not fielded in 1986 (for instance) I'm never going to stick it on the tabletop, or
• Pragmatist that wonders what would have happened if country X had continued pursuing an idea or had put a particular peice of euipment into production.

I mean we are playing a game about a war that never happened so it will always be 100% a "What If" kind of game.

Please let me know what you think!

Draft Unguided Rocket Playtest rules

Unguided Rockets can be fitted to many of the CAS aircraft and helicopters used by both NATO and WARPAC forces.
 
Unguided rockets are fired from pods installed on CAS aircraft or helicopter, typically on wing hardpoints.  If 2 pods are carried, one will be on each wing.
 
When triggered, each pod fires 2 rockets.  All pods on the CAS aircraft or helicopter must fire an equal number of rockets at once.  So, a CAS aircraft or helicopter with 4 pods would fire a minimum of 8 rockets a turn.  Note, multiple salvoes can be fire at once.  The total number of rockets per pod is shown in the Sample Unguided Rocket table below.
 
Unguided rockets always attack the Top armour of targets.
 
Unguided rockets use a unique variation of the Indirect Artillery Fire rules.  They work as follows for CAS Aircraft:
1.       Place the CAS Aircraft on the table approximately 20” from the target.
2.       Give the CAS Aircraft the Roll-In & Attack order and determine the number of unguided rockets that will be fired.
3.       Roll an Observation Check to observe the target.  If successful, place a point-of-impact marker on the target.
4.       Draw an imaginary line from the CAS Aircraft to and through the point-of-impact marker.
5.       Roll 1D6 on the Unguided Rocket Accuracy Table
  

Unguided Rocket Accuracy Table – D6

D6           Result

1-2          Drop Short.  The pilot fires the unguided rockets from too far away and they drop short of the target.  Roll 2D6 and move the point-of-impact marker the indicated distance down the imaginary line towards the aircraft.  This is where the unguided rockets will hit.

3-4          Hit!  The unguided rockets are accurate and impact centred on the point-of-impact marker.

4-6          Overshoot!  The pilot has been flying too fast and the unguided rockets overshoot the target.  Roll 2D6 and move the point-of-impact marker the indicated distance down the imaginary line away from the target.  This is where the unguided rockets will hit.

6.       Use the Artillery Barrage Accuracy Table to determine misses, potential pins and hits.
 
Helicopters
The only difference with helicopters is that Helicopter must be given the Manoeuvre and Fire order and end its movement in the 20”-30” range band away from its target.
 
Forward Air Controllers and Unguided Rockets
If using a FAC, he can place the point-of-impact marker using the Request Close Air Support order for a CAS Aircraft or Helicopter strike.  This means the pilot does not have to roll to observe the target
 

 

 

Could you please have a read or even better a playtest! Do the rules as written make sense? Do you think they reflect the reality of 1980s unguided rockets? Are they confusing? Do they break Battlegroup?

I am worried that these rules make rockets too powerful, so feedback on that is also welcome.

Let me know what you think.

I've also uploaded a PDF of these rules here and in the Rules tab at the top of the page.

Thanks

Richard