The Feudal Japanese Project - part 6. Sohei Command.

 

The morning mist still clung to the slopes of Mount Izuna when Captain Renkō of the Uesugi Sohei drew his blade and turned to face his assembled warriors. Clad in red and yellow lacquered armour, their faces half-hidden behind cloth and prayer beads, the monks stood in silent ranks, the faint chiming of metal rings from their naginata hafts whispering like wind through a temple garden. Below them, in the valley, the banners of the Hojo clan rippled in black and white — invaders, desecrators, men who had come to burn the monasteries of Echigo and seize the holy mountain passes. Renkō raised his hand to the sky. “For Bishamonten, the God of War!” he cried. The mountain answered with the roar of a hundred voices.

The monks surged forward, descending the slope like an avalanche of faith and fury, the hiss of arrows slicing through the air. Hojo archers loosed volleys in panic, their shafts striking armour and passing through saffron robes — but still the Sohei came, their formation unbroken. Renkō led from the front, his crimson and grey banner trailing behind him like a comet’s tail. His katana swept wide, the curved blade flashing through armour and flesh as he smashed into the Hojo vanguard.

The impact was like the meeting of storm and sea. Steel met steel, and the calm chants of the monks turned to war cries. The Hojo line wavered, unused to such disciplined fury. Renkō fought as though possessed, his weapon cutting through men and spearshafts alike, the iron rings on its haft chiming like temple bells. Around him, his brothers formed a tight wedge, pressing deeper into the enemy formation. Even as they fell, their mouths still moved in prayer.

But the Hojo were no mere rabble. Their captains rallied them, forming spear walls and driving horses down from the flanks. A mounted samurai thundered toward Renkō, his blade gleaming. The Sohei captain sidestepped, catching the horse’s bridle and dragging the rider from his saddle in a burst of strength. With one motion, Renkō brought his blade down, ending the man’s cry before it could form. The clash grew thick with smoke and sweat, and the monks began to chant once more — not for victory now, but for transcendence.

*****

It has been a while since I posted anything Samurai related on here, but I carved out some painting time recently and buckled down to finish these four miniatures of the Sohei Command Cadre which I started over eighteen months ago...

Well, not to repeat things from previous posts recently, but life has kind of gotten in the way recently and I've had to work projects in amongst everything else.

As this group of models were 75% finished, I decided to buckle down and finish them off for another "easy win" to keep momentum and enthusiasm high.

Originally, I was going to use the Samurai for a big Hail Caesar project, and I might still do that, but I've also been working on a campaign for Lion Rampant using these models and my own custom ruleset for larger skirmish games of about 50-70 models per side, so I decided to keep them on individual round bases to be useful for different gaming systems.

The complete command staff, all from Kyoushuneko Miniatures and 3D printed by me at home.

We'll start with the two "Gunsou" (Sergeants). Both of which I chopped up a little to change their Spears to Katana to match the Daimyo (more later). I tried to mix things a little, but ensure that they still had the Saffron Yellow robes, for which the Sohei were famous. But then I mixed the other colours around on different areas of the models to give individuality to them, and also to ensure that the historical reason for the Sashimono (the back banners) was actually real, and not just because "they're pretty" like I've heard some people say before, when referencing the period.

Taichou Renkō, the leader/warlord. This was actually the model which started the whole process of this project. I've been interested in Japanese history since my late teens, and read about the great battles of Kawanakajima many times. Uesugi Kenshin is a great historical personality, and one of my favourites as I was studying the period when I was younger.
So I decided that when this model, the Sohei Daimyo, was on special offer and reduced in price I was going to get it just to paint. One thing led to another and we ended up here, with about project on the go...

Anyway, I decided to keep the colour palette very constrained on this leader mode, representing his better equipment which he could pay more for and not have to mix and match like everyone else.
So Yellow and Reds are Warlike colours and fitted with the look I was wanting to achieve, I also took pains to try to get some of the silk patterning from real period armour onto the model, so the stripes of red and yellow, which contrast really nicely with the white headwrap and black Jinbaori (overcoat).
I love the confident stalking forward pose with the sword held low.

The banner bearer of the group comes from the Sohei command pack, and carriers an Uma Jurushi type banner, they had a lot of different types of banner in this period. The Sengoku Jidai, as well as being known as "The Age of the Country at War" is also sometimes referred to as "The Age of Flags". Kind of fitting with all the back banners and then banner types declaring a Daiymo's prowess and different clans, etc.

The Sohei himself was painted as the previous models, but the banner is where I could really try something. Some of the banner of the period are really, REALLY elaborate and intricate with lines of writing declaring a haiku or verses from Buddhist religious texts or the Art of War (the Samurai were obsessed with Sun Tzu's writing).
I decided I wanted to try free-handing the banner and hopped onto google translate.
The text I translated into Japanese Kanji reads "Heaven on Earth" which is the last line of a historical death poem*. 

Autumn wind fades…
My shadow drifts from the world,
silent as snowfall.
One breath, one last remembrance—
Heaven on Earth

A lot of fine brush control was needed for the Kanji, something I'll have to try to replicate as I move through the different units eventually. The red swirl was taken from a documented Sashimono of the Asai clan, a derivative of their main colours, but suitable for my purposes.

As for the Sashimono on these models, I wanted something simple which wouldn't detract from the main models, but also wasn't just a flat one colour flag. So I altenated stripes between the deep red and dark greys I had on my table when I got to that stage. I think they turned out well and I am purposely not adding a "Mon" (symbol) to them, so that they can be used between the main clans as a backup force, as the Sohei fought for whoever would most serve their own political goals at the time.
Oda Nobunaga broke their power and burned nearly every temple he came across during his march on Kyoto because he was tired of their interreference in his efforts to unit Japan under his banner!

I decided then to brush off the Sohei I had finished previously and take a full battalion/warband photo.

They're looking good so far, and I want to pick up the Kyoushuneko Sohei archers and cavalry at some point to add to the force. One of the cavalry models I will only print one copy of and I will modify him to be a mounted Daimyo, maybe even Uesugi Kenshin himself, unless I can find a good STL which represents him and keeps the look of the Kyoushuneko models themselves.

Next for the Samurai project, I have a unit of Cavalry I have been working on to finish and I've started on a unit of Samurai on foot as well. I may finish to cavalry and then force myself to paint an Ashigaru unit, as these were the main troops of the period. The Samurai are akin to Medieval knights of Western Europe, the Ashigaru would be the Men-At-Arms/Levy troops raised to fill out the armies.



A note about Mount Hiei:

Mount Hiei is located North East of Kyoto and has been the feature of many folk tales over the ages. It was thought to be home of the Demons of Shinto lore, although it is predominantly known for the Buddhist monks, Sohei, who originate from the temples of Enryaku-Ji.

First created in 788, the temple rapidly gained prestige and power by protecting the ancient Japanese Capital of Kyoto as it was thought in ancient geomancy that certain negative spirits originated from the North East direction. Thus the temple was thought to be a protective bulwark for the capital which led to its rise within the political power structures of the Imperial Court during the Heian period, 8th-12th centuries.

Enryaku-Ji is notable for being documented as the birthplace of the Buddhist Tendai sect, unique to Japan and nearly all later schools of Buddhism within Japan originated from the Tendai sect, founded by ex-monks of the temple. These include sects such as Honen, Nichiren and Shinran teachings.
The temple at Enryaku-Ji was said to have an image of the Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) enshrined within it, to which the monks would meditate before.
The founder of the complex, Saicho, also lit a lamp of oil before the Buddha and prayed that the lamp would never be extinguished. Now known as the Fumetsu no Hoto (Inextingsuishable Dharma Lamp), it has remained in the temple and remained lit for more then 1200 years.

Until next time, have nice day...

*Death Poem's or "Jisei" (or more popularly known in the west as Haiku's) are short, spare poems written either by one before their death, or by someone else afterwards honouring someone who deserved it. They follow a particular rhythm and number of syllables in each line creating a unique cadance when read aloud.