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.

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!