HBG's Japanese Sets

I have never agreed completely with what pieces came as OOB for each country anyway. In that situation, something more representative of history should be used, because there are not the number of different options such as those that come with ordering from HBG.

This is really a very different topic anyway, but I will continue:

Shinano for Japanese carrier?    While the Japanese never settled on or were able to produce a large number of carriers from a single class, Shinano is a poor choice because it had no contribution to the war other than take 4 torpedoes from the USS Archer Fish.
  - any of the Midway carriers would have been a better choice, though best would have been Shokaku.

Wasp for US carrier?    Again, a one time unit and not even a fleet carrier. Was around for one battle and went to the bottom.
  - This should have been Essex, hands down. Though Yorktown-class would have been a more than fine alternative.

P-38 for US fighter   It fought in every theater and the design is quite distinctive, but I am sure when you think US WWII fighter (or anyone else is given that prompt), the first thought is not P-38 Lighting!
  - Popular choice would probably be P-51 or F4F/F6F… both of which would have been better.

**Ju-88 for German bomber  **  Might have been one of the more produced and versatile German aircraft, but I would think this almost has to be the He-111, which was more iconic and could carry almost double the payload. This should have been more comparable to the B-17 and Halifax.

**Ju-87 for German fighter (A&A Revised)  **  Revised was sort of the preliminary reboot, so I take this with a grain of salt, and on the surface really is not an awful or illogical pick, but they got it right when they switched to the Me 109.

@LHoffman:

  - any of the Midway carriers would have been a better choice, though best would have been Shokaku.

I’m not sure, but do you mean “any of the Pearl Harbor carriers”?  Shokaku and Zuikaku were there along side the other four, but they were both absent at Midway.

@LHoffman:

Ju-87 for German fighter (A&A Revised)   Revised was sort of the preliminary reboot, so I take this with a grain of salt, and on the surface really is not an awful or illogical pick, but they got it right when they switched to the Me 109.

I think they went with the tiny Stukas back then because 1> it had a very unique, distinctive shape and 2> it was a very iconic German WW2 plane. I think if you asked most people (not history or gaming buffs) to picture a WW2 German plane, most would picture the Stuka, although they may not know what type of plane it was or even what it did.

When I got my first copy of Revised, I was so thrilled that they were using sculpts that were unique to each nation that I didn’t even mind they were using a tiny dive bomber as a fighter. Now with the newer OOB sculpts, FMG and HBG pieces, I have become a lot more picky.

@CWO:

@LHoffman:

�  - any of the Midway carriers would have been a better choice, though best would have been Shokaku.

I’m not sure, but do you mean “any of the Pearl Harbor carriers”?  Shokaku and Zuikaku were there along side the other four, but they were both absent at Midway.

Yes, good point. Though I did mean “any of the Midway carriers”, my caveat was that Shokaku (though not one of those) would have been the best choice. Although, you are right in that my statement could have been clearer had I chosen Pearl Harbor, since all 6 were there.  :wink:

@knp7765:

@LHoffman:

Ju-87 for German fighter (A&A Revised)   Revised was sort of the preliminary reboot, so I take this with a grain of salt, and on the surface really is not an awful or illogical pick, but they got it right when they switched to the Me 109.

I think they went with the tiny Stukas back then because 1> it had a very unique, distinctive shape and 2> it was a very iconic German WW2 plane. I think if you asked most people (not history or gaming buffs) to picture a WW2 German plane, most would picture the Stuka, although they may not know what type of plane it was or even what it did.

When I got my first copy of Revised, I was so thrilled that they were using sculpts that were unique to each nation that I didn’t even mind they were using a tiny dive bomber as a fighter. Now with the newer OOB sculpts, FMG and HBG pieces, I have become a lot more picky.

Yeah, you are certainly right. And I started playing A&A with Revised, so I did not know anything different. I never minded that fact either, until HBG and FMG started making pieces.

@Variable:

Allright, don’t get used to this but… you guys ALL get your way. Coach must really like you guys.  :-D

The JAPANESE EXPANSION SET (SET 2) just went on pre-order too. Go over there and give him your money. Especially since he pulled a few strings and got A SUB ADDED to the set. That’s right, we will be doing the I-400 so the Japanese can have a big sub too like the Germans. This set will be a bit behind the first one though. We still need to model the I-400 and get sculpts made etc etc. I can’t put an expected date on this set yet but it won’t be far.

Wow… that is amazing. I didn’t even know demand was that high, but nobody can say you guys are not customer focused. Bravo again. Will be placing my order today. Thanks Variable/Coach.

@Variable:

And don’t count out that HBG Shinano yet. It’s still out there somewhere… won’t be in this set though.

While good to know, I would not be heartbroken if it never made it in. As always, your company’s solvency is always more important than my personal wishlist. Keep up the good work though.

HBG,

––I’ve just pre-ordered three of your Japanese Expansion Sets and was wondering if you knew how soon after they arrive you will open then to INDIVIDUAL SALES as I’d like several more of certain units. Thanks for your time.

“Tall Paul”

@Tall:

HBG,

––I’ve just pre-ordered three of your Japanese Expansion Sets and was wondering if you knew how soon after they arrive you will open then to INDIVIDUAL SALES as I’d like several more of certain units. Thanks for your time.

“Tall Paul”

We always try to have our sets available for individual sales from 4-6 weeks after the Pre-orders are completed.

HBG,

@coachofmany:

@Tall:

HBG,

––I’ve just pre-ordered three of your Japanese Expansion Sets and was wondering if you knew how soon after they arrive you will open then to INDIVIDUAL SALES as I’d like several more of certain units. Thanks for your time.
“Tall Paul”

We always try to have our sets available for individual sales from 4-6 weeks after the Pre-orders are completed.

––Thanks for the quick response. I’ll look forward to that. And Thanks again for all that you and your ‘gang’ have done for our A&A hobby.

“Tall Paul”

HBG just posted these on FB:

Deutschland-class pocket battleship

F-86?  Definitely US jet fighter

UK tank

German Infantry for next Axis minor set:

Thats the German piece I have been waiting for. Next I hope he does Russian.USA and UK in winter garb. Looking Fan Freakintastic HBG

@GoSanchez6:

Thats the German piece I have been waiting for. Next I hope he does Russian.USA and UK in winter garb. Looking Fan Freakintastic HBG

Agreed… very much the classic German uniform & kit. I was very happy to see this one. Hopefully the infantry sculpts turn out better now that they have switched to 3-D printing. Most of the previous sculpts were disproportionate… like the heads being too big. (Except for the US Marine w/ Thompson - one of my favorites.)

I would like the infantry a little bigger in size too. They tend to be a bit smaller. Ceasar minis 1/72 is my fav scale on infantry scale.

Thanks for the pictures Hoffmann.
Will be nice to have a Churchill and the detail on the German Infantryman is excellent.

Is that really a Sabre? Pretty, except I always liked the smaller Mig 15.

@wittmann:

Thanks for the pictures Hoffmann.
Will be nice to have a Churchill and the detail on the German Infantryman is excellent.

Is that really a Sabre? Pretty, except I always liked the smaller Mig 15.

Maybe that will come in a future Russian Expansion set.

Coach,

Again, awesome lineup,of future AA units, German The Deutschland Class Pocket Battleship is a unit I haven’t had
in my miniature fleet for almost 30 years.  Really looking forward to the Churchill, German Infantry and the F-86 Sabre Jet.
Again Excellent work.  How about an M-26 Pershing and an M-24 Chaffee for you next US set?

WARRIOR888

Got some ideas for the Basic Japanese set.
Medium Tanks > I figured they might go with the Type 97 Shinhoto again. It’s a cool looking tank and they will already have the mold for it.
Fighter > Perhaps HBG will make their own Zero fighter. I’m not sure if the rest of you guys would want a new Zero or just go with the OOB Zero and get some new fighter sculpt.
Bomber > Since OOB gave us the G4M Betty, perhaps HBG will give us the G3M Nell.
Destroyer > So far we have the Akitsuki, Fubuki and Kagero classes. Perhaps a nice addition would be the Yugumo or Tachibana classes.
Carrier > I have heard suggestions for the Shokaku. Sounds good to me.
Battleship > There were 5 different classes of battleships for Japan during the war.
Fuso class = Fuso, Yamashiro
Ise class = Ise, Hyuga
Nagato class = Nagato, Mutsu
Kongo class = Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna
Yamato class = Yamato, Musashi
We are already getting the Fuso, Nagato and Yamato. We got the Kongo class in the 1941 game. We could get the Ise class (which would be cool), but both of those ships were converted to battleship/carrier hybrids and I’m not sure a ship like that would be proper as a battleship in the “Basic” set. However, if HBG decides to make the Kongo class, that would also make a good addition to all of our battleship types. Plus they would probably look much nicer with better detail than the 1941 Kongo.
Not sure if this is important, but the Kongo and her sisters were actually graded as Battle Cruisers rather than full-fledged Battleships. Still, probably wouldn’t be a problem using them as battleships.
Correction: I was just reading up on the Kongo on Wikipedia and found out that she and her sisters underwent reconstruction in the mid 30s and were reclassified as fast battleships. So I guess they would fit as battleships after all.

Guys,

––I, also, think that a G3M “Nell” bomber would be a useful and VERY welcome addition to the ‘basic’ set.
Along with the “Oscar” fighter that has already been announced it would allow for early war scenarios.

“Tall Paul”

TALL PAUL,

I concur, a NELL medium bomber for the Japanese for early war would be an appropriate unit to have.  I have 8 NELL’s in metal 1/600 scale from PICO Miniatures an they are heavy little planes.

WARRIOR888