TAG Heian/Gempei War Mounted Samurai Command

 This is the mounted samurai command pack from TAG. Painted the standard with the Taira butterfly mon.

Really didn't "need" more figures for this period, but this was a pack from TAG which I didn't have before. I like to have most, if not all, of the figures from a range that I like. This range from TAG was one of the very first 28mm figures I collected, and still like them a lot.

There are only 3 horse poses from this range, but they look nice.

What I based the crest on. Not exact, but close enough.

The o-yoroi armor with its large sode (shoulder armor) allows for painted various lacing patterns.

A painting depicting Taira cavalry - some carrying similar banners.

Still have my Imjin War game scheduled for next week. Plan to use a simplified version of Hail Caesar for the rules - which will include scaling walls with ladders. Until then, wishing you all the best and hope you're enjoying the summer weather.

Battle of Ichi no Tani - Tribal Gaming

Just wrapped up a four player Tribal game using the Battle of Ichi no Tani during the Gempei War as the scenario. The Taira clan who were in their beachside fortess were to repel the attacking Minamoto forces coming along the beachhead. The Taira had a secret victory condition which was to flee out to sea with the boats at the shoreline - if they couldn't destroy the Minamoto on land. They chose to remain in and around the fortress and battle it to the bitter end. The Minamoto had a hidden movement that started at the start of turn 3. Two mounted warrior units along with three mounted characters, the warlord, Minamoto Yoshistune, along with the monk hero Benkei and a banner man. They did some damage within the fortress but the Taira held their own. Both sides had units of foot and mounted samurai with Elite Marksmen skills in light armor and short weapons (katana). Both sides also had units of foot Warriors with long weapons (naginata). The Minamoto had several units of Warrior monks in light armor - two Elite Marksmen with short weapons and one with long weapons. At the end of turn 5, the Taira had more Honor points than the Minamoto and they were declared the victors. For the record, one of the players (on the Taira side) played the rules for the first time, and admitted that he didn't like card driven games, but he really enjoyed this one. Anyway, here are pictures from the game - I was able to take a few as I was umpiring the game

Daimyo in deep contemplation prior to the battle.

Minamoto standard bearer in combat with the Taira warlord inside the encampment.

Minamoto Yoshitsune about to take out remaining Taira bowmen - his loyal companion, the warrior monk Benkei closely behind him.

Taira foot and cavalry defending the breach.

Benkei in combat with Taira bowmen.

Minamoto cavalry wreaking havoc inside of the Taira encampment.

Taira bowmen manning a tower near the main gate.

Action with the Taira fortified encampment. The Minamoto cavalry having successfully descending unopposed down a cliff in the rear of the camp.

Minamoto and Taira forces clash at the palisades after a breach having been made.

Minamoto and Taira foot in woods surrounding the Taira camp.

Minamoto and Taira cavalry clash inside the Taira camp.

Minamoto samurai at the breach in the Taira encampment.

Minamoto Yoshitsune and picked cavalry descending from steep cliffs into the rear of the Taira encampment.

Battle on the flanks inside woods.

Minamoto samurai having successfully torn down a section of the Taira palisades.

View within the Taira camp from their left flank.

Sohei bowmen.

Minamoto samurai on their left flank.

Genre/period appropriate gaming aids and refreshment.

All in all a good game which worked well with the rules. As mentioned in the earlier post, I've played this same scenario with a modified version of WAB and also Lion Rampant. In those games, Taira units always made an attempt to reach the boats on shore, and in some cases successfully escaped to sea. In this game, the Taira players chose to stay in and around the encampment. Historically, the Taira managed to escape to sea for the most part. Only to be destroyed completed soon after at the naval Battle of Dan no Ura - but that is another story for another time.

Battle of Ichi no Tani (Gempei War) - Tribal Set-Up

Initial set-up for a Gempei War Tribal game I'm hosting this Friday. Still thinking of how to break down wall sections, and also to start fires to wooden structures, including boats. I made the terrain (except for the hootches and large ship) a long time ago, and was used with WAB and Lion Rampant. It'll be interesting to see how the scenario plays out with Tribal. The basic scenario is the Minamoto forces attacking the seaside fortress of the Taira. The Taira are to either destroy the attacking Minamoto or to escape to sea on the boats. A "surprise" attack by Minamoto cavalry coming from the rear of the camp after descending a steep/sheer cliff.

The little sake cups are containers for the Honor tokens. The honor tokens are nicely made (and inexpensive) Asian (Chinese?) coins. They look and feel really good.

In addition to the warlords, there are several heroes on each side - including some with banners for the Rally Around the Flag rule. The allows units with 2 long card lengths away from it to never lose a round of combat.

The retainer units have either naginata for the long weapon rule or bows. The samurai units will have light armor and be classed as Elite Bowmen so that the will also have their preferred hand weapon - swords. Monks will be either Elite Bowmen with swords or a unit with long weapons (naginata or tetsubo).

I have 4 players showing up with two having experience with the rules - one having played in today's Tribal game day.

Below is a grainy screenshot from a TV miniseries on the Gempei War showing the Taira camp at Ichi no Tani. I sort of based the look of the terrain from this.

Well, enough for now. Looking forward to the game and will try to remember to take photos during game play. I should be able to as I'll be GMing and not playing myself.

Japanese Oni By Adaevy Creations

This is a resin printed oni that I found on ebay. Painted him blue to contrast against the red Reaper Bones oni painted a while back. Might use him in a Dragon Rampant warband.

A nice figure which comes with the detailed base. The kanabo/tetsubo is appropriately large.

Pictured below with a TAG samurai and a Reaper Bones oni for comparison.

Just a quick little painting project. Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

The Assault Group Sohei - Warrior Monks

 These are from a pack each of bows and naginata.

Painted a few up with orange (saffron) and yellow outer robes. Although I'm not sure the reasons why some wore these colors. I think the Osprey book on them says it may just be that the dye colors were more common at the areas they were located. Again, not sure of the reasons, but wanted to give them a bit more of a varied look.

The pack of eight figures come with duplicate poses.

A few of the figures show armor worn under the robes.

There's one more monk figure left - a command figure which I plan to replace his naginata with a banner.

Thanks again for stopping by and hope you all are doing well.

The Assault Group Gempei War "Followers"

They're sort of like ashigaru - but not in the sense of the latter Sengoku period. More like a warband kind of group that closely followed their lord or samurai leader.

They have light armor and wield naginata. Supposedly they protected the higher ranking samurai on horseback - and also would try to take down enemy samurai with their naginata. The Heian period warfare translates well with "heroic" warfare rules.

The sculpting of the armor lends itself well to lightly painting the laces, and then following that up with a light wash of black ink. The ink wash settles into the recesses of the lacing to help the look.

Next up are the sohei monks with bows and naginata.

The Assault Group - Mounted Samurai

 These are two packs (3-figs each) of bows, and one pack with swords.

Along with the earlier figures, should be more than enough for skirmish gaming this period. Armies and battles of the Heian period were both relatively small.

The elite warriors of the period were horse archers, and fought pretty much in a "heroic" style. Calling out lineages and boasts. Perfect for skirmish gaming, IMO.

Plan to use them with Tribal with units of 5-figures each, along with heroes and warlords.

Plan to start on the "followers" (similar to ashigaru) next. After them, monks with naginata and bows - which should complete the needed figures for test run with Tribal. In fact, I'm signed up for a Tribal game at a game day this Saturday. It'll be nice to get more familiar with the rules before hosting my own. The basic rules are pretty simple, and allow for additional flavor as needed. Until then, thanks for stopping to check out the blog and hope you all are doing well.

The Assault Group Samurai - Foot

Finished up the 8-figure pack of TAG foot samurai; also painted the mounted figures, but still need to paint their horses.

The TAG Heian/Genpei War range is one of my favorites. Love the details and research that went tinto them. They've been around for quite a long time, and still the best for the period, IMO.

They have nice poses which reflect the heroic nature of battle during this period.

I did reposition the arms on a couple of the duplicates - the guys pointing and the ones with two swords.

And a shot of the completed riders - still needing mounts.

Thanks for checking out the blog!