Johnny Red and Comics in Gaming

Recently my best friend Jon Russel from told me about a new addition to the game . Warlord’s WWII aerial combat game introduces well-known historical aces. In a shift, they are about to release a new ace in the line-up. The ace?

Johnny Red, a fictitious character from the comic series of the same name. Not only do I want to tell you about this new release and the Johnny Red Series I also want to talk to comics in wargaming.

Comics and Me

When I was much younger I did occasionally read comic books. Keep in mind that back then we only had four channels on TV and most of our toys were made of wood.

I loved series like Sgt. Rock, The Haunted Tank and Enemy Ace, which shows that even as an adolescent I enjoyed history because all of these series represented fictional characters in a historical setting. Despite the super-human abilities of these characters, these comics were never really a gateway drug for me to the super-heroes battling with the super-villains comic book mainstays.

Recently I spent time with a friend, Sandy, who is really into comics (and who works for DC Comics). Before his visit to my neck of the woods, he sent my son a huge box of comics. As I went through the massive box, I noticed how the art and storylines have improved over the years and are now well above what 12-year old me would have been able to understand back then. Sandy knows his comics, and his love of the genre got me back into reading comics.

Johnny Red

The character, features the Englishman Johnny Redburn, or “Johnny Red.” The pilot, through a series of events, finds himself and his Hurricane in Russia fighting with the Falcon Squadron of the Soviet Air Force.

You may have heard the name Garth Ennis before. He has created or written about some very well-known characters, including The Preacher, Punisher and Judge Dredd. If you look up the comics penned by Ennis you will also find a bunch of historical based comics besides Johnny Red.

I was lucky that Jon Russel from Warlord sent me a copy of The Hurricane, the first part of the story of Johnny Red and I finished it in two days. I gave the book to my son to read, and yes he will have a quiz on it.

The comic features Johnny and his rag-tag group of Russian flyers in a storyline that defines the entire genre. Johnny and his Hurricane slug it out with scores of ME-109’s. The pride of the Luftwaffe typically goes down in flames by the end of each issue. The storyline bends history with fantasy, such as the dogfighting version of the six-shooter that never runs out of bullets.
However I could not put the book, down. It reminded me of the fun I had reading the comics of my youth and I quickly ordered the remaining books in the Johnny Red series, as well as and some other history-based comics.

Falcon Squadron

The reason Jon Russel told me about Johnny and sent me the book is because Johnny Red and crew are featured in a new box set for BRS. Richard Carlisle at Warlord gave me the following scoop on the Falcon Squadron box set. New Aircraft: Polikarpov I-16, Yak-1B, Lavochkin La-5FN, and MiG-3

This pack also includes Action Deck cards which cover the aircraft presented in the squadron:

Falcon Squadron

8 Trait cards, 1 Theatre card, 1 Doctrine card, and 1 Equipment card

Trait Cards:
Tight Turn
Great
Dive
Rapid Roll
Poor Quality
Sluggish

Theater Card: Telegram from Stalin: The General Secretary often took a direct interest in aircraft production. Play this card during deployment. Effect; VVS planes in one designated squadron disregard the Poor Quality trait in this battle. Remove Card after use.

Doctrine Card: Ram Attack

Equipment: Rockets 1940/ 15pts Rockets provided a big boost in firepower at a cost in speed and agility. Play this card during deployment. All aircraft designated as carrying rockets double firepower in their first attack. Until they attack they suffer -1 Speed and -1 Agility. Remains in play

The Aircraft

Polikarpov I-16
Single engine fighter + 21 points
The I-16 was a truly revolutionary fighter design when introduced in the 1930s; the world’s first operational low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter. Successive upgrades kept the I-16 competitive with its contemporaries and it formed the backbone of the Soviet air force at the start of WW2.

Yak-1B
Single engine fighter + 31 points
The Yak-1B was an unofficial designation for a host of improvements which culminated in a new standard of production for the Yak-1 by October 1942. Among other improvements the Yak-1B’s engine was upgraded, it had a bubble canopy fitted, a retractable tail wheel, an improved gunsight and cockpit controls including a new control stick based on the Bf109.

Lavochkin La-5FN
Single engine fighter + 31 points
The La-5 was born out of an attempt to mate the powerful Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engine onto the Lagg-3 airframe. The result was so successful incomplete Lagg-3s were finished to the new La-5 designation. With a powerful cannon armament and fuel-injected engine the La-5FN became a well-respected frontline fighter through to the end of the war.

MiG-3
Single engine fighter + 14 points
The MiG-3 was designed as a high-speed interceptor to catch fast enemy bombers. By the standards of its day it was blisteringly fast, but it was also extremely difficult to fly in combat and had a comparatively weak armament. The MiG-3 was phased out of frontline combat squadrons and production switched over to other types after 1942.

Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn
SINGLE ENGINE AIRCRAFT 0NLY
Signature Trait: +1 Agility
Ace Skill Cards: Killer Instinct, Mother Hen
Pilot Skill: 5
Points: +135
Hurricane +29 points

This is a lot for one box and really expands the Soviets in BRS. For those who pick up this box set and have not read the Johnny Red books, I recommend that you do. I think the back story will add to your enjoyment of the game.

Gaming Comics

Many of you who have read my posts over the years know I do not play very many fiction based games. The occasional Malifaux, X-Wing or Armada will sneak into the mix because they are great games. Most of the time I prefer history over fiction for my gaming.

When I met up with Jon Russel at an event in 2018, he demoed the game Strontium Dog from Warlord and I felt this game was very tight and seemed fun so I picked up the starter kit. Written by John Wagner, Strontium Dog features another Johnny (must be a popular name in the UK) who finds himself in a post-apocalyptic Britain in the year 2150.

Johnny and his crew fight mutants and all of the other characters one would find in a dystopian world. The game is a ton of fun and I wish I could play it more often. For those willing to try it out, pick up the starter set, it’s all you really need to play this great game.

A lot of other games also feature characters from the pages of comic books, HeroClix is one example where the avid comic fan can game with their favorite heroes and villains and create their own storyline with them. Since HeroClix is dominated by these fictional characters the developers have a free hand to introduce all sorts of new rules and abilities into the game.

A historically based game that features comic characters may not have the same latitude.

One benefit from gaming characters from comics is that they often come with a very deep and interesting back story which gives game developers a lot of flavor to put into the game. This will really enrich your gaming experience. You can enjoy reading about the characters you game with when you are not at a gaming table.

Comics and Historical Gaming

I wonder how our community of gamers would feel about including comic based characters in games such as Bolt Action?

A lot of grognards like their games to simulate the reality of combat as much as possible and the inclusion of such larger than life personas may be heresy. Even with this said, I do feel that including them with special rules to bring their comic attributes into the game would be a fun twist that may actually attract new players as well as make an old game exciting again.

I wonder how Sgt. Rock and the dogfaces of Easy Company would fare against a 750-point German Bolt Action list. You know that the models would look amazing if done right and if Rock is joined with Bulldozer, Ice Cream Soldier, Wildman, and Little Sure Shot, they would wreak havoc on an opponent.

Even if many in our community feel that including these fictional characters would ruin the game for them, they do have the option not to play with these characters.

Ahistorical characters have always been in historical gaming, especially 28mm skirmish games where some games introduce some very pulpy characters. Sharpes Practice and Chosen Men are two Napoleonic Skirmish games that have a wonderful pulp feel to them. Even some historical figures in games have abilities that transcend reality and I have never seen very much opposition to this.

Breaking or Expanding the Game

Will adding characters from comics break or expand the games we play if they included in the future? There is no doubt that if they are in a game they will have talents and abilities that will exceed the current Meta of the game. I feel that this would expand the game and attract new players and also bring back older players who play less because the game had gotten stale. As I alluded to above, their inclusion is up to the players who want to try some new and fun to spice up their games.

The Community

I would really like to hear from you on our forums and on Facebook to see what you think about the role of comics in historical gaming and which characters you would like to see included in a game.

No matter your view, I think you will enjoy playing with and reading about Johnny Red and the members of Falcon Squadron.