Friday, August 27, 2010

Battle of Ichi no Tani - WIP + 3

Just returned from Jo-Ann Fabrics and picked up a couple of yards of blue suede (yeah - like the 70's band) which will represent the sea portion of the battlefield. Here is the terrain pretty much finished - not much - I folded the tan felt mat and safety-pinned it to the blue suede mat underneath.
Thanks to a recent TMP posting, I checked out Jo-Ann's wooden toys rack and grabbed the three remaining "Pirate Ship" model kits (sorry kids). I plan to rework them a little into kobaya boats. These will be allowed to land, and leave, the shoreline. The larger vessel will have to stay 12" from the shoreline. A hero on the larger vessel will be allowed to board the smaller kobaya and reach the shore (& vice versa).
I think the terrain is a decent compromise for this scenario. The image below is from an early 17th Century screen painting of the battle. Note that the walls of the encampment are anachronistic and maybe a bit too well-made, as the area of the fortress was basically a small strip of beach.

The next image is a film still from a Japanese TV miniseries about the Gempei War (actually about the hero Minamoto Yoshitsune). I'm not sure if it was filmed on the actually location (probably not), but it may be a more historically accurate representation of the Taira camp. Note the red banners denoting the Taira Clan.

3 comments:

  1. Dean - your creativity and eclectic range of periods never cease to amaze. That's some really good scenery modeling, well researched. With your obvious skills, have you thought of terrain boards? Clarence has published a complete 'how-to' on his Quindia blog and its also on his website.

    Can't wait to see you gaming this one!

    Cheers mate,

    Doc

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  2. Look great! Waiting for the after action report ;)

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  3. Thank you, Gentlemen.

    Doc:

    I'll take a closer look at Clarence's "how-to's." Terrain boards are definitely nicer & more realistic than mats. The main issue with them is storage space (and transport). I do have some large storage bins (with wheels!) - I might get the dimensions and see about building boards in the future.

    Thanks again, Dean

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