Thursday, 9 July 2026

A Chinese Takeaway


A most timely and useful addition to the library

My old friend, the redoubtable Mr Fox, is an exceedingly fine fellow! At the flea market held at the recent Broadside wargame show he spotted a book that he knew would be of interest to me and so promptly acquired the same! I finally took delivery of it last night at the club - and am hugely grateful that he spotted it for me!

Given that I have changed the pre-dreadnought battle for the book from the Russo Japanese War to that of the earlier Sino Japanese conflict, the acquisition of this book could not have been more timely. The change of conflict has also meant that the manuscript, due for submission by the end of August has now been pushed back until the end of the year.

I need to buy the models for Yalu River and then paint them, along with those for the Falklands. Fortunately I already have those for the latter from the Tumbling Dice Age of Battleships 1:2400th range. Yalu River will be fought using 1:1200th scale models.

I am satisfied that the rules work well enough for the Ironclad and the Pre-Dreadnought periods so it is only the dreadnoughts that need testing. Whilst I currently do not have anything table ready for this period I know that Mr Fox does so I shall broach the subject with him when next we meet (or, as is more likely, over the phone or email!).
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6 comments:

  1. Conrad Kinch10 July 2026 at 05:17

    Now that is not something you see everyday.

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    1. David Crook10 July 2026 at 09:55

      Hello there Mr Kinch,

      That is true for sure! Very pleased to have this for the collection and it will help with the Yalu River project. I have another very good book on the Sino Japanese War - at least for the naval side - so reckon that between those two and my copy of Conways I should be ‘there or thereabouts’ with the technical stuff.

      I hope all is well in Kinchville,

      All the best old chap,

      DC

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  2. Jim12 July 2026 at 09:16

    That looks very useful indeed

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  3. David Crook13 July 2026 at 11:28

    Hi Jim,

    It certainly is! As mentioned I have other references for the period but this one gives a more rounded view of the Chinese navy in my opinion.

    All I need to do now is to source (and get table ready) the models and we are good to go.

    All the best,

    DC

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  4. Nicholas Elsden13 July 2026 at 18:20

    Hello Dave, strangely, I have Wright's book beside me as I read your blog entry ... You probably have them already, but the other two modern works that I would recommend on the Sino-Japanese War are Olender's 2014 Sino-Japanese Naval War 1894-1895 (MMP) and Lai's Osprey 'Duel' book Chinese Battleship vs Japanese Cruiser. So far I have only painted up recently a few Chinese torpedo gunboats and transports bought in the 1980s, although the old Navwar models are really too small to see these days, they responded surprisingly well to modern washes and a little dry brushing. I look forward to seeing your 1/1200th models in the fullness of time, and hearing accounts of them in action.

    All the best, Nick Elsden

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    1. David Crook13 July 2026 at 19:01

      Hi Nick,

      You are absolutely right about the other two titles you mentioned - and they are both excellent! I had purchased the fleets in 1:1800th and they are really small so 1:3000th would definitely be a challenge seeing them!

      1:1200th is a good scale for this period and I am looking forward to tackling the models once I have them.

      All the best,

      DC

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