BA-10 Armoured Cars

 A couple of more vehicles for The Anatomy of a Small War. The BA-10 first saw action against the Japanese in Manchuria at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939. Some were captured and later used by the Manchukuo.

 According to Wikipedia the BA-10 (Russian: Broneavtomobil 10) was an armored car developed in the Soviet Union in 1938 and produced through 1941. It was the most produced Soviet pre-1941 heavy armored car – 3311 were built in three versions. These versions were the BA-10, the BA-10M (improved version with new radio), and the BA-10ZhD (equipped for dual railway/road use). The basic BA-10 design was developed from the BA-3 and BA-6 heavy armored cars. It had an improved GAZ-AAA chassis and improved armor (up to 15mm at front and turret). 

 I purchased these resin vehicles from JTFM Miniatures produced here in Canada. I have always been happy both with the product and the service (other than the irregularities provided by Canada Post).

Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank

 I have continued with my interest with either pre-war or early WW2 actions. Over the years I built up a substantial collection of 20mm early war Japanese. These are posted under titles of  The Anatomy of a Small War. I had no interest in doing a counter force  and the project stalled. 

I felt that Bolt Action allowed me to turn may attention to the conflict in Outer Mongolia or even China. Americans think of WW2 as starting on December 7th 1941. Those of us in the Commonwealth as September 1st 1939, with the German invasion of Poland followed two days later by the British declaration of war. Although Canada waited until the 10th, to show our independence. However the argument can be made that the war began as early as the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, on September 19th 1931, or at the very least, the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on July 7th 1937. 

I did purchase two Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks from warlord games to provide some firepower to the Imperial Japanese Army for this project. I was also fortunate to pick up 4 packs of WW2 metal Japanese infantry at fire sale price at auction.  There were 20 figures per pack. 

Again they can also be used in a RPG sitting and I had completed them as such for possible use in a Daredevils campaign that I was running. The campaign stalled last tax season due to limitations on my availability and was never relaunched.

According to Wikipedia the Type 95 Ha-Gō (九五式軽戦車 ハ号, kyūgo-shiki kei-sensha Ha-Gō, also known as the Ke-Go was a light tank used by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry but, like the American M3 Stuart light tank, was not designed to combat other tanks. Approximately 2,300 were produced, making it the most numerous Japanese armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War.

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 8

Once again I return to Northern China, with reinforcements for the cause of The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This heading has become the catch phrase for my 20mm (1/72nd) scale WW2 Imperial Japanese forces.

First addition are three Type 97 medium tank Chi-Ha by Dragon Models. The models themselves come pre-painted, with a plastic base and display case. I only had to open them up and rebase the tanks to my liking.

Type 97 medium tank Chi-Ha

I found the following listing for HO WW2 JAPANESE SOLDIERS and HO 14 PAINTED TRACKS on eBay. It sounded like a fantastic deal. I really wanted 14 trucks. The soldiers were Airfix LMG teams. The vehicles were repainted die cast models, to which decals of Japanese flags had been applied to the cab doors. I was unable to read the company details on the bottom of the vehicles. Another reason to have my eyes checked. Note: I have since replaced my glasses.

The batch included six cargo trucks, to which I added loads to the back of five. The other eight I have designated as transport, since they have visible benches on the sides for seating.

Cargo Trucks

Transport Trucks

Vehicle Park Storage

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 7

Once again I return to the Soviet-Japanese struggle for Changkufeng-Khasan, 1938 on the Mongolian frontier thanks to Five Arrows Figures and Fine Art, who were in attendance at Cangames this year. This year at Cangames I parted with a few games that I had not touched in years and as a result, covered all my convention costs including 4 Japanese WW2 resin trucks that I purchased.

Among the items that Five Arrows sells are vehicles from Frontline Wargaming.  I purchased two of each of the following vehicles to beef up the mobility of my Japanese Imperial Army.

J1   Isuzu TX40 GS Truck (4-Wheeled 2 Tons Cargo capacity)
In August 1938 The first and second models of TX40 were completed at Kawasaki Plant.

Isuzu TX40 GS Truck

J2   Isuzu Type 94A/B Personnel Truck (6-wheeled)

Isuzu Type 94A/B Personnel Truck

As one of the oldest companies in the Japanese automotive industry, Isuzu traces its beginnings to 1916, the year Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. and Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Co. initiated plans for automobile production. In 1922, Japan's first domestically produced truck, a Wolseley model A-9, was completed. In 1934, after meeting Ministry of Trade and Industry standards, vehicles were renamed 'Isuzu' after the Isuzu River in the Ise Shrine area. This is the origin of the company name, which was changed to today's 'Isuzu Motors Limited' in 1949.

I found it really hard to find any information about either of these vehicles. IMO the history of the company seems to be very revisionist, commencing in 1949, with almost no motion of the war years.

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 6

 Two Frontline Wargaming Soviet BT-7 Tanks

It has been a while since I've blogged about the clashes between the Soviet Union and the Japanese Empire in the late 1930s. At some point last year a number of 20mm  early war Soviet  tanks came up for auction on eBay. They were resin casts made by Frontline Wargaming. I purchased two  BT-7 Fast Tanks (RUS 10) and two variants of the T-26 Light Tank (RUS-5 Model S/1939 and RUS-11 Model "B"/1933). The main difference in appearance of these two vehicles is the turret.

The only complaint I have with these models, is the poor state that the tracks of three of them were in. The tracks were very brittle and had crumbled to dust in some places. One track was broken into 4 separate pieces. To be honest, and to err on the side of the manufacturer I cannot state if this was a fault of the product or the previous owner.  After all, they were sold AS IS, so buyer beware. I can state the models I received were in their original packages and  were wrapped in bubble wrap in when shipped to me in a solid cardboard box,  The box itself was not crushed or dented.

 Three Frontline Wargaming Soviet T-26 Tanks

As you can see I was able to glue the tracks onto the tank chassis, while it is evident that sections of the tracks are missing. This because they appeared to have disintegrated into dust particles, while aging in their packages.

All in all, I was pleased with the models. I was looking for something quick and dirty (i.e. cheap) to field against my Imperial Japanese Army. To add to the anti-Japanese coalition, I also put together and painted two 1/76th scale Airfix Models Sherman tanks. I haven't built models in years and in spite of being all thumbs, I wish I had the patience then, that I have now.It would have been a fantastic help piecing models together.

 Two Airfix Model  American M4 Sherman Tanks

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 5

During the festive season I returned to the Soviet-Japanese frontier in Mongolia.  I picked up on eBay a HO-Ni Tank Destroyer and four 75mm Regimental / Pack Guns, all by SHQ Miniatures.

SHQ Type 1 Ho-Ni I Tank Destroyer

According to Wikipedia, the Type 1 Ho-Ni I was developed by utilizing the existing Type 97 chassis and engine, and replacing the gun turret with a 75 mm Type 90 Field Gun mounted in an open casemate with frontal and side armour only. The mounting for the 75mm Type 90 field gun allowed for ten degrees of traverse and elevation from -5 to +25 degrees.

The Type 1 Ho-Ni I carried 54 rounds of ammunition. This vehicle was produced in small quantities between 1941 and November 1943, until superseded by the Type 2 Ho-Ni II with its Type 91 105mm howitzer. The total number produced was only 124 units and they first saw combat in Luzon in the Philippine Islands in Dec 1944. As such, I really cannot use it in a 1939 campaign but I wanted to upgun my Japanese, with this great looking piece.

Improved Type 38 75mm Field Gun

(Guns by SHQ Crews by Waterloo 1815)

I also bought from the same seller four 75mm Infantry guns. Searching on-line I identified the miniatures as the Improved Type 38 75mm Field Gun.  SHQ markets them as 75mm Regimental / Pack Guns.

The original design was purchased from Krupt and produced under licence in Japan prior to World War One. After the war design changes were made as Japanese industrial capabilities advanced. Finally before the start of the Sino-Japanese War the final design of  what is called the "Improved Type 38" Field Gun went into production. About 400 pieces of this model were produced. The Japanese were never able to replace all of them or their earlier designs with the Type 90 75mm Field Gun. Thus the Type 38 Field Guns, though outdated, served until the end of WW2.

My complaint with SHQ Miniatures is they do not sell the guns with their crews. You have to make separate purchases. I found that Waterloo 1815, the Italian plastic soldiers manufacturer offered a box set of  WWII Japanese 70 mm Gun and Anti Tank Crews  (Number AP003) that would suit my purposes.  The figures are made of medium hard plastic, and are very easy to paint.

WWII Japanese 70 mm Gun & Anti Tank Crew  (Number AP003)

I utilised the gun crews for my SHQ artillery pieces and I also assembled the Type 92 70mm IGs and will mount them later. The guns assembled without a hitch. There is enough flex in the plastic that they do not snap when being put together. This may have been a problem if they were made of hard plastic.

Each box contains two guns and 16 figures (in 8 poses). The other figures are AT infantry or LMG teams. I have some Platoon 20 and Frontier Japanese WW2 Infantry that I need to paint. I'll add these plastics into the mix.

Type 92 70mm Battalion IG

From the above photo you can get an idea of the size of the guns when compared to the SHQ artillery in the background. All models are 20mm or 1/76th scale. I assembled two of the IG guns with the gun shield and two without. I found pictures of both on the internet and I like the varity, The Type 92 Battalion Gun could fire high-explosive shells , armor-piercing, and smoke rounds.

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 4

As I wrote last March (the Anatomy of a Small War Part 3), I needed to pick up some 20mm tanks to provide support for my Japanese infantry. This year at Cangames I purchased three Frontline Wargaming Resin Kits from Five Arrows Figures and Fine Art (www.fivearrowsfigures.ca), one of the dealers who was in the Cangames marketplace.

I purchased two J3 TYPE 97 STANDARD MEDIUM TANK (CHI-HA) and one J4 TYPE 97 SPECIAL SHINHOTO (CHI-HA) tanks. These were the first resin kits I dealt with. Reading on the web I found the wise advise that I should soak the pieces in warm water with dish detergent, and scub them clean with a toothbrush before rinsing them clean. Afterwards it was very easy to apply both glue and paint without worrying of the effects of the chemicals used to seperate the kit from their molds.

Two Type 97 (CHI-HA) Medium Tanks

with 20mm Infantry shown for scale.

According to Wikipedia "The Type 97 medium tank Chi-Ha was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of the period.

The Type 97 was initially equipped with a Type 97 57mm main gun. The cannon was a short barreled weapon with a relatively low muzzle velocity but sufficient as the tank was intended primarily for infantry support.

It also carried two 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns, one on the front left of the hull and the other in a ball mount on the rear of the turret. The latter could be remounted on top of the top of turret for anti-aircraft use. The turret was capable of full 360-degree traverse but the main gun had a second pair of trunnions internally allowing a maximum 10-degree traverse independently of the turret. The turret featured a small periscope for use when the tank was "buttoned up." On the front of the tank was a searchlight.

The Type 97 medium tank was manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (1,224 units), Hitachi Industries (355 units), as well as some limited production in Army’s Sagami Arsenal. A total of 2,123 vehicles were constructed from 1938 to 1943, of which 1162 units with the standard Type 97 and 930 units were the improved Type 97-kai (Shinhoto) version. The remainder was various specialized variants produced in small numbers, such as recovery, flail mine clearers, engineer, bridge layers, 20 mm and 75 mm anti-aircraft and self-propelled guns.

The shortcomings of the Type 97 with its low velocity 57 mm gun became clear during the Nomonhan Incident against the Soviet Union, where the 45 mm gun of the Soviet tanks outranged the Japanese tank gun, resulting in heavy Japanese losses. This convinced the Army of the need for a more powerful gun, and development of a new 47 mm weapon began in 1939 and was completed in 1941. This gun was based on Soviet 45 mm anti-tank guns[citation needed] captured during the Nomonhan conflict and was also influenced by the German PaK 36 37 mm anti-tank gun[citation needed]. Although it was a smaller-caliber weapon, the 47 mm gun's longer barrel generated much higher muzzle velocity, resulting in armor penetration superior to that of the 57 mm gun.

1 TYPE 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha ("new turret")

with 20mm Infantry shown for scale.

From 1942 onwards, production of the Model 97 was changed to use the new 47 mm gun, which also required a larger turret. The turret was taken from the Type 1 Chi-He medium tank to resolve this issue, and the new version was designated "Type 97 Improved Medium Tank" or Shinhoto Chi-Ha ("new turret"). About 300 of the older Type 97s were also upgraded to use the new gun. The 47 mm gun was easily capable of dealing with the armour of the American M3 Stuart, though had difficulty with the heavier M4 Sherman. However as the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff believed that any tanks fielded by the Allied nations would only be of the lighter types, the lack of capability against heavier armour was considered acceptable."

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 3

This is my final post on this subject until such time I obtain some 20mm Japanese vehicles (Trucks and Tanks). I am hoping that I'll be able to locate some at Cangames 2010.

These photos are the last of the Platoon 20 Japanese Infantry and Support Weapons that I had to paint and mount. As I posted previously, I have based the figures for a Blitzkrieg Commander game.

Photo 1: 6 Stands of LMG Teams, 1 Command Stand

Photo 2: 4 Stands of Light Mortors, and 4 Snipers.

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 2

As I wrote in January I won an Ebay auction that consisted of The item of 6 x packs of 20mm scale Japanese Artillery pieces from B.P. Cast include one x 20mm AA Type 98 w/ Crew, one x 47mm AT Type 1 w/ crew, two x 75mm Howitzer Type 90 w/ crew, one x 75mm FG Type 38 w/ crew, one x 150mm Gun Type 89 w/ crew.

I personally found the castings to be on the rough side, and the directions that were provided to assemble the guns were not as clear as they should be. However, I think I managed and I have the photos to prove it. The 20mm AA gun was too delicate for my thumbs and did not survive. Each gun came with three crew members. It would appear that there are a total of four crew poses available. These figures are much smaller than 20mm figures from Platoon 20.

I allocated the the three extra crew men to two of the larger caliber guns.

Photo 1: 2 x 75mm Type 90 Howitzer , 1 x 75mm Type 38 Field Gun with all 4 crew poses ( Type 38 is the gun on the extreme right)

Photo 2: One x 47mm Anti-Tank Gun and One x 150mm Gun Type 89

The Anatomy of a Small War Part 1

The Anatomy of a Small War: The Soviet-Japanese Struggle for Changkufeng/Khasan, 1938 by Alvin D Coox © 1977

“…in the midsummer of 1938 a desperate two-week’s battle, fought over and around Changkufeng between the Japanese 19th Division, stationed in north Korea, and somewhat larger Soviet ground forces with air support. The battle remained limited because both sides had good reason to avoid a full-scale war-The Japanese because of their unfolding conflict with China, the Russians because of the threatening situation in Europe.” Edwin O. Reischauer

I picked up this book years ago, either at a yard sale or a used book store. It was a discard from the London Public Libraries and over the Christmas holidays I started to read it. In the beginning of the border struggle (July 31, 1938) Mr. Coax has provided some very fine descriptions of small unit actions centred on the Changkufeng hills west of the Khasan Lake district.

Over the next two weeks the dispute developed so at the end on August 11th 1938 when the cease fire went into effect the Japanese had committed 12 Infantry Battalions and 33 Artillery Pieces, while the USSR had superiority in numbers. They had committed an 27 infantry battalions, a 100 pieces of artillery and only had about 20 tanks remaining on the front. During the previous two weeks, it was reported by the Japanese, that Soviet assults contained anywhere from 10-100 tanks at a time with air support.

Map: Mounting the Assault Changkufeng, the evening of 30 July 1938

I realized early on in my reading that I must have had about 100 Platoon 20 Japanese Infantry figures that I had picked up years ago to use as “minions” for my pulp fiction, Daredevils’ Campaign. So last weekend I dug them out and sat down to get them painted.

Photo 1: Ranks 1-3 Blitzkrieg Commander 4 Japanese Infantry Companies
              Rank 4 ( Left) Two Combat Engineers ( Right) Two Inf Recce Units

I have based them for the Blitzkrieg Commander rules but feel they are still acceptable to my old standby favorite, the WRG Rules for Armour and Infantry 1925-1950. I noticed last week on Ebay there was an auction of 6 packs of WW2 Japanese artillery  in 20mm scale and I was the successful bidder. I’m looking forwarding to adding that fire power to the infantry.

Photo 2: Front Rank 4 Stands of FAO (Foreward Artillery Observers)
              Rear Rank 3 Stands HQ Units

Work In Progress:

The item of 6 x packs of 20mm scale Japanese Artillery pieces from B.P. Cast include one x 20mm AA Type 98 w/ Crew, one x 47mm AT Type 1 w/ crew, two x 75mm Howitzer Type90 w/ crew, one x 75mm FG Type 38 w/ crew, one x 150mm Gun Type 89 w/ crew. I now have to find a couple of tanks to round out the force,

 

 

I still have 4 stands of 50mm mortors and 6 stands of two man light machine guns to finish. As with the infantry stands I am using a mix of paints. For the Japanese Uniforms I am utilizing the Vallejo Model Colour 923, Japanese Uniform Paint and 709234 Russian Uniform for the helmets.

 

All other paints for the figures are from The Games Workshop line. Gun metal, Snakeskin Leather (Flesh), Bestial Brown (wood for the rifles), Sand (Boots and Leggings) with a Brown Ink Wash.

 

The bases are a mix of Gale Force 9 for the FAO and HQ stands, while the infantry stands are 40mmx 30mm purchased from Robert Knestrick. He advertises his wares on EBay under the name of missiletoe. The bases are a laminated black plastic with heavy magnetic bottom. The thickness is 0.07” (heavy 1/16”). The cut is clean and accurate to .010”. If you are interested I can forward his contact information and the last price list I received from him.

 

The base terrain was be built up using Liquitex Natural Sand, and then will be painted with DeSerres Raw Sienna (Series 1 No 185) and flocked using Citadel Sand and Scorched Grass.