David Endicott Putnam's Spad

  More Wings of War repaints...

  Possibly the best known yet unknown ace from the great war.

   I have a weak spot for flyers from the early age of aviation from the Wright Brothers through the First world war. This is especially true for local pilots or events that occurred in the New England states.  My poor family gets driven to distraction by my trips to local sites.  Had to visit Gordon college as it was the home of Norman Prince who was one of the founders of the Lafayette Escadrille. Visited the site of the home of Frank Leaman Baylies of New Bedford.  I had to visit the site of the crash where Hariott Quimby died.  But my favorite pilot was David Endicott Putnam.

 Putnam was a local man from Massachusetts with a family history that dates back to before the Revolutionary war.  He left Harvard before graduation  (he was awarded  a posthumous degree in 1920) and worked his way across the Atlantic on a cattle boat to join the French Foriegn Legion on May 1917.  He transferred to the French Air Corp, passed flight school and was assigned to fighter squadrons in December 1917.  After successfully flying with the French he transferred to the American Air Corp in June 1918.  He commanded the 134 and later the 138 squadrons.  At the time of his death he was the top American ave with 13 confirmed victories.  He had many more unconfirmed because of the very strict standards the French used to confirm victories.  When asked if it bothered him so many of his victories went unconfirmed, he said "The Germans know what I did.". He was killed in action in September 1918.  He is buried in France at the LaFayette Escadrille memorial.

"The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to David E. Putnam, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Lachaussee, France, September 12, 1918. After destroying one of the eight German planes which had attacked him, Lieutenant Putnam was turning to our lines, when he saw seven Fokkers attack an allied biplane. He attacked the Germans and saved the biplane, but was himself driven down, shot through the heart.
General Orders 71, W.D., 1919"

   In researching Putnam's aircraft I wanted to represent his Spad XIII.  Based on black and white pictures, and modern art from modelers I came up with the color scheme.  The squadron insignia is copied from the actual one removed from his plane after his death which is in display at the Air Force museum at Dayton Ohio. The ribbon is his command strip as squadron commander. 

   It was a fun research project and I now have a very unique air craft.

Wings of war: LaFayette Escadrille

  More fun with the Wings of War aircraft.

These are the Lufberry/Thenault Nieport 17 model.  I am a big fan of the Lafayette Escadrille.   So I just had to convert them to aircraft flown by those pilots.  Fortunately Dom's Decals do a set for the Escadrille.  A really first rate Indian head insignia and various markings for individual piolts.  You get decals for six pilots as well as six pilots for another squadron (number 3).  A good deal.

Wings of War: Jasta 19

  I enjoy playing the Wings of War World War One air plane game.  It is a very enjoyable game, can be picked up very quickly and provides a fun game. The model planes which they make are first class and very economical. And you can get almost anything you want air craft wise.

  I tend to play with my son a lot when he is home from school.  Our style of gaming is very different, which means I usually end up being shot down.

  One thing I have done to add to the fun is repaint and customise some of the planes.  This is helped by Dom's Decals which makes excellent decals for the Wings of War Planes.  My first efforts were to customize were the famous Fokker DR1 Triplane. Great looking plane, almost iconic.  I decided to paint them as Jasta 19 which is well documented photographs wise and colorful with the distinctive yellow and black tail.  I repainted the tsils, added he decals and voila I have smart looking group hunting the skies.

Artillery Redoubt

  I promised myself I would work on improving my terrain this year.  So I have started to add some buildings, and also a few other items to improve the tabletop appearance.

  I picked him this artillery redoubt last year at Cold Wars but just got around to painting and flocking it.  I cannot remember who made it but it is a gem and most useful too!

  Although I painted the outside of the redoubt it is now covered in flock.so much for the ground.  But a good dry brushing of the the inside made the gabions and wood pop.  It holds up to two stands of artillery.  A nice strong point in the battlefield or perhaps the little redoubt in the Crimean.

Paper Houses: a start

  Here is one of the paper houses I talked about in my last post.  The Battle in America booklet comes with three houses; the small log cabin, a church and a town house.  The last two are perfect if you are going to fight Trenton or any battle by a largest town or city.  While the small log cabin is great for numerous battles and various period settings.  You have to take them to a copy place and have them printed on card type paper.  This lets you have lots of real estate!

  The cabin comes with a porch and a overhanging roof.  I choose to not add it on my first try putting one of these paper buildings together.  When I build another one I will add it and have two different looking cabins.  That is the nice thing about paper buildings. Once you have the template you can put them together with additions and subtraction to create a variety of buildings for your tabletop.

  At Cold Wars last year I took a class at the Hobby University in how to build paper buildings.  It was great and very informative.  lots of hand on work and you put together a building.  They give you all the tools you need and plenty of help.  In past battle reports you might have noticed the two paper buildings I built in the class and took home.  I highly recommend attending the Hobby University if you go to a HMGS show.  They are outstanding.

  More to come!

"Battle in America: wargaming the Revolutionary War"

   "Battle in America: Wargaming the Revolutionary War"  is part of the Paper soldier series of books published by Helion and Company.   Soldiers are drawn by Peter Dennis and rules are by Andy Callan. I am especially interested in this set as the American Rev War is my favorite period for gaming.  In addition Andy Callan wrote Loose Files and American Scramble which are my favorite rules for the Rev War. So I was interested in this booklet and very curious about the rules.  Are they a updated version of his rules with improvement?  For those who are interested in picking this booklet up here is my review.


   Introductory material and tactical notes in "Battle in America" take up two pages of the book. a very nice introduction to the period and gaming it.  A guide is presented for choosing armies using cards and dice.  Americans should enjoy a 3:2 advantage in numbers, but dice rolls favor the British in giving them better units. Quality over quantity in theory.

   The rules take up five pages of the book. Infantry regiments have five to eight stands; cavalry, detachments and artillery are represented by fewer figures or stands. Units accumulate disruption points (DP) throughout the game. The turn sequence is firing, movement, close combat, then reaction/rallying and morale checks.  Firing and combat are calculated on a stand basis; movement is determined by the drawing of cards. The cards' colors and types determine what units can or can't do during movement. There are some command and control rules.  There is A two-page playsheet, and three scenarios ("Capture the Heights", "Winter Solders 1776", and "Long, Obstinate and Bloody 1781") To Get You Started. Always nice To have A senerio or two Included.   There are outstanding paper soldiers to start you gaming.  Very nicely done too!  In addtion you get three buildings.  Outstanding value and really useful.

   I'm a big Andy Callan fan and have played Loose Files since it first appeared.  So I was excited to get this booklet as I wanted to see if they had improved Loose Files or clarified them.   I was sadly disappointed.  It appears these are an attempt to change things that deliver unnecessary complication without adding anything to the original set. These include a blunder-type rule and command and control rules. Also, numbers count for more than class, which is a incredibly big change from the original.    When you consider the number of troop classes has dropped from five to three then no longer is quality better then quantity.  One thing I liked in the original rules was better quality regimenrs could take more punishment, regroup remove DP's and come back for more.  I do not expect this to happen here.   Don't expect your outnumbered regulars to last long.

The paper buildings are outstanding and very useful.  I will most definitely be using them in my games. Worth the price of the booklet alone.

Oh bother....

   No posts since new years due to the real world intruding into my life.

   Winter storm Grayson has disrupted my month.  After a wonderful holiday it was back to normal which is anything but in the airline industry.  The days preceding the storm saw our flights filled to capacity with customers trying to escape the coming sno-ageddon.  Frantic calls of can I rebook my flight were non stop throughout the day.  Flights were cancelled for the storm itself and we did not have to come into the station.  This is a new experience for me as when I

worked ground operations in Boston we had to be there no matter.  Airport operstions, at least in a tiny airport are quite different I guess.  After the storm flights were again booked to capacity but  weather, crew changes and such along the way caused flights to be delayed coming into ORH.  Our shift extended into the evening past midnight at one point.  Things are just getting back to normal now.

   And of course shoveling the snow.  Luckily my son was home from school to help.  Between the two of us we got the job done in record time.  On the weekend enjoyed watching the wild card round of the NFL playoffs.  Some very good games, and one not so exciting game.

   All of which left little hobby time.  No painting yet.  Instead we played a few games of World War One airplanes with the Wings of War game.  This is a fun game just perfect for a snowy day.  Of course my son consistently shoots me down as I am too busy talking about the delightful model planes while he plays the game.  And excellent models they are too.  I have repainted a few planes for aces not yet covered by the extensive range.  After a little research i repainted a spad to represent the lt. David Endicott Putnam's plane.  A local  from the area who not many have heard of but a great favorite of mine.  Also redid a few nieuport 17's to represent members of the Lafayette  escadrille.  I will be posting a few pictures in the future.

   Lastly I have started to add some sorely needed houses to my terrain collection.  The high cost of resin buildings have made them unaffordable to me so I have opted to go with paper card models.  These look very nice and are inexpensive.  There is also a great variety out there to choose from.  Two years ago at Cold Wars I took a class at the hobby university on how to make paper buildings.  It has been very helpful.  Once I get a few more done I will be posting my efforts.  here's looking forward to more time!