Sengoku Jidai - Sohei Warrior Monks

 Following up on last weeks green clan samurai, here's some monastery friends/enemies ready to kick ass and take names for the Buddha, the Sohei of the Temples. Do not underestimate their power.

Every force needs its leaders and heroes, as well as banner bearers. The banner is with a typical buddhist slogan,the nenbutsu. It was some work to get it, but it is apparently fairly readable by those who can read japanese, so I call it good enough. 

The central two heroes are kitbashes, Fireforge plastic Sohei with Samurai Arms (the staff is a Yari that simply had the top tip cut off). The two kits fit together exactly as well as I was expecting, and look very good.

Of course, they also need plenty of guardians of the temple and general naginata-wielders, to keep the peace of the temple (and dispense incredible violence outside of it, or something)

Slightly more peaceful monks (everything is relative), masters of classical archery. Japanese archery can supposedly get quite meditative, so it sort of makes sense that monks would practice it.

Don't ask me to explain how musketry fits into it, however, other than "weapons of war, for when the temple marches". But the japanese in general, and the monks especially, seems to have been surprisingly taken by muskets when they got them.

All in all, they're not a large army - yet, but makes for a very nice and colourful contrast to the samurai. And they're fun to paint, so as soon as I figure out what to use them for, they're quite likely to expand. For now, they've most served as mercenaries when I use the green samurai for SAGA (primarily as "Gallowglass", for the melee fellows (a style I find fitting them surprisingly well) or Handgunners (that's more a case of "I want these when I play as Germans, and it sort of works), but there's room for many more versions).

The models are a mix between Fireforge plastics and Grey for Now (Test of Honour) metals. And they mix much better than I had expected! 

Next up... when I get them ready... something more sci-fi

/Fool Out 

Sengoku Jidai - Greenclad Samurai and Ashigaru

 It's been too long. It's not that I haven't been painting, but the Hobby ADHD has been striking hard, so it's been a little bit of everything. But now, a project has been finished!

 This started as "just a few"... and then spiralled beyond anything recent. A small group of samurai, maybe 5-10 including some followers. Well...

Not sure that counts as "just a few".  In fact, one could argue that it's many.

The Onna-Bugeisha, serving as leaders and their ladies-in-waiting/bodyguards (or what the japanese equivalent would be) are Bad Squiddo Games (the ever reliabel Annie) Onna-Bugeisha, while the lanterns are from Grey for Now Games, for their game Test of Honour.

 The rest of the figures are plastic from Fireforge Games. Somewhat fiddly at times, but the end result is very worth it. In the end, I decided to run this force relatively light on samurai (counting both these and the Onna-Bugeisha).

Initially, the plan was even to completely forego cavalry, but some playing reminded me that some more mobile units are  always useful. Even if I doubt the speed of them, when they can afford to wield their yari two-handed like West Asian Cataphracts of 1000 years earlier.

  The majority of the bodies, then, are Ashigaru peasants, for a solid block of infantry. The Fireforge Ashigaru have unusually long Yari, but I decided to not shorten them... which has been a small problem in almost every game, as something always managed to get snagged or poked by a surprise yari. Ah, well, at least they're not metal...

Of course, no army is complete without units with ranged weapons (and even more Ashigaru... as well as one, singular, samurai with a Teppu).

Finally,  there has been a few ladies out of armour (more Bad Squiddo), more because they were fun to paint than with any specific plan.

As can be seen, I haven't done these as any specific clan. I might expand them eventually with some flag bearers and samurai heroes of specific clans (either Hojo or Oda, or possibly both), but for now, these are it. 

 Talking plans, then, how have I used these?

Well, first of all, I looked into Test of Honour, and have played a few games of it. It hasn't stuck yet, but the inspiration is there, and it seems like a good system from what I've seen. Very terrain-heavy, though, it feels like, and the local club is low on japanese terrain, which has limited it somewhat.

But I've also realized that Saga has an opening. People have been hoping for an Age of Samurai for a while, but it hasn't come yet. However, Age of Chivalry can work surprisingly well. I've been running these as Germans, and intend to also use them as Burgundians. French and Bretons could also fit well, if one wants ideas, and Free Companies are always open. I can't helpt but feel that there is something with the Ikko Ikki rebellion and Hussites, or possibly Flemish, as well, but haven't figured out the details yet.

Now, it wouldn't be the Sengoku Jidai without some angry warrior monks, and green does look for red to oppose...

But that is all for now

/Fool Out 

Happy New Year 2025/2026

 Happy New Year. Somehow, it is now 2026. Linear time continues to surprise me.

 But I got quite a lot of done throughout the year (even if it didn't all end up here on the blog, the disadvantage of doing many smaller things). The total numbers:

• 293 Human Infantry-sized (incl. 1 Cannon & Crew, counting as 4)
• 30 Cavalry/Ogre (or equivalent)
• 3 Bigger beasties (at least 60mm round base)
• 9 Objectives
• 9 15mm tanks/AFVs

Not bad at all. Almost managed to hit 365 minis, aka a mini a day (somewhere in November, that looked quite possible, but then there came some slower projects). The absolute majority of these were in one way or another intended for SAGA, and other than the 9 tanks, all in 28mm. I had plans to branch out to smaller scales, but that obviously didn't happen. My massive pile of Epic Hail Caesar still lies untouched...

But what did I get finished, then? 

Beginning with the biggest: my Normans

These were a huge undertaking (mostly painted in 2024), and was a relief to get done (and to a quality that I am satisfied with). I then had the joy to bring them to my first international tournament in SAGA: The World Cup! A Team tournament, and my team was mostly there because Sweden needed some representation, and the A-team were busy organising the whole thing. Still, I did my part and we didn't end up last. We'll see if it happens again...

There were then the matter of the Undead horde. They began more or less by accident, but got finished over the summer (again, a significant part were painted earlier than 2025). Quite fun to paint (and very relaxing, a lot can be accomplished with washes, and gore hides the mistakes), especially the big dragon. Still, they haven't seen a game yet, so I guess I need to get to that in 2026

Last major SAGA army: the Irish. As expected, they were very fast to paint, especially as I nailed down my Speedpaint technique with these (and did a guide for it). They also got to see the table, and got to melt some opposition (reminding me that they are not a suitable opposition for someone playing their second game of SAGA... oops)

 There were also the barbarians I finished early in the year, for Frostgrave. However, that game has been quite calm since, so they remain in their box.

What else has been painted? Well...

There were some Texas Rangers, for Dead Mans Hand (that we play pretty much every summer, letting me have my own minis for it for the first time). And I just had to make them in two versions, both mounted and on foot (it even got relevant in the game, that I could mount up them!)

And also some uniformed Cavalry (amusingly enough, on foot), for the same. These are recently finished, so haven't had a game yet. Also, very old sculpts, and new plastic replacements arrived a few days ago... we'll see which ones get to see the table.

 

Also, I did mention some tiny tanks and AFVs. We'll see when I get around to doing the rest of the company...

And also a variety of smaller stuff and one-offs (incidentally, the collection of Lizardmen is starting to get up in size...)

And finally, I made what was, in hindsight, possibly a bad idea. I painted some samurai (from the ever loveable Bad Squiddo Games). Because I had an itch, and thought this would take care of that itch...

It did quite literally the opposite. So now I have a "samurai" army, that is rapidly expanding in scope to two, or possibly 3-4. With an initial idea to run these as counts-as SAGA: Age of Chivalry (several of the factions there could do quite well as various samurai clans). But it also got me looking into Test of Honour, and oh dear. At least it's a "true" skirmish ruleset, where you don't need too many minis. So we all know how that will end...

But what about 2026? 

I think my my  main goal for the year, will be to paint at least 6 "big things". Be it dragons, buildings, ships, mechs, or whatever comes in front of me. I have a fair amount of buildings that need to be assembled and painted, as well as several Blood & Plunder ships (no, I am not giving up hope about that game). And we'll see what else happens. I doubt I'll reach that 1 mini/day, since the big things will still only count as 1, as they say. I currently have 6 projects that are in focus, hopefully I manage to remain focused on those:

• Teutonic Order (possibly my most ambitious yet, in regards to already planned parts)
• French (I should be able to finish them relatively soon, I think... but I've said that before)
• The Samurai (I only count them as 1, but they could probably count for at least 2...)
•  Saxons (should be small and simple, even if I expand them into "generic Germanics" as it rolls along)
• Knights Templar (another small one, since they're an elite army... even if I consider doing some advanced basing on them)
• Arabs (I have big plans for them, but the immediate goal is a small 6 point warband for SAGA, with very few options... we'll see how that ends up going)

Then there will of course continue to be the various small stuff and cool minis I just had to paint... But that should be the gist of it.

Once again, Happy New Year

/Fool  

Fools way of using Speedpaints

 I have gotten several questions (not to mention expressions of amazement) over the results I get from mainly painting with Army Painter Speedpaints, so I thought a short (ish) tutorial of how I do it might be of interest. And since I just painted a batch of Irish with this method...

First step is quite simple: assemble the mini, put it on a base (optionally: cover up the "puddle" with some wall filler), and prime it all white

I tend to refer to this as a "pre-shade". Basically, but a dark brown wash over the entire miniature (althought not necessarily the base). In this case, I used Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade, but Army Painter Strong Tone should give close enough to exactly the same result.

Grab a drybrysh, and drybrush white all over, to enhance contours and lines, and provide some shading once the speedpaint goes over it.

Last step before Speedpaint, paint the base a suitable color (in this case, dark brown)

Now we're onto the Speedpaints. Starting from the inside and going out, skin is first (incidentally, this is Army Painter Crusader Skin, which doesn't look nearly as good over a straight white primer, but with my pre-shade, it looks just right).

Next layer up, his pants and cloak (Irish are thankful in this way, very few layers of clothes). If there were more layers, just keep going from the innermost layer visible and outwards. Since it's Speedpaints, errors are hard to correct, so make sure to keep the belt and other leather details clean

And then, those leather details, in a mix of various browns (Army Painter Hardened Leather, in this case), even if it can be hard to tell).

Last Speedpaints, the hair on the mini (or beard, in this case). If I may offer a few tips, Pallid Bone makes for good blond hair, and Hardened Leather is surprisingly good for redheads. Other than that, the usual mix of browns (try not to overlap too much with their leathers), and Grim Black.

The one thing I find Speedpaints a bit weaker for, is steel, specifically steel sheets (such as swords, axes, shield bosses, and breastplates). So here, I am back to an old method, and "normal" paints. Vallejo Air offers excellent coverage with just one layer.

Once the steel is painted, it is time to glue on the shield (that's been painted separately for ease of access).

With the shield on, the mini is almost finished, and it is time to start the basing. For these, I'm going with a texture paste (Vallejo Dark Earth), straight over the "ground".

Once the texture paste is completely dry, it is time for another wash, just over metal bits and said texture paste (for some extra contrast on the ground).

Once again, wait for it to be completely dry (I usually leave it over night), then grab the drybrush and go over the ground, as well as the lower part of the shield, and possibly the legs as well, with a good, dusty beige (I swear by Army Painter Skeleton Bone for this, but most similar-ish colour should be good).

The last painting step is to just paint the base rim a suitable colour. I usually go with a discrete black, but everyone has their preferred way of doing it, from discrete to garish

To finish the mini off, glue on some static grass and/or tufts.

 And with that, he is done. I can usually punch through 12 of these in about a week, doing 1 or 2 paints a night (ideally, with the speedpaints going on over the weekend, since they dry "enough" fairly rapidly). Brush control is important, since it can be tricky to reverse spills, but once you've got that, it is a very rapid way of getting an army table ready.

Hope you found it useful

/Fool, Out 

SAGA Irish for Age of Vikings

 A small project that, for once, stayed small. It helps that there's pretty much one way to run Irish, with most variations purely lessening their power (which, mind you, isn't necessarily bad, since the Irish can be quite strong). 

It began as an idea when Wargames Atlantic released their plastic Irish. I just took some time getting around to it... (and now Vitrix have teased their own...)

The fact that Irish have a limited palette, and very few clothes, too, do mean that it was a quick warband to paint up, too. The initial kick to get going, assemble and paint all the minis I had, was delivered in May. And had I focused on painting just the Irish (and not jumping between projects as is my wont), I'd have them finished in July at the latest, more likely within a single month (four batches of 12-13, and about a week for each batch)

For SAGA, Levies are the go-to. As things stand now, slings are preferable, but this is the one area I see myself maybe expanding, with some Levy armed with javelins. Also, I had to do some kitbashing here, with several of the slings being from the bits-box, since the WGA kit is a bit low on slings

The warriors are also armed with javelins (even if some of them are well hidden). As peasants, they were mostly limited to natural colors (greys, whites, and blacks), but were also allowed yellow... as I said, a limited palette, and very quick to paint.

And then there's the dogs. One of those "less good" options, but very easy to paint, so I see no reason to not have them ready to use.

The Irish stand out a bit in that they not only have their King (Warlord, in SAGA terms), but also Curaidh (champions and lieutenants). They were the one thing missing from the WGA kit (at least if one wants them in armour), but Victrix Late Romans provided some very useful bodies, especially when kitbashed with some viking bits, and also cloaks from the WGA Irish. 

Finally, there was a golden opportunity for some special objectives, with classic celtic crosses. Good thing I have a friend with a laser cutter and plenty of 3mm MDF (and enough skill to design these for me).

All in all, that is a nice little warband, that will be interesting to field (and not just encounter on the opposite side), that also has helped me figure out how to best utilise Army Painter Speedpaints (a separate guide for that will be coming soon)

/Fool, Out