Monday 17 December 2012

Aircraft for 15mm games

 My 15mm armies will soon have some much-needed air support courtesy of Matchbox Skybusters.  First up we have a flight of 3 "Stealth Launch" fighters.  These will provide ideal fast air support and will also be able to guard against enemy aircraft.  I'd see them as air superiority fighters with a limited ground attack capability depending upon ordnance loading.  They seem to be a cross between a Grumman X-29 and the F-302 from Stargate.  A very nice sci-fi fighter, perhaps slightly small for 15mm scale but I'm very happy with them.  I've noticed them cropping up in a few other 15mm blogs too, so others obviously agree.

"Stealth Launch" jets
 I also have some lower tech prop planes.  These remind me of the Skyhawks from the Amtrak Wars books by Patrick Tilley, also the Boomerang spotter 'pane from BattleTech.  These will become spotter aircraft, slow flying but highly manoeuverable.  I'd envisage these being cheap and easy to maintain, the low technology base enabling them to keep running when the grid is being jammed.  They'd also be ideal for third world countries to add a couple of hard points enabling them to carry a pair of light machine guns or a couple of small bombs.  The pusher-propellor and twin-boom tail mean that even though it is low-tech, it still looks suitably futuristic.
"Sea Arrow" aircraft
At the time of writing, painting is already underway.  I feel an airfield attack coming, perhaps something along the lines of the Pebble Island raid...

2 comments:

  1. Matchboxes are such a good resource for wargaming! I am considering refurbishing some of my old Sky Busters for use as airpower in my games too!

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  2. I have a few others kicking around in my old toy box too - AV-8B Harrier, Corsair (possibly only of use as wreckage!).

    It's nice to be able to give them all a new lease of life.

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