I am such a Pendraken whore! I am the Belle de Jour of the 10mm world.

I have a long and tedious drive to work and oft times seek solice in podcasts, as I have mentioned before. Today I was listening to the History Extra Broadcast ("recommended" - FSN) which was talking about China in WWII. "Ah", thinks I, "there's something I'd not thought about."

I have a history of reversing WWII history. I pit PzIs & IIs against S35s, my Churchills rampage over German infantry divisions, My Italian armoured thrust wanders casually through French border troops. Whoever was the underdog, I find circumstances to give them the upper hand, to show what they could do against the right (weaker) opposition.   

"So", thinks I, "could the Chinese be a worthy opponent for the Japanese?" Ching! (Thats a sound effect, not a racial slur.) My knowledge of the 1937-1941 Far East is very limited, but I have a reasonable grasp of the Japanese army equiptments (well I bought an Airfix Chi-Ha) and structure. For some reason I see Chinese troops as WWI Germans painted in French Horizon Blue. Chinese armour was a hodge-potch of British, Italian, German and French. Could I reasonably put a UE with a PzI?

Manchuria. Seem to remember open country, rolling plains. Great stuff! I've never yet enjoyed a jungle based battle. Either too few trees to carry the feeling or too many and they get in the way ... but Manchuria? Why do I think this? When have I seen photographs of troops in Manchuria? I channel my inner librarian. I'm seeing a Gotha ... why ... Oh yes, there was a military history magazine in the 1970's. I've got a few copies including one that has a Gotha on the cover ... and Khalkhin Gol!

it was a good job that I had stopped driving otherwise I would have had a Pendraken induced fantasy episode with dire consequences ... again. This magazine, whose name I can't remember did an article on Russia batling Japan in Khalkhin Gol in 1939. Like the pieces of a jigsaw coming together, everything suddenly fit into place and I saw three cute fluffy kittens.

I start with the beautiful BEF in 1940. These gallant lads travel to France to help the fastidous French in their S35s and H38s against the nasty Nazis in their PzII's III's etc and the inelegant Italians in their cardboard boxes. Since someone on this forum mentioned T35s, I'm now looking to a pre-T34 robust Russian 1941 force with multi-turreted land battleships being whizzed around by swarms of fast tiny armour - think Star Wars, but on Earth. In Eastern Europe and not so long ago ... and no aliens.

Anyway this stoic band of Red warriors can now be spirited through 8 time zones to take on the jolly Japanese, who at the weekend can duel with the cunning Chinese.

Wow! It really is a world war. This in turn excites and depresses me. One of those "my god, war is actually horrific." moments that I think hits us all now and again. Hopefully this will soon pass and I'll get stuck in to researching Chinese armies of 1937-41 and comparing them to the Pendraken catalogue.

The Americans? Oh my dear, it's FAR too early for them!

The Chinese Army 1937-49: World War II and Civil War (Men-at-arms) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Basic intro. Buy it from Amazon or your LFB (Local Friendly Bookshop) or borrow it from the local public library (if they don't have it they can get it through the inter-library loan system, though there may be a charge for that).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1841769045/ref=asc_df_184176904513953708?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=1841769045

Did they use Centurions? :

Quote from: Fenton on 12 July 2013, 07:29:39 AM
Did they use Centurions? :

Not even the Chinese were that primitive.

Done some lists for Chinese - via private sources - which I can let you have FSN, or with a bit of patience and joining BGMRWWII you can get for free.

IanS

BKC has a decent list and rules tweak for China V Japan that will get you started.

In terms of Chinese figures, I used Afrika Corps soft cap and WW1 Austrians - just file the crown of the cap a little flatter, and yes a few German helmet types.  The Nationalist summer uniform was a mustard material - I used desert yellow. 

Hi fsn

Ahhhh!!!! A Pendraken/period whore after my own heart  .

What great choices, here's a some eye candy to help with your Sino-Chinese fix:-


Japanese marines in a Chinese German half track in Shanghai (I know you said Manchuria but you really should have broader horizons.

Here's some Chinese troops in British style helmets 1938:-



Both pics from this page:-
http://historyimages.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/chinese-japanese-war-1931-45-rare-large.html

For Khalkin Gol there are Polikarpovs available from Shapeways:-
http://www.shapeways.com/search?q=polikarpov

There's no problem finding 1/144 Japanese aircraft, ebay is knee deep in f-toys and similar.

Cheers, and happy rumination

GrumpyOldMan

There's a lot here isn't there? The blue uniforms I was thinking of were winter uniforms and in my head my armies are all May-September. 

What I have found out is that there's so much I don't know! But that's good. From my initial research it seems I can use WWI Austrians, British or Germans and not really have scratched the surface!

Still, I think I have plenty of time for such a project before I can put into action my planned Korean War forces ... and we all know why that is don't we?