Steve does a range of kneeling rowers for his vessels but not (yet) having the inclination to go to seas "samurai style" I looked at his figures in a different light. Some have their right arm raised and others their left (something to do with which side of the boat they were on!) which gave me a bit of inspiration. Warrior holding his right hand up was given a Nobori standard and his left hand was drilled out to fit in a sheathed katana (sword). In front of him I had a bushi with his left arm raised and he is holding an enemy's head in that hand and a No-Dachi (long two-handed sword) in his right hand. Nice little diorama that fits well on to the battlefield. Another addition to my 25mm Bushi range of dioramas was composed using BU31 who is a warrior standing with an open right hand in which is now a naked, bloody katana while his left hand holds aloft the head of his enemy, whose body (BU30) lies at his feet. Another two former rowers became a bushi and his servant. The servant has his left shoulder bare and holds an umbrella over his obviously hot master. The bushi is wielding on high his No-Dachi in his right hand while fanning himself vigorously with his warfan (a weapon in its own right). My last sailor was promoted to standard bearer to the seated Daimyõ or War Lord, and very good he looks. A little drilling, a bit of imagination, and the figures and separate weapons available from Steve made this minor project very enjoyable and visually rewarding. Perhaps because there is such a wide range of excellent figures now available on the market that gamers no longer have to adapt figures. If you do, please let me know, I would be very interested in your innovations irrespective of the period. Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #120 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com