Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Adventures in the Far East => Topic started by: AWOL on 27 September 2015, 04:24:14 PM
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Greetings Lead-adventure!
I haven't posted overly much on this site, but a friend of mine who goes by the name of CaptainHaddonCollider here, has been posting battlereports (Links:1 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=80214.0), 2 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=81587.0), 3 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=81679.0)) from some of our Lion Rampant games in an ongoing, if currently paused, campaign, and I felt that a log here about my newest project might work both to let us keep track of it and maybe even shamelessly pilfer inspiration from the other members of the board.
CHC has a peculiar ability to get me to start projects, and he's gotten me into a number of games over the years. LR turned out to be tremendous fun, not least because he'd done an absolutely amazing job with the terrain and setting, and over the summer I decided to see if there wasn't a way to return that. Then, after we'd played our last LR game, Ronin reared it's head. Small armies, fairly cheap to get into, looks well-written and fun, plus we've got another friend who should be easy to persuade as long as he gets to play with samurai models and put on a fake accent - what's not to love?
I decided on finding a background that'd let me pit three armies against each other, since the overarching narrative of the LR campaign made that so much better, and found it in the Sengoku era. Here's the intro text I sent to CHC and the other chap, Tim:
In 1573, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, last Ashikaga-shogun, have managed to alienate his patron, the Daimyô Oda Nobunaga, by refusing to leave politics to him. After the shogun contacts Takeda Shingen, Daimyô of Kai, to aid him in destroying Nobunaga, Nobunaga promptly imprisons the shogun and makes war on Shingen, one of the most wealthy Daimyô in Japan. In the meantime, the Daimyô Uesugi Kenshin have little love for either commander, and would dearly love to see them both dead, furthering his own ambitions. A former Buddhist monk, he is partly inspired by the rise of the Ikko-Ikki to purify the land of the rising sun.
The lines are drawn, with Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin sending out raiding parties ahead of their main forces to control strategically placed villages and roads, burn or recover crops, and assassinate opposing commanders.
(Historically, Shingen dies in 1573 trying to storm a castle commanded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Nobunagas most valued field commanders. Nobunaga, fighting the Ikko-Ikki, rejoices and puts them to the sword. After this, he utterly destroys the Takeda army under Shingens son by massed Teppo-fire, which also makes a point to the samurai on both sides - the nobility of the Kai province has been destroyed by Ashigaru, commoner infantry, with firearms.)
Of course, there's much more to the period than this, but I feel it should suffice as a setting for a few games.
With this established, I borrowed CHC's Ronin rulebook and made 3 army lists.
Defenders of the Ashikaga Shogun, Buntai of Daimyô Takeda Shingen
3 Samurai
4 Ashigaru with Yumi (bows)
1 Ashigaru-Gashina with a banner
1 Ashigaru-Gashira with Yari (spears)
Raiders of the Monk-Daimyô, Uesugi Kenshin
2 Samurai
1 Hatamoto
2 Ashigaru with Yumi
1 Ashigaru with a banner
3 Ashigaru-Gashira with Yari
(I've actually got a second WiP list for this army that I'll use if time permits - it just requires me to paint some monks that I haven't got yet, so for now I'll be aiming for this, and if I have time I'll swap in a different list. )
Advance guard of the new Shogun, Oda Nobunaga
1 Bushou with Nodachi and warhorse
1 Hatamoto with Yari and warhorse
3 Samurai
I'll admit that I'm worried about the last one being either insanely overpowered or utterly feeble, but it ought to be fun, and that's the main objective.
I've bought everything needed from the Perry brothers, and their metals are - as always - a pleasure to work with.
I picked a Ashigaru with a bow from the Takeda force as my test model:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pvJGOIeqRkI/VgfwXIwM2wI/AAAAAAAAB_c/w3Q4YAYfV-A/s1600/YumiAri.JPG)
I've since realised that I need to paint some stripes on his bow, but other than that, this'll be the standard I'll aim for.
Terrain-wise I've built a few houses, the concept shamelessly stolen from Juxt's great samurai log over on warseer: Link (http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?410055-Summer-grasses-all-that-remains-of-great-soldiers-imperial-dreams)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1mlnOTzjMdQ/VgfwV51IraI/AAAAAAAAB_s/biI2vo9PTjE/s1600/Houses.JPG)
And for scale:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l3mEKFE6524/VgfwWnMDNZI/AAAAAAAAB_w/mJJrKSmH3BQ/s1600/Housescale.JPG)
They're not the prettiest things in the universe, but I think they'll do for peasant housing. I'm hoping to complete either a manor or a small temple in the same style before we play.
If you've made it through that wall of text, congratulations! I know I went on a bit, but I felt this should be introduced proper-like. All comments and criticism is more than welcome on this!
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Oh my, but this looks very promising! The houses are superb and the painting on the test ashigaru likewise, I can't wait to see this I'm action! What sort of playing surface does ronin need? 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4? Should we make a themed table?
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Love the houses, simple yes but very well done and effective. :)
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3x3 is the recommended size for Ronin I believe.
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Thanks guys.
Carlos, cheers - I'll be plotting out terrain for a 3x3 table then.
Hupp, thanks!
CHC, we should! I'm thinking we'll play at Rogue Trader, so the playing surface is taken care of. I'm not entirely sure how much terrain is suitable, but I'll be making a couple more houses and some other thematic stuff. The generic terrain they have at the club should fit in nicely too, deciduous trees and rocks/hills mainly. We should be good, I think.
It's been busy, but I figured I'd share what limited progress there's been. I've been distracted by Infinity, but that's easing up a bit. No more terrain for this update, but the first buntai is taking shape.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P9lIR7sbcXo/Vhj4G0CPHZI/AAAAAAAACAo/kC1-4Uowo_s/s1600/Buntai.JPG)
This is, of course, the ashigaru archers of Takeda Shingen and a single samurai of the same buntai. The ashigaru are all keeping to the same recipe for the red and black, but I'm hoping to introduce a bit more variety on the samurai by using different reds, whites and blacks. Everyone in the buntai will be in the warm, reddish colours though, to keep them visually coherent and distinct from the others.
I'm also hoping there'll be time to go back over them before playing and adding more details, like markings on their helmets and some freehand on the banners, but I'll be keeping it simple until I've got all the models up to a basic standard that'll let us play a game. We've been talking about a game sometime in November, so there isn't THAT much time.
The last members of the buntai are prepped and I'll be working a bit on them today:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-biRCu6O2ac4/Vhj4jB56pdI/AAAAAAAACA8/GbMoR3i7vj8/s1600/BuntaiWiP.JPG)
The ashigaru should be fairly quick to paint, leaving me a bit of time to work on the banner and the samurai. I might also be resuming work on the terrain, after having seen the buildings Funkybrush have done in his thread.
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This looks great! Also good to see some interest in Ronin and Samurai in general in Denmark, since I just happen to have acquired (No clue how that happened ::) ) both rules and some miniatures myself.
Looking forward to seeing more of this project unfold. Seems like it'll be great for inspiration.
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Cheers Affun!
Yeah, projects tend to do that. I was just sitting quietly at the PC, lost concentration and an order confirmation from the Perry's showed up in my inbox. You're in Jutland, right?
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Great work! Do you like the Boshin War? ;)
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Lovely work :-* :-*.
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Cheers Affun!
Yeah, projects tend to do that. I was just sitting quietly at the PC, lost concentration and an order confirmation from the Perry's showed up in my inbox. You're in Jutland, right?
Indeed, currently reciding in Aarhus. I do stop by Copenhagen at least monthly, so at some point, we might even be able to figure a game out. At the very least, I plan to stop by Rogue Trader at some point soon-ish.
I ended up falling for the Black Hat Samurai - looks to be some great sculpts, and am awaiting them with anxiety. And at that price, I couldn't not buy them :D At least, thats what I tell myself.
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Affun, we should do that. Would be fun to air these guys and get a feel for the system. I think there's a little bit of interest in RT as well, besides me.
Black hat looks fantastic too, and like you say, cheap! Why, compared to other options, they're almost saving you money, so it'd almost be irresponsible NOT to buy them. ;)
Luckily they're 25 mm and I'm using 28, so I can just about control myself.
Olyreed, cheers man!
Rokurota, thanks and thanks for the link too, you've got some very nice sculpts, especially the officers. Sadly I think I'm too invested in medieval wargaming or WWII to make the plunge right now, but I'll keep them in mind - it's a fascinating period. :)
This'll probably be the last update in a little while, as I need to finish some Infinity stuff before I can really continue. Plus, one of the guys I'm planning on running the campaign with has dropped out for the next 2 months due to work, so I'll be focusing on getting the Uesugi Kenshin force ready. I've ordered a bit more from the Perrys to change the list into an Ikko-Ikki one, as everything I've read about Uesugi Kenshin points me towards him being rather religious. I figure it shouldn't be TOO unlikely that some of the more religious parts of his forces would scrape up some poorly equipped fanatics on the way to the battle and field them, but I'm not too knowledgeable on Japanese culture and the way things were done, so feel free to correct me if there's anything entirely unlikely here. Heraldry can be re-painted, after all.
Anyhow, as you can probably figure, the first buntai is done.
Here's the newbies:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6wfOvTk6dU/Vh5US6yytRI/AAAAAAAACBU/OU4F9eD4Eao/s1600/NewAdd.JPG)
From left to right: An anonymous samurai, another anonymous samurai that'll be the leader of the warband and thus eventually get a name, an Ashigaru with the banner and an Ashigaru with a Yari.
The entire buntai looks like this:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B59ikkAfLr4/Vh7GfE5lfkI/AAAAAAAACB4/FTbnaJPVFAQ/s1600/Buntai.JPG)
I'm fairly pleased with them. I'll go back over and add some more details if I have the time, but there's plenty to paint and build yet, after all. Also, an annoying detail - I had originally gone with the round mon on this buntai, but I found out that was the wrong mon for the Takeda forces. The actual mon is the 4 diamond seen on the helmet of the ashigaru with the spear, so I had to repaint the archers.
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Very nice warband.
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Very nice!
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:-* :-* i like the mix of black and reds, they look great
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Very very nice :-*
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Lovely painting here ! :-*
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I've been neglecting the hobby lately as there's been some real-life entanglements, but I hope to be back-ish now.
Thanks for all the comments guys, it's very encouraging. :) And Tancrede, fancy seeing you here! I recall admiring your work years ago on Warseer!
With the first warband out of the way, I've started work on number two, the Ikko-Ikki. These'll be a fair bit more numerous, with 15 models all told in my revised list. To be specific, 7 peasants, 4 monto ( 2 with yari, one with a banner and the last with a katana), 3 samurai and a sohei warrior monk to round it out.
I've been doing my best to speed through these, and while the quality has dropped slightly, they were actually moderately fast to paint.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XtxwgSu_N9Y/VjfIyM491PI/AAAAAAAACCQ/izNGSXK84UA/s1600/IkkoPeasants.JPG)
This is, of course, 3 peasants and a solitary monto with a katana. I've repurposed the mon I originally used for the first warband to fit these chaps, as it's apparently a buddhist symbol. Since the Ikko-Ikki is a buddhist militia, it seemed to fit.
Inspired by CaptainHaddockCollider's excellent Lion Rampant terrain and civilian models, I've also started work on my own. One of the things that really stood out while playing was how much more entertaining it was with civvies looking on, and after that I can hardly set my bar lower.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zkPtcpztSqI/VjfIyOd-TgI/AAAAAAAACCU/bpT_0046x90/s1600/Civvie.JPG)
I'm thinking that this guy should be a minor noble or a local bigwig of some sort, what with the rather fancy clothes and the sword over his shoulder. The well is mainly there as a tester for the buildings, so now I know how I'll proceed on the rest.
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Quick little update, as I've finished 3 more peasants and the Sohei monk to be the spiritual leader of the warband:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_mqCDl50kcU/VkUQTbllaGI/AAAAAAAACCo/F6ZjMUxAABU/s1600/Update2.JPG)
I say spiritual, since I'm not sure he'll be given the commander attribute - with samurais in the force, who already have that attribute, it seems like a bit of a waste.
The next lot is actually coming along very well, so I might get this finished soon. This leaves 1 peasant, 3 monto and 3 samurai to do. Easy peasy.
As always, c&c is more than welcome!
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Very nice!
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Cheers Rokurota!
Getting closer to the finish line now, with the second warband completed.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2gXKNyTrzM/VlXOGHZJk3I/AAAAAAAACDc/URKGwgW9YC4/s1600/IkkoIkki.jpg)
Since I've yet to figure out how to take decent pics of larger groups of models, I've grabbed a few more photos of smaller groups.
The elite:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNi2GCRntyo/VlXOFxhbH2I/AAAAAAAACDs/wHLiNsrfYCw/s1600/IIElite.jpg)
The guy in the orange scarf is a Sohei, and will be the spiritual leader of the warband. The others are a Samurai, on the right, and a Hanshou, on the left with the darker blue sleeves. Background-wise, they're sent by Uesugi Kenshin to ensure that the religious fanatics he's funding/using as catspaws are pillaging in the right direction, and also as a bit of punch.
The militia:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lg0yC-lUoAQ/VlXOFybXgUI/AAAAAAAACDg/89htTAIOvC4/s1600/IIMonto.jpg)
These 5 guys are Monto, members of a religious militia. They're less uniformly equipped model-wise compared to the Ashigaru from the other warband, but they're not too dissimilar otherwise. One of them are carrying a banner to keep the peasants in the fight.
The smelly peasants:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oc_xJ0pRD1k/VlXOGF0HSxI/AAAAAAAACDo/oIYfwIQOGpo/s1600/IIPeasants.jpg)
Bascially, they're cannonfodder, but cannonfodder gets lucky on occasion. Plus, they're a distraction, and as cheap as they are it's no disaster if they die.
I'd like to return to the warband at some point and add some details, but right now I'm focusing on getting the last warband out and building some more terrain. The last warband is going to be 5 models though, so it's not exactly a huge horde I have to paint.
Otherwise, the Ronin project is slowly coming to an end. I've even painted 3 out of 6 civvies, and gotten some of the buildings semi-done:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9QvXpEHDh2k/VlXOFtMngzI/AAAAAAAACDk/NFCwtlY-P9U/s1600/Civvies3.jpg)
Next update should be soon, as I expect a test game one of these days. Model wise, the next up is 3 samurai and 2 riders from the last army.
C&C is always welcome. :)
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Very nice painting here !
Those minis look really good, and I waiting for the pics of your next game to see them "in action"
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All very well painted and very nice to look at, great work!
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Thanks you two!
I've had a first test game, with the Bushi buntai facing off against the Ikko-Ikki. We kept the game size small, 100 points, since we basically just wanted to test everything out. For this reason, we also chose to play a skirmish scenario without any frills - just good old fashioned beating at each other.
You'll have to pardon the rather poor pictures, I really have to start bringing a decent camera to the club and not relying on my phone. Some of the pictures (the decent ones) are taken by my opponent, Tim, who played the Ikko-Ikki.
The Ikko-Ikki took to the field led by a Sohei. Besides him, 3 Monto (2 with spears and one with a banner) was joined by a rabble of 6 peasants with improvised weapons.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Dnx573yYiQ/VmdOfmMvDKI/AAAAAAAACEE/kuXAgepIelA/s1600/Ikko100.jpg)
Opposing them, and looking to raid reconnoiter their village, was the bushi. Lead by a Samurai, the rest of the force was 2 Ashigaru archers, a single Ashigaru spearman and an Ashigaru with a banner.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B09lSFiKrtU/VmdOpWxPOhI/AAAAAAAACEQ/iQr0W0G0zXE/s1600/Bushi100.jpg)
Our setup was rather simple. After the game we found that we really hadn’t had enough terrain, but that was part of the reason for trying it out. I’ll be adding another small building and a larger one to the collection, and possibly making some walls. I hope that will be enough, if we also include some more trees. I’d much appreciate the reader’s input on this, if you’ve any experience with Ronin!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rB-kqvZX96s/VmdO8jNrtyI/AAAAAAAACEc/6gNBuD2AdbE/s1600/Setup.jpg)
The first few rounds were uneventful, with the Bushi largely staying in place and shooting, while the Ikko-Ikki came rushing at them. Shooting at long ranges were utterly ineffective, however, and the Ikko-Ikki managed to close the distance before suffering anything worse than a peasant with a slight headache (a stun result).
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OAIINuiz1Q0/VmdRE-D3meI/AAAAAAAACEo/ItusKy_hlO4/s1600/1.jpg)
After clearing the last copse of trees and the buildings, this started to change. The Ikko-Ikki split up into two parts, with a Monto taking a peasant as a human shield and making a beeline for an Ashigaru archer on the flank, while the rest of the mob started towards the Samurai.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-22e77B-18tE/VmdRzcVH5KI/AAAAAAAACE0/W4oRW9xddhI/s1600/2.jpg)
Then, though, my archers pulled through and took advantage of the shorter range to put an arrow in the leg of the Sohei. Although it was just a light wound, it would still bring him down to the same initiative level as my samurai, despite him carrying a naginata.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r5AA1M9ZrI0/VmdSpvxBDUI/AAAAAAAACFA/nKbue8Qrg-w/s1600/3.jpg)
One of them, on the left flank, wound up in combat with a peasant, while the rest of the Ikko-Ikki mob charged my samurai, including the Monto who was previously moving towards my other Ashigaru archer.
Seeing this dishonorable rabble attacking his commander, the Ashigaru spearman bravely interposed himself and made a beeline for the Sohei – with me winning initiative for the round, he got to strike first, and before the Ikko-Ikki could do anything, he had speared the monto though the chest and killed him.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oL0E4b1wH9I/VmdS_iylwbI/AAAAAAAACFM/uIs0beQ8s-k/s1600/4.jpg)
He didn’t live to see his bravery celebrated however, as the two monto promptly killed him in retaliation. In the meantime, the samurai commander had put up a wholly impressive, but ultimately ineffective, display of swordsmanship towards the peasant in combat with him. On the flanks, the Ashigaru archers had easily killed off the peasants who’d charged them.
On the right, the lone archer was engaged by a Monto with spear. The left archer ran towards him to help, worried that the Yari-equipped Monto might be able to kill off or wound his comrade before he was able to strike back, and the banner-carrying Ashigaru-Gashira moved forward to help his commander fighting a Monto and a peasant.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1CXcOAMu0hc/VmdT5dnTxaI/AAAAAAAACFY/_YXxl21Gap8/s1600/5.jpg)
The left archer hadn’t needed to worry, though. His combat turn was instead spent trying not to gag at the sight of a Monto being cut to shreds by a roll of double 6 by the right archer, who had clearly been taking lessons in slicing and dicing.
Meanwhile, the Samurai had realised he’d dishonour his ancestors if he didn’t start actually fighting and let the Ashigaru do all the heavy lifting, and he dispatched the yari-equipped monto, although not before being stunned in the process. The Ashigaru-Gashira with the banner swiftly killed the peasant trying to flank his leader.
At this, we left off the game. With only a peasant (and a stunned one at that) and the Monto with the banner left, the outcome did not seem to be in doubt.
All in all, a good time was had by both of us. To be honest, I think the Ikko-Ikki list I’d made for 100 points was a bit underpowered for this kind of game. It seems like they’d be much more at home with more terrain and objectives that would force the other player to divide his men, allowing him to swarm him with peasants more effectively. Part of the reason for my playing this defensively and allowing the Ikko-Ikki to come to me was our rules test before the game where we matched the Sohei and 2 Peasants against the Samurai and a lone Ashigaru with a bow. In that, the higher initiative of the Sohei with naginata as well as the effect of 2 stuns from the peasants proved to be decisive, and I was under the impression that as soon as the Ikko-Ikki hit close combat I’d be in real trouble and basically fold.
As it turned out, this was rather far from the truth. Resolving combats with multiple participants as 2 or more distinct combats where only one side has multiple models engaged works really, really well from a gameplay perspective and helped the game flow much better than it would have otherwise, but also made it a bit harder to mob the Samurai since the Ashigaru was there to break up the angry horde of religious peasants.
For the next game, I’m aiming at either 200 points or at the very least, far more terrain. I’ll have to see about getting some walls made, but I’ve also got 2 buildings almost ready. In the 200 point list, the Ikko-Ikki will be joined by more Monto, a Samurai and a Honsou, which should bring them up to a much more even standing quality-wise.
I've also started work on the last Buntai, and gotten the first 3 Samurai done. All that remains to do for this project is 2 high-ranking samurai on warhorses, a bit of terrain, and some civvies, perhaps some objectives.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rRCK1XDFOfA/VmdUz3EPavI/AAAAAAAACFk/lGcyLmUNsjI/s1600/Samurai3.JPG)