Monthly Archives: August 2021

Japanese Monks for RONIN, the game I’ve yet to play!

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While not a fan of most of the OSPREY rule sets this one really hit the mark in my book just based on reading through it. Cant wait to actually test drive it with game soon!

We all do it, get interested in a game or period, buy the rules, the figures, maybe even build some terrain, and never play the game! That’s me so far with RONIN one of OSPREY’s stable of rule sets. RONIN covers small skirmishes between Japanese Warriors during the late period of Sengoku Jidai or Warring States in 15th-16th century Japan. I’ve always liked the period and have two large 15mm Samurai army’s based for “Battles in the Age of War” by Peter Pig. I now felt the urge to paint some 28mm Samurai but since the amount of detail on Samurai in 28mm would rival Napoleonic uniforms and I did not have the urge to paint 28mm Samurai armies! However, a few handfuls of figures in a very detailed small battlefield setup that is RONIN sounded perfect.

Well, I have had the rules for nearly 5 years, figures for 4 years, and some terrain for 3 years, and still not played, but I have finialy painted my first “Buntai” or group for the game.  North Star Figures makes some excellent figure sets designed for the game and just to get my feet wet I painted up a group of 8 Monks.

REMEMBER… double click a picture to get a lager version.

A good start to my RONIN force! Eight monk figures from North Stars boxed set (metal figures).

Even though they are arguably less detailed than other Samurai figures the colors and getting the simple robes of a monk to look good and stand out is very challenging. I really liked the poses on these figures and the sculpts are very nice. I think the sculptor did an excellent job of getting the Japanese face structure right without it looking comical. The figures were sealed with a gloss coat but then I used a semi-gloss instead of a total matt finish as it gives a bit more depth and richness I like on Samurai figs.

This art work was an inspiration to paint and play a warrior monk force.

The warrior monks of feudal Japan were not much different from their sometime enemy, sometime allies, the Samurai. Politics and alliances in Japan during this period were in a constant state of change, sometimes even during the course of a battle. Dozens and dozens of factions all grasping for power or simply protecting their “piece of the pie”! The religious sects were generally peaceful but not afraid to fight when their interest were threatened, also very well trained, motivated, and fearless when doing it. Some of these monk sects power rivaled that of  Daimyos at the time. Often Diaymos tried to rally the monks to their side and some Diaymos were monks as well having taken the vows of the order. The conflict between Oda Nobunaga and some sects of monks lasted for years, producing some of the most vicious fighting of the period!

 

Warrior Monks used the same weapons and armor as the the Samurai. They tended to specialize in some weapons like the Tetsubo (club) and the Naginata (polearm). If you took off the priestly robes worn over their armor you might be hard pressed to tell them apart from the Samurai.

Painting these figures was fun and with less sculpted detail on the figures allowed me to concentrate more on the method I used when applying it. Blends, washes, glazing, dry brushing all contributed to the depth and richness in the cloth. I went very simple with my base treatment’s as I did not want it to detract from the figure. I used a style of long grass and crushed stone, common to Japanese gardens.

 

Getting 15mm Napoleonic infantry off the shelf!

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Just a quick post to update on what I’ve been up to lately both miniature wise and with life in general as one often impacts the other. Over the last year I’ve been quite involved (working my ass off!) in fixing up and remodeling my house prior to listing it for sale and a possible move out of state. This has led to me sorting through a lead pile of enormous proportions and list things as KEEP, SELL, or GIVE AWAY! Much of the “KEEP” section has already been packed but there are still quite a few projects half-finished on the shelf that I’m endeavoring to finish before I move.

Projects that are awaiting completion, some of these figures are growing beards they’ve waited so long!

Some of the projects are also commissions or projects promised to others that have already appeared as post (Carthaginian Archers) and many are just victims of the “oooh shiny let’s paint some of these instead” where we start another project before finishing the current one, we nearly all do it….

A quick search on YouTube will take you to this gem of a historical movie.

One of my ongoing projects is 15mm Napoleonic’s and I have not only a fair-sized collection of fully painted / based figures, French, Russians, Saxons, and Bavarian’s but an almost embarrassing amount of yet to be painted Napoleonic miniatures. One of the partially finished projects was a group of late war period French Line infantry and as I had just watched Napoleon the 2002 mini-series “again” I was in the mood!

I would recommend the show to any history buff and while there are a few small mistakes or “stretches” it is overall superb, well written, photographed, and well cast. At just over 6 hours I still felt I could have used more and never felt it to drag on. I put this show on a par with Shogun, Horatio Hornblower series, or Vikings, as it gives one a true feel for the period while not boring the viewer and still maintaining some historical accuracy!

Sorry for the poor quality of some pictures but I fooled with the settings and couldn’t remember exactly what they were to reset them! Having packed my notes on camera settings it will take a few sessions to get them right again! Being that I’m from the “analog age” where each function had its own button or dial sifting through endless “menus” to adjust things is painful!

Quite a few of my wargaming buddies have shed their 15mm collections over the years and moved to 25-28mm figures for a variety of reasons, “I don’t use them any more”, “I like painting larger figures” or the often “I can’t see them!” I have kept mine and continue to paint, play and enjoy the scale as I think it has many attributes not found in the larger scales. Savings in figure cost, time in painting, storage, and room needed to play are often plus marks on the side of 15mm. I like the visual aspects of large masses of figures covering the table much more easily done in 15mm. It’s also sometimes easier to hook new players into the miniatures hobby because of these attributes than with their larger cousins. There are pro’s and con’s to all scales and frankly I love them all!

Enough with the scale debate! I really just meant to show  the figures I just finished as part of getting things off the “half-finished” shelf!  This unit is late period French Line infantry and are composed entirely of 19th Century miniatures that most of us know as the original “Old Glory 15’s. The unit it is based for the Age of Eagles rules by Bill Grey and what I consider one of the best for the Napoleonic period.

These guys are happy to finally march off the shelf and into the “active duty” case! Figures are from the “Old Glory 15’s” line produced by 19th Century Miniatures

I’m also going to start trying to document my entire collection of miniatures in pictures here on the site so I will be slowly adding pictures via post but ultimately, they will be organized on the “painted pile” page according to period and scale.

More soon!