Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 6 May 2019

A Tale of Two Boxes (FA#8)

Digging out my Japanese Castle and Temple (tea-shop. takeaway or whatever) reminded  me that I have some Japanese forces - somewhere !
Scurrying around I eventually found two file boxes, that were heavy enough to house my Japanese Samurai forces.
Opening up the two boxes  I found only one contained figures I had started, whilst the other contained figures that I had bought from a friend many years ago (20?)

My figures are a mix of a  few manufacturers, Dixon, Warrior and iirc Amazon miniatures (though don't quote me).
I mixed and matched many heads, some looking OK but others looking quited bizarre.

So here's the photographs:
The two file boxes side by side. (mine in tight formation on the right)
Mostly Dixon minis  (?) , banners & sashimono on all my figures are for the Honda clan
Yet more Dixon's...
...and more (with weird head styles !)
Mostly "Warrior" figures , maybe, possibly
Haven't a clue who made these
Another pic of the above (obligatory obvious comment)
So the above is a sample of my two  hundred or so single based  figures, but in the other box....
Daimyo with bodyguards (obligatory blurry picture)
Palanquin  (note all figures are Dixon's in this collection)
Close up of infantry types (yep, I know all the proper lingo)
... and lots of cavalry which I could never afford !
Ninja, of course - almost mandatory that everyone has to have them
The army general (insert Japanese terminology here)
It was at this stage that I wondered where the infantry for this force was, being convinced that I only had two boxes of Japanese, but I then remembered the infantry were in a separate box.
Once more I risked life and limb to access places Indiana Jones would have found tricky and recovered the missing box containing the remainder of my Japanese.
Now that's more like it !
Close up (Editor: read padding)
Proper close up
They're all painted up as the "Ii" clan, renowned for wearing red.
And finally, amongst all the oriental goodness was this chap, (whom I mounted on a slotta base):

Ork, goblin or whatever  I haven't a clue ...
So that's my Samurai collection, some of mine have seen action in a SAGA game recently (about three years ago) whilst the others to the best of my knowledge have never seen any form of tabletop action. So yet again another unused and forgotten army (or two!)
There are lot of better (possibly) figures on the market now, rather than when I started, but not that many in metal  and fewer still with any character to them.
I gave up on this project because I couldn't find a set of rules that were fit for purpose despite looking at many sets. Recent cardboard filled sets need not apply for consideration.

Thanks for taking the time to visit, I hope it was worth it and of course your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

24 comments:

  1. Wow! What a characterful and colourful collection, Joe. They really do need to see some tabletop action though ;-)

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    1. Thanks Blaxx, like most gamers, "Samurai" was one of the forces everyone wanted, sourred on at the time for me by "Shogun", "Ran" and a few other films.
      I certainly wold love to get them on the table, but doing so solo seems sycha thankless task.

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  2. What an amazing collection Joe.

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    1. Thanks you Michael, despite my own weak painting efforts the other collection at least shows what can be done !

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  3. Stunning collection Joe, and I'm extremely envious!
    In the past I've owned "armies" made up from the ranks of Dixon and Warrior miniatures (not at the same time though - never having an abundance of disposable income, old projects always tended to be sold off to fund new ones), so it's great to see some 'old acquaintances' in this post :-)
    BTW, both ranges are still going strong and stand proudly amongst the newer offerings.

    As for rules, if you're familiar with Ganesha Games "Song Of Blades" mechanics, I'd recommend having a look at the free pdf "Bushi No Yumi". They're perhaps not the most historically correct set of rules out there, but they capture the "feel" and are hugely enjoyable to play.

    Thanks for yet another inspirational post :-)

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    1. Thanks WA, I too suffered from the lack of funds throughout nearly all my gaming endeavours, hence I tended to have only a single project going at any one time and knew it would take over a year to get to the point where I would think it as 'complete enough'.
      I gave up on rules when I realised that firstly they were getting more and more expensive and for something that would possibly never be used, seemed pointless. If I ever get back to this genre I'll be looking at free and second-hand rule sets - thanks for the input on that front/

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  4. Dang Joe, you've got way more cool stuff hidden away in boxes than I do on my tables 🙂

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    1. Thanks Ivor (I think) and to think I've got rid of my old minifig ECW army (approx 1000+ figures) and my entire collectition of Napoleonics (1000+ figures ?) too.
      I've also not even touched on my favourite well-used and largest armies (as that's not what this series has been about !).

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    1. Thanks you Michal, eyes, yet more mostly unused figures sitting in boxes !

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  6. My first Samurai army was Dixon, then bought by Postie who moved it on at great profit!

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    1. Thanks AL, as said above I think we all have (or will) dabble in "Samurai" at some stage and Postie's entrepreneur abilities don;t surprise me at all.

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  7. Good to get them out for an airing (if nothing else). I wanted a Samurai army in 28mm got to love the Dixon fixation but at the club few if any (other than myself) would be interested. And I get so tired keep banging my head on a wall.

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    1. Thanks Clint, I remember the pain it was to make all mine individuals and sad that they never really dot to be used and I well know the feeling of trying to get others interested in what I was doing.

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  8. I'd be quite willing to risk life & limb Joe to go into those places to find such wonderful rewards, a real treasure cover you've got :)

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement Frank, though there's not a lot in truly inaccessible places - mostly my western 54mm buildings.

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  9. 素晴らしいもの!

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  10. Looks fab Joe. As for the last chap he is a Citadel Chaos Dwarf. Loader to the bazooka team.

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    1. Thanks Brummie, I still wonder where he came from, now that I know what he is.

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  11. Love these figures and you have certainly made them come alive with your very skilful paintjob.Nice report indeed Joe.

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    1. Thanks Ptr, though I do think that you're being over-generous.

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  12. Wow! These are great,I'm in the ranks of wanting to do samurai at some point but I am intimidated! They look really good up against your purpose built terrain too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks iain, the castle and my"tea-shop" were the only terrain pieces I finished before this project fell by the wayside .

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