Predictions/Guesses for 2010 - 2011 Micronaut release

[Donald M. Scheef]

I have been having an on-line discussion with Mikee and he suggested that I post the following on the GHQ Forum. This was initiated by a message from Mikee relating his predictions/guesses for next year’s Micronaut releases. We would be interested in any other lists of what you predict for next year’s Micronaut releases. For obvious reasons, we do not expect GHQ employees to participate. 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.

“Like you, I enjoy guessing (wishing) and also have a horrible success rate.

“The first question about next year's Micronauts is "How many?" For several years, GHQ was releasing twelve Micronauts per year but last year there were only eight. Is this a trend or merely a blip in the standard? My hope is that next year there will be 16 to make up for last year's deficiency; but I don't really expect this. I'm going to split the difference between last year and previous year and predict ten Micronauts.

“1. One item in the GWS series: I'm going to go for the opposite obvious option you selected - BB-26 South Carolina class rather than BB-36 Nevada class. Other possibilities are CA.4 Pennsylvania (later Pittsburgh) class armored cruisers and DD-57 Tucker/Sampson class destroyers. After these, there's essentially nothing left for US combat ships in the WWI era unless you go to the uncompleted Lexington and South Dakota designs.

“2. One item from the GWB series: For this, I'm going to go with the #1 vote getter in the Wish List - Minotaur class armored cruisers. After this, there are still numerous light cruiser and destroyer classes that saw action in WW I and have not yet been modeled by GHQ. Another possibility is a Renown class battlecruiser as initially built.

“3. One item from the GWG series: I’m going to guess Konigsberg class light cruisers. There are several other light cruiser classes and some destroyer classes that are possible.

“4. One item from the GWR series: GHQ has not yet released any light cruisers for the Russians. I am going to predict Svetlana class. There are several other light cruiser classes and some destroyer classes that could be added to the GWR series.

“5. One item from a new GW series: The possibilities include French battleship Bretagne class, Italian battleship Doria or Cavour class, or Austro-Hungarian Tegetthoff class. I’m going to go with the Bretagne for no good reason. Actually, even though WWI is not my first interest, I would like to see all three produced as a start for the GWF, GWI and GWA series. Considering GHQ’s recent interest in armored cruisers, there are some very interesting possibilities in the French fleet.

“6. One item from the USN series: I’m going to select BB-42 Idaho in its late-war configuration. There are still dozens of US WWII ships that have not been modeled by GHQ and my selection of Idaho is just a SWAG.

“7. One item from the UKN series: As with the USN series, there are lots of possibilities here. My selection is for Uganda (modified Colony) class light cruisers, for no reason other than this is a class that I would like to have in my collection.

“8. One item from the GEN series: I’m going to guess T-1939 (T.22) class torpedo boats. These small ships saw extensive combat around the coastline of northern Europe.

“9. One item from the IJN series: Although I am interested primarily in surface warfare, the Japanese aircraft carriers have been popular in the Wish List voting. I am going to predict that GHQ will produce a model of the Chitose class (as modified to CV) rather than one of the yet unmodelled cruiser or destroyer classes.

“10. One item from the SUN series: The Type 7U destroyer class seems a good candidate and I’m going to go with this.

“Well, there’s my list. We’ll see how accurate I am in foretelling the future.

“Do you think it’s worth posting this in the general forum?â€￾

We also welcome disagreement/discussion of our predictions/guesses. Mikee has already pointed out that GHQ almost always opens a new series with multiple releases; therefore it’s unlikely that GHQ would start a GWA, GWF, or GWI series with just a single ship.

Don S.

[LAX_Kev]

If GHQ does NOT introduce a new line of Great War Micronauts (Italy, A-H, or France), then I suspect that we will be stalled out at 8 new ships; if there’s a new line, then I say we’ll get the basic 8 plus 4 or 5 more in that new line.

The Basic 8 (and this was a really hard 8 to compile…). Recent trends have indicated that we can see at least one GWS US dreadnought and one US pre-dreadnought. There are many cruisers from the UKN and GWB series that could be made, so let’s toss some into the mix. Aircraft carriers come with the highest price tag, so a release of a small one should yield a good profit margin (particularly if there are multiple units in that ship class.) Plus a few other items to keep the designers happy and us surprised. That said, here’s the predictions:

GWS-11: BB Oklahoma (2 in class, multiple sales - we’ll see South Carolina in the following year)
GWS-12: BB-10 Maine (3 in class, multiple sales)
GWB-28: the ever popular ACR Minotaur (3 in class, multiple sales)
USN-86: CV-1 Langley (as sunk)
IJN-49: CV Chitose (2 in class, multiple sales)
UKN-46: CLAA Charybdis (2 in class, multiple sales)
USN-87: BB Idaho ‘44 (only one, but you know the folks will snap it up. I was debating between this one and HMS Malaya in WW2 config)
And the wild card for this year will be either: NLN-6: CLAA Jacob Van Heemskerck (10 x 4â€￾ version) or IJN-50 CV Shinano (priced at 19.95 due to the amount of metal in the casting)

I will also step out on a limb and predict that this will be the year for another WW1 line (enough with all those Russians already...). Of the possibilities, I suspect that we will see:
GWA-1: BB Tegetthoff Class (4 in class)
GWA-2: BB Radetzky Class (3 in class)
GWI-1: BB Dante Alighieri
GWI-2: BB Cavour (3 in class)
GWI-3: ACR Pisa (2 in class)

We can expect to see the WW1 French roll-out next year.

Beware: I have better luck picking the NCAA college basketball brackets (I always lose early in the office pool) than I do in guessing what GHQ will do in terms of new product selections. Really, my record is truly horrible! That said, perhaps all the above are doomed? (I hope not, but you never know….)

Still, hope springs eternal!

Kevin

[Mikee]

I've been trying to guess what GHQ will produce this year. My latest guesses are:

1. A U.S. WWI BB; most likely the Nevada. it seems likely that GHQ would continue this line.

2. If i remember right, the U.K. WWI Minotaur class has been at the top of the want list for awhile. Maybe this is the year GHQ will do it.

3. The U.K. WWII V/W class long-range escorts. The basic ships and AA ships have been produced; this version would complete the set.

4. A U.K. WWII cruiser. Which one, I can't decide. a basic Kent or Sheffield would give us several ships to buy, but I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to do the Emerald. there are so many U.K. cruisers still waiting for attention that it seems likely that GHQ would keep adding them to the list.

5. The German WWII Deutschland, the third panzershiff. Or, it could be the Hipper. There seem to be a good amount of interest in these.

6. CV Chitose. Don't know why I think this'll come. Just a wild guess. OTOH, we three all agree on this ship. (Is that a good sign or a bad sign?)

7. Something else from the WW I German or U.K. fleets. Maybe a light cruiser.

8. Something unexpected. I think GHQ likes to surprise us. If it's a new WWI navy, there could be several offerings.

The economy is still not so good, so I wouldn't be surprised if their offerings are less than in the past. It'll be interesting to see if I've hit any of them this year.

[ed*b]

I mulled over trying to make predictions, but I think I'll pass on a detailed list. I don't want to sound aggrieved, but I suspect there will be more obscure Russian predreadnoughts. I agree that we may see another GW series start up, but my prediction would be the Japanese. After all, the Kongo's were around for WW1, and the Settsu and Kawachi were interesting designs, though hampered by a mixed main armament (12"/45 and 12"/50).

If this actually happens, then perhaps the grand scheme is run the Russian and Japanese fleets back to 1905 and the Russo-Japanese war.

I will be somewhat miffed if HMS Vanguard is on the list - I finally broke down and bought a resin model and am now trying to convert it into something less disgusting by using spare turrets and other parts.

[Donald M. Scheef]

I don't think we need to compare scores directly, but I am happy with my predictions and GHQ's releases.

I got two direct hits (UKN BB Vanguard and GWS BB-26 North Carolina), what I consider three close misses (GWS ACR Pittsburgh as a possible, IJN CV Shinano rather than Chitose and SUN DL Tashkent rather than DD Type 7U), and six total misses (no GWG at all, much less a cruiser; two GWR battleships rather than a light cruiser, no new series at all, no USN battleship, no UKN cruiser, and no GEN destroyer/escort).

ed*b was right on about more Russian predreadnoughts (although they aren't obscure to anyone interested in the Russo-Japanese war) but miffed on Vanguard.

Mikee hit with Chitose and Minotaur and was close with Nevada and "Or it could be Hipper."

I think LAX_Kev wins with three direct hits: Minotaur, Chitose, and Shinano.

Don S.

[Mikee]

I didn't do too well predicting. They did come up with something unexpected - the Midway calss CV; never thought they'd do that one. Glad to see tghe Hipper; I can convert one to a Blucher, i think, probably just by filing the bow. May not be exact, but close enough, I think. I'm not surprised to see the Shinano, but thought the Chitose might come first. (I don't see it on the list; am i missing something?)

I would never have expected the Tashkent, since only one was built. The DD book states that the follow-up ships were to be built to a modified design, but I don't know how different they would have been. The old russian BBs are a surprise, but they'll look good I think

Next year just has to be the WWI Nevada, to complete the U.S. battle line I don't think GHQ will be in a hurry to produce the later BBs (I may be trying reverse psychology here, but I won't confirm), but who knows.

Our 'brother's" message above, regarding WWI IJN ships is interesting. A Mikasa would be great!

All in all, a nice group of ships for the next year. now, if they'd only put them all out in June and save me the waiting.

[ROGER_HOUSTON2EMC-ENG.COM]

I am quite pleased with what GHQ plans to bring out this coming year. I might as well go ahead like the rest of us and put my vote in for what I would like to see on the modern side in the year following.
First, redos of existing models
BMP-1 -(Yes like the rest, I think this one is tired and needs sharpening up like the T-72)
ZSU-57-2 -(Another tired old model that could use a redo)
US M-925 5T TRUCK- ( Current casting needs to be scrapped and redone to reflect the accurate version of this vehicle.)

New Models
US 5TON M-800 SERIES - (Make this version with bed separate from cab/frame for scratch conversion for Vietnam guntrucks/road tractors/wreckers/dump trucks etc. It would certainly be better for Vietnam convoy scenarios as well as Cold War and ODS .
US Patriot Air defense System - (Could do a 2 pack launcher/transport as well as pack for the radar/FC van like the SA-6 sysytem.
US Small emplacement excavator (SEE) - That coupled with the DEUCE gives you an accurate engineer capability for your airborne/light engineer battalion.
The FA-18 Hornet - Enough said
The CH-46 Phrogg - Enough said again
.........And what the heck, with that in mind, a big, bad Mamma Jamma pack with a C-130 in it would be phenominal . The options are endless here. Tankers for the Gyrenes, Spectre gunships, airborne drops, Entebbe air assaults........Man! What I would give for that!

Anyway....thats my 2 cents!

Roger

[exodusforever]

Looking at all these predictions, I must say there have been lots of ample consideration given.
I am not one who is probably capable in seeing any possibilities but here is my 2 cent worth for Modern Micronauts.

Type 45 Daring Class Destroyer
Type 23 Frigate
Arleigh Burke Flight IIA (Modification from its old Flight I)

The reason that GHQ would even consider to releasing these few i have predicted is because they already have an establish line for UK, Soviet and US Navy

And the only possible expansion from Modern Present Day Naval Units would be the Arleigh Burke Flight IIA for the Americans.

UK would be the recently commissioned Type 45 and also the more relevant Type 23 succeeding its predecessor Type 22. I do not forecast anything new for the Russian Line as pretty much it covers everything that the current Navy has.

However, should they wanna expand it, the only potential Naval unit i can think of for the Russian is the Kuznetsov Aircraft Carrier.

When will they release all this.. will probably not be immediately next year.

However, I have a strong feeling because Modern Naval Fans have a semblance of a following in these forums, that they maybe room for GHQ to give one slot for release next year. And it would be great i it was any of the above mentioned.