Blue Sky Enterprises
Bases and Decals

by Bill Rutherford

FLIGHT STICK, TURN KEY, and BOMBER BASE

John Stannoch makes and sells these three game aids for use with his series of WW II air gaming rules (Red Sun/Blue Sky et al). All are cut from 3/16ths inch thick clear plexiglass. The FLIGHT STICK is a "stick" of ten 1 and 5/16ths inch hexes that allows gamers to play hex-based games without a hex mapped game board. The TURN KEY is similar, except that the last two hexes on one end are crooked like the end of a candy cane to allow players to make turns during movement without a hex map. We've used these locally with excellent results. One word of warning, though – aids are accurate. If you use them while playing on one of the commercially available felt game boards with hex overlays, you may confuse yourself. That's because the felt game board has a border that's about 1/16th of an inch thick surrounding each hex. Over a range of several hexes, this adds up. The FLIGHT STICK (or TURN KEY) and the game board will not match because the distance on the game board includes hex boundaries while the aid doesn't.. The whole point is to allow play without an obvious hex overlay on the game board, which the FLIGHT STICK and TURN KEY do admirably… The BOMBER BASE is a plexiglass triangle on which one mounts three normal flying bases to allow easier movement of bomber formations. Hmm. Multiple miniatures on a single base – the idea just may have potential in other gaming areas as well… When playing, say, with 1/300 scale heavy bombers, a base like this is a must – otherwise the entire game will be spent standing up knocked-over bombers… The FLIGHT STICK and TURN KEY each sell for $8.00 and the BOMBER BASE sells for $4.00. Our group initially balked at the BOMBER BASE's price – after all, it's just a plexiglass triangle, right? Then we considered how long it would take to make our own to a decent standard. We happily chose to use BOMBER BASEs! Highly recommended from your FLGS or directly from Blue Sky Enterprises, at 6 Brookfield Way, Robbinsville, NJ 08691.

1/300 Scale Aircraft Decals

Blue Sky Enterprises (BSE) currently lists 116 decal sheets of aircraft markings in their price list, but I'm sure that by the time this goes to print there'll be more. They include all of the major combatants of WW II with various sized national markings (even Rumania!) and for the German and Soviet air forces, include several sheets of aircraft codes and numbers. The range also includes fuselage, tail, and wing codes for 16 American bomber squadrons in 4 bomb groups, complete with (notional) nose art.

A typical sheet includes between 40 and 50 national markings, or enough bomber markings to do about a dozen or so bombers. They're generally reasonably on-register (though I had problems with my yellow bomber codes' registry), are thin, and go on well. At $2.00 a sheet, I think they're a bargain. Also available are sheets of 16 11/16ths inch hexagons in a multitude of colors (only one color to a sheet), with contrasting-colored numbers on each facing. They are designed for use with BSE's aircraft flight bases, but will work with any flying stands. At $4.00 per sheet they're very reasonably priced. Recommended.

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