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I am looking to start a Samurai Army. I already have a few Perry models which are great sculpts but what other models would go well with them?

It seems Wargames Factory Samurai and Ashigaru are best for rank and file but are there any other reasonably priced alternatives?

Also what other Samurai Models would fit in with both the Perry and Wargames factory models? I have seen dixon but their heads look a little too big.

If you have examples of your own Samurai models or armies I would love to see them.

Dixons are nice but they have a distinctive style that makes them less compatible with other companies' figures.

The thing about samurai is that the design of weapons are armour changed significantly over the centuries.

What specific era of samurai do you want? The Perry Minis figures are "sengoku jidai" -- the gunpowder period from about 1550 to 1615, and feature a lot of personalities from the end of the period.

Tbh I hadn't even considered Era's

I like perrys models a lot though and already have a few of their models. Would happily get more in the same era.

Dixons as you say are good but their heads and hands are a little big to be compatible with anyone elses models.

Decided to create a force under Uesugi kenshin. Sengoku Era.

I am picking up some The Assault Group and some Perry monks with Nagatas as part of the army.

What scale?

Zvezda makes Samurai Figures. They have the whole boxed Samurai Battles game and you can buy extra units as well.

I bought a bunch of samurai, ashigaru, and Sohei minis for Osprey's Ronin game , the minis are Perry and Northstar, not too long ago. Also bought some Wargames Factory samurai & ashigaru. The Perry's are really nice, a fairly extensive line and they look good painted. The Northstar (boxed sets for Ronin) minis are also good and scale very well with the Perrys. One thing with Northstar's offerings are that they're limited to 4 boxed sets and that's it. As far as the Wargames Factory minis I ended up not using them.

Here's 3 Northstar and 1 Perry Sohei


Both my Sohei and Bushi mixing it up. The Bushi are all Perry.


As far as era goes the Sohei were around for a long time and I don't think they changed much besides the use of teppo. The bushi pictured are all Sengoku Jidai.

 Swordbreaker wrote:
What scale?

Zvezda makes Samurai Figures. They have the whole boxed Samurai Battles game and you can buy extra units as well.

28mm Scale. I have a few Zvezda Samurai. They are great but a little small for my tastes.

 Harkonnen13 wrote:
I bought a bunch of samurai, ashigaru, and Sohei minis for Osprey's Ronin game , the minis are Perry and Northstar, not too long ago. Also bought some Wargames Factory samurai & ashigaru. The Perry's are really nice, a fairly extensive line and they look good painted. The Northstar (boxed sets for Ronin) minis are also good and scale very well with the Perrys. One thing with Northstar's offerings are that they're limited to 4 boxed sets and that's it. As far as the Wargames Factory minis I ended up not using them.

Here's 3 Northstar and 1 Perry Sohei


Both my Sohei and Bushi mixing it up. The Bushi are all Perry.


As far as era goes the Sohei were around for a long time and I don't think they changed much besides the use of teppo. The bushi pictured are all Sengoku Jidai.

Thank you.

I have a combination of TAG and Perry as my monks atm.

WGF are not as good as the metal ranges but in the amounts I need them it would be too expensive to buy jsut metals.

Just reading a review of a rather cool-sounding Samurai-era skirmish game called 'Ronin' in the latest Wargames Illustrated (issue 312 - October), which definitely looks like it might be worthwhile checking out. Miniature number are anything from a few, up to 20 - would thoroughly recommend picking up the mag as it has some quite cool pictures and info on other Samurai miniatures.

This is the rule book featured http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ronin-Skirmish-Wargames-Samurai-Osprey/dp/1780968469/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382796133&sr=8-1&keywords=ronin+osprey

As another option, the North Star miniatures might be worth checking out. This chap has done a rather interesting review on his blog here:

http://arteis.wordpress.com/category/figures/north-star/

And the North Star website

http://northstarfigures.com/list.php?man=152&page=1


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Out of interest Carlos13th, have you found any good sources for themed terrain (wooden oriental-style Pagodas or other buildings etc.?)

Hi Pacific

I'm going for a KOW army atm but Ronin does look very interesting

Steel Fist looks good too

http://www.steelfistminiatures.com/products/16th_century_samurai_lords.

I haven't bought terrain any but here are some sources.The first link looks very reasonable price wise.

http://www.plastcraftgames.com/en/59-fukei-designed-for-kensei

http://www.oshiromodelterrain.co.uk/catalogue28.html

Finally these look great for the Feudal Lords of the time but I am not sure how they scale.

Those Steel Fist miniatures look very nice!

Also found these from Wargames Foundry, although don't think they look as good as either the Perry or North Star miniatures.

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/samurai/samurai-samurai-heroes-collection-bcsam001/

Found some other buildings by Sarissa Precision that look rather nice and for the most part are reasonably priced. Got some of Sarissa's other stuff so can vouch for its quality http://www.sarissa-precision.co.uk/store/japan/

This Samurai house is the most expensive, but I think would make an awesome centre-piece.

I have a combination of TAG and Perry as my monks atm

What is TAG? Guessing not tactical armoured gear?

Short for "The Assualt Group" http://www.theassaultgroup.co.uk/store/home.php?cat=56

That Sarissa Precision terrain looks great.

You should post up some of your Samurai collection / terrain if you end up painting it all.

Cant say I am a huge fan of the Foundry models.

Ah thanks, some nice miniatures there!

I've only just ordered the 'Ronin' book to be honest! Depending on how the rules read, quite fancy using some of the Perry miniatures of Samurai or bandit Ronin, and some Koreans to try and create some battles in Choson Korea (peasants running away in fields, things like that!)

Love the idea of a samurai-themed human KoW force though, have you started a blog yet?

These are excellant:

http://kensei.zenitminiatures.es/en/

No blog. I haven't even put them together yet. Plus my painting and modeling skills are basic at best.

Kensei models look great. Most of the basic units are a bit to heroic for what I am going for, some of the Daimyo would work great as generals though.

Those Kensei miniatures are amazing, thanks for posting it Sing your Life!

Might well get a couple of these, how awesome is this guy?

Hes cool. I am tempted to use the mounted monk as my Kenshin.

Once again depending how they scale.

 Pacific wrote:
Those Steel Fist miniatures look very nice!

Also found these from Wargames Foundry, although don't think they look as good as either the Perry or North Star miniatures.

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/samurai/samurai-samurai-heroes-collection-bcsam001/

...

Those Foundry figures are the original Citadel samurai models from the late 80s/early 90s. I have nearly all of them in my Japanese RPG set of figures. It's not surprising that models that are 20 years younger look more fresh and sharp.

Ah cool thanks for the info Killcrazy, makes sense that those would be the Brian Ansell miniatures although I had no idea that they were that old!

Once again depending how they scale.

I'm guessing these, the North Star and Perry miniatures will probably scale fairly well.

Currently Torn between these to models as my Uesugi Kenshin.

http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/zenit-miniatures/kensei/sohei/sohei-daimyo/prod_22928.html

http://www.andreaeurope.com/en/10/mrf/950/legends-of-the-samurai/1921/js-03-kenshin.html#!prettyPhoto[gallery1]/4/

The Kensei one is considerable cheaper.

Those are both very nice miniatures!

Probably prefer the first one on the grounds that it is a little less fantastical (although that may be what you prefer).

Considering using Sumo as a stand in for Ogres.

http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/gct-studios/bushido/the-prefecture-of-ryu/mikio-sumo-wrestler/prod_14192.html

Haha that guy does look cool!

Wish that Perry miniatures would give split-set options, often only need a couple of miniatures from each set but there is only an option to buy all of them! Oh well, bonus is I suppose that they are pretty cheap (£7 for 6 of them, so you can get 3 sets for less than the price of 1 North Star set!)

 Pacific wrote:
Those Kensei miniatures are amazing, thanks for posting it Sing your Life!

Might well get a couple of these, how awesome is this guy?

Glad to be of service.

 Pacific wrote:
Haha that guy does look cool!

Wish that Perry miniatures would give split-set options, often only need a couple of miniatures from each set but there is only an option to buy all of them! Oh well, bonus is I suppose that they are pretty cheap (£7 for 6 of them, so you can get 3 sets for less than the price of 1 North Star set!)

Yeah I have contacted Perry asking if they would do individual models. They said they cant, its a shame but its understandable.


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Got a chance to look at my Assualt Group Nagata monks today. They are a bit chunkier than perrys but the sculpts look great. I am looking forward to painting them.

For terrain, I don't think you'll find better quality than that produced by James for Oshiro:

http://www.oshiromodelterrain.co.uk

That terrain does look fantastic.

Since you suggested it Pacific I started a blog.


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Here is the link.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/561318.page

Great stuff, have commented.

Just making an order of my first stuff now, some Perry miniatures going to make a force of Bandits I think they seem pretty characterful.

Black Hat miniatures make some models that look perfect for Bandits btw. Check out their ronin.

http://www.blackhat.co.uk/online_shop/index.php?cPath=23_137

This isn't my photo but its great for size comparisons.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y65/imperialforge/SamuraiComp.jpg