Over the New Year period I was able to rebase my Samurai armies. I am much happier with the basing results. The units look better and I have the flexibility to increase or decrease a unit's size. Presently both armies sit at about 140 miniatures each. Once I have completed the remaining miniatures I expect that to go up to about 170 per army. Not that they would all be on the tabletop at once. I would normally field about 8 units so not to over crowd my 6x4 foot table.
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| The red army set up with 4 bases per unit. 3 infantry per base or 2 cavalry. |
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| A closer view from the side |
Rather than go with individual figures for commanders, I am thinking about using the banners/flags to show which units have commanders attached.
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| A mounted samurai unit with retainers running behind. |
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| The same mounted samurai unit with two banners showing a commander is attached. |
I am as yet unsure about the rules I will use. There are presently three options I am plan to look at:
- Pike and Shot Wargaming from the book "Wargaming and Introduction" by Neil Thomas.
- Never Mind the Billhooks rules by Andy Callan and provided free with Wargames Illustrated last year.
- Pike and Shot rules from One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas.
The first two sets of rules allow for combined unit (pike-arquebus, pike-bow, pike-swords, etc) while One Hour Wargaming (OHW) is my normal starting point for rules. The activation system in Never Mind the Billhooks seems very appealing and the rules also allow for differently sized units. I have also found a few free Samurai specific rules which I need to read through, but most appear to be geared towards skirmish actions.
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| Both armies lined up. |
Looking good, Peter! I will be rolling my Samurai out onto the table later this week. We will see what you think of BI as a gaming engine for the period.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon. I am looking forward to the remote game and trying a different set of rules.
DeleteI like the idea of selecting 8 units from the collection for a game, a bit of a sweet spot for the 6x4. Having played some 'Nevermind the Billhooks', I can see them giving a fun game, with units activating by the Samurai equivalent of a 'battle'.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to trying the rules. 8 units with a 6-8 inch frontage seems to be a bit of a sweet spot for 6x4 tabletop.
DeleteHandsome Samurai here, lovely colors and banners!
ReplyDeleteA bit along the lines of imagination with a red and blue army. Nice bright colours.
DeleteThey look great and the basing change was well worth it IMHO. Looking forward to seeing what rules you choose and then of them in action.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I chose to switch the basing approach. It took a full day of prising the figures off their old bases and preparing the new base.
DeleteThe armies are really looking good - they look more like armies with your new rebasing system.
ReplyDeleteI have only skirmished in this period - but I would look to get some period/cultural feel to the rules rather than just re-using rules for other periods/cultures. To be honest I have no idea how samurai battles were decided...
Thank you, the new basing is a definite improvement. I am starting to jot down notes from what I have read about the army organisation and tactics to help work through the rules.
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