Looking for Hoichi

Since the previous post was one with European style armor, it seemed only fair to post one with armor from the Far East. This even more so as the recent games I played were with Samurai. Also, I don't think I've posted one wearing this kabuto. The kabuto is sort of Heian and Kamakura. The helmet bowl with large rivets are Heian (12th C.), but the wide, flaring shikoro (neck guard) is more late-Kamakura - early-Muromachi (13th-early 14th C.). This was a custom helmet made by Iron Mountain Armory. The rest of the armor is later period, 16th C.

Anyway, I got the urge to put on the armor after watching old Zatoichi movies on YouTube; and finishing off a pint of Old Rasputin Imperial Stout. On the painting front, I'm still waiting on a Tamiya 1/48 251/1 Hanomag to arrive from Japan. I couldn't resist the price ($17 USD free shipping); but it's been about three weeks now since I won it off ebay. On the gaming front I need to order a copy of Pikeman's Lament as this seems to be the direction the Rampant group of locals are heading in. I also wouldn't mind building either a Polish or Ottoman force. The Winged Hussars and Janissaries from Warlord Games look pretty  nice. Thank you very much for stopping by.

The Battle of Towton

...was fought on Palm Sunday, March 29, 1461.

Lion/Dragon Rampant Tournament Game Day at Gig Harbor

Just got back from playing three games of Lion Rampant at a tournament hosted by Pat L. (aka Socal Warhammer). As mentioned in the previous post this was a cleverly designed format with five total games, the first two being Lion Rampant, the third being the players' choice of either Lion or Dragon Rampant, and the final two being Dragon Rampant. This allowed the player to have three (or five) total games to count for the results. I chose to stick with Lion Rampant for the first three games as I knew I would not be playing the last two games of Dragon Rampant. I ended up tied for second place with my first two games being ties and winning my third game - each game having 2 Glory points. I used the Boast of killing more using my bows than with spears. Not too difficult as four of my five units were bow armed. I left after the third game and the remaining folks are probably finishing up their last game about now. As usual, I took a lot of pictures, but over half of them were too blurry.

Bruce M.'s "Ever Victorious" Samurai retinue. For the record, Bruce is the owner/proprietor of Company B.

From my first game against David S.'s (I Live with Cats) El Cid retinue. My unit of archers stupidly failing to take the high ground before David's cavalry got into Attack range.

I managed to get my archers on top of the hill to accept the Attack so I could at least get a +1 to my Armour in the first round. Would've been smarter to have fired on the cavalry prior to their Attack though.

My Ferocious Foot monks taking on some Spanish foot.

My second game against Bryan S.'s all-cavalry unit - most with missiles. I managed to roll 7's for Leadership skill in my last two games; giving me the Commanding trait which allowed one re-roll per turn for a failed activation of units within 12" of the leader - as well as the leader's unit.

A Dragon Rampant game in the third round.

My third and last game against Scott A.'s 13th C. retinue of two Mounted MAA units, two Foot Serjeants and one unit of Crossbows. I luckily was able to kill off half of his retinue for the win.

Most of the standings at the end of game three. The scoring was calculated by wins/losses/ties and the amount of Glory points achieved (or lost). As you can see, Bruce not only won all three of his Lion Rampant games, but also won an incredible amount of Glory points. I should note,
the reason there were so many ties is that we had an hour and a half for each game and if a clear victory wasn't achieved (i.e. killed off over half of the enemy, etc.) it was declared a tie. Players also had to choose between 1 and 3 Boasts, each with up to 3 Glory points each. Boasts not achieved had those Glory points subtracted from the score.

Another Dragon Rampant game during the third round with Bryan S.'s Penguin warband.

Yet another third round Dragon Rampant game. Although I did want to use my recently painted Oni in a Dragon Rampant game, I didn't want to stay for the last two games. Maybe they'll get on the table in the near future.

Well it was another great event with a good bunch of gamer buds using a fun set of rules. Thanks for stopping by and best wishes to all.

Early Samurai Lion Rampant "Retinue" & Dragon Rampant Warband

I'm committed to attend a Lion Rampant/Dragon Rampant "tournament" game day this coming Saturday. Seeing how I like "shooty" armies, I'm planning to use my old Early Samurai figures which haven't seen the gaming table for quite some time. These are mostly TAG figures which I had painted many years ago and used a lot when I was playing WAB. I'm really looking forward to using them again with Lion/Dragon Rampant.

The 24 point "retinue" pictured above consists of two units of Mounted Serjeants with bows; a unit of Fierce Foot (the Sohei monks); and two units of Archers - one rated as Expert. Four of the five units are shooters - which allows them to attrite the enemy without coming into close contact - I hope!

The second picture shows some of the earlier figures along with the recently painted Oni as a 30 point Dragon Rampant warband - namely the "Men of the Far East." This warband is composed of two Heavy Rider units with mounted missiles; an Elite Foot unit with missiles; a unit of Heavy Foot rated as Offensive (the monks); and finally the Oni as a Lesser Warbeast with Spore attack. The monks are Kingsford minis and quite nicely sculpted.

There will be a total of five games for the tournament. The way the host, Socal Warhammer, has it set up is two Lion Rampant games in morning/early afternoon. A third game being the gamer's choice of either another Lion Rampant game or switching to Dragon Rampant. The last two games will be Dragon Rampant. This way the gamer can chose either three games of of either ruleset for a final three game score. I'll likely play three games of Lion Rampant as I don't plan on staying the night to finish the last two games. Until then, best wishes to all!

Reaper Bones Oni

Picked this up at a local gaming store for under $5.00; well actually a little more after our state 10% sales tax. It's made out of a soft plastic - not unlike old Airfix figures. The club was a little bent from the packaging, but easily reshaped using hot water, followed by a rinse in cold water to set it. I planned to use it as a Lesser Warbeast in a Dragon Rampant warband. Hopefully pick up some more Japanese mythical creatures.

This is actually my first Reaper Bones model, but at the price, I plan to get a few more.

I'm not normally into painting gory stuff, but the eyeballs on the wristband looked appropriate for this guy.

The skulls on the belt give him a very GW flavor!

A couple of TAG demon hunters for scale. Hope to find more Oni as I want to paint some up in blue and green. On the gaming front, I'm signed up to attend a Lion/Dragon Rampant game day/tournament next Saturday. Best wishes to you all!

Tamiya 1/48 Jagdtiger - Ready for Action

Or how to burn over 500 points for a Bolt Action force. Not sure why anyone would want to field this in a 1,000 point game, but it is ready if needed. I managed to pick up a bottle of Tamiya Dark Yellow to dry brush over the hand-painted green camo striping. This seemed to tone the green down a bit, but it's still nowhere as nice if it were airbrushed. However, I'll likely never be an airbrusher - so, this will have to do.

Pin washing and adding the tools and spare tracks also help hide the flaws in the camo work.

The driver and commander are nice additions to the kit.

With some Victory Force Minis for scale.

The fit and finish of Tamiya kits are quite impressive - and these can be had for under $30 on ebay.

Thanks for visiting and allowing my indulgence into model kit building.

Tamiya 1/48 Jagdtiger - WIP

Greetings all. Apologies for the long absence, but here's a "keep it alive" post on another 1/48 scale Tamiya kit I've been working on. Actually, I put the kit together a couple of weeks ago, but was trying to find a local, off-the-shelf spray paint which would approximate the dreaded "dunkelgelb," the German Dark Yellow used on most of their late-war production tanks. I finally broke down and picked up a can of Tamiya TS-3 Dark Yellow off of ebay - if not for the shipping it would've been a decent price. Anyway, this is another superb kit with minimal parts; and I am actually getting better with putting the multi-piece tracks together. Here it is after a coat of the Tamiya Dark Yellow and some hand-painted camo stripes.

The green stripes were applied using successive layers of light watered down Vallejo acrylic. I plan to dry brush the base coat color over the stripes to soften the edges and tone down the green. Also, attaching the tools and spare tracks should hide most of the imperfections of the brushwork.

Doing some online researching, this green stripes over the basic dunkelgelb combination seems common for the 653rd Heavy Panzerjager Battalion - one of only two units which were issued Jagdtigers; the other being the 512th.

A total of only about 80 Jagdtigers saw service from late-1944 until the end of the war. It weighed 71 tons and the main gun was the 12.8cm Pak 44 L/55. It performed best in an ambush role, as would be expected by it's powerful main gun. However, due to its weight it was prone to mechanical breakdown. Also, by the time it entered active service, the Allies held air supremacy which also limited its deployability. Interestingly, the first Jagdtiger that was destroyed in combat was taken out by a bazooka! Not sure who the grunt was who fired it, but he should've gotten a medal just for that.

In addition to the dry brushing, it'll also get some pin washing and a little weathering. The kit also comes with a commander and driver - both will be added later. The hatches are held in place with masking tape on the inside for now.

Here I am next to the Jagdtiger at The Bovington Tank Museum which I visited several years ago. You can see how large it is - I'm about 6' tall - give or take a foot.

So much for now; thanks for stopping by and best wishes to you all!