2017-2018 Micronaut Predictions
Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 2:38 am
My guesses for 2017-2018 Micronaut releases
GHQ has released the last of the 2016-2017 Micronauts and within the next month they will announce their new releases for the coming year. I would like to post my predictions/guesses for next year’s Micronaut releases. A suggestion from Mikee started this several years ago and it seemed to provoke some good discussions. We are interested in any support or contradictory opinions. Those of you interested in Microarmor, ACW or Napoleonic figures, etc.; start your own thread.
For those of you following the Consolidated Micronaut Wish List, predictions/guesses for next year’s releases do not count as votes in the Wish list.
For some time now, GHQ has consistently released twelve Micronauts per year. Since they resumed production of modern warships, there has been a pattern of four ships from the WWI era, four from WWII, and four modern (late Cold War or post-Cold War) ships (although in the 2016-2017 series there were five WWII and only three WWI). I predict that they will continue with twelve releases this year and return to four each WWI, WWII, and four post-Cold War.
WWI era releases: GHQ has already provided a fairly good collection of German and British ships of this era (although there are still a pre-Dreadnaught battleship, several cruisers, and plenty of destroyers yet to be produced). For other countries for which GHQ has produced WWI ships (Austria-Hungary, France, Russia, and the USA) there are diminishing good choices.
All of the ‘modern’ (by Great War standards) battleships, cruisers and destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian navy have been produced. The armored cruiser Sankt Georg and the never-built ersatz Monarch, are possibilities. There are a number of pre-Dreadnought French ships that would make reasonable choices, including Charlemagne class battleships and Edgar Quinet class armored cruisers. Among Russian ships, the Svetlana class light cruisers and Kerch class destroyers are desirable. For the USA, New Mexico (BB 40) class battleships and Caldwell (DD 69) class destroyers would extend the available line.
I believe that it’s about time for GHQ to introduce another country into the Great War series. The two obvious choices are Italy and Japan. Although neither navy participated in extensive combat during the war, their ships were interesting and there were possibilities among hypothetical battles. Eventually, both should be represented but I think that Italy will come first.
My predictions for Great War releases are the same as last year (obviously, I didn’t do very well on those predictions):
- France pre-Dreadnought battleship Charlemagne class (three in the class, all at the Dardanelles). The armored cruiser Edgar Quinet class is my backup choice.
- Italy battleship Dante Alighieri (only a single ship but with unique appearance)
- Italy battleship Doria class or Cavour class (eventually both, but not in the same year)
- Italy destroyer Indomito class.
For my four selections in the era of WWII, I’m going to divide them according to type of ship rather than by country.
Recently GHQ seems to have been producing at least one aircraft carrier each year. Although I am more interested in surface warfare, I predict that there will be another aircraft carrier in this year’s offerings. My prediction is USS Lexington (CV-2) as she appeared at Coral Sea (most notably; four twin 8-inch guns replaced by seven quadruple 1.1-inch anti-aircraft guns). A second possibility is USS Yorktown (CV-5) as at Midway.
I also think there will be a battleship from WWII produced in the next year. I predict USS Idaho (BB-42) as she appeared in 1945 at Iwo Jima and Okinawa with individual enclosed 5â€/38 gun mounts. My alternate is a late-war Fuso.
GHQ should produce a WWII era cruiser in the coming year. My first choice is the French heavy cruiser Duquesne class. My second choice in this area are the Dido class cousins Scylla and Charybdis.
For my fourth choice in the WWII era, I am having trouble deciding between a destroyer type, an amphibious type, a merchant type, or a pack of aircraft. Last year, I waffled on this and named one of each (and was incorrect on all). This year, I’m going to make only one prediction: UK Fleet Air Arm carrier-based aircraft. With six different carrier types available, all the Brits have for their decks is Seafires and Swordfish.
Last year, GHQ produced the Yuting (type 072,) landing ships. For this year, I think they will produce two more Chinese ships; the larger Type 071 (Yuzhao)-class amphibious transport and the Type 052D (Luyang III) destroyer
I thought it was too soon to release a model of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), but I was wrong about this. USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is just about ready to enter service, but only three of these innovative ships will be built. If GHQ makes a model of a modern US ship this year, I expect the USS America (LHA-6) class to be the subject.
With HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) entering trials this summer, it’s likely that GHQ will produce this ship. The next most likely UK release is an Albion-class landing platform dock.
Since the fall of Communism until recently, the Russian navy has been relatively stagnant or even contracting. The only ships recently in service are the Admiral Grigorovich (Project 11356) frigates, Admiral Gorshkov (Project 22350) class frigates, and Steregushchy (Project 20380) class corvettes.
Some more Japanese ships are also a possibility, although the current Japanese practice of building only a small number of ships to a single design before going on to something newer makes it difficult to select a favorite for modelling. Possibilities include Akizuki (DD-115) class destroyers, Atago (DDG-177) class destroyers, Kongō (DDG-173) class destroyers, Ōsumi (LST 4001) class amphibious transports, and Hayabusa (PG-824) class fast patrol boats.
I don’t think that GHQ will start a new line of modern ships. If they do, here are the most likely ones:
- South Korea: For a HSK series, I would start with a Sejong the Great class destroyer. Additional choices of ships from this country include the Dokdo class amphibious assault ship, Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer, and Inchon class frigates.
- One of the European countries that is not yet represented, perhaps France or Italy. These two countries have cooperated in the design of several destroyer/frigate types. Aside from their nation navies, these countries are eager to export their designs to second-level navies. Possible ships are the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the Mistral class amphibious assault ships (perhaps augmented by several ordered by Russia but resold to Egypt), the Horizon (Forbin/Andrea Doria) class frigates, and FREMM (Aquitaine/Bergamini) class frigates.
My selections for four modern ship releases in this season are:
- China destroyer Type 052D (Luyang III) class
- China Type 071 (Yuzhao)-class amphibious transport
- UK aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth (R08)
- US amphibious assault ship America (LHA-6) class
Don S.
GHQ has released the last of the 2016-2017 Micronauts and within the next month they will announce their new releases for the coming year. I would like to post my predictions/guesses for next year’s Micronaut releases. A suggestion from Mikee started this several years ago and it seemed to provoke some good discussions. We are interested in any support or contradictory opinions. Those of you interested in Microarmor, ACW or Napoleonic figures, etc.; start your own thread.
For those of you following the Consolidated Micronaut Wish List, predictions/guesses for next year’s releases do not count as votes in the Wish list.
For some time now, GHQ has consistently released twelve Micronauts per year. Since they resumed production of modern warships, there has been a pattern of four ships from the WWI era, four from WWII, and four modern (late Cold War or post-Cold War) ships (although in the 2016-2017 series there were five WWII and only three WWI). I predict that they will continue with twelve releases this year and return to four each WWI, WWII, and four post-Cold War.
WWI era releases: GHQ has already provided a fairly good collection of German and British ships of this era (although there are still a pre-Dreadnaught battleship, several cruisers, and plenty of destroyers yet to be produced). For other countries for which GHQ has produced WWI ships (Austria-Hungary, France, Russia, and the USA) there are diminishing good choices.
All of the ‘modern’ (by Great War standards) battleships, cruisers and destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian navy have been produced. The armored cruiser Sankt Georg and the never-built ersatz Monarch, are possibilities. There are a number of pre-Dreadnought French ships that would make reasonable choices, including Charlemagne class battleships and Edgar Quinet class armored cruisers. Among Russian ships, the Svetlana class light cruisers and Kerch class destroyers are desirable. For the USA, New Mexico (BB 40) class battleships and Caldwell (DD 69) class destroyers would extend the available line.
I believe that it’s about time for GHQ to introduce another country into the Great War series. The two obvious choices are Italy and Japan. Although neither navy participated in extensive combat during the war, their ships were interesting and there were possibilities among hypothetical battles. Eventually, both should be represented but I think that Italy will come first.
My predictions for Great War releases are the same as last year (obviously, I didn’t do very well on those predictions):
- France pre-Dreadnought battleship Charlemagne class (three in the class, all at the Dardanelles). The armored cruiser Edgar Quinet class is my backup choice.
- Italy battleship Dante Alighieri (only a single ship but with unique appearance)
- Italy battleship Doria class or Cavour class (eventually both, but not in the same year)
- Italy destroyer Indomito class.
For my four selections in the era of WWII, I’m going to divide them according to type of ship rather than by country.
Recently GHQ seems to have been producing at least one aircraft carrier each year. Although I am more interested in surface warfare, I predict that there will be another aircraft carrier in this year’s offerings. My prediction is USS Lexington (CV-2) as she appeared at Coral Sea (most notably; four twin 8-inch guns replaced by seven quadruple 1.1-inch anti-aircraft guns). A second possibility is USS Yorktown (CV-5) as at Midway.
I also think there will be a battleship from WWII produced in the next year. I predict USS Idaho (BB-42) as she appeared in 1945 at Iwo Jima and Okinawa with individual enclosed 5â€/38 gun mounts. My alternate is a late-war Fuso.
GHQ should produce a WWII era cruiser in the coming year. My first choice is the French heavy cruiser Duquesne class. My second choice in this area are the Dido class cousins Scylla and Charybdis.
For my fourth choice in the WWII era, I am having trouble deciding between a destroyer type, an amphibious type, a merchant type, or a pack of aircraft. Last year, I waffled on this and named one of each (and was incorrect on all). This year, I’m going to make only one prediction: UK Fleet Air Arm carrier-based aircraft. With six different carrier types available, all the Brits have for their decks is Seafires and Swordfish.
Last year, GHQ produced the Yuting (type 072,) landing ships. For this year, I think they will produce two more Chinese ships; the larger Type 071 (Yuzhao)-class amphibious transport and the Type 052D (Luyang III) destroyer
I thought it was too soon to release a model of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), but I was wrong about this. USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is just about ready to enter service, but only three of these innovative ships will be built. If GHQ makes a model of a modern US ship this year, I expect the USS America (LHA-6) class to be the subject.
With HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) entering trials this summer, it’s likely that GHQ will produce this ship. The next most likely UK release is an Albion-class landing platform dock.
Since the fall of Communism until recently, the Russian navy has been relatively stagnant or even contracting. The only ships recently in service are the Admiral Grigorovich (Project 11356) frigates, Admiral Gorshkov (Project 22350) class frigates, and Steregushchy (Project 20380) class corvettes.
Some more Japanese ships are also a possibility, although the current Japanese practice of building only a small number of ships to a single design before going on to something newer makes it difficult to select a favorite for modelling. Possibilities include Akizuki (DD-115) class destroyers, Atago (DDG-177) class destroyers, Kongō (DDG-173) class destroyers, Ōsumi (LST 4001) class amphibious transports, and Hayabusa (PG-824) class fast patrol boats.
I don’t think that GHQ will start a new line of modern ships. If they do, here are the most likely ones:
- South Korea: For a HSK series, I would start with a Sejong the Great class destroyer. Additional choices of ships from this country include the Dokdo class amphibious assault ship, Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class destroyer, and Inchon class frigates.
- One of the European countries that is not yet represented, perhaps France or Italy. These two countries have cooperated in the design of several destroyer/frigate types. Aside from their nation navies, these countries are eager to export their designs to second-level navies. Possible ships are the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the Mistral class amphibious assault ships (perhaps augmented by several ordered by Russia but resold to Egypt), the Horizon (Forbin/Andrea Doria) class frigates, and FREMM (Aquitaine/Bergamini) class frigates.
My selections for four modern ship releases in this season are:
- China destroyer Type 052D (Luyang III) class
- China Type 071 (Yuzhao)-class amphibious transport
- UK aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth (R08)
- US amphibious assault ship America (LHA-6) class
Don S.