Japan represented in the various WWWII games?

[atomic ray]

I have seen little in the way of movement to filling the Japan side of the house...

...how do you or would you like to see the Japan of WWWII?


Me?

I like the idea of ceramic armor, classic look with near bullet proof results...

I like the kamikaze take another direction, simple bag over head gas mask connected to special "vapor" tanks on their backs...augmented speed, endurance, strength, no fear...

I like the idea of battery powered weapons...electrified swords, static grenades, lightning guns....

I like the DNA experimental side of the house with aqua-men...gills, webbing, insulation, bio luminescence...

and I like troopers that are goaded on with area field affect weapons...great fogs of poison that the Japanese are immune to but that choke and blind the enemy...

How about you?

[The Hooded Claw]

All good ideas. It's always so hard to come up with good WWWII ideas for non-Germans. You might also want to look at the Kamikazi spirit as the perfect way to get those iffy inventions into play.

Got a super serum that has possible lethal side-effects? Get a Kamikazi.

Need somebody willing to carry that weapon that could explode if you look at it funny? Kamikazi again.

Hey, who can you get to carry that ancient artifact of evil that corrupts and destroys its wielder? Hmmmm..a kamikazi might work.

You also have a long tradition of martial arts both real and mythological to draw from.

Ninjas are an easy one...

What about enhanced Sumos who are both fast moving and pack on extra injury absorbing pounds?

How about a new breed of Samurai who wield your hi-tech weapons?

Maybe they can call on the spirits of Thunder, Lightning and Rain to battle the foes of their land?[/li][/list]

[white knight]

Well, I have thought about it and started getting some models (like the urban war sumatori, some ninja's converted with the addition of ww2 weapons (grenades, sniper rifle, pistols,...), a conversion of a hero in mystical armour (samurai mini with some ww2 touches added (ww2 helmet, boots, etc...), zombies of course (though I've only completed one at this point), a sufficiently retro looking mobile suit (it *is* a japanese fixation after all) for conversion,...

[Doc Twilight]

For WW2 Era Japanese, I try to think of traditional Japanese beliefs mixed with Japanese technological obsessions at the time. As such, I tend to avoid things like giant robots and mechs, which are definitely products of the atomic age in Japanese culture.

What I'd like to see would be things focusing on Japan's obsession during the period with chemical experimentation and racial purity, maybe even some atomic stuff, mixed with traditional Japanese views. For example, Brigade Games makes some absolutely spectacular "German Spectres" in their own line; I'd love to see Japanese Spectres, as the Japanese had (and continue to have) a strong cultural belief in ghosts, spiritualism, etc.

Perhaps some Samurai types in gas masks wouldn't be out of place, but you could just as easily take the SNLF field gear (which was supposed to involve landing with gas masks worn), throw in some things like the folding arisakas used by the Paratroopers, etc.. and get some good looking stuff.

Zombies would be great too. What about a Zombie tank with crew?

There's also an argument for gigantic tanks. The Japanese were fascinated with tanks after the First World War; the first ones designed were mostly multi-turreted monstrosities (by Japanese standards), but they performed very poorly in China, and so were withdrawn, and Japanese tank design from that point tended to focus on light vehicles with low ground pressure, light armor, etc.
What if they stuck with their original direction of thought?

It's not that I don't like robots, it's just that I like to try to focus on the things that might have been prevalent at the time.
Just a few thoughts on my part. I did propose some Weird War II Japanese Zombies to the Wargames Factory "Liberty and Union League" a couple months ago, but they have yet to be posted.

-Doc

[postal]

I use ninja,a before in games.and warzone stuff as elite japanense soilders.

[Schogun]

Check out the Sumatori from Arcane Miniatures:

http://www.arcaneminiatures.co.uk/triad-miniatures.asp

[white knight]

They are the Urban War ones I mentionned. 
They are perfect for WWW2.

[MAJIC Miniatures]

The Japanese are one of the Major Powers and will have releases in Pulp War II late 2009 and early 2010. I don't want to give too much away, but they do have a strong Supernatural Faction at least as good as the Germans if not better IMHO. Access to mythological equivilents of vampires, weres-, Spirits and Demons, plus unique units.

As far as the mecha being an atomic age phenomena; I agree that is mainly the case, but allowing Germans and other major powers to field Mechanised Walkers and not the Japanese would be wrong, so they will have a fully developed range Mechanised Walkers, and Body armour for their infantry.

The big tank concept was developed to various stages by the major powers so the hypothetical Oi Super heavy Tank will also be making an appearance along with the other types of AFV they were developing.

Good thread with interesting ideas.

Oliver

MAJIC Miniatures

[Hauptgefreiter]

What about picking up the Jin Roh Panzercop / Panzerjaeger idea and develop it further into a direction more fitting to the traditional stuff? Like Ninjas with MG42?

[Backyardpatrol]

I'm stumped. Maybe a Votoms mech in 1/60, Samurai and or Ashigaru in gas masks. I think I could convert some warzone figures, especially Mishima. Plastic Trenchers might be cool.
Maybe an Alterra1 Mech.

[The Hooded Claw]

For mecha, the Sakura Wars machines are pretty good for retro mecha. They may look a bit old fashioned by WW2 standards but might do the trick. You couls also look at some of the smaller Mobile Suit Gundam Mecha, specifically the Zaku model that has a cyclops like mono-optic, and a less streamlined shape than most mecha.

Another thought that comes to mind on a non-mecha front, while they are free-flowing for the moment, is infected peasants. A variation on the zombie concept, you could have the less motivated civilian population turned into frothing rage zombies capable of spreading their disease.

[Rhoderic]

As a fan of the actual sport since about seven years back, I don't know about the idea of enhanced sumo wrestlers. To me it seems like rather the same thing as fielding a WWWII British force with "enhanced cricket players", only difference being that it seems cool because of the cultural distance.

[The Hooded Claw]

I think the main distinction here is the physical presence. A sumo is a powerful figure. He's a mountain of meat muscle and otherwise and is already something larger than life. Even in his own culture he is a real superstar and imbued with all manner of mystique.

I don't think the same could be said about a critcket player, golfer, baseball player or the like.

[Rhoderic]

Maybe that's true. I'm just used to viewing them as athletes.

Keep in mind though, that as you go back in history, the average weight of the sumo wrestler goes down. A typical rikishi in 1940 would not have been quite as fat as a typical rikishi today. And even today, there's a lot of rikishi who are nowhere near as bulky as the typical western conception would make them out as. Mass media just has a tendency to focus on the really fat ones (although in fairness, this isn't new - even in the old woodblock printings, all you see is the exceptionally fat rikishi). Sumo and judo were more-or-less the same sport back in the day.

Ultimately, I guess it works, given the zaniness of the WWWII setting.

[Operator5]

One word... Oni.

We use them in our Amazing War Stories book. And we have a new scenario with them coming in Thrilling Expeditions Quarterly #1.

Think Japanese super soldier with a distinctive demonic appearance.