The Imperial Japanese Navy in 1/1200th-scale ... another addition

At the recent COW20026, my old friend Nigel Drury very kindly gave me a model of the INS Nagato to add to my collection of 1/1200th-scale Imperial Japanese Navy ships.

(38,510 tons; 25 knots; 8 x 16-inch guns, 18 x 5.5-inch guns; 8 x 5-inch AA guns; 98 x 25mm AA guns; a catapult; 3 floatplanes)

This will now serve as my fleet flagship, rather as she did for Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

My 1/1200th-scale collection of Imperial Japanese Navy warships now comprises:

Battleships

• Nagato-class: Nagato
• Fuso-class: Fuso
• Kongo-class: Kongo; Haruna

Aircraft Carriers

• Kaga-class: Kaga
• Akagi-class: Akagi

Heavy Cruisers

• Myoko-class: Myoko
• Mogami-class: Mogami
• Aoba-class: Aoba

Light Cruisers

• Yubari-class: Yubari
• Isuzu-class: Nagano
• Sendai-class: Sendai
• Chikuma-class: Chikuma; Hirado

Destroyers

• Kagero-class: Kagero; Shiranui; Kuroshio; Oyashio
• Mutsuki-class: Mutsuki; Kisaragi; Uzuki
• Asashi-class: Asashio; Ōshio
• Fubuki-class: Fubuki; Amagiri; Asagiri; Shirayuki; Hatsuyuki; Murakumo; Shinonome; Oboro
• Hatsuharu-class: Hatsuharu
• Shimakaze-class: Shimakaze
• Kaba-class: Kaba, Kashiwa

Quite an impressive little collection, even though I say it myself!

Some more Triang Minic 1:1200th-scale ships

I have made another foray onto eBay and have added four more Triang Minic 1:1200th-scale ships to my collection.

My four new Triang Minic Ton-class minesweepers.

They are four Ton-class minesweepers, HMS Carlton, HMS Dufton, HMS Repton, and HMS Upton ... and are splendid additions to my collection!

The Herring War: The Royal Norwegian Navy’s orders

Last year I was asked by Tim Gow to write the orders for the Royal Norwegian Navy forces taking part in his Herring War wargame. (A blog post about the game by Martin Rapier can be seen here.)

The orders I wrote can be seen below.

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From:

Admiral Commanding His Majesty’s Royal Norwegian Navy

To:

Admiral Commanding the Fleet

Situation Appraisal:

I am commanded by the King and his government to instruct you to take the fleet to sea and reinforce our nation’s rights to fish in the waters of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea unhindered by the ships of another nations, to wit, the Navy of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The ships available to you are:

The battleship Mestag Berg

The light cruisers Torp Norum, Bo Morkid

The monitor Heltberg Rygh

The torpedo boat leader Vold

The torpedo boats TB1, TB2, TB4

In addition, the navy’s airship has been placed under your command.

(For Your Eyes Only: We have a spy stationed in Skagen who will report to the Admiralty and whose intelligence will be passed on to you.)

Orders:

Your force is to be organised as follows:

Main Force: Mestag Berg, Torp Norum, and Bo Morkid (the latter will be transporting the two landing companies, the two landing guns, the cyclist machine gun company, and the naval brigade’s staff)

Scouting Force: Vold, TB1, and TB2

Coastal Defence Force: Heltberg Rygh and TB4

The Scouting Force is to set sail an hour before the Main Force and is to sail in an arrow formation, with the TB Leader at the arrow point. If the weather is clear, the ships are to be 20,000 yards (10 miles) apart so that they can easily signal by flag/semaphore or signal lamps to each other. If the weather is bad, the distance to be reduced to 10,000 yards (5 miles) so that they can signal to each other using signal lamps.

The Main Force is to sail in line ahead with two cables (400 yards) between ships. It is to be led by your flagship, followed by the two light cruisers. The Force is to sail 20,000 yards (10 miles) astern of the Scouting Force so that any signals can read easily.

The Coastal Defence Force will patrol the coast off Kristiansand from I16 to M12 to deter any attacks on our main naval base. The airship is to operate from Larvik (Q4) and to patrol the area R9 to R16 to N19 to N14 to R9.

The Scouting Force shall sail from Kristiansand (I13) on a course towards Klitmøller (L24). Once it has reached L23, it will turn east towards Skagen (T16) to cover the operations of the Main Force. If no enemy ships have been discovered and attacked by the time the Scouting Force has reached T16, it will sail to Larvik (Q4). Any Danish fishing vessels found in the area are to be sunk and their crews taken aboard and treated with the utmost courtesy and care due to any fellow seafarer.

The Main Force will follow a similar course, but on reaching L23, the light cruiser will move into L24 and land the naval brigade it is carrying. The rest of the Main Force will cover this landing and engage and enemy resistance, be it from coastal defences or enemy ships.

Once Danish naval base at Klitmøller has been razed to the ground, its facilities destroyed, and any enemy naval vessel therein sunk by demolition or gunfire, the troops will be withdrawn, and the Main Force will return to Larvik. Any enemy ships that are intercepted whilst the Main Force sail towards Larvik are to be attacked and sunk (Q4). Any Danish fishing vessels found in the area are to be sunk and their crews taken aboard and treated with the utmost courtesy and care due to any fellow seafarer.

These orders are subject to alteration should the circumstances change. For example, if the airship discovers any major Danish naval units operating in the area bounded by Larvik (Q5), Skagen (T16) and Kristiansand (I13), its signals will be passed on to you, and you will have the discretion to change your priorities to sink those enemy ships.

I wish you to remember the words of the Royal Navy’s foremost admiral: “No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.”

Godspeed and wishing you great success,

Olaf Bjornsson (Admiral)

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The tactical map of the area of operations.

The tactical map of the area of operations showing the courses and patrol areas laid down by the Admiral Commanding His Majesty's Royal Norwegian Navy. The orange line shows the course to be taken by the Scouting Force; the red line shows the course to be taken by the Main Force; the green line shows the Coastal Defence Force's patrol line; and the purple line shows the course and patrol area to be covered by the Norwegian airship.

My new Triang Minic 1:1200th-scale ships

The Triang Minic ships that I recently bought via eBay have been delivered ... and I am very pleased with my purchase.

My recently purchased 'squadron' of Triang Minic 1:1200th-scale warships.

The ships are:

• The Albion-class light fleet aircraft carrier HMS Bulwark.
• The Minotaur-class light cruiser HMS Swiftsure.
• Two Daring-class destroyers (HMS Daring and HMS Dainty).
• Two Battle-class destroyers (HMAS Anzac and HMS Alamein).
• Two Whitby-class anti-submarine frigates (HMS Whitby & HMS Torquay).
• Two Type 15 anti-submarine frigates (HMS Vigilant and HMS Virago).

All-in-all, this is a very nice 'squadron' of ships to add to my collection, especially as it includes two three classes (the Battles, the Whitbys, and the Type 15s) that I was never able to buy when I was a child.

The models are quite basic and are by no means collector's models ... but they are made of metal, are robust, and certainly look reasonably convincing enough from a metre away to be useable in a wargame.

Until they arrived, I had no idea that the destroyers and the Whitby-class frigates models all shared the same model turret (the twin mounting UD Mark VI turret with quick-firing 4.5-inch/45 (114mm) Mark V guns). Whilst this is spot-on for the Daring-class destroyers and Whitby-class anti-submarine frigates, this gun turret was only fitted to the Battle-class destroyers built in Australia. So its right for HMAS Anzac ... but not right for HMS Alamein, which was fitted with a twin mounting BD Mk. IV turret with quick-firing 4.5-inch/45 (114mm) Mark III guns.

HMAS Anzac.

HMS Alamein.

The other 'inaccuracy' is the additional UD Mark VI turret fitted towards the stern of the models of the Whitby-class anti-submarine frigates. I assume that it is meant to represent the twin 40mm Bofors gun Mark 2 on STAAG (Stabilised Tachymetric Anti-Aircraft Gun) mounting ... which was later removed when it proved to be overweight, too complex, and a maintenance nightmare.

HMS Tenby, one of the Whitby-class anti-submarine frigates.

Interestingly, the slightly earlier, diesel-powered Type 41 or Leopard-class anti-aircraft frigates were armed with two twin mounting UD Mark VI turrets with quick-firing 4.5-inch/45 (114mm) Mark V guns.

HMS Jaguar, one of the Leopard-class anti-aircraft frigates.

This class was originally to have included far more ships than the seven that were built (four for the Royal Navy and three for the Indian Navy) but six of them were re-ordered as Whitby-class anti-submarine frigates ... and I wonder if this might be the reason why Triang Minic produced their models with two turrets.

110th anniversary of the battle of Jutland

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the opening phases of the Battle of Jutland, which was the world’s biggest pre-aircraft carrier naval battle*.

A map showing the course of the Battle of Jutland.

I suspect that in the great of almost all naval wargamers there is a desire to recreate this battle, but its sheer size makes this very difficult. Avalon Hill’s board wargame about the battle certainly makes it a feasible project … but it uses counters rather than model ships and somehow it doesn’t quite ‘hit the spot’ for people like me.

The box art on Avalon Hill's board wargame about the Battle of Jutland.

Now, I have been extremely lucky over the years to have taken part in two re-fights of the battle using 1:1200th-scale model ship. (In my eyes, this is the best size of model ship to wargame with if one has the space … but as my recent blog post shows, I am rather biased!)

The first was not actually a true recreation of the Battle of Jutland: it was the so-called Second Battle of Jutland as staged by the United States Naval War College in the Queen’s House at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

The Queen's House at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

The second was staged in central London by the informal grouping of wargamers known as the Jockey’s Field Irregulars. I had the honour to command the Grand Fleet … and the sheer scale of this wargame is difficult to adequately describe. Even the photographs I took don’t do this wargame justice.

A photograph of the recreation of the Battle of Jutland at Jockey's Field.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to take part in such a huge naval wargame again ... but the memory of the game at Jockey's Field will live with me forever as one of the outstanding wargames I ever took part in.

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* This is almost an untrue statement! The seaplane carrier HMS Engadine ...

HMS Engadine.

... participated in the battle as part of the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron. One of her seaplanes (a Short Type 184 flown by Lieutenant Frederick Rutland) ...

A Short Type 184 seaplane.

... spotted three cruisers and five destroyers of the German II Scouting Group. This is thought to have been the first heavier-than-air reconnaissance mission during a naval battle.

During the battle, she came upon the heavily damaged armoured cruiser HMS Warrior, and assisted in rescuing approximately 750 of her crew before she sank.

Preparing for COW2026

Over the past week I have been preparing the PowerPoint presentation that will form part of the session I will be running at this year's Conference of Wargame (COW).

The session is entitled THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC: SINKING U-BOATS and was originally written after attending John Curry's presentation at the WD AVG (Wargame Developments Annual Virtual Gathering) in October 2024. It was about the role of the WATU (Western Approaches Training Unit) ...

One of the WATU training wargames in progress. The officers under training could only see the game board through holes in the screen. The WRENs plotted the positions of the escort ships in accordance with the orders issued by the officers. They also controlled the U-boats using the current tactics employed by the Kriegsmarine's U-boat service.

... and led me to create a timeline of technical and tactical innovations that were introduced before and during the Battle of the Atlantic.

The title slide of my PowerPoint presentation.

It turned out to be a very interesting piece of research ... and I hope to share it with a wider audience in due course.

A graph that shows the ratio of ships to U-boats sunk during the Second World War. It makes it very clear that 1942 was the turning point of the battle against the U-boat menace.

Achieving my goals

Back in early January I set myself the following goals:

• Paint the buildings that I constructed last December.
• Organise my existing Belle Époque armies into formations.
• Add another army to my Belle Époque project.
• Play around with ideas for a Belle Époque version of the PORTABLE WARGAME that uses smaller grid areas.
• Adding some more vessel to my growing collection of 1/1200th-scale model ships.

It is now some six weeks on, and so far I have managed to achieve the first three, done some serious thinking about the fourth, and made no progress on the fifth.

With regard to the ‘new’ version of my PORTABLE WARGAME rules, I am coming round to the idea of using my extensive collection of Hexon II hexes rather than small grid areas. Most of my Hexon II terrain is currently in our offsite storage unit, but I have plans to bring it home as soon as I can … and then I hope to start some playtesting. I will then set myself some more sort-term goals.

Even more 1/1200th-scale ship models added to my collection

Over the Christmas period I was able to buy a large job lot of scratch-built 1/1200th-scale Russian pre-dreadnought era warships on eBay. They included:

These models are all made from wood and wire ... and are of very high quality.

Battleship Orel

(14,151 tons; 18 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 20 x 3-inch guns; 20 x 3-pounder QF guns; 4 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Suvorov

(14,151 tons; 18 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 20 x 3-inch guns; 20 x 3-pounder QF guns; 4 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Petropavlosk

(11,354 tons; 16 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 12 x 3-pounder QF guns; 28 x 2-pounder QF guns; 2 x 18-inch torpedo tubes; 4 x 15-inch torpedo tubes; 50 mines)

Battleship Osliaba

(14,408 tons; 18 knots; 4 x 10-inch guns; 11 x 6-inch guns; 20 x 3-inch guns; 20 x 3-pounder QF guns; 8 x 2-pounder QF guns; 5 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Sisoi Veliki

(10.400 tons; 16 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 6 x 6-inch guns; 12 x 3-pounder QF guns; 18 x 2-pounder QF guns; 6 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Battleship Navarin

(10.206 tons; 15 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 8 x 6-inch guns; 14 x 3-pounder QF guns; 12 x 2-pounder QF guns; 6 x 15-inch torpedo tubes)

Coastal Defence Battleship General-Admiral Apraxin

(4,165 tons; 15 knots; 3 x 10-inch guns; 4 x 4.7-inch guns; 10 x 3-pounder QF guns; 12 x 2-pounder QF guns; 4 x 18-inch torpedo tubes)

Protected Cruiser Aurora

(6,625 tons; 19 knots; 8 x 6-inch guns; 24 x 3-inch guns; 3 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; 4 aircraft; 2 catapults)

2nd-class Cruiser Almaz

(3,285 tons; 19 knots; 4 x 3-inch guns; 8 x 3-pounder guns)

Armoured Cruiser Minin

(6.136 tons; 14 knots; 4 x 8-inch guns; 12 x 6-inch guns; 6 x 3.4-inch guns)

Some more 1/1200th-scale ship models added to my collection

During the Christmas and New Year period I continued to trawl through eBay for more ships to add to my growing collection of 1/1200th-scale model ships and bought the following:

A second Kaba-class destroyer, …

(850 tons; 30 knots; 1 x 4.7-inch gun; 3 x 3-inch guns; 4 x 18-inch torpedo tubes

… and a further Chikuma-class light cruiser.

(5,000 tons; 26 knots; 8 x 6-inch guns; 4 x 3-inch guns; 3 x 18-inch torpedo tubes)

The Kaba-class destroyers were built during the World War I and were scrapped during the early 1930s whereas the three Chikuma-class light cruisers (they were actually protected cruisers) were built just before World War I and either scrapped before World War II or were retained in secondary roles and didn’t see active service. However, there’s no reason not to include them in my model IJN fleet … and with a bit of imagination, I can envisage using the destroyers and cruisers as convoy escorts in secondary theatres of operation or as decoys in major operations.

It is interesting to note that an export version of the Kaba-class destroyers was built during for the French Navy. They became the twelve ships of the Arabe-class (Algérien, Annamite, Arabe, Bambara, Hova, Kabyle, Marocain, Sakalave, Sénégalais, Somali, Tonkinois, and Touareg). They were all withdrawn from service and scrapped between 1933 and 1936.

Setting some short-term goals

During our recent cruise, I made sure that I had plenty of time to do some thinking about what I want to achieve during 2026. One thing that I decided was that I ought to regularly set myself some short-term goals that I can realistically achieve ... and these are the ones I have set myself for the next month or so:

• Paint the buildings that I constructed last December.
• Organise my existing Belle Époque armies into formations.
• Add another army to my Belle Époque project. To this end, I have bought a number of painted 15mm Essex Minatures Zulus so that I can field a Zulu-style army on my tabletop. With luck, they should only need a minimum amount of work done on them (i.e. touching up any damage to their paintwork) before they can be varnished and based.
• Playing around with ideas for a Belle Époque version of the PORTABLE WARGAME that uses smaller grid areas. This will draw heavily on 'The Gatlings jammed ...' Colonial wargame rules I included in THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME and that were used in my recreation of Joseph Morschauser's ATTACK ON MOROBAD.
• Adding some more vessel to my growing collection of 1/1200th-scale model ships. I particularly want to expand the Imperial Japanese Navy and pre-dreadnought sections of my collection, and I have several eBay purchases in transit that will help me to do this.

None of the above should be too difficult to achieve in the timeframe I have set myself ... and if getting there takes me an extra week or two, so be it!

More 1/1200th-scale ship models added to my collection

I've continued to trawl through eBay for more ships to add to my growing collection of 1/1200th-scale model ships and picked up the following bargains:

A US Navy Northampton-class heavy cruiser, ...

(9.195 tons; 33 knots; 9 x 8-inch guns; 8 x 5-inch AA guns; 6 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; 4 aircraft; 2 catapults)

... a French Navy Duguay-Trouin-class light cruiser, ...

(9,350 tons; 30 knots; 8 x 6-inch guns; 4 x 3-inch AA guns; 12 x 21-inch torpedo tubes; 2 aircraft; 1 catapult)

... a US Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender, ...

(2,551 tons; 20 knots; 3 x 5-inch AA guns; 8 x 20mm AA guns; depth charges)

... and a Landing Ship Tank (LST) (possibly a diesel-powered LST Mk.2)

Nothing Japanese this time ... for a change!

The Imperial Japanese Navy … in 1/1200th-scale: The collection continues to grow … with another light cruiser

Another foray on eBay resulted in the purchase of another light cruiser to add to my collection. It was the IJNS Sendai.

(5,278 tons; 35 knots; 7 x 5.5-inch guns; 2 x 3-inch AA guns; 4 x 24-inch torpedo tubes; 48 x mines)

Refighting the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914

At Dice of the Hill last Wednesday, four of us refought the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914. We used 1:3000th model ships, vinyl sea mats, and John Hammond's 20-page-long Skytrex WORLD WAR I NAVAL rules that were published in 1973.

The action began with the German East Asia Squadron (comprising the two armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau and the three light cruisers SMS Nürnberg, SMS Dresden and SMS Leipzig, accompanied by the colliers SS Baden, SS Santa Isabel, and SS Seydlitz) approaching the entrance to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands from the southeast. The German commanders (one of whom was me) thought that there was no enemy ships in the harbour, and our plan was to sail in, seize control of Port Stanley, arrest the Governor, and then re-coal our ships from the stockpile that was maintained there for the Royal Navy's use.

The German Far East Squadron.

Little did we know that a strong British squadron (the battlecruisers HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible, the armoured cruisers HMS Carnarvon, HMS Cornwall, and HMS Kent, the armed merchant cruiser HMS Macedonia and the light cruisers HMS Bristol and HMS Glasgow) had arrived in the Port Stanley during the previous day.

The British Squadron less HMS Macedonia, which was patrolling the area to the east of the harbour.

Furthermore, the old pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Canopus was moored near the entrance of the harbour to act as a coastal defence battery.

HMS Canopus. She was so placed as to give her 12-inch guns the ability to engage any enemy ships approaching Port Stanley.

Led by the three light cruisers, the German squadron turned northward ...

The German Squadron on a course towards Port Stanley.

... and were surprised when heavy artillery engaged them from the shore! (It was actually HMS Canopus who fired at and hit SMS Nürnberg. Because they could not see HMS Canopus, the Germans assumed that the British has installed a coastal defence battery on the islands,)

The German Squadron comes under fire.

Despite being under fire, the German squadron continued to sail towards Port Stanley.

At the same time, HMS Kent (who had been ordered to keep her boilers lit so that she could relieve HMS Macedonia) set sail to engage the enemy whilst the rest of the squadron lit their boilers and prepared to leave harbour as soon as they had sufficient steam up.

The British Squadron prepare to leave Port Stanley harbour.

At this point the action began to become intense ... hence the lack of photographs!

HMS Kent and HMS Canopus engaged the Germans, and despite the German light cruisers being ordered to turn away, SMS Nürnberg was repeatedly hit and eventually sank.

The German Squadron comes under heavy fire. By this point the German light cruisers had been ordered to turn away and make their escape so that they could become independent commerce raiders.

By this stage in the battle, the leading British battlecruiser was leaving the entrance of Port Stanley's harbour and had opened fire of SMS Scharnhorst. At the same time, HMS Canopus hit SMS Gneisenau and both German armoured cruisers had begun to suffer significant damage.

SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau are hit and damaged by shells from several British warships.

My fellow German commander and I decided that our best course of action was to sail SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau towards the entrance of Port Stanley to engage the British ships at close range in the hope that we could seriously damage or even sink one or both of the battlecruisers.

The British Squadron making its way out of Port Stanley harbour.

As it was, we had run out of time and had to pack up and go home ... and the final outcome remained unclear. That said, the two remaining German light cruisers had got away and would be able to raid British maritime supply lines ... and there was always a chance that in sacrificing their two armoured cruisers, the Germans might be remove one or more British heavy units from frontline service.

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It was interesting to see the number of regular Dice on the Hill attendees who paid a visit to the battle whilst is was being fought, and we hope to make these sort of wargames a regular part of the group's activities. Probably not every week, but possibly every month or so.

The Imperial Japanese Navy … in 1/1200th-scale: The collection continues to grow … as does the rest of my model ship collection

My collection of Imperial Japanese Navy warships continues to grow. The latest additions are:

IJNS Uranami, IJNS Asagari, IJNS Shirayuki, and IJNS Hatsuyuki (all Fubuki-class destroyer), as well as a Natsushimo-class destroyer (although I’m not sure that the listing is correct as it looks like it is yet another Fubuki-class destroyer to me!), …

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

…a Kaba-class destroyer, …

(850 tons; 30 knots; 1 x 4.7-inch gun; 3 x 3-inch guns; 4 x 18-inch torpedo tubes)

… and a Chikuma-class light cruiser.

(5,000 tons; 26 knots; 8 x 6-inch guns; 4 x 3-inch guns; 3 x 18-inch torpedo tubes)

The latter pair of ships were out of service by December 1941. The Kaba-class destroyers served during World War I but were scrapped in the early 1930s. The three Chikuma-class light cruisers were either scrapped before World War II or were retained in secondary roles and didn’t see active service.

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I was also able to add a model of the pre-dreadnought USS Idaho which was sold to Greece before World War I and became the Kilkis. She had become a static training ship by 1939 and was sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft in the Salamis Naval Base on 23rd April 1941 during the German invasion of Greece.

(14.465 tons; 17 knots; 4 x 12-inch guns; 8 x 8-inch guns; 8 x 7-inch guns; 12 x 3-inch guns; 6 x 3-pounder QF guns; 2 x 1-pounder QF-guns; 2 x 21-inch torpedo tubes)