The Feudal Japanese Project - Part 4. Background.

 

I mentioned in the previous post in this series that I was going to explain my thoughts behind this project, I've therefore broken this piece down into three sections;

• How did the Project begin?
• Inspirations of the Project?
• The aims of this Project?

How did the Project begin?

This is a project which I have had in mind for a very long time, twenty five years or more this has been sitting in the back of my head, awaiting it's time in the sun.

Things came to a head last year, when during one of our game days at Element Games we were talking about various things we would like to do, or have on the go.

I was adding to the Tyranid horde, Fraser was looking forward to Legions Imperialis being released and Cardboard Fortress was talking about Bolt Action, doing a small late war British and German force each so that we could field them in a game (one of us often build both sides for a game we want to play, so that we're not relying on the others maintaining enthusiasm).

Talk inevitably turned to dream projects and Hail Caesar was brought up.

Having watched a number of battle reports By 7th Son Wargaming on YouTube, I was interested in the system, and happened to mention about wanting to build a Samurai army.

"That would look brilliant".

"A huge game would be amazing, imagine all the flags though".

"Well I have been 3D printing some Sohei warriors for Test of Honour".

"You have to do the army project now".

So I kind of got pushed into the project, but it's something I was keen on anyway, so it was just that first push which was needed to get going.

Inspirations of the Project?

I've always been interested in the Samurai, all the way back to when i first got a copy of Age of Empires 2 on PC, and i would spend more time sat reading the encyclopedia of the gane, rather then playing it.

Next in the PC gaming history came Shogun: Total War. The first entry into the massive series, and still a personal favourite*. 

It also introduced me to historical figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin**.

(If I can ever make a miniature of one Daimyo, it would be Uesugi Kenshin like this artwork).

During this time I was in my previous career as a bus driver and slaving away for just above minimum wage (as it was then). I was in no form able to afford an army of miniatures from the Perry stable. Absolutely beautiful miniatures when compared to the other offerings at the time.

So I continued on with the Games Workshop path which ensured I was able to play games with my toy soldiers I was spending my spare cash on***.

I was also introduced to Magic: The Gathering, and through the local card/comic book store a game called Legend of the Five Rings.

The world of Rokugan from. legend of the Five Rings immediately grabbed me, and suffice to say, twenty-four years later, is still with me.

The setting is a "White guys idea of what's cool about medieval Japan"**** being that it has Samurai, the Kaiu Wall (the Great Wall of China), the bad guy is called Fu Leng (syllables which do not appear in the Japanese language) and the map of Rokugan is almost the far east of mainland China anyway.

I could carry on about Rokugan and L5R for pages and pages, but that is beyond the remit of this post (it may be something i look at in a future post).

The aims of this Project?

This project is mainly an army building project, and I mean ARMY!

With force creation in Hail Caesar, you create a Division/Battalia/Squadron (whatever you want to call it) consisting of a command base and then a number of other troop bases to the size you wish.

You then issue orders to the division, IN THE ORDER YOU WANT THEM ACTED UPON (this is important) and then roll against the division commanders strategy rating and whatever you beat it by is how many of said orders you get to actually play out.

It's a great system and a real sense of battlefield friction is built into the command aspect of the game.

As I said, Army building, so I'm going to work my way up to four or five divisions per army so that we can eventually have a truly massive battle.

I'm also keeping the miniatures "rules agnostic" and magnetising them to the big bases, so that they can be used for Dragon Rampant and Age of Sigmar (proxying in for some Cities of Sigmar). This aspect of the project is thanks to the suggestion of a third friend I told about the project who has been helping me with printing the numbers of figures which I need.

Speaking of figures.

The vast majority will be printed from Kyoushuneko Miniatures STL files as not only do I really like the digital sculpts, but they are a joy to paint.

As mentioned in part 1 of this project, I'm not sticking to definitive unit sizes, but everything will have up to three of the big oval bases to make a Large unit (small is one base, standard is two bases). I'm working this way because I have a copy of 7th Son's nodal campaign rules for the Wars of the Roses which I can reskin to Feudal Japan, and they include an easy army builder to help with force organisation and attrition.

I've just built a Sohei Command Base, and am looking through my box of prints to see about making a couple of Samurai Commanders with attendants for the clan command bases.

Alongside this I have assembled a fair few bits to work on as the days slowly begin to get longer as spring approaches here in the UK.

Hopefully with some better weather, I can do some painting outside and I can get primer coats to dry properly again*****.

This is one cavalry unit, to give a sense of the size of units I am aiming for, and there are multiple units planned for each division.

I'm going to end this post here, so Until next time, have nice day...

*Not only because of the setting, but also how simple it is compared to later versions of the series.

**A personal favourite historical figure, look up his story of ruthlessness and his rivalry with Takeda Shingen and see what I mean!

***I know GW models are expensive, but the difference is that I could actually get games in with those. I didn't know anyone at the time who had a hankering for historical wargaming, and I hadn't discovered solo rules at this point.

****According to Matt Colville in his video describing it. That's a bit inflammatory given modern sensitivity, but who cares?

*****I've learnt the lesson over too cold a can of rattlecans primer, and also the lessons about Rustoleum white primer which lied on the tin and dried with a semi-gloss finish meaning Contrast paints would not adhere to it at all...

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.

*****

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.

*****

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.

February Motivational.

 

Until next time, have nice day...

Hobby Spending - February 2024.

 

A quiet month for February, with only two purchases this month for the hobby.

First up is the bargain of the year!

This is the first edition Clan War Rulebook, army book and all the cards needed to play the Legend of the Five Rings miniatures game.

This was released in 1998 and flowed on from the popularity of the CCG which the game started with and was at it's apex of popularity at that time.

Normally you can find either the rulebook OR the army book, but never the cards, so when this popped up in my eBay search for a fiver, I pounced on it and stuck an offer in for twice the asking price.

Next up, Rattlecans:

So, I painted up all those Tyranid reinforcements for a gaming day which was cancelled because my son brought a viral chest infection into the house which floored all three of us, fantastic timing during the half-term week off from school so we couldn't do anything...I digress.

This meant that I wasn't able to restock on badly needed supplies from Element Games and had to go on the search for rattlecans whilst waiting for a train to be unloaded at work.

I found the above, in a Matt White finish, from The Range for just shy of £7 each, and picked up two cans. I've never used the range of paint before, but it turned out great, so that's a local(ish) supplier of primer, after my LGS shut down last year.

I am in desperate need of super glue now however...

Number crunching time:

Clan War Rulebook and Cards - £10.

Two cans of White Primer - £14.

Total for January: £24.

Budget for January: £50.

Over/Under Yearly Budget: under budget by £61.

Two months into the year and well under budget, I may treat myself and order some terrain for the Feudal Japanese Project, depending on how the car fares with it's M.O.T. next month.

Until next time, have nice day...

The Feudal Japanese Project - part 2.

 

Following on from the previous post, we take a look at the other units I got built a week ago.

We'll start with a base of Samurai Cavalry:

These were more in-depth to build, being separate riders, horses and Sashimono.

The problem here is that the models, whilst looking beautiful, have very small contact points to the base.

One horse is connected by one foot to the base!

So they all got drilled and pinned to the bases to try to add some strength and stability to them in the long run.

There are another two based of Cavalry to add to complete the unit fully, I may do another base of four and make the third base three models strong for variation.

The next unit is the first of several fantasy units I plan on adding.

A unit of three Sohei Oni*:

An Elder in the center, flanked by a Tetsubo wielding Oni to either side.

The two Oni are the same model printed twice, I can live with the limited amount of poses, as these models cost me around sixty pence of so to print according to Chitubox.

The Elder Oni was a must buy because I find the pose and model really nice, he has a certain charm about him I think.

Tetsubo are great heavy wooden clubs which were often studded with metal. The great strength required to wield them was often admired, and people who could wield a Tetsubo were often referred to as Oni themselves!

Next is the second base of Sohei:

I already had a base of Sohei built which I had began painting before the big build session, but I've added the second oval bases to the unit, this makes a total of twenty-one Naginata armed Sohei, they'll be joined by another ten or eleven on a third base eventually**.

The Warrior Monks are one of my favourite parts of Japanese history, as unlike western monks, the Sohei Buddhists were not peaceful men and had a hand in politics and warfare for almost five hundred years or so, until Oda Nobunaga broke their power in the late 1500s.

Lastly we have a selection of character models I printed out, the first three are commander types:

The two on the left with the spear and axe*** are Hatamoto from Kyoushuneko.

The third is a Samurai from the Katana armed pack, but without a helmet.

Hatamoto were the highest rank of Samurai before one could become a lord and own land. They were often picked to be bodyguards for lord's due to their prowess and loyalty (but even that could be bought).

The Samurai here I am going to use as a Hatamoto, but the three models will form part of a unit for an Age of Sigmar army I have enough models for.

This is a Horse Messenger:

These riders delivered orders between the different clans who had arrived to fight for their liege-lord, the Daimyo, and were very high ranked in the army.

The large thing on his back is called a 'Horo', it was a canvas covered bamboo frame which would inflate as the rider galloped along, not only showing his rank and which army he fought for, but the theory was also that it would deflect arrows shot at him as well.

Whether that is true or not I don't know, I don't believe anyone has tested it in the modern age to prove it.

Adding to the fantasy section we have a Yamabushi Mountain Monk and a Nine Tailed Fox:

The Yamabushi were another section of monks of the period, but often wandered rather then being tied to a shrine or monastery.

The Nine Tailed Fox is the first miniature which is not a Kyoushuneko STL, but is still really nice.

It started as a 75mm display print which I scaled down to 32mm to match the army.

Kitsune, Fox Spirits, were a major part of Japanese folklore and would often be tricksters and helpers at times, I'll go more into that when I get round to doing a showcase of this miniature when it's painted.

Well, that's everything built so far, this project is going to take quite a while to complete due to the sheer size I want to make it.

We're talking three or four divisions per army and I have to build two armies as I don't know anyone else with any interest in the period itself.

I'm going to work up to finishing off a well rounded force for each side first, so I can play a few games with them, but the aim eventually is to have a real masses battle look to the forces, the benefits of 3D printing is that this is actually a viable project, especially financially. The Katana Samurai unit for the last post cost approximately £3.20 to print eighteen miniatures off.

Also timewise for creating the miniatures, 3D printing is again mental to think about.

I can get up at 04.00am to get ready for work and just plug the USB stick into the printer and set it going. When I get home after a twelve hour shift, I can check the build plate and hopefully, there will be a raft of completed miniatures waiting to be washed and cured.

After some maintenance on the printer I can do the same the next day and have a couple of units ready by the end of the working week.

Now if only I could paint that fast!

Speaking of, I'm off to go and paint some of these now.

Until next time, have nice day...

*Sohei - Warrior Monks.

  Oni - Japanese Demons.

Demons aren't necessarily evil in Japanese mythology, they are associated with evil.and misfortune, but can equally be seen as omens of good fortunes, depending on your point of view.

**I keep mentioning about adding a third base to each unit.

The way that I'm going to organise the big bases for the unit is as follows:

One Base: Small Unit.

Two Bases: Standard Unit.

Three Bases: Large Unit.

This is to keep things in line with any ruleset I choose to use, but also give a nice big number of models to field.

***Sometimes called "Ono" Axes are a rare weapon in Japanese warfare, as most fighting styles of the period were two handed and were very finesse orientated, an axe on the other hand is not a subtle weapon...

The Feudal Japanese Project - part 1.

Last Saturday, in the midst of a chest infection, I had a big hobby building day.

Being "All Tyranid Out" for the time being, and lamenting the fact that the illness had cancelled our gaming day, I turned to my long held dream of a big feudal Japanese wargaming army.

I posted before about 3D printing Kyoushuneko Miniatures and took the plunge head first, ending up with this:

That is a 40k combat patrol sized box, filled to the brim with Ashigaru, Samurai and Sohei foot soldiers, I have another one curing with Samurai cavalry in it!

Carrying on with the theme of the last post, and making them multiple game useful, I dug out the big oval bases, small plastic bases and magnets.

This was the result after an afternoon of work*:

Various units and characters awaiting base texturing and printing.

Twenty-one Yumi Ashigaru:

The Yumi is a Japanese longbow, and for the longest time was the preferred weapon of the Samurai as they fought as Horse Archers back in antiquity. They transitioned to foot soldiers over time, but the need for archer support remained.

I have twenty Ashigaru, the peasant class foot soldier, here including full command of Banner Bearer, Horn Blower and Ashigaru Kashira (sergeant, he has the Sashimono banner on the left hand base). Also included on the right hand base is a Samurai Leader for the unit, he's at the front on the very right of the base.

I have to add a third base of troops to this unit to make up the full sized "Large Unit" I plan on fielding for games like Hail Caesar.

Next are Eighteen Katana Samurai:

The Samurai, or Bushi, are the real draw of the armies of this period. They have a mystique about them, which thanks to some revisionist history** and the massive amount of pop-culture from Japan have cemented the idea of the "honourable" Samurai in peoples heads. 

These are the fantastic Katana armed Samurai, which I took pains to only add helmeted figures to the unit, this does mean some repeats of poses, but I can live with that for the effect of the massed unit.

The Sashimono banners are added to all Samurai miniatures in the force and look great when grouped together, again I need to add a third base eventually.

There are some odd numbers with the units I've shown, and I could probably have squeezed more figures onto those oval bases, so why haven't I?

Whilst well organised and disciplined, armies of the time were not as drilled and line focused as say the Romans were. Not having to form a rigid shield wall for their maniples, the armies of the far east would have battle lines which buckled and bulged in places. I wanted to reflect this by grouping the men on the base in a fashion which looked like a military unit with discipline, but reflected the fighting styles of the period and setting.

Likewise with the odd numbers, recruitment was a case of being sunning by your lord, and bringing troops with you, there was no set/rigid number for the size of a unit, that I've found, everything is estimated if it wasn't documented at the highest level.

With the armies being semi-fantasy in nature for this project, I think I can get away any historical inaccuracies in this regard.

I've typed on for far too long already, so I'll details the other units and characters I got built in the next post.

Until next time, have nice day...

*There isn't really any assembly necessary as these are single or two piece for the cavalry miniatures.

It's just cleaning off any remaining supports and regluing any bits which broke off due to the nature of resin.

The longest part was actually sticking all the Sashimono to the Samurai.

**Not so much revisionist as romanticism, the whole code of Bushido was created well after the Sengoku Jidai, the civil war which saw the peak of Samurai power and influence.

Like the Knights of the west, honour and chivalry could, and would, be thrown out the window at the first opportunity if it meant winning and surviving.

Infestation - part 9.

 

The Tyranid force has been growing again, with more reinforcements. These were all meant to be used in a game today, however, due to the onset of a chest infection, I had to cancel. I was driving the eighty-odd miles to Stockport to play with toy soldiers when I can't stop coughing every ten minutes or so...

Anyway, I thought I'd showcase the bits which I have now gotten finished starting with a unit of three Tyranid Warriors:

I bought these after the last game, as I realised quite early on that I needed more Synapse control for the smaller creatures, and I needed some ranged firepower to try to take on the Tanks of the Guard.

The Devourers are a good mid range assault weapon and the big Venom Cannon is a Tyranid Lascannon equivalent. Their melee combo of Bonesword and Lashwhip are just nasty, as they cause instant death on failed leadership tests after s wound is suffered.

The box comes with that many spare parts and options though, that I found an STL of Warrior bodies, and I've made up a Prime on foot and a second unit of three warriors to add in the future.

Next up we have the gristle of the army, lots and lots of Termagants:

Both sets of these are the older miniatures which I bought for cheap off of eBay and refurbished for my needs.

The ten at the top with the Fleshborers will be added to one of the twenty strong units I already finished bringing them up to full size.

The ten at the bottom all have Devourers as their weapon*, meaning they'll give a little more longer range fire whilst we charge at the enemy.

Two more Von Ryan's Leapers:

These two models are the remaining two from the two Leviathan starter sets which started this project off, they're still some of my favourite 'New Nids' of the force reboot, and I have another three to add in due course.

A second Biovore/Exocrine:

The same 3D printed STL as the last one I showcased, with a third waiting to be built, they'll give me some good long range firepower.

And the final Winged Tyranid Prime:

I know that in tenth edition, Winged Primes cannot be equipped with a Venom Cannon, so why have I done it?

Well in fifth edition, the unit called Tyranid Shrikes, we're basically a unit of Warriors with wing upgrades as standard. They could take all the upgrades from Warriors, so I've put all three of the Winged Primes together into one unit to make a Shrikes unit which will accompany my Winged Hive Tyrant and give some mobile fire support.

Lastly, here's a photo of everything I've painted up this year so far for the Hive Fleet:

Not a bad little showing if I do say so.

Points wise for the AHPC points counter we have the following:

Three Tyranid Warriors - counting as mounted model because they're in that middle size category - 30 points.

Fifteen Termagants** - infantry sized - 75 points.

Two Von Ryan's Leapers - infantry sized - 10 points.

One Biovore/Exocrine - large model - 20 points.

One Tyranid Shrike - mounted model as it's the same size as the Warriors - 10 points.

For a total of 145 points added to the total from this lot here, and a chunk added to my total miniatures painted this year as well which I'm pretty pleased about.

I'm going to focus on a different project for the time being, and might add a unit or two to the force in the future but not for a while I think.

Until next time, have nice day...

*Alright there are two in this unit with Spinefists, but I will take what I can get second hand off of eBay, they'll just "count as" Devourers.

**I did already paint five of the Devourer armed Termagants before I started the AHPC tracker, so I'm going to be honest with myself and not count those.