Japanese?

[Boggler]

Guys,

Does anyone have any ideas for suitable figures to use as Japanese for BoB?

I am thinking of using the Copplestone Chinese in peaked caps with some conversions for officers etc. I know the uniforms and equipment aren't quite right but with a suitable paint job they should look OK.

I also considered the Pulp figures Japanese but they're wearing helmets which are definately wrong. so thats a non starter really. And there are no cavalry, artillery crews etc which is another problem.

Are there any other ranges out there which would fit alongside my Copplestone bolsheviks?

Jim

[Lowtardog]

Not sure was just about to say Pulp. One question, would the Japanese have foought alongside Bolshys? as Japanese were Imperial and so Capitalists? I know they fought on the side of the white Russians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IJA.JPG

[Lowtardog]

Found an interesting little article on the Japanese, not a period I game, but caught my imagination

http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_siberian_white_army_19181923

perhaps Boxer rebellion Japanese troops might be OK?

[xeoran]

If you wait till the '30's then the Japanese could fight Whites or Reds in Manchuria.

[Malamute]

Parroom Station has some Imperial Japanese infantry in peaked caps in their VSF range available through The London War Room.
They do officers, a standard bearer etc.

[Boggler]

This is the sort of thing in terms of uniforms:

http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Uniforms/GD_04.htm

I think Boxer rebellion figures might work but are really too early.

And they'd be fighting my Bolsheviks rather than allied with them but might end up in close proximity so have to look compatible in terms of size.

[Plynkes]

The Japanese were part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, so there is no problem using them in RCW games if you can find some decent stand-in figures.

As far as I know, nobody makes Great War Japanese, but it all depends just how much of a stickler you are, and what you'll put up with as acceptable.

[Boggler]

Here's another article (which I actually have an original copy of somewhere) showing the Japanese army uniforms of the First World War and post war period:

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/jap_uniforms1914.htm

I think the Copplestone Chinese figures aren't too far off, especially if I add some sleeveless fur coats and/or do some head swaps with the Russian greatcoat Bolshevik figures?

[Bullshott]

Boggler,

Stronghold are planning a release this month of Japanese suitable for Russo-Japanese War. I saw some of the first batch of metal last year and they looked ok. They are wearing summer uniforms (caps with neck cloths) so might be closer to what you were looking for:



http://www.strongholdminiatures.co.uk/33705.html

(scroll down the page for details)

Also, don't give up on Pulp Figures' Japanese sailors. They do a unit builder pack in caps, most of the officers are in caps (or are easily converted with greenstuff) and they also do a pack of sailors in caps (but 2 of them have helmets on their belts, so these might need disguising with greenstuff).

[marianas_gamer]

Why not use those great Pulp figures with the helmets?!? Here http://www.flickr.com/photos/marianas_gamer/
is a great photo I found of Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops with both helmets and caps in China. Ain't that Vickers Crosley Type 87 grand? It would be fairly easy to use Japanese gun boats with SNLF in a campaign.

[Boggler]

Cool photo :love:

[Bullshott]

Last week I received a set of pre-release samples of the new Stronghold Miniatures Japanese. So far 6 infantry poses have been finished:






Figures from left to right: Redoubt , Stronghold, Parroom Station & Pulp Figures

The Stronghold figures came cleanly molded, with virtually no cleaning up required. One of the bayonets was slightly stunted, but otherwise no problems were found. The figures are 'slim 28mm' in style. Although their sculpting is not as crisp as other manufacturers (e.g. Parroom), these do have the advantage of nicely proportioned anatomy and weapons (unlike some of the Parroom Station Japanese, that suffer from over-scale heads, hats and rifles - see picture). Anatomically they compare best with the Pulp Figures Japanese sailors, as do their rifles.

The figures are sculpted wearing summer uniforms with neck covers on their hats and full campaign packs. Because of this, these are the only figures I have seen so far that would work equally well in Boxer Rebellion, Russo-Japonese War or Back of Beyond (just paint the uniforms white or khaki, depending on the date you want to portray).

The figures will be sold as packs of 4 identical figures for £4.50. There will also be command and cavalry figures (price still to be confirmed for cavalry). Future plans include infantry in winter coats.

For Boxer Rebellion or Russo-Japonese War these should be useable alongside Redoubt or Parroom figures, as long as they are kept in separate units.

For BoB games these will compliment the Pulp naval figures to make a nice Japanese force (look also at the Pulp Naval command, as some of these will make nice infantry officers that can be mixed into units with the Stronghold figures). Although shorter than Copplestone figures, that shouldn't matter as Japanese should be considerably shorter!

All in all, these are a welcome addition to early 20th century ranges. I look forwards to seeing the cavalry.  Hopefully they will also produce some artillery figures and an Arisaka field gun in the fullnes of time.

[Bullshott]

Correction to my review of the Stronghold figures:

The figures will be sold in packs of 4 varients, not 4 identical figures as i said in the review.

Checking my recent emails form Mike of Stronghold, I forgot that he also said they are working on a Japanese.gun crew and a 75m gun. Great!