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Been a while since I've shown anything on Dakka. Thought I'd drop some of the stuff I've been working on in here - Samurai! Always loved Japan, and their immense culture - so I thought it was high time I tackled some mini's from one of my favourite periods of time, the Sengoku Jidai - the 'Age of Warring States'.
For those unfamiliar with their oriental histories, here's a little potted history if you want some context:
Spoiler:
The conflict has it's roots in the Onin War of 1477 - where a succession crisis reduced the Ashikaga Shogunate (Shoguns being essentially military dictators who had railroaded the Japanese Emperor into political obscurity) to puppets of the Hosokawa family. Unfortunately for the Hosokawa, by 1507, they too would suffer a succession crisis, and collapse. Cue all-out chaos. Into the power vacuum, every clan, headed by their Daimyo (Lord), began to challenge their superiors, pursue personal aims and carve out their own territories. This period of civil war, marked by numerous bloody skirmishes, wars of assassins, political intriguing that would put George R.R. Martin to utter shame, and a health does of massive battles (The Battle of Sekigahara featured 170,000 combatants), would see the rise and fall of numerous warlords - some of whose legendary exploits are a source of inspiration even today (Including my personal favourite, Takeda Shingen).
By 1615, with the Siege of Osaka, it was all over, Tokugawa Ieyasu was victorious over all his rival daimyos, and had amassed enough strength to ensure his dominance over the Land of the Rising Sun. United under the Tokugawa Shogunate, the last Shogunate, the Edo Period began (Edo, or Tokyo as it's now named, was the seat of power for the Tokugawa), lasting until 1868 whereupon the Tokugawa were overthrown and Emperor Meiji was restored to dominance. Japan's once closed borders were firmly opened to the West, and in a rather bittersweet moment, this signalled Westernisation - bargaining away a little of it's uniquely magnificent magic for modern technology and 'progression'.
For those who just want pretty pictures (I hope) - here's a few Samurai, the first of many I hope:
Also - because I didn't see the point in making another thread, have some free DnD minis - A Cleric, Crusader (And covert Teutonic Knight ) and Dwarf Fighter:
Spoiler:
Thanks for dropping by, any C&C is more than welcome, and much appreciated
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/08 15:43:49
Apologies - I've updated them in a larger size now (Not the DnD ones - they were just extras).
They're all different colours because that's how Samurai were. It's only really games like Shogun: Total War 2 that portray them in uniform colours (To aid the players). In reality, nearly every Samurai wore his own colours, and Japanese contemporary art reflects this - showing them in a riot of colours. To aid identification, most troops would wear Sashimono - back banners (I haven't, because I'm not yet sure whether I want them to be Takeda Troops, or perhaps magnetise them so I can switch clans). These were most commonly black and white, and emblazoned with the clan Mon (The Family emblem). Aside from that, there was no universal application of a uniform, even within a single clan's army. Even Ashigaru troops, the levied commoners, would most likely have had disparate colours, as they were raised in a similar fashion to European levys. Each Samurai would muster a number of armed attendants, outfiiting them as he saw fit/could afford, and join his lord on campaign.
There are a few exceptions. Yamagata Masakage, one of the lieutenants of famed daimyo Takeda Shingen, outfitted his troops entirely in red armour. These 'Fire Cavalry' formed the vanguard of the Takeda army, being used to smash through the enemy lines. Tokugawa Ieyasu's lieutenant Ii Naomasa conciously imitated Masakage, with his men known as the 'Red Devil Brigade'. Another example is the troops of Date Masamune, who famously funded an envoy to the Pope in Rome, Spain and even as far as the Spanish Americas! His men were bedecked in Black and Gold armour.
Thanks for the kind comments Soul Samurai. The red one is my favourite, and I'd like to do a whole army that way (Perhaps the Fire Cavalry themselves ). But for the moment, I'm sticking with getting a range of colours. The schemes aren't always to my taste, but I'm referencing artwork from the period, so I've only got a little leeway.
Good idea for the hamons though - I did a wavy edge highlight for the hamon, but never considered feathering might work better. At this scale I'm not over concerned - but I'll give it a go on my next batch. Much appreciated
AngryAngel80 wrote: I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "
) and Dwarf Fighter:
). But for the moment, I'm sticking with getting a range of colours. The schemes aren't always to my taste, but I'm referencing artwork from the period, so I've only got a little leeway.
Eldar- 4436 pts
