Samurai Cavalry

Zvezda Samurai Cavalry looking suitably ferocious and soon to be joining the contents of the Shogun board game 

The relentless domestic round continues this week but the end is in sight. Essentially we had our downstairs cloakroom refurbished to make it more accessible for Laurel. Aside from the physical work required in the cloakroom itself we also decided to decorate the utility room which involved new flooring, new sockets and switches (luckily my son is a ‘sparky’) and lots of white paint as well as a new washing machine and freezer (7 and 18 years old respectively). In both cases it meant much moving of ‘stuff’ around the house and a tip run. I have also given the lawn its first mow of the year and have jet washed the patio.

Anyways, enough of my labours and on with the good stuff!

Aside from finishing the four ironclads I have also been thinking about the Samurai project and so took the plunge and have ordered two boxes of the above which will give me 34 cavalry - more than enough for my needs. Once they arrive I will post some pictures but I already have it on very good authority that they fit in well with the Shogun board game figures.

I also need to finish the write up for my refight of Operation Market Garden which was a lot of fun to do and has given me a few other things to think about.

Like I need anything else to do….. :-)

Battle Cry, Shogun and The Last Samurai

Following on from my previous post I wanted to outline the makings of a plan and a half involving elements from the title of this post. In doing so I am reminded once again of how seemingly unconnected things can suddenly join together to form a coherent whole - synchronicity if you like!

Battle Cry - courtesy of Aly Morrison, gentleman, scholar and all round good egg!

Shogun (later copies were called Samurai Swords due to a copyright issue with James Clavell’s excellent book of the same name) courtesy of eBay

With grateful thanks to Bob Cordery and Aly Morrison I now have the means to fight some cracking looking ACW battles using a combination of WoFun figures and Battle Cry. The small physical footprint of the WoFun figures means that they readily fit on a Battle Cry board with hexes that are 55mm across the flat sides. In time I will ‘pimp’ up some terrain to use with this but for now will make do with the very attractive looking and perfectly serviceable tiles and counters that come with the game. This means that the plastic generic looking and kepi wearing figures included in the game are now essentially redundant, at least for their intended original purpose.

Now it just so happens that I was on the look out for a pile of generic, single pose kepi wearing infantry, cavalry and artillery crew for a particular idea I have in mind. Initially my plan was to get a copy of the Eagle Games American Civil War board game, similar to War in the Age of Imperialism, and use the figures from there. The Eagle Games figures are 20mm, as are those from Battle Cry, so fleshing out the rank and file with command etc from places such at Hat Industries would be a simple and inexpensive exercise and certainly this has worked with my Zulu War set up (still to be started, due to the lack of Zulus!).

Significantly the Battle Cry figures are also the same size as the those that come with the board game Shogun. 

The hard plastic figures contained in the board game Shogun are plentiful, albeit rather wooden looking in terms of poses. They cover all the basics for the infantry and a couple of boxes of Zvezda Samurai Cavalry are all that is needed to have the basis for a pretty good set up. This could be for the late 16th century or, and this is where the Battle Cry figures come in, as a ‘The Last Samurai’ style army with the ACW figures providing the Imperial Japanese opposition. For sure some artistic licence would be needed for the regular Japanese infantry in terms of paint job but in terms of fighting a Samurai army made up of 16th century types it would have the making of good, albeit hysterical rather than historical, set up. Call it Hollywood wargaming if you will!

My thinking is currently running along these lines:

1. WoFun for ACW battles using Battle Cry and the Portable Wargame

2. Battle Cry figures used for 19th century Imperial Japanese

3. Shogun figures used for the 16th century AND the 19th century (with a nod to Tom Cruise)

4. Ships for the 19th century and yes, David Manley has penned a supplement for the Boshin War.

An excellent book although the author has a pretty dim view of the film The Last Samurai…. 

From the pen of David Manley. The ship on the right is the former Confederate ironclad the C.S.S. Stonewall and I have built one of them (actually two as she had a near sister) for the ACW project.

I will be taking huge historical liberties for the 19th century with this part of the Samurai project but in my defence the idea of ‘old versus new’  with ‘new’ inevitably triumphing has an appeal in a Greek Tragedy kind of way.

The inevitable Osprey - most wargamer’s first port of call for uniform references when a new project beckons!

The Last Samurai supplement for The MenWho Would Be Kings

I am waiting for the Osprey title on the Boshin and Satsuma Rebellions and already have a very good title covering the naval side which will not need many models at all.

The 19th century part of the project will be a fusion of the history - elements of both the Boshin War and the Satsuma Rebellion will feature - and to be honest will be more Hollywood than accurate but that has probably not stopped any wargamer ever….

For rules I have a great selection to choose from. Lion Rampant and The Men Who Would Be Kings - there is supplement available for the latter covering the Samurai rebellions - will feature, along with DBA and the Portable Wargame. 

So that, in a nutshell, is the grand plan for not one, not even two but three projects all borne of my lingering fascination with the American Civil War and the Samurai. Although there is a range of figures available specifically for the period I am far happier ‘winging it’ with the alternatives I have suggested. It may offend the purist but I am not bothered by that. I will leave the last word on the subject to Katsomoto, the Samurai leader from the film, The Last Samurai:

“ The perfect wargame is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”

A Rational Decision - At Last!

A charging Tom Cruise from the historical romp that was The last Samurai. Superbly entertaining but shall we say somewhat challenged from the history perspective. Great fun all the same and crying out for a game based on it. Now I wonder who would be made enough to think about that?

I have been giving a lot of thought in respect of my long term Samurai project and have finally made a decision about its future. My dilemma was one of scale in that I have a substantial collection in both 28mm and 20mm plastic - the former via Warlord Games (now Grey For Games) Test of Honour Samurai skirmish game and the latter via the old Milton Bradley boardgame Shogun/Samurai Swords. Originally I thought that using 28mm for skirmishes and the rather cruder looking 20mm figures (critically these are significantly simpler looking for painting) would work well but after careful consideration I have decided to go with the latter.

To arrive at this choice I carefully considered the following points.

1. Terrain - at the present time my terrain plans are firmly at the stylised end of the scale. Table footprint is important and for the other periods I am exploring 20mm is the preferred figure scale for which I would look to use 15mm or possibly smaller terrain. This lends itself rather more effectively to ‘battle’ sized conflicts. Crucially it also means that any terrain is of a uniform size across the entire collection. 28mm figures, especially for skirmishes, require rather more detailed terrain which invariably takes up more room.

2. Figures - The Warlord figures are lovely but they do require a lot of assembly and have a level of detail that would reward a skilled painter - which I am most definitely not! Constructing over a hundred 13 piece foot figures represents a substantial investment in terms of assembly even before the painting is taken into consideration. The boardgame figures are a lot easier in this respect and are not only fully assembled but have what I call an ‘old school’ level of detail in respect of the painting required. By adding some Zvezda cavalry will not be too much of an issue, perhaps with some other bits and pieces from their range - the command set looks really good.

3. Rules - I like Test of Honour and the Osprey set called Ronin look interesting. I am also looking at Lion Rampant for which I have the Samurai army list to help when building units. There is also a set in the Portable Pike and Shot Wargame that look like good fun. Now here is the thing. If I opted to base the models individually then they collection would suit skirmish level forces along with more conventional armies. So this is the option I am currently considering.

I have taken steps to dispose of the 28mm collection - it has in fact already gone - and the funds realised will form part of my Salute warchest as I shall be attending this year, for the afternoon. Having said that there are some Zvezda bits I shall be getting in with a view to completing the initial requirements for the project and I suspect that Warbases may well be hearing from me soon….

I am pleased and relieved to have finally reached this decision and if anything it will help to focus my efforts with the project. Then of course there is also the Last Samurai angle to consider and the idea I had around gaming this has suddenly become rather more attractive.

More on the Samurai Project

From the Osprey rules stable - skirmish combat in Feudal Japan, designed for forces of around 4 to 20 figures a side so similar in scope to Test of Honour

I have previously mentioned that this will be a slow burning project and whilst I have yet to start the actual work involved with the figures it has not stopped me undertaking some essential research aka looking at sets of rules! 

I had somehow missed the above but my old friend Mr Fox had very kindly reminded me of this and emailed me a few handy roster sheets I could make use of. Anyways, the last of am Amazon gift cad was duly mobilised and so I am now a proud owner of a copy of the above. At first glance I think I would prefer these to Test of Honour but that could merely be due to the ‘Ooh shiny’ factor than any sensible comparison!

Certainly a set worthy of consideration.

In other news….

I have yet to fight the battle set up in my pervious post and due to circumstances beyond my control this is more likely to be at the weekend.

Work on the remaining ACW ships will be resumed shortly - mainly because there is unfinished business in respect of my Ironclads itch. I will say no more….

Thoughts about the Land of the Rising Sun

I know, I know - the Test of Honour rules were not part of the birthday haul but I couldn’t resist it! The two boxed sets of figures and The Book of Five Rings are both welcome additions to the collection.

I spent some time reviewing parts of the birthday haul and how they fit in the overall scheme of things. The 28mm Samurai infantry and cavalry box sets finish off rather nicely the selection that recently returned home - I now have 30 infantry and 22 cavalry along with around 50 or so Ashigaru which should be more than enough for my planned Lion Rampant sized set up and also for Test of Honour sized skirmishes.

I also had a closer look at the sprues for the figures. Initially these looked rather daunting - anything up a dozen pieces per figure - but on closer inspection I now feel rather more confident dealing with them. They are quite fiddly for sure but with care should go together well enough. I am looking forward to having a go at these once the ACW ships are finished.

The book is quite lovely. The cover is silk effect and the text is supplemented with a vast array of contemporary artwork on top quality paper. I have this book on my Kindle but owning such a lovely looking physical copy is a real treat and hugely inspiring to look at.

Of course before all this oriental goodness can take place I will have to finish the ACW stuff and also make sure that I have the requisite tools for plastic modelling - everything I have thus far has been used exclusively for ‘woodwork’!