BTH Khalkin Gol Scenario Balance

One of the tricky things with the Khalkin Gol / Nonomhan conflict is how to balance the scenario so that either side has a decent chance of achieving their objectives, while still having an enjoyable game. 

Although I personally don't mind having a minimal chance of winning or even losing by a fair margin, some people are driven to win and get stroppy when they think they don't have a chance. I always play the underdog in most games, as it's more fun and even better when you do succeed, but it's not always great if you want to come away from an evening playing toy soldiers (or aeroplanes) with a bounce in your step.

The obvious issue with the Khalkin Gol / Nonomhan conflict is that, at the beginning, the Soviets get pasted by the Japanese, while at the end the tables are turned and it's the other way round, with the Soviets hammering the Japanese. In the middle, there's a good balance but at either end, in May and September for example, it is a bit one sided to say the least. Here's a good example from 27th May 1939. 

A squadron of eight I-16's of the 1st Fighter Squadron, 22nd Fighter Air Regiment were scrambled to intercept three Ki-27's that appeared over their forward air strip at 2500'. The squadron leader and another pilot failed to start their engines, leaving only six I-16's to take off, flying east in a ragged line ahead without formating for combat. They climbed to 2000' and were bounced by six more Ki-27's of the 1st Chutai, 11th Sentai led by future ace pilot Captain Kenji Shimada.

The Japanese attacked in tight formation, diving down from 1000' above the Soviet fighters at high speed. The three Ki-27's that had been spotted initially joined in, once they had performed their role as bait for the Soviets, giving a numerical advantage to the Japanese. Despite the efforts of the Soviet deputy squadron leader, Lt Cherenkov, to get the I-16's into some sort of defensive formation, the Soviets lost another two fighters though engine failure, one shot down in flames and a fourth destroyed in a crash landing. The Japanese claimed to have shot down nine I-16's!

As you can see, they didn't stand much of a chance, being very inexperienced and effectively leaderless, especially as Lt Cherenkov was one of the pilots shot down early in the dogfight. In the end, only one battered I-16 made it back to the airstrip, two pilots were killed and a third wounded, with no airworthy fighters left at the end. It's a good basis for a scenario, nonetheless, as it has lots of interesting elements including the varied level of experience on either side, the bounce by the Ki-27s which works well with the use of bogey counters, as well as a manageable numbers for a two to four player game.

I just have to work on the mission objectives and victory conditions to balance it out!

1/600th Polikarpov I-16 Squadron

I enjoyed painting the R-5 so I've decided to fast track the Khalkin Gol Bag the Hun project by painting a  squadron of twelve I-16 monoplane fighters. These are the Tumbling Dice models and come in packs of six for two quid, so for the price of a fancy sandwich you can have a whole squadron of four three plane sections. I don't think they'll take too long either as they are very tiddly!

Polikarpov R-5 Finished

Here's the converted 1/600th model of a Polikarpov R-5 that is the focus of the first Khalkin Gol Bag the Hun scenario, now painted up in a typical camouflage scheme for the conflict. There are no stats for the R-5 in the rule book, so I've made some up based on the guidelines in the 2004 Xmas Special and comparison with similar aircraft:

Polikarpov R-5

SPD 3 / MAN 3 / ALT 5 / ROC 1 / ROB 1 / SIZ 2 / FF Front 1 / FF Rear 1 / AMMO 12

1/600th Polikarpov R-5 Conversion

I had a go at converting a Tumbling Dice Mitsubishi B2M into a Polikarpov R-5 this morning and I'm quite pleased with the end result. The upper wing is too short and slightly the wrong shape but, apart from that, it's not too bad. I only need one of these but I may have another go using plastic card to model a more accurate upper wing. This one, however, will be used as a colour test model for the Soviet aircraft I'll be painting up for the Bag the Hun Khalkin Gol project. 

Shout Out for Strength and Honour

I'm not really an Ancients player, in fact I can probably count the number of games I've played on one hand over the last thirty years, but this up and coming set of very small scale, mass battle rules looks very tempting. The author, Mark Backhouse, is a history and classics teacher so really knows his stuff, as well as being a veteran wargamer and regular contributor to Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. He is also a really nice chap, so invited me to join the Facebook development group for the the rules a few months ago. 

I've been following the progress he's been making toward publication with real interest and am almost tempted to give it a go myself, especially as the core feature of the system is the use of 2mm scale scratch built armies created using green stuff and laser cut mdf bases. You may have seen Mark's article in WSS 112 a while back, where he demonstrated his method for sculpting entire Roman Legions or Celtic tribal armies out of cheap and readily available materials. 

It's a brilliant idea and looks very effective, really capturing the mass battle effect and far more realistic than the conventional four figures on a DBX base. I'm a bit lazy, however, so I'm waiting for a quick alternative to hours of kneading green stuff, with a couple of companies already experimenting with resin and laser cut mdf armies. I also really like the fact that it's not a competition style system, which tends to dominate Ancient wargaming, but is far more rounded as a historical set of rules. 

I'm not much of an Ancients player, as previously mentioned, but I'd definitely be up for some early to late period Medieval wargaming, being a lapsed Medieval historian and archaeologist by degrees. I can see how the mass battle effect would be perfect for Crecy, Agincourt, Towton or  Bannockburn. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about this set of innovative rules in the not too distant future, as I reckon it's a cracker of a concept!

(2) The official Strength and Honour - small scale Ancients rules | Groups | Facebook

1/600th Polikarpov R-5

I need a single Polikarpov R-5 for one of the Khalkin Gol scenarios I'm working on but there isn't one in the Tumbling Dice or Oddzial Osmy range, so I'll have to do a conversion. I think I've found a close enough match as a starting point, using a Tumbling Dice Mitsubishi B2M torpedo bomber with the wings, tail plane and engine cowling remodeled. I'm going to have a first attempt tomorrow to see if it will work?

Modern Chinese Navy Progress

I've been busy this week with various jobs around the house and garden, my agency supply work having dried up, so I've only had limited time to spend on the modern PLAN warships and fishing boats. The extra models I added to the line up are now at the same stage as the first lot, with all of the blocking in completed and some detailing underway, before they get highlighted and pin washed. I'm now hoping to get them finished for basing by the end of the week?

BTH Khalkin Gol Scenario Extras

I've now shortlisted about six potential Bag the Hun dogfight scenarios for the Khalkin Gol / Nonomhan incident, most of which involve Ki-27's against a combination of I-15bis, I-16's and I-153's. To add some variety to the scenarios, which cover the entire conflict from May 1939 to September 1939, I'm also going to include at least one that features the obsolete Kawasaki Ki-10 Type 95 'Perry' biplane fighters of the 33rd Sentai, 2nd Chutai, which were sent to the front in September to make up for losses in the Ki-27 equipped units. 

There are two possible scenarios for this, one on the 2nd September when three Type 95's clashed with a whole squadron of I-16's of the 22nd IAP, with two of the Japanese fighters shot down for no loss. This is a bit one sided, so I'll probably use the next day as the basis of the scenario, when seven Type 95's of the same unit took on twenty to thirty Soviet aircraft in a mass dogfight, which I will scale back to seven I-153's of the 70th IAP, as they have been clearly identified in at least one source as the aircraft involved. This will be a more balanced set up but the Japanese will still struggle against the Chaikas!

In other news, I'm about to get a package from Tumbling Dice with some top up packs of I-152's and the aformentioned Ki-10's, as well as some extra Ki-27's, so that I can add them to my existing lead pile of models for this project. I am going to start painting the planes when the modern Chinese PLAN ships are out of the way, ready for some scenario writing and playtesting over the summer. I'll be playtesting the scenarios solo for a change, which should be a challenge as I usually get the chaps at the club to do it for me while I umpire and make notes, but I'm sure it will work out okay.

Summer Naval Project 2021

In normal times I take a wargaming project of some sort on my summer holidays, with the aim being to prepare a full set of models ready for painting in the second half of the year.

In the past, this has included an AK47 army, a tribal army for In the Heart of Africa, a Napoleonic French fleet, a fleet of Peter Pig pirate ships, some late Victorian ironclads and various other things, most of which are now gathering dust in storage boxes. It's still a good way to get some lead shifted down the production line and is actually quite an enjoyable thing to do on a quiet evening.

This year it looks like we won't be able to get away, at least not to Brittany, due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions. As a result, I have been debating whether or not to do a project this summer, which would be another naval themed project if it happened. If I do, I'm going to pick from a shortlist of three or four projects, most of which are on my 'to do' list for 2021. 

The front runner is an Italian Regia Marina or IJN fleet in 1/3000th scale, to use against my existing French fleet with the Find, Fix and Strike rules. In second place, is a 1/2400th scale Age of Sail project based on the Isles of Scilly c1650, using the Mad for War rules. In the last place, there's the Steamer Wars WW1 project in 1/600th scale based on Lake Tanganyika. If those don't float my boat, there's always some more 1/2400th scale Victorian ironclads or pre-dreadnoughts to be added to the painting pile.

I'll have to make up my mind soon....!

Scale Aircraft Options for Khalkin Gol

I've worked out that I need about eight to ten of the basic fighter types for the Khalkin Gol / Nonomhan Bag the Hun scenario project, with the obvious choice being either 1/285th - 1/300th or 1/600th. Luckily, the main fighters are readily available in both scales, with Raiden Miniatures, Heroics & Ros and Scotia Collectair filing the 1/285th - 1/300th scale gap, and Tumbling Dice or Oddzial Osmy providing the 1/600th scale models (I've included pictures of the I-16 models for comparison).

Here are the relevant codes for the Raiden Miniatures option:

RAI-RUS001 - Polikarpov I-16 (£2.50)

RAI-RUS009 - Polikarpov I-15bis (£2.95)

RAI - RUS011 - Polikarpov I-153 (£2.95)

RAI - JAP025 - Nakajima Ki-27 (£2.50)

For a considerably cheaper option, Scotia Collectair has the following:

CAR-S12 Polikarpov I-16 (£1.00)

CAR-S20 Polikarpov I-153 (£1.00) - listed as an I-15 but it's a Chaika!

CAJ-S11 Nakajima Ki-27 (£1.00)

CAJ-S19 Kawasaki Ki-31 Mary (£1.50)

CAJ-S22 Mitsubishi Ki-51 Sonia (£1.00)

A good option for a cannon armed I-16P?

If you can find some, Leading Edge also used to have a Ki-27 in their range but it's now OOP.

The Heroics and Ros range also includes a good number of the planes you need, including an R-5:

JA108 - Nakajima Ki-27 Nate (£1.00)

JA115 - Mitsubishi Ki-15 Babs (£1.00)

JA116 - Mitsubishi Ki-51 Sonia (£1.00)

JA208 - Kawasaki Ki-32 Mary (£1.25)

JA305 - Kawasaki Ki-10 Perry (£1.50)

SA101 - Polikarpov I-16 (£1.00)

SA304 - Polikarpov R-5 (£1.00)

In 1/600th scale, Tumbling Dice has the following at a standard pack price of £2.00:

ISA336 - Polikarpov I-152 (I-15bis) x 4 

ISA367 - Polikarpov I-16 x 6

ISA373 - Polikarpov I-153 x 4

ISA403 Kawasaki Type92 Ki10 x 4

ISA411 Nakajima Ki-27 x 4

If you prefer Oddzial Osmy, here are the relevant codes, at £4.00 per pack:

WSU616 Polikarpov I-16 x 8

WSU627 Polikarpov I-153 x 8

WJA607 Nakajima Ki-27 Otsu x 8

Please remember that I've omitted any of the medium bombers, as they don't feature in the scenarios I'm working on, but there are some available in both 1/300th and 1/600th scale. 

I think I'll opt for 1/600th scale using the Tumbling Dice range, as it's more cost effective and has everything I need apart from a Polikarpov R-5, which I will have to convert from something similar. If I had deep pockets and plenty of time, however, the Raiden Miniatures models are very nice, with the Collectair option as a back up. The Collectair I-16 and I-153 are actually really decent models and would paint up well, so they would be my first choice in 6mm.