News on the next set of War at Sea minis

From Rich Baker's blog we learn:

Time for a War at Sea update. I had a chance to talk War at Sea with several of our devoted fans at GenCon, and it was really great to see the enthusiasm the game still generates. Of course, I shared a few tidbits of information about what’s coming next. We’re on target for a December release of Axis & Allies Naval Miniatures V, as in “V for victory” or just set 5. This makes two AANM sets in 2010, which is very exciting stuff. I’m starting to see a handful of final units crossing my desk as we’re moving into our collation checks. Mons Johnson, who’s doing the checks, says this is the best-looking AANM set so far. Some of the Set V units I mentioned at the show include the Sovyetskiy Soyuz, the Kaga, the Chitose, the Atlantis, the Il-2 Sturmovik, the Blyskawica, a Baltimore-class cruiser, and a pre-Fletcher US destroyer. Now that I’ve had a chance to look over my set list again, I’ll go ahead and add some clarification. The Baltimore-class is USS Quincy (CA 71), and the older US destroyer is USS Bagley (DD 386).

Overall, set V has a strong Baltic theme, with a lot of love for the Russians and the first appearance of the Poles as a navy. Sovyetskiy Soyuz is something of a hypothetical unit, in that it was never finished and didn’t see any action. The hull was about 75% complete when work was stopped late in 1940; she was likely a couple of years from completion in the best of circumstances. If Sovyetskiy Soyuz had been finished, she would have been a 70,000-ton behemoth comparable to Yamato, Montana, or the German H.39 design. Her appearance in AANM provides the Russians with a first-rate battleship that can take a ton of punishment, but doesn’t have quite the firepower it should. The Sturmovik gives the Russians a good attack plane noted for using skip-bombing tactics against naval targets, much like the B-25s in the South Pacific. For the Japanese, Kaga is one more piece of progress toward finishing the Kido Butai, the First Air Fleet of the Imperial Navy. Chitose represents the first appearance of a seaplane tender; it’s a beautiful model, and it has some very interesting mechanics with inherent air squadrons. The German Atlantis is also a new type of unit—a disguised commerce raider with some unique mechanics that let her skulk around the edges of the battle without being caught. The model also stands in for a German merchant ship if you want one for a scenario.