The Feudal Japanese Project - Part 3. Sohei Warriors.

With a few hours here and there each day after work, I've managed to get the first two-thirds of my planned unit of Yari armed Sohei finished off.

Once again these are 3D printed models from Kyoushuneko Miniatures and were the first STLs I ever bought.

I used mainly Citadel Contrast paints for the models as the project is a large one, I've been trying to find ways to get a decent result quicker, not necessarily speed painting, but certainly quicker then my normal methods.

The exception to this on the Sohei is the Saffron robes, where I used Zandri Dust and washed it with Seraphim Sepia to get the rich dark yellow.

Using the Brushrage Ap on my phone, these models have taken a total of ten and a half hours to complete, which personally I don't think is bad and also means that the larger project is actually completable within my lifetime!

One thing I wanted to do with this project is to vary colours and shades across each unit to make each model more individual, especially as with the period in question, there weren't any set uniforms.

Certain colours of clothing were more common*, but regular uniformity was not a thing, the symbols and Sashimono banners were the way of identification of which army a unit belonged to.

The banner in this unit is freehanded, and features the Kanji symbols for "Zen Buddha" (according to Google).

As you can see, I started with a pencil drawing on the banner before filling it in with Abaddon Black, and then painting the banner with Apothecary White.

I am proud of how the freehand turned out, having not done any for quite a while.

Another thing thing I am happy with, is that when looking down the length of the unit, they do give that ragged, non-regimented front line I was hoping.

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A brief historical overview;

Sohei, Warrior Monks, were Buddhist warriors of feudal Japan and at certain points in history, they held major political and military power.

Not traditional monks, the Sohei were much like the Teutonic Order, the warrior monks of the Holy Roman Empire, and like the crusading orders, sōhei did not operate as individuals, but rather as warriors in a large brotherhood, often based at one of the large temples in the country, though many smaller temples may have had a contingent of Sohei provided by on the of the large temple sects.

Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, just outside Kyoto for example, is one of the famous large temples where Warrior Monks were based, while Kōfuku-ji in Nara also fielded a large Sohei army.

During the mid-1500s, As Oda Nobunaga rose to power, the monks of Enryaku-ji regained their military might, and fought a number of skirmishes in the streets of Kyoto against a rival sect abd Nobunaga's forces.

Then Beginning on September 29, 1571, Nobunaga's army of 30,000 led the Siege of Mount Hiei, destroying Enryaku-ji and massacring thousands. Though it was rebuilt, the standing army of warrior monks would never be reconstituted after this devastation.

After Nobunaga's death, in the 1580s and 1590s, various factions of warrior monks sided with either Tokugawa Ieyasu or his rival Toyotomi Hideyoshi, fighting in a number of battles and skirmishes. Finally, when Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the last of his enemies at the battle of Sekigahara, he took control of the country in 1603 and the time of the warrior monks finally came to an end.

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Enthusiasm is high for this project as it's something which has interested me for years, a mistake I think I made though is to start with one of my favourite unit's, whereas I should really have started with the Ashigaru and get a bulk of line troops out of the way.

Oh well, there will be plenty of time to sort that, as I am forcing myself to paint a unit of Ashigaru for every unit of Samurai/Cavalry/anything else I paint, in order to get the ratios of units right.

As these miniatures are finished I can add the points to the AHPC counter for the year.

There are twenty-one infantry models finished which adds one hundred and five points in one fell swoop!

I'll be posting again soon as I've almost finished a base of Samurai Cavalry, again I am looking at three bases for the entire unit, but small victories should be documented to keep motivation high.

I think my next post might be a background post about the period in question and why I chose this particular project to go forward with.

Until next time, have nice day...

*For example, Indigo dark blue is a very common colour because the flowers use in the dye contained mild antibiotic properties, so offered a measure of health benefits, or so itnwas believed.