Samurai Castle/Wajo Walls And Gate

Finished up the project today. The fit and finish of the stone walls aren't the best, but should be good enough for gaming.

The top walls and gate are resin pieces from Tabletop Terrain. Very nice and sturdy. The gate can swing open on brass rods inserted into holes provided in the door and frame.

The corner sections were made by using the ready-made end pieces and adding sections from extra straight wall sections. This was only done because I used my own scratch-built lower stone walls. Tabletop Terrain makes the lower walls which would fit the corner sections they also make. Figured I'd try to save some money and make them myself.

Glad to have finished this up - especially since I just received an update from TAG that my order has been shipped. It was delayed a few weeks due to issues with their machinery - according to Pete.

As you may notice, the inner walls don't align well with each other very well, but again, should be good enough to game with.

A WIP shot.

Thanks for checking out this blog update, and hope you all are doing well.

Samurai Castle Corner Wall Sections - WIP

Started on two outer and one inner corner sections of stone walls. May add more corners later, but with this tentative configuration, should work out okay, placed on the corner of a table. Also, didn't want too big of a footprint for them. As the top walls are removable, I may someday make some other types of upper walls - possibly for a Mycenaean fortress.

Here's the start of the construction - styrofoam cut to shape, and covered with spackling. Another reason I decided to stop with just these three sections was due to it getting messy with the styrofoam in the house, and didn't want to continue outside in our typical Pacific NW damp weather.

ADDENDUM:

Started on the gate while waiting for the spackling on the wall corners to dry. This is another piece from Tabletop Terrain. Very nice - and it can open and close using a brass rod inserted into the slots provided on the doors.

On the gaming front, getting ready for our annual big convention, Enfilade, later this month. I'm hosting two RJW skirmish games using TMWWBK. After the con, plan on going all in with Tribal. Just received the book yesterday, and already have gaming aids for a planned Gempei War game. As the game uses cards for activation, movement, and other rules, ordered 6 decks of cards with large numbers/lettering (jumbo index). From the recent Trojan War Tribal game, I found using cards that were too "fancy" made it hard to read not only the numbers but figuring out the suits. Also picked up some suitable honor tokens - Chinese style coins. I've been wanting to get my Gempei War figures back on the table again, and Tribal should be just the ticket for rules.

Anyway, just wanted to update the blog and wish you all the best!

Trojan War Skirmish Using Tribal Rules

Just got back from a game day up in Kent (Washington) at Wizard's Keep. This has been a monthly event for at least a couple years or so, but my first time there. It's only about 40 minutes away from my house, so not too bad. I was fortunate to get into a great Trojan War game using Tribal rules. There were six players, three each Greek and Trojans. I ran several Trojan units with two heroes, Hector and Aeneas, no less. These two heroes did well, Hector killing off Antilochus and Ajax the Greater, and even sending Poseidon scurrying off the field. Aeneas did well too in defeating Agamemnon in a round of combat, but succomed to injuries later in the game. My other spear units did well too - only one of four dying gloriously whilst defending Troy. The game was called at the end of turn 4, the Greeks only winning by a slight margin thanks to having only one more unit than the Trojans making across the center of the battlefield. My units had accumulated 18 honor points at the end of the game - the most of the players. This was only my second or third time playing the rules, but was able to pick up on them very easily - thanks in no small part to the host's awesome gaming aids including quick reference cards for units and heroes. Also, there were two other players who are experienced with the rules  - one being David Sullivan (I Live With Cats blog) and the other, Kevin Smyth (A Gamer's Tale blog). I'm sure they'll be posting about the game on their blogs too.  Here are a few pictures of the game, as well as the several other games hosted there. The other games were O Group, Clash of Spears, Battle Tech, and DBA. 

All in all a great way to spend an otherwise gloomy, overcast day in the Pacific NW. ADDENDUM: I just ordered a copy of Tribal (2nd Ed) from Badger Games. Plan to try it out with my Gempei War/Heian Period, as well as my own Trojan War stuff.

Japanese Castle/Wajo Walls - WIP +1

 Finished up the main wall sections. Waiting on some corner pieces, as well as a gate.

Tops of the stone walls are wide enough to fit 40mm squares.

Added dowels to hold the upper walls in place - and still be removable for storage/transport.

Hopefully the end/corner sections won't be too difficult to make. Until then, thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog. Best wishes to you all.

Japanese Castle/Wajo Walls - WIP

Well, started on this terrain project - using pink foam for the stone foundation of the some Japanese castle/fortress walls. The upper walls are the resin pieces from Tabletop Terrain. I'll be ordering some of their corner pieces too. 

Used left over thick foam pieces for the basic structure, and added a thinner foam to slant a bit at the front. A thinner foamcore was used for the tops of the walls. All of the foam pieces were glue-gunned together (rather sloppily in some areas). Need to use some sort of plaster to coat the walls after carving the stonework.

Update: Used a dull pencil to "carve" the stonework.

The piece above was the first test section so kind of cut the foam imprecisely. Had a general idea of how it was going to be built, but wasn't sure if it would work out. Seems to be okay - just need some kind of filler for the ends - maybe some caulking. 

Appreciate your visits and wishing you all the best.

Perry Joseon Armored Spearmen With Shields

Painted their shields to complete these figures. These are the last from the most-recent Perry order of Korean and Samurai figures. 

The figures themselves were painted a few days ago. The lion heads on the shields were painted similarly to the ones on the earlier round shields carried by swordsmen.

They remind me of Persian Immortals by the way they're armed and armored.

Not sure how they'll be deployed in a game - maybe as bodyguards for commanders, or for separate artillery.

Still awaiting a few TAG Song cavalry, but will attempt to scratch-build some Japaneses fortress/wajo stone walls next. Thanks for stopping by and hope you all are doing well and enjoying the weather.

Cavalcade Armored Ming Swordsmen - With Shields

Added the plastic shields that were from an ebay seller. The make of them wasn't listed, but someone told me they might be from the Fireforge Mongol set - the listing did say they were Mongol shields. They look just like Chinese shields, so no problem.

They were just sprayed with a white undercoat, then given a wash of Vallejo Ink Flesh and Black. The metal parts were Vallejo Bronze and then highlighted with gold. Very simple process.

Not sure if they would've been in units among themselves, or if they were mixed with lighter, unarmored, troops.

Used the image below as an example for the shields.

Still need to finish up the Perry armored spearmen's shields. After that, I should be starting on some terrain for a Japanese wajo fortress.

Perry Joseon Mounted Handgunners

Went ahead and based the three mounted handgunners after spraying them with Krylon matte/flat. Didn't do any additional highlighting after the staining. I had added some quick highlights prior to the staining - mostly on the horsehair plumes and horse tails and manes.

As with the previous mounted Koreans, the riders and horses are cast as single pieces. I normally paint riders and horses separately, but these painted up without any difficulty.

Perry Joseon Koreans are a favorite range of figures for me. Now I have a set each of their cavalry.

They're on Litko 50x25mm ovals and 3x movement trays along with the rest of the cavalry. Now a full 12-figure cavalry unit, or they can also be in smaller units of 3 or 6-figures.

As most of the Korean cavalry was wiped out in an early battle during the Imjin War, not many were present in most of the subsequent fighting. This loss was more than made up once the Ming Chinese entered the war.

Need to work on the shields for the Korean spearmen and Ming swordsmen next. Also, rebasing a bunch of the Samurai foot as I had mistakenly mounted them on stainless steel washers - which don't work with the magnetic bases, of course.