A semi-flat samurai castle

I have not done much painting recently, so in an attempt to get back into the swing of things, I decided to create and paint a semi-flat castle for my samurai armies. I thought having a castle in the distance would be useful for the narrative of my samurai games as I test out some rule changes. It seems many battles during the Sengoku period were fought near or around castles, either to relieve the defenders or to besiege them.

The recently finished castle positioned on a tabletop edge.

About a month ago, I created something similar when I made a semi-flat town for my English Civil War games. The steps for making the town can be found here. I use foam board to create the layers and gesso paste to create texture and additional detail.

I position these semi-flat models on a tabletop edge to represent where reserve units arrive or as the reason for whatever scenario is being played. I find it easier to make these semi-flat models than draw and paint a flat model.

The castle was made from three layers of foam board which are covered in gesso-paste used to create texture. 

Units positioned in their defences around the castle.

Here are a few photographs of a game in progress, showing the blue army arriving on the flank of the red army, hoping to relieve a siege. The castle can be seen in the background.

The blue army is attempting to relieve the castle garrison.

Red army reacts to the relieving force arriving on their flank.

Next week, I plan to post more about the draft rules I'm currently using which I mentioned in my last post. Writing up my notes as rules, even in draft form, always seems to take longer than I expect.