Bushido warbands

[The Voivod]

Thought I'd post some pictures now my warbands are starting to shape up.
I really enjoy everythig about this games. It has great characterful mini's

The cult of yurei are the downtrodden and abandoned in society, that have given their souls to the darkness. A serious mistake, since none will ever come on top of this bargain.
Yurei is what goes bump in the night. Undead, unclean spirits and dark sorcery
The first group are the Kairai. The unfortunate souls that have been yanked from the grave and through magic are bound to serve their unholy master. They wear the mask of the puppet master.
Here you see a Kairai farmer, Militia and and armoured kairai. In game they function very much as you expect a zombie would. They are slow, not very effective, but, especially with boosts from their masters, are hard to get rid off and keep rising back.

Araka is (was) an Oni. Also cursed to serve Kato, which is a source of great anger and dishonour among his kind, being denied glorious death in combat. Araka is stronger and faster, but still a kairai. He is able to use parts of his victims as projectiles. More importantly, his master can let him tap into his innate rage, making him function as if he was alive for a short while. This is risky however, for as soon as he realizes what’s happening he will turn on you. In game this means your opponent will control him for one action before he returns to his undeath state.

Ikiryo is a shugenya, using dark arts, but her origin is unknown. She is fragile, but extremely dangerous. Attacking her in melee might result in some damage coming back at you. She has a ranged attack not unlike a banshee and an ability that lets her drain Ki from nearby enemies. Ki is one of the most precious resources in Bushido.
I love this model. It’s a wonderful mix of grace and gruesome.

[The Voivod]

Last for now, is Kato, the puppet master. Responsible for most of the kairai scourge and an extremely dangerous model. Kato creates tough little marionettes in game. These aren’t much of a direct threat, but it allows him to take full control of enemy models for several actions. He’s not very tough in combat, but sending weaker models against him run the risk of turning into kairai themselves. He can also replace fallen models with kairai and boost their ability to rise from the death.
The smoke from the pipe forming the ghost of his lost love, the masks and puppet at his feet, such a lovely sculpt.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Great work Voivod. Like you I love Bushido and urge more people to give it a try. I haven’t played against Yurei yet, they look very interesting (like all the factions) and I like the differences that give each miniature an actual character and make the factions so thematic.
Looking forward to what else you have to show, keep up the good work,
BALM

[WuZhuiQiu]

Very nice work! I've acquired some discounted Bushido at a local shop; not quite enough for any faction in particular, so may improvise. Not yet having tried Bushido, I do have some questions:

Can games last for more than 6 turns?

Are larger tables than 2' x 2' viable?

Do you find that there is enough variety in scenarios?

How about terrain effects? For example, would hilly topography "break" the game?

[The Voivod]

@BeneathALeadMountain: It's weird how little attention it gets. I have the feeling there's a hardcore fanbase out there, but even on a site as Beasts Of war, it gets very little call out. I love how every models rule makes them come alive. I've never seen rules you can read and actually tell a story about the character like this.

@WuZhuiQiu. Thank you. The main rules are aimed at a 6 turn game ( though sometimes there's varying game lengths) and a 2x2 table. If you play on a bigger table I suggest you setup a 2x2 battle field. There are only 3 scenario's in the main rule book, but there's an app that's incorporates the tournament rules and has several more scenario's. I think they'll be releasing a new book in the near future with scenario's and fluff. Scenario's sometimes seem very samey on paper, but play very differently in practice.
Different terrain will effect different factions and models. Ninja's really benefit from available cover. I'd really suggest a bit of a mix, but I don't think that aspect is really different from most wargames. Just don't pack it too tight like in games like infinity or necromunda.
It's small size ( really 5 to about 12 models aside, and the latter only if you field bakemono) and short playing time (We get in a game in 2-2,5 hours, allowing for plenty of banter), while still being a very deep game (Every move of the opponents forces you to rethink your priorities), are huge strenghts in my eyes. This is the best game I've played in over 20 years of wargaming. The rest doesn't come close.

On to the next models, I finished some savage wave. Most factions can be played in 3 ways, 2 aimed at extremes and one mixed. Nowhere are the extremes further apart that savage wave.
Bakemono are small, pesky and numerous. Don't expect to kill a lot of opponents, but frustrate them by tying them up, outnumbering them and nasty tricks. The horde pools it's Ki, allowing every Bakemono to draw from it. Meaning the more you field, the more flexible they become. They can also use Ki to summon another, nameless, Bakemono each turn, further frustrating your opponent efforts to stem the tides.
Oni are brutes, tough, hard hitting and expensive to field. You won't have a lot of them. They're fast too. But as soon as your losing models, you'll be quickly outmaneuvered.
Mixing them up is far from ideal. You can field and oni in a horde to add some hitting power or a bakemono to an Oni warband for some tricks. You'll be missing out from the themes warband advantages, but it gives you another edge. Going 50/50 seems unwise, mainly because you won't field enough Bakemono to fuel their Ki pool, making them to easy to deal with, leaving you with outnumbered Oni to quickly.

Zuba was my first one. Like many Oni a basic combat monster with some extra's. He's impossible to surprise, ignores cover and sees through camouflage. They don't call him the All-seeing for nothing. He's capable of stunning opponent in a ranged slam attack and, once per game, allows any 1 die to be re-rolled, possibly allowing for that game saving moment.

Bobatta the Bellringer is very versatile. A brute in combat and his ranged attack is decent. You can send him into combat with multiple figures and try and get them stunned. The discordant sounds of his bell can wreak havoc on opponents Ki generation.

Ushi the sadistic and Kemono the savage share a body. You'll need to decide which head takes controll each turn. They also share wounds, ki and any other conditions and tokens.
Kemono is hard hitting and straightforward. He benefits greatly from Ushi's enhanced Ki generation, giving you that hardhitting turn when you need it. Ushi best leave the fighting to Kemono, but is no push over. He has a ranged attack, not great, but its there. His great abiliy allows you to put control markers on enemy models, denying your opponent valuable activations and using them for you own need. Risky to pull of on stronger willed characters, but so satisfying if you do.

The last, fittingly, is Jun. Slaves of the oni are driven mad by feeding them their masters blood and Jun was not a good man to begin with. A cheap, if fragile addition to a warband, Jun, like any slave, adds some valuable activations. He's mobile and using blood tokens can get some nice extra's for a turn. His most valuable ability is jumping in front of a sword and taking a hit for his masters, sacrificing himself to protect your pricey oni. Cunning opponent might single him out for an easy kill, but as long as they're concentrating on him, he serves his purpose of protecting his overlords.

[Smoke Frog]

Really like how you painted the purple robes and the umbrella 

[The Voivod]

Thank you,

It's been a while. I've not felled like making photo's for a whil but I have painted some stuff.
I ended up experimenting with my cheap photoboot. I think the pictures are better, but less kind to my brushstrokes.

First up are the orphans. Plenty kids get a raw deal on the Jwar Isles, but not all go down innocently. The unfairness and harshness of the world makes them lash out. That's when Yurei finds them and binds their souls with promises of vengeance. In game the orphans themselves are fragile. They are relativity cheap to field and add a model to get objectives with. More importantly they can use their Ki to summon powerfull evil Kami. The Kami can be called upon again and again, as long as the orphans have Ki to spend.
Senbo was envious of all people who had it better than him, thus summons the Kami of envy. This evil spirit is able to mimic many of an opponents abilities in combat, making him hard to beat face to face.
Taka summons Wrath, fragile but hard hitting. Being able to summon this beast again and again without fear of losing a model is very powerful.

Next is the Harionago. Don't let her pretty face fool you: there is nothing human there. As you might guess,she has complete control over her hair. An extremely slippery model with a lot of rules to protect her from being hit, though not much to protect her when she is, her main strength is to, quite literally tie up opponents.

The Penanggalan fills a similar role, though it focuses more on 1 opponent and starts draining it of it's life essence. Being able to regenerate like that and less hard to get a hit on. These evil creatures strangle their victims and take control of their body and head until they float away, taking much of their victims intestines with them to strangle their next prey.

Last for now, The Wraith. A powerfull spirit risen from the grave for some foul purpose. He seems to have once been a powerfull samurai. And imposing model that functions much like a guided missile. He strikes very hard and ignore terrain, but as a Kami it uses it's own essence to fuel it's combat abilities. Though draining new essenece from it's victims should it kill one, that's not really something to count on to keep it around for long. Being quite expensive to field and rather powerful, it's something your opponent must deal with, lest you choice a model of his you want dealt with, protecting your other models.

[The Voivod]

Some more models for the Savage Wave
Raksha the devestator is one of the least subtle models in the range. What can you expect from a huge hulking monster, smashing things up with half a tori gate. Hard hitting able to juggernaut through destructable scenery and ignore enemy area’s of influence. He’s also able to practicly leave combat whenever he wishes.

An unnamed character, somewhat of a rarity in bushido, is the regular Oni slave. Cheaper than Jun and you're able to field to of them, but they, mostly, serve the same role. Standard slaves are a bit less agressive and mobile.

Last are Xi-han and Zoo. They’re the same character, a Jekkyl and Hyde situation. Xi-han is able to use his magic to bother enemies and Zoo adds some much needed  muscle to a Bakemono horde. You’re able to switch Xi-han for Zoo whenever you activae a model, but at the end of the round he will turn back. They share wounds and this might very well result in a dead Xi-han. I love the rules for this character and the sculpts are fantastic as well.

[Elk101]

Some great looking figures there, with nice paintjobs too. I wasn't even aware there were figures for some of these.