The Imperial Japanese Navy … in 1/1200th-scale: Yet more additions … plus some other items of interest

Thanks to seller on eBay, I have managed to acquire a second model of a Kongo-class fast battleship to add to my collection of 1:1200th-scale Imperial Japanese Navy warships, ...

(36,601 tons; 30 knots; 8 x 14-inch guns; 14 x 6-inch guns; 8 x 5-inch AA guns; 8 x 25mm AA guns)

… as well as the aircraft carrier, IJNS Kaga.

(38,200 tons; 28 knots; 10 x 7.9-inch guns; 16 x 5-inch AA guns; 22 x 25mm AA guns; 90 aircraft)

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At the same time, I acquired a model of Argentinian Navy coastal defence battleship, ANA Libertad

(2,336 tons; 11 knots; 2 x 9-inch guns; 2 x 4.7-inch guns, 4 x 47mm QF guns; 4 x 18-inch torpedo tubes)

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Finally, I bought one of KATO's Pocket Line N-gauge locomotives and carriages.

The locomotive isn't powered ... but one of the carriages is!

I hope to give it a test run on my layout later this week.

They’re in the post …

I have been continuing to buy stuff on eBay.

Firstly, I ‘won’ an auction that will enable me to add a further Kongo-class battleship and a Kaga-class aircraft carrier to my collection of Imperial Japanese Navy warships plus a model of the Libertad, an Argentinian coastal defence battleship.

Secondly, I also ‘won’ an auction for a Faller kit of a ruined castle that I hope to use with my Belle Époque collection.

Finally, I ‘won’ the auction for a KATO Pocket Line N-gauge steam loco and two carriages to add to my model railway collection.

I’m waiting for these items to be delivered, hence the title of this blog post. In the meantime, I’m continuing to work on the next edition of the Compendium.

The Fourth Portable Wargame Compendium: An update

I’ve been making slow but steady progress with compiling the next Portable Wargame Compendium. I have recently received several more very interesting contributions and I think that the next volume will really take the whole Portable Wargame concept forward.

At present the contents of the Fourth Portable Wargame Compendium includes the following:

• Contents
• Introduction
• Hoplite: The Peloponnesian War in a Tin
• Gridded Age of Sail Naval Wargames
• The Portable Charge! Wargame (PC!W) … or Recreating the Classic Wargame Rules in a more manageable form
• The Portable Naval Wargame: Russo-Japanese War
• Chubby Mini-Marine War Game Rules
• Building a ‘Chubby Marine’ for Portable Naval Wargames
• Contact!: High intensity modern warfare at Division Level
• The Portable War of the Worlds
• Sci-Fi Skirmish Squared – A Portable Wargame 3 x 3 Variant
• ‘Duo Aleae Iactae Sunt’ (Two Dice Are Rolled): A simple fire or combat resolution system using only two dice
• The Extended Battlefield
• The Dominion of … Rules Supplement
• Dominion of Conan the Barbarian
• Dominion of the Oar and Ram
• Intestinal Fortitude: An optional rule for the Dominion of … rules
• Appendix 1: Hex and Square gridded maps for the Battle of Blasthof Heath
• Appendix 2: Board and Unit Counters for Contact!

The Imperial Japanese Navy … in 1/1200th-scale: Even more additions

My quest to build up a sizeable force of Imperial Japanese Navy 1/1200th-scale model ships continues, and I have recently acquired the following new ships:

A Mogami-class heavy cruiser, ...

(11,000 tons; 37 knots; 10 x 8-inch guns; 8 x 5-inch AA guns; 8 x 25mm AA guns;12 x 24-inch torpedo tubes; 2 catapults*; 3 floatplanes)

... four Kagero-class destroyers, ...

(2,500 tons; 35 knots; 6 x 5-inch guns; 4 x 25mm AA guns; 16 depth charges; 8 x 24-inch torpedo tubes)

... two Mutsuki-class destroyers, and ...

(1,445 tons; 37 knots; 4 x 4.7-inch guns; 2 x 13.2mm AA guns; 18 depth charges; 6 x 24-inch torpedo tubes; 16 mines)

... two Asashio-class destroyers.

(2,370 tons; 35 knots; 6 x 5-inch guns; 4 x 25mm AA guns; 36 depth charges; 8 x 24-inch torpedo tubes)

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* The model is currently only fitted with a single catapult.

The Boulton Paul Defiant Bomber: A 'What if ...'

I have always had a soft spot for the Boulton Paul Defiant singe-engined, turretted fighter.

The Defiant was designed to be a day and night fighter that could attack enemy bombers. At the time that the RAF drew up the specification for a turretted fighter (F.9/35), it was expected that enemy bombers would not have any fighter escorts.

The Defiant was in front-line service with Nos. 141 and 264 Squadrons by May 1940, and although they enjoyed initial success against Luftwaffe aircraft during Operation Dynamo and the opening days of the Battle of Britain, once German fighters realised that they had no forward-facing armament, the losses of aircraft led to it withdrawal from daytime service and it took on a night fighter role.

The design was trialled in the Army Co-operation role (close air support: Providing, tactical reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and training anti-aircraft gunners) and Boulton Paul produced a prototype fixed-gun fighter that was armed with either twelve .303-inche (7.7mm) Browning machine guns (with six guns in each wing) or four 20mm (0.79-inch) Hispano cannons (with two cannons in each wing).

My 'What if ...?' builds on these two possibilities. I assume that removing the turret and replacing it with a single rear-facing machine gun would reduce the aircraft's overall weight, and that this could be used to offset the weight of adding a 20mm (0.79-inch) Hispano cannon in each wing and two underwing bomb racks capable of carrying 250-pound bombs.

The resulting aircraft would have looked something like this:

The aircraft's characteristics would have been something like this:

• Crew: two: pilot, gunner
• Length: 35ft 4in (10.77m)
• Wingspan: 39ft 4in (11.99m)
• Height: 11ft 4in (3.45m)
• Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V12 engine
• Propeller: 3-bladed
• Maximum speed: 300 mph
• Cruise speed: 175 mph
• Range: 465 miles
• Armament: 2 x 20mm Hispano cannons; 1 × 0.303mm machine gun; 2 x 250-pound bombs

Interestingly, the end result looks somewhat like a scaled-down Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft.

The Battle of Britain, 1985

At the recent Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering, I gave a presentation about the 1985 Battle of Britain that was outlined in General Hackett's book THE THIRD WORLD WAR. I hope to turn the presentation into a YouTube video, but in the meantime, here is the outline of the information I covered in it.

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The prediction …

According to General Hackett’s book The Third World War (published in 1978), the war would start on 4th August 1985. To defend UK airspace, the book made several assumptions that by 1985 the RAF would have the following assets:

• Two squadrons of English Electric Lightning F.6s.
• Considerable numbers of Panavia Tornado ADV aircraft would have replaced the McDonnell Douglas Phantoms previously used for air defence.
• BAE Nimrod AEW would be in service.
• Vickers VC-10 transports would have been converted for the air-to-air refuelling role.
• Boeing KC-135 air-to-air refuelling tankers would have been purchased from the United States.
• The number of SAMs in service would have been considerably enhanced by increased production and the diversion of overseas sales.
• Two squadrons of EUROSAM (the Aster 30) would be in service.
• New radar and command systems would be in place.

The air war began unofficially on 30th July when a Russian reconnaissance MiG-25 Foxbat approached UK airspace and a Tornado from Leuchars was sent to intercept it. The Russian aircraft turned away before it was intercepted and accelerated to Mach 2.5. Ground-based radar systems reported sporadic ECM interference during the incident, but AEW was able to maintain radar coverage.

Once the war started, the UK was subject to a series of Russian attacks that were intended to achieve the following objectives:

1. The neutralization of UK air defences.
2. The elimination of nuclear-capable land-based forces.
3. The disruption of the command-and-control structure.
4. The interception of transatlantic reinforcement flights to Europe.

As a result of these attacks, the ground-based radar systems were destroyed, AEW aircraft were shot down, and no European mainland radar systems were available to give early warning of Russian air attacks on the UK.

Tornados – supported by tankers – were forced to operate autonomous air patrols to intercept Russian attacks until replacement AEW and mobile ground-based radar systems became available. These air patrols were initially concentrated on the area to the northeast of Scotland but switched to the Baltic entrance into the North Sea as the Russian advanced in northern Europe.

Runways were subject to considerable damage due to cratering, but these were repaired by specialist repair units.

Most Russian low-level air attacks on airfields were shot down by Rapier SAM units defending the RAF’s airfields.

Russian medium-level air attacks were accompanied by considerable ECM.

The use of precision-guided air-launched stand-off ordnance was concentrated on specific types of targets.

• Airfields, air defence radars, and command-and-control centres.
• Ports and airports.
• Factories producing aircraft and ordnance.
• Central government buildings … including the Treasury, the Ministry of Defence, and the Palace of Westminster.

By the afternoon of 12th August (the ninth day of the war) Russian air attacks on the UK effectively ended. Incoming Russian Backfires were turning for home as soon as they picked up intercepting Tornados.

The air defence of the UK had defeated the enemy … just!

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The reality … 

RAF Strike Command was formed on 30th April 1968 by the merger of Bomber Command and Fighter Command, which became No. 1 Group and No. 11 Group respectively. Air Defence of the UK was in the hands of No. 11 Group (RAF Bentley Priory, Greater London).

During the early 1980s, the Group included the following RAF squadrons:

• No. 5 Squadron: English Electric Lightning F.6: RAF Binbrook (Lincolnshire)
• No. 11 Squadron: English Electric Lightning F.6: RAF Binbrook (Lincolnshire)
• No. 23 Squadron: McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2: RAF Coningsby, (Lincolnshire) (until August 1982, when it moved to the Falkland Islands)
• No. 29 Squadron: McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2: RAF Coningsby (Lincolnshire) (until October 1983 when it moved to the Falkland Islands)
• No. 43 Squadron: McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1: RAF Leuchars (Fife)
• No. 56 Squadron: McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2: RAF Wattisham (Suffolk)
• No. 64 Squadron/228 OCU: McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1 and FGR.2: RAF Coningsby (Lincolnshire)
• No. 74 Squadron: McDonnell Douglas Phantom F-4J(UK): RAF Wattisham (Suffolk) (from October 1984)
• No. 111 Squadron: McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1: RAF Leuchars (Fife)

From 1983 to 1986, eighty-eight BAE Hawks T1s operated by various training squadrons (mainly No.4 Flying Training School, RAF Valley (Anglesey)) were equipped as short-range interceptor aircraft and modified to carry two AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles in addition to a 30 mm ADEN centre-mounted under-fuselage gun pod.

In addition, SAMs were operated by several RAF squadrons in the UK:

• No. 25 Squadron: Bristol Bloodhound: RAF Wyton (Cambridgeshire) (defending RAF Barkston Heath (Lincolnshire), RAF Wattisham (Suffolk), and RAF Wyton (Cambridgeshire))
• No. 27 Squadron: BAC Rapier: RAF Leuchars (Fife)
• No. 66 Squadron: BAC Rapier: HQ RAF West Raynham (Norfolk) (defending RAF Bentwaters (Suffolk) and RAF Woodbridge (Suffolk))
• No. 85 Squadron: Bristol Bloodhound: HQ RAF West Raynham (Norfolk) (defending RAF West Raynham (Norfolk), RAF North Coates (Lincolnshire), and RAF Bawdsey (Suffolk))

In support were:

• No.8 Squadron: 12 Avro Shackelton AEW.2: RAF Lossiemouth (Moray) … equipped with a third-hand AEW radar, the AN/APS-20 that had first been introduced into service in the USA in 1945 and previously fitted to Royal Navy’s Douglas AD-4W Skyraider AEW.1 and Fairey Gannet AEW.3 aircraft!
• No. 55 Squadron: 12 Handley Page Victor K.2 air-to-air refuelling aircraft: RAF Marham (Norfolk)
• No. 57 Squadron: 12 Handley Page Victor K.2 air-to-air refuelling aircraft: RAF Marham (Norfolk)
• No. 101 Squadron: 13 Vickers VC10 C.1K two-point tanker/transports: RAF Brize Norton (Oxfordshire)
• No. 216 Squadron: 9 Lockheed Tristar KC.1 air-to-air refuelling aircraft: RAF Brize Norton (Oxfordshire)

The following ground-based radar stations were available to feed data into the air defence system:

• RAF Saxa Vord (Shetland Islands)
• RAF Buchan (Aberdeenshire)
• RAF Boulmer (Northumberland)
• RAF Staxton Wood (Yorkshire)
• RAF Neatishead (Norfolk)
• RAF Benbecula (Outer Hebrides)

Summary of air defence assets:

• 2 x English Electric Lightning F.6 short-range interceptor squadrons
• 7 x McDonnell Douglas Phantom long-range interceptor squadrons
• 2/3 x BAE Hawks T1 reserve interceptor squadrons
• 2 x Bristol Bloodhound medium-range SAM squadrons
• 2 x BAC Rapier short-range SAM squadrons

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RAF 1985 equipment data

• The English Electric Lightning F.6 had a maximum speed of 1,500 mph, a supersonic combat range of 155 miles and was armed with 2 x 30 mm ADEN cannon and 2 x de Havilland Firestreak or Red Top AAMs. (In theory, if moving at its maximum speed, the aircraft would take 6.2 minutes to reach its combat range.)
• The McDonnell Douglas Phantom had a maximum speed of 1,386 mph, a combat range of 370 miles and was armed with 6 x AIM-7 Sparrow or Skyflash AAMs, 4 x AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs, and a 20 mm SUU-23/A gun pod. (In theory, if moving at its maximum speed, the aircraft would take 16 minutes to reach its combat range.)
• The BAE Hawk T1 had a maximum speed of 644 mph and a range of 1,500 miles and was armed with 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs and a 30mm ADEN gun pod.
• The Bristol Bloodhound had a maximum speed of 2,070 mph and a combat range of 120 miles. (In theory, if moving at its maximum speed, the missile would take 3.5 minutes to reach its combat range.)
• The BAC Rapier had a maximum speed of 2,300 mph and a combat range of 5 miles. (In theory, if moving at its maximum speed, the missile would take 7.8 seconds to reach its combat range.)

Nugget 375

I collected the latest issue of THE NUGGET from the printer (Macaulay Scott Printing Company of Welling, Kent) yesterday, and I will post it out to members as soon as I can.

I will also send the PDF copy to the webmaster as soon as I can so that members can read this issue of THE NUGGET online.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the third issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2025-2026 subscription year.

If you wish to subscribe for the 2025-2026 subscription year and have not yet done so, please request a PayPal invoice or the bank transfer information from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on the relevant page of the website.

The Imperial Japanese Navy … in 1/1200th-scale: Some new additions

I recently acquiring three more 1/1200th-scale models of Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers. They are IJNS Fubuki (a Type I Fubuki-class destroyer), ...

(2,090 tons; 38 knots; 6 x 5-inch guns; 18 depth charges; 9 x 24-inch torpedo tubes)

... IJNS Amagiri (a Type II Fubuki-class destroyer), ...

(2,090 tons; 38 knots; 6 x 5-inch guns; 18 depth charges; 9 x 24-inch torpedo tubes)

... and IJNS Hatsuharu (a Hatsuharu-class destroyer).

(1.530 tons; 36 knots; 5 x 5-inch guns; 18 depth charges; 6 x 24-inch torpedo tubes)

The Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering

Today I will be taking part in Wargame Developments' Autumn Virtual Gathering. This annual virtual event (it is conducted using Zoom) began in October 2021 in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, and proved so successful that it has taken place every year since then.

This year's programme includes the following sessions:

• A talk about the development of the radar for the Tornado Air Defence Variant in the late Cold War.
• A forum on wargaming the hypothetical Third Battle of Britain, August 1985 ... as featured in General Sir John Hackett's book, THE THIRD WORLD WAR.

• A talk about Don McCullin and Robert Capa – two antiwar photographers who were drawn to war.
• A forum on the wargaming conflict in the Baltics in the near-future.
• From Bench to Tabletop – A panel discussion on the latest wargaming research discoveries and their potential applications in our game designs.
• A presentation on an aspect of the history of wargaming: Don's War: Don Featherstone 1939-1945.
• A historical sing along session covering the ending of World War II.

Memoir ‘44 … twenty years on

MEMOIR '44 was created by Richard Borg and published in 2004 by Days of Wonder and has proven to be a very popular hybrid miniatures/board game. I own the basic set as well as most of the supplements and one of the scenario books, and over the years I have enjoyed playing the game. In fact, it was playing MEMOIR ‘44 that sparked off my development of MEMOIR OF BATTTLE (MOB), MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOBAT) and eventually THE PORTABLE WARGAME.

A new, revised version of the game has (MEMOIR ‘44 REFRESH) been released to mark the twentieth anniversary of the game’s release … and I just could not resist buying a copy. I ordered it via Amazon, and it arrived on Wednesday.

The box contains:

• 1 x A double-sided board
• 144 x Axis and Allied miniatures
• 36 x Obstacles
• 44 x Double-sided terrain tiles
• 60 x Command cards
• 22 x Summary cards
• 8 x Attack dice
• 6 x Activation tokens
• 2 x Cardholders
• 1 x Rulebook
• 1 x Scenario book

If one compares the two editions, the new version includes the following changes:

• New elevation rules: Units on a higher elevation can now shoot over their own adjacent troops.
• More scenarios: The new edition includes a total of 22 rather than the original's 16.
1. Pegasus Bridge
2. Sainte-Mère-Église
3. Sword Beach
4. Pointe Du Hoc
5. Omaha Beach (First Wave)
6. Mont Mouchet
7. Battlegroup Heintz at Hauts-Vents
8. Belle-Lande
9. Panzer Lehr at Hauts-Vents
10. Counterattack of Panzer Lehr
11. Hauts-Vents is taken
12. Vassieux, Vercors
13. Operation Cobra
14. Counterattack on Mortain
15. Toulon
16. Liberation of Paris
17. Montélimar
18. Arnhem Bridge
19. Arracourt
20. Saint Vith, Ardennes
21. Saverne Gap, Vosges
22. Omaha Beach - Overlord (this requires two game boards)
• New miniatures: The new edition has re-modelled miniatures that are made of a harder, more detailed plastic.
• Activation tokens: The new edition includes activation tokens to track which units have moved and fired.
• Card holders: The game now includes two curved card holders fore players to place their cards in.
• New dice: New, plastic dice, have replaced the original wooden ones.
• Terrain pieces: The sandbags and barbed wire are now produced in a neutral grey colour, unlike those in the original game where they were coloured for either the Axis or Allied side.
• Terrain pieces: Some new, double-sides terrain tiles(e.g. sea walls) have been added.
• Rulebook: The rulebook has updated and reorganised
• Box: The new edition’s box is larger and thicker, with a better designed insert for storing the components.
• Box art: The new edition uses a slightly different colour palette and the box art has been updated.

All-in-all, the new edition is a worthy celebration of the original game and - in my opinion - was well worth buying. All I’ve got to do now is to persuade someone at my local club to play it!