Solo Samurai

by Kenn Hart

Having been a solo wargamer long before I knew I was a "Wargamer", in that I was just a boy playing with Airfix plastic soldiers, the move into Japanese warfare was quite a step. I was originally attracted to the period by James Cavell's novel "Shogun" and really lured in when I saw the film of the same name.

Years later when doing research into the period did I realise how close to reality, on the main historical parts, had Cavell been. His master stroke, to my mind was to use Japanese names which where not too difficult for a westerner to pick up. Probably the main reason that there is not such a big following for Samurai warfare is the language barrier, which is quite formidable and one I have not got over yet. Books by Dr Stephen Turnbull, Osprey publications and the excellent clan booklets by Daisho Publications have done a considerable amount to make the period more accessible to the westerner. But if you want historical clans with easy names there are quite a few with Oda, Hojo, Honda, Minamoto and Taira coming to mind, with just using the last two, history could be re-fought.

My next step on the road to my present Samurai forces was when I came across Two Dragon Productions top class range of 15mm figures and from there on my fate was sealed! Every time they produced a figure one was sent for review in Lone Warrior and, of course, this meant I must have a unit(s) of them. The collection grew and eventually figures from Feudal Castings and Lancashire Games joined the ever growing ranks on my table.

So what is special about the Japanese Samurai? Their code of warfare? Colourful, individual armour? Individual Honour seekers? Mass unit discipline? Their isolationism? Love of Ritual? Their fatalistic approach to death? These plus all the other aspects that are common to warfare throughout the ages make for a unique set of people and an even more unique period to wargame in.

For my mass battles I enjoy gaming in the 16th century which is known as the Sengoku Jidai or "The Age of the Country at War"* and for my skirmish games I play in the centuries leading up to then. For skirmishing I prefer 25mm and the ranges of Dixon and Village Green more than fill my requirements - until they bring another figure out and then out comes the plastic again!

In the early period the Bushi, as the Samurai were originally known, were primarily mounted archers who used the bow as a close quarter weapon and not at all like the long distance ones used in the West. The bow was slowly superseded by the spear or lance but again there was a different use in that they were more a "Cut & Thrust" weapon than couched like a western knight. The famous samurai sword, Katana, came into its own when the Japanese warfare moved off the plains and up into the mountainous areas of the country. This was due to the increasing use of castles in the 14th & 15th centuries and was no place for a mounted archer, in the close confines of the mountains. Once more there is a difference in that the Japanese earlier castles were more reminiscent of Wild West frontier log forts than the western idea of a castle, in fact for games calling for an early fort I use the Village Green "stockade fort".

The beautiful samurai castles familiar to most of us came into use from the late 16th century onwards and were promoted in some degree by the introduction of gunpowder weapons into Japanese warfare. This having been said, the use of the arquebus became somewhat wide spread and the original Portuguese designs were copied and improved upon by the local blacksmiths but they never appear to have developed the skills to cast cannon. This meant that cannon were few and far between, not really having the same effect on castle design and warfare as they did in Europe. A further reason for the graceful curved shape of the Japanese castles and the materials they were made of was to protect them from earthquakes, which was a slight less common problem to western castle builders.

To build a samurai force, just like any other, it is advisable to do one's research first. I have briefly mentioned my sources above and will give more detail in the bibliography at the end. I will also include details of rules I am aware of in order that those who are interested may obtain them. In keeping with the period I decided to "recruit" my troops into clans and over the period of time these have grown and have been standardised at three units of mounted samurai, three units of foot samurai and various numbers of Ashigaru (initially peasant followers but later in the period skilled and valued warriors) units.

Each unit is a number of figures on a base and although I try to keep the numbers on the base standard, for various reasons this does not always happen. Irrespective of how many actual figures on the base that unit fights with the same factors as a unit with more or less figures on it. The main reason for using figures is to get the visual effect and I am very happy with what I have achieved.

Painting

Painting of my 15mm figures originally started out with all the samurai wearing black lacquered armour but as my knowledge developed and the excellent illustrations in the books I use showed this was not the case. This gave me a freedom to bring an amazing splash of colour to the battlefield and I really enjoyed doing it.

When I came to paint the 25mm Village Green Bushi range for use in skirmishing I was well prepared and some of my figures were used by the firm to demonstrate their products at shows, I should point out that those figures had been painted by Keith Stockburn, a friend and excellent local figure painter, for me and a very professional job he did too. The Ashigaru, within their units, were given uniform clan colours which helps in recognising them on the tabletop. The Japanese must have also had this problem, in real life as opposed to play, and developed small back banners called sashimonos which were either in the samurai's own colours or more often than not in that of the clan. Once a figure has a sashimono on his back he obviously belongs to that particular clan and in order to cut down on expense for figures, painting time etc.

I use a lot of ashigaru units without back banners and they can therefore be drafted into any clan. The problem of tabletop recognition was solved by giving each unit a long vertical banner, nobori, in clan colours with large ones for a samurai unit and smaller ones for ashigaru. So every unit or base of figures has a samurai leader and banner on a smaller separate base. When mentioning the clan colours I should also point out that clans also had heraldic motifs, called Mons, which were simple designs easily recognised in the heat of battle and they did not develop them in the same manner as western heraldry.

There does not appear to be any 'quartering' etc, when families joined together through marriage because the wife would completely leave her family behind and become part of her husband's one. From an historic and wargaming view the units within a clan could have the same mon but use a different background colour, which really does aid recognition. Perhaps samurai were invented with wargamers in mind!

The majority of my units are figures with the same weapon but not necessarily the same pose. I also tend to keep figures from one manufacturer together unless I want to have an irregular unit of say, Ronin (masterless samurai), and then I mix the figures up. This gives me a pleasing visual aspect. The actual base sizes for the figures is done with my storage system in mind rather than being dictated to by a particular set of rules. This goes back to the days when rule writers commanded figures should go on a specific size of base but figure manufacturers always seemed to make the figures too big to fit!

A hidden perk of being a solo gamer - base to your own requirements! It would not be correct to say each base is a mini diorama but the addition of rocks, bushes and even trees (when there only a few figures on a base) certainly adds to the overall visual effect. I use Basetex for covering the bases and when the units are positioned together it looks like they are on a field. For mounting my 25mm skirmish Bushi I have found the packs of bases, for both foot and mounted, from Games Workshop to be ideal and well priced. There is room of the side of the base to write the warrior's name and clan, which is very handy when the table is covered with figures.

This is a just a brief look a Samurai Warfare and I would recommend the following publications to anyone interested in this fascinating period. Through the pages of Lone Warrior I have contacted others who enjoy this period and we regularly exchange ideas and tips. Should you want any further information my details are contained within Lone Warrior.

Bibliography:

    Books by Stephen Turnbull, in no special order:
      Samurai Warriors - ISBN 0 7137 1767 X
      Samurai Warfare - ISBN 1-85409-280-4
      The Samurai, A Military History - ISBN 1-873410-38-7
      Samurai Warlords, The Book of the Daimyo - Blanford Press.
      Battles of the Samurai - ISBN85409-161-1
      The Lone Samurai and the Martial Arts - ISBN 0-85368-967-9
      The Book of the Samurai, The Warrior Class of Japan - ISBN 0-85368-538 X

    Osprey books, and there are more:

      Samurai Armies 1550-1615.
      Men-at-Arms series. Samurai 1550-1600.
      Warrior series The Samurai #23.
      Elite series. The Samurai #35.

    Daisho Publications clan booklets:

      The Takeda.
      The Uesugi.
      The Ii.

    The Palladium book of Weapons and Castles of the Orient. By Matthew Balent

    Lone Warrior - Magazine of the Solo Wargamers Association. Articles on the period.

    Rules

      Age of the Country at War - Barrie Lovell (my preference for good quick mass games with a definite feel for the period.)
      Road to Osaka - skirmish. (from Two Dragon Productions)
      Katana by Stephen Lawrence - skirmish
      The Water Margin by Stephen Irwin - skirmish. (Irregular Miniatures)
      Samurai Warfare by Adams and Clarke
      Killer Katanas - Email KllrKatnas@aol.com

    Figure manufacturers (I have used)

      Feudal Castings -15mm
      Two Dragon Productions - 15mm
      Lancashire Games -15mm
      Irregular Miniatures - 6mm
      Dixon - 25mm
      Village Green - 25mm
      Warrior Miniatures - 15mm

    Buildings & Boats

      Village Green - 15mm & 25mm
      Scheltrum Miniatures (01224-581311) - 25mm Ships
      Hovels - 15mm

Related

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