BTH Khalkin Gol Scenario Short List

I got round to finishing my notes for a series of Nonomhan / Khalkin Gol scenarios for Bag the Hun today, ending up with a short list of seven potential games spanning the whole conflict from the opening shots in late May 1939 to the ceasefire in September. These include the scenarios I've already described and some further scenarios that I think would be exciting games to play. They are all dogfight situations apart from one which involves a ground attack mission, most of which involve Ki-27's against various I-16 variants and I-15 bis biplane fighters. 

There is a single scenario that stands out for me, however, in which elite Soviet pilots of the 70th Fighter Air Regiment in nine I-153 Chaikas clash with nine Ki-27 Nates of the 24th Sentai on 25th July 1939. This was the first combat test of the new Russian fighter with the Soviet pilots being veterans of either the Spanish Civil War or Sino Japanese War, most with high rank and some even being Heroes of the Soviet Union. It's a bit of a cracker and should be a lot of fun to devise and then play, especially as the Japanese pilots were also experienced veterans of the ongoing conflict and the fighting in China.

Bolt Action Birthday Boy

It's my eldest son's 19th birthday today, so I bought him a bundle of Bolt Action stuff as his present. He's not a bad painter and enjoys playing Warhammer 40K, Star Wars Legion and X-Wing, as well as the occasional game with his dad, so I think he'll get a kick out of Bolt Action even though it's not my favourite set of WW2 skirmish rules. I may even be tempted to paint up my long postponed 28mm Artizan late war Germans or perhaps an extra squad or two for my existing late war US infantry platoon, who knows?

10mm First Indochina War Project Plans

LVT Alligators with four platoons bussed up

I've been re-thinking the focus of my First Indochina War 10mm project, which is slated for later this year, from a Groupement Amphibie Company to a standard Far East Infantry Company with attached support elements. The problem with the first approach is that I'd need to transport the units around in LVT Alligators, which though lovely models in their own right, are really expensive. I do have four of these with crew blocks but I'd need to have empty ones too for when the platoons dismount, costing me quite a bit more on top. I'd also need some M-29 Weasels, which are only available as crewless 3D printed models as far as I'm aware? 

Fire Section

Shock Section

MMG, Mortar, RCL 

The revised approach will be to just do an infantry company of four platoons of two sections each, one 'shock' section with SMG's and one 'fire' section with rifles and an LMG, plus three heavy weapons bases, one MMG, one mortar and one RCL, topped off with a company command stand. This I can do quite easily and perhaps even add further companies to build something close to a full battalion. There isn't a great deal of variety in the Pendraken French range but I can add some WW2 US paratrooper figures into the mix, in order to make the section bases a bit more interesting. The idea will be to then add additional 'ad hoc' support units on top of this basic orbat including AFV's, armoured cars, transport, FOO's and so on.

CEFEO Convoy

One thing I would like to do is to run some typical road security and convoy scenarios, for which I already have quite a lot of vehicles. I need to do some more research on the composition of typical convoys but I've set out what I think looks about right. At the front there's a Bren carrier to trigger any ambushes, followed by an M8 Armoured Car and M8 Motor Howitzer for fire support. This is followed by two sections of infantry in M3 half tracks or armoured trucks and the CO in an M3 scout car, The convoy of trucks is in the middle of the sandwich, followed by two more sections in M3 half tracks or armoured trucks and an M5 light tank, with another M8 armoured car bringing up the rear.

I need to convert some trucks into armoured ones including one or two with 40mm Bofors mountings, as well as vary the other trucks a bit by using some WW2 French Citroen or Renault vehicles. I might also get hold of a couple of Panhard 175 armoured cars or even try to convert a Daimler armoured car into a Coventry armoured car, which were used for convoy escort early in the war. I think this would be a really good basis for some ambush scenarios, both using the full convoy set up but also with just the armoured vehicles and infantry for road security patrols, as well as having the basic infantry company to use for other types of games using the Fivecore Company Command rules.

Modern Chinese Naval Extra Bits

The order I put into Navwar earlier this week has arrived in super quick time, so I can now add some extra punch to the Chinese PLAN taskforce, with two Jiang Wei I FFG's, a Han class SSN and a Fuqing class replenishment tanker, which has enabled them to get all the way across the Pacific. I've also got three more trawlers to add to the six I've painted up, although one may end up as a sinking model, plus the Type 22 Batch 3 DDG to use as the modified version of the Chilean flagship Almirante Williams. I'll add this lot to my project painting schedule!

Chinese Fishing Fleet Finished...almost?

I've blitzed the trawlers and factory ship for the Naval Command project this afternoon and pretty much finished them, leaving only the base texturing and painting to be completed. I'm quite happy with the trawlers which I enjoyed painting and weathering, while the factory ship isn't too bad. I have some more trawlers on order from Navwar, so I will be able to expand the fishing fleet to more than half a dozen boats later on. I'm trying to think of how I can use them to trigger an incident, as a pretext to the Chinese and Chileans coming to blows, and think I have an idea that might just work?

Modern Chinese Ships Blocking In

I've almost completed the blocking in on the Chinese warships and fishing fleet, with only the black and white details to add before I can tidy up and pin wash the models. I'm quite pleased with how the trawlers and factory ship are coming along and think they'll look pretty good once I've added some rust and weathering, as the real thing often looks very dilapidated and weather beaten. The warships, on the other hand, are a bit rough and ready!

More Nonomhan / Khalkin Gol Scenario Plans

I've been plugging away at the books to find good scenario material for Bag the Hun, now with a focus on larger, more complex dogfights to enable some multiplayer participation. The latest one I've selected occurred on the 24th June, with eight 70th IAP I-16's led by Spanish Civil War veteran Major I.Lakeev as top cover for nine I-15's led by another Spanish veteran, Kapitan Y.Stepanov, with the latter acting as bait for twenty Ki-27's of the 24th Sentai. This was a classic dogfight in which both sides suffered losses but ended in a Japanese withdrawal after Soviet reinforcements arrived in the shape of eight more I-16's. This would be a really good scenario for four people, with the two Soviet formations allocated to one pair while the Japanese force can be split evenly between the other pair of players. 

Modern Chinese Warships Underway

I've made a start on the modern Chinese warships and fishing vessels for the Naval Command project, with a small taskforce of frigates and destroyers to intervene in a fictitious but entirely plausible fishing dispute with the Chilean and Peruvian navies. The PLAN are starting out with a Luhu class DDG, two Sovremenny class DDG's and two Jiangwei II class FFG's, although I have more reinforcements on the way from Navwar. 

The fishing flotilla consists of six deep sea trawlers and a factory ship, the latter actually being a Soviet era spy ship model but ideal as a mother ship for the trawler fleet. I've given them all a light toot with Halfords white primer and have now base coated the warships in Vallejo Light Grey and the trawlers in Vallejo German Grey, ready for some blocking in. I'll aim to finish all of these by then end of the weekend, before moving on to the Fistful of Lead bank robbers and banditos.

Thud Ridge Book Bargain

There are several Osprey titles on sale for the Kindle this month, with most reduced to a fraction of the normal price, but this one stood out for me. It was less than three quid so, even though I have plenty of reference material for Thud Ridge, I splashed some pocket money on one more book. It's one of the better ones too, with lots of after action details and some excellent colour profiles. What a bargain!

Bank Robbers, Banditos and Braves

After the Fistful of Lead game yesterday, the lad asked if I had any figures he could paint up for a posse, so he's now got a gang of six Black Scorpion bad guys (or good guys?) to paint up over the half term. 

I said I'd paint some more figures too, so that we can use them in a scenario or two later as a change from the usual figures, so I have assembled a six man bank robber posse from Artizan and Foundry figures. 

I have also included a couple of rifle armed Foundry Mexican peons to beef up my existing posse and a couple of Foundry Apache braves as an extra to make the number up to a round ten figures. 

I'll start painting these soon and hope to get them finished by the end of the month if I can manage it, but I wouldn't hold your breath!