# The Sun Rises! Reaper's Samurai



## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

_The sound of the dread bugle pierced the mist. I gripped the hilt of my sword and waited.
The soft moan preceded them. It always preceded them.
After a moment I began to make out the red eyes through the early morning fog. I tapped the man to my left and pointed. He nodded and held up his fan
‘The dead come,’ someone called. 
The moans grew louder and louder until they filled the field with their presence. I struggled to hear the calls of the captain.
‘Arquebuses forward,’ he called. The missile troops moved to the front and took their positions. Three vast lines of troops, aiming their weapons. The first of the undead came into view and the captain gave the order to fire.
Harsh crack replaced dull moan and clouds of smoke rose to join the mists. The second line stepped forward, knelt and fired before moving back to allow the third line to move up. A second volley was given before the missile troops moved back.
Silence.
‘ Maybe we got them all,’ the young man behind me said.
He was wrong.
Bursting through the mist like rabid dogs, the ghouls came, mouths snapping the air, crude weapons swinging.
‘Swords,’ the captain called. I drew my blade and braced myself.
The first ghoul was quick, ducking beneath my initial swing. He stabbed at me with a rusty knife but my armour held. I replied with a clean cut, severing his head from his shoulders. A second monster charged at me, blood dripping from his lips. I sidestepped his attack and brought my sword down, parting him from his hands.
The first engagement was over quickly. We suffered few casualties to the ghouls. Monstrous though they were, we had training and unity on our side. 
And again, the silence fell.
‘Swords move back. Arquebuses, to the front,’ the captain called. We moved behind the firing line and waited.
Screams.
We didn’t know what was happening until the revenants hit our rear. I turned to see one of them skewer a man through the chest with its lance. I dropped to my knees as one charged towards me. The lance caught my helmet and pushed me to the ground. I threw helmet aside and drew my sword. It came around for another attack. I held my ground. At the last moment I moved aside and hacked at the mount’s legs. The revenant was thrown from the saddle, pinned by pikes before it could rise.
‘Pike group,’ the captain screamed, dispatching a group of dismounted revenants, ‘form up. Protect the artillery. Arquebuses, open fire.’
The sound of gunfire filled the air again and-
-darkness.

When I woke, the battle was won. I opened my eyes to see men moving the bodies of the fallen. Groups of militia walked amongst the dead, collecting weapons, armour, ammunition and supplies. The captain walked by me.
‘Up you get son,’ he held a hand out; ‘you can help move the bodies.’ _

__________________________________________________________

Well folks, it’s almost a new year, so time for a new army. The wait is over and the secret is revealed!

For 2012 it’s Samurai, the first army of its kind on Heresy :biggrin: 

I’ve always loved samurai and have been learning about the history of feudal Japan as well as samurai life and warfare since the summer. 

So when Wargames factory announced their plastic samurai would be coming in the winter, I couldn’t resist snapping them up and starting an army. This is something I’ve been planning for six months to a year now so it’s good to finally be able to start. 

Now, this army’s primary function will be a human army for Kings of War. As such, historical accuracy isn’t my top priority. But, where possible, I’d like things to be pretty accurate.

As a base for a colour scheme I’ve chosen the Ii clan, also known as the “Red Devils”. The reasons for this are twofold:

1: Tokugawa Ieyasu is one of the most interesting Shogun’s in my opinions, and the Red Devils formed his vanguard.

2: The Ii clan is one of the few examples of a unified scheme amongst the armour of the warriors (red lacquer) so it makes for a more coherent looking force on the tabletop. 

The current plan is to have a core of 40 samurai, supported by a hundred or so ashigaru troops. With some cavalry and artillery once WGF release them. Therefore, the bulk of my army will be made from the three core sets from WGF’s rising sun range. I’m confident through conversion and painting that I can keep each unit looking suitably individual. Those of you who have seen my Undead bases will have a vague idea of how I’ll go about this. 

For those interested, here is my Alpha list for this army:

Foot Guard Regiment
Banner 
Musician
140

Foot Guard Regiment
Banner 
Musician
140

Pike Phalanx Regiment
Banner 
Musician
120

Pike Phalanx Regiment
Banner 
Musician
120

Milita Horde
Banner
100

Bowmen Troop
Banner
70

Bowmen Troop
Banner
70

Bowmen Troop
Banner
70

Knight Regiment
Banner 
Musician
200

Knight Regiment
Banner 
Musician
200

Cannon
50

Army Standard
Horse
35

Army Standard
Horse
35

Army Standard
Horse
35

Army Standard
Horse
35

Hero
Horse
60

1480


So to kick off the army, I brought a box of Samurai before Christmas. This first box was mainly to test the waters on the quality of the kits. Up until this point I’d only seen the samurai in the official painted photos and the BoW review, both of which (the painted photos primarily) made them look shit. So I only picked up a single box to begin with.

For those interested, I’ve done a full review w/ pictures, which can be found HERE 

Anyway, onto pictures of a few of the assembled boys!














































































































The guy with no arm will get a banner from the ashigaru kit in the new year :grin:



















I'm really looking forward to this project and will be doing samurai for the army challenge next year also! 

So yeah, stick your comments and such below :grin:


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Very cool concept mate! I don't have the foggiest idea of how Kings of War works as a game system, but it will definitely be interesting to watch this unfold.


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## 18827 (Oct 23, 2009)

I'm with Midge913 on not knowing anything about kings of war.
but as a model maker, painter and a huge fan of japan and it's history (and the cute girls lol) I will be closely watching this take shape and it may even make me buy some.

with your pass record on heresy for projects this should be a damn good thread, can't wait to see you work your painting magic on them. hurry up! :biggrin:


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## Tanrel (May 8, 2008)

Those look really cool, can't wait to see an entire army of them. Whats their scale? How do they match up to a warhammer model?


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Looking forward to this. Is there any way these models would be compatible with WFB, as in would there be sufficient unit types to make a viable empire or brettonian force?


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Midge913 said:


> Very cool concept mate! I don't have the foggiest idea of how Kings of War works as a game system, but it will definitely be interesting to watch this unfold.





jimmy gunn said:


> I'm with Midge913 on not knowing anything about kings of war.
> but as a model maker, painter and a huge fan of japan and it's history (and the cute girls lol) I will be closely watching this take shape and it may even make me buy some.
> 
> with your pass record on heresy for projects this should be a damn good thread, can't wait to see you work your painting magic on them. hurry up! :biggrin:


Cheers guys. KoW is good fun, I'd recommend giving it a go if you've got some fantasy models lying around. The rules are free on mantic's website. 



Tanrel said:


> Those look really cool, can't wait to see an entire army of them. Whats their scale? How do they match up to a warhammer model?


They're 28mm realistic scale (so heads,hands and feet that are in proportion!) When I get back to Cardiff I'll do a scale shot of them with various GW and mantic models. 



Khorne's Fist said:


> Looking forward to this. Is there any way these models would be compatible with WFB, as in would there be sufficient unit types to make a viable empire or brettonian force?


Off the top of my head, this kit, along with the two ashigaru kits could make the following types of unit:

Pikemen
Spearmen
Swordsmen
Two weapon unit
Bowmen
Musket troops
Various heroes (including banners and musicians and the like)

Also at a stretch you could make a unit of two handed weapon users (by modelling the samurai holding the katanas in two hands)

Wargames factory are planning on releasing cavalry in the near(ish)[I hope] future so that will add just about every kind of cavalry you could need. Then you could either wait for them to release war machines (don't know if they plan to) or pick up an empire cannon or gondor trebuchet and replace the crew with samurai (what I'm planning)


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## OIIIIIIO (Dec 16, 2009)

I lived in Japan for 3 years and I was both horrified and gratified after researching Samurai. Horrified because I am a commoner and could have never been a Samurai (besides the fact that I am like the whitest guy on the planet) as well as gratified after learning about how much they held a reverence for Honor. Look forward to seeing some painted minis.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Link to the full review of the samurai kit is live in the OP :biggrin:


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## Carna (Mar 13, 2008)

Looks like a very interesting plog and good review! Can't wait to see them painted!


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## lord marcus (Nov 25, 2007)

Watching with interest.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Boom, I return with some pictures! 

I've spent the last few days painting up a couple of test minis. Overall, it's a reasonably nice kit to paint. The lacing detail was way to small for me to pick out individually which I can get over, but the faces! 

The faces on these models are just horrid to paint. The detail is so shallow washes won't even pool! I'm praying that when they release the cavalry kit, they include heads with the menpo face masks so I can put them on all my samurai! At tabletop view, no one will really notice the face issues, but I'll know they're there :angry: 

Anyway, pictures:

Here's the first one I did:


















(trying to get focused on their backs is really difficult because of the sashimono)

I was pretty happy with him but thought the red was a little too orange because of the highlights. I also thought the cloth was too bright. 

Here is the second guy (pics are a bit blurry, couldn't get the camera to cooperate):





































My camera doesn't like photographing red so the armour is a little bit off, but you get the idea.

I'm off to try and spray prime the rest of the unit, hoping the spray doesn't ruin the detail. . . 

C&C most welcome!


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking good bud! I see what you mean about the faces, but all in all I think you could solve that with a bit of highlighting. Love the pants on the second guy and the red is looking nice.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Midge913 said:


> Looking good bud! I see what you mean about the faces, but all in all I think you could solve that with a bit of highlighting. Love the pants on the second guy and the red is looking nice.


There is a bit of highlighting on them, but you can't really see it in the photos 
I'm sure I'll figure something out for the faces lol


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## CLT40k (Jun 18, 2010)

Love em... especially the checked pattern on the legs... great work... +rep

BTW - really looking forward to seeing these guys ranked up.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Time for a mini update!

I've finished another of the samurai for your viewing pleasure:

For some reason, the camera keeps washing out the colours. The red is as bright as blood red, but you can't see it in the pictures. The camera also seems to remove the shading and highlighting :S

I think I need to familiarise myself with image manipulation 





































And a shot of the three finished guys so far so you can start to form an idea of what the ranked up unit will look like: 










I've made an order from Wayland for more samurai and ashigaru and am going to be using this army for the 2012 army painting challenge. Until then I'll probably paint some undead, so expect some updates in that log! 

C&C welcome!


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## Zodd (Jul 27, 2009)

A very interesting project. They look great, You have accomplished a lot of nice details and some fine bases ( as usual  ).
Looking forward to see the coming units.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Zodd said:


> A very interesting project. They look great, You have accomplished a lot of nice details and some fine bases ( as usual  ).
> Looking forward to see the coming units.


I'm starting to think I should change my name to "the base guy" 

I've got another rank and filer on the go between skeletons to keep me same, so there should be a few more pictures in the coming days (I hope)


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## Tanrel (May 8, 2008)

You take a side by side reference for warhammer yet?


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Tanrel said:


> You take a side by side reference for warhammer yet?


I'll do it when I get back from uni today :biggrin:

Done:










Being "realistic" scale, they're a bit smaller than GW stuff, but I think they work really well.


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## Tanrel (May 8, 2008)

Oh, you could totally use those for a warhammer army if you wanted to spend the money on it. Awesome work, well painted stuff.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Tanrel said:


> Oh, you could totally use those for a warhammer army if you wanted to spend the money on it. Awesome work, well painted stuff.


Indeed! 

I'm hoping more warhammer players take note and pick some up, currently there are no logs for me to glean inspiration from :S


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## Tanrel (May 8, 2008)

I'd be really tempted to make an empire army out of that. Use the samurai for greatswords, the spearmen for, well spears, and the gunners for...handgunners. And then you could probably easily find samurai on horseback for knights and maybe some peasents for militia.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Tanrel said:


> I'd be really tempted to make an empire army out of that. Use the samurai for greatswords, the spearmen for, well spears, and the gunners for...handgunners. And then you could probably easily find samurai on horseback for knights and maybe some peasents for militia.


WGF are planning on releasing a cavalry kit later in the year  or there's perry miniatures line of samurai.

In terms of units you can make, through combining bits from all three bits you could make: [M- missile box, Y- yari box, S- samurai]

Gunners [M]
Bowmen [M]
Pikemen [Y]
Spearmen [S,Y]
Greatswords 
Two weapon troops 

Then you could also use samurai arms with the smaller swords on ashigaru bodies for a more milita type of unit :grin:


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## Tanrel (May 8, 2008)

Did the Japanese forces ever use shields? I don't know if you could make Samurai sword and shields. Maybe just use the dark elves or high elf shields and paint something japanese on it?


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Tanrel said:


> Did the Japanese forces ever use shields? I don't know if you could make Samurai sword and shields. Maybe just use the dark elves or high elf shields and paint something japanese on it?


To my immediate knowledge, shields weren't used no. But you could just get some elf shields to use, it wouldn't look too out of place in a fantasy game


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## Tanrel (May 8, 2008)

yeah, you could definitely use the fantasy game argument if someone tries to go history buff on you. Man, now i want to make this army. XD And you could use some crazy dragon shaped cannons and mortars, and a Dragon Tank!


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Du dun du duuuuu!

The samurai return! 

As most you you know, I've been burning through my undead this last month so the samurai have had no love, but I spied this model at the bottom of my cabinet this morning and decided to give him a touch up and re-base him:





































It's an infinity mini. And yeah, it's a little futuristic, but those dwarves, they make some good armour :wink:

I'll probably use him as a 50pt hero in my human army :grin:

C&C welcome!


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## Zodd (Jul 27, 2009)

Nice Samurai, Reaper-San.
I had a look in my one and only samurai book and there shield-bearers are amongst the arrow-carriers, gunpowder-carriers etc.
So shields could be viable i think.


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## 18827 (Oct 23, 2009)

Coming along nicely mate, I really like the black & white checks on the legs and the deep reds.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

These guys are shaping up nicely! And I can certainly see the face issue, but midge might be right on with the solution.

As for image manipulation, there's a program called GIMP which is sort of a poor man's photoshop. It doesn't have All the bells and whistles, but it has a lot of the basic photo paint tools and the ability to manipulate the levels histogram as well as sharpness and color balance.

The other issue in these photos is your focus or autofocus, is usually just behind the model. So the front of the base and part of the model is fuzzy, while the leather grain is pretty clear. If you're in macro mode you might need to inch back from the model a bit. Otherwise you need to adjust your focus.

Hope that helps!


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Zodd said:


> Nice Samurai, Reaper-San.
> I had a look in my one and only samurai book and there shield-bearers are amongst the arrow-carriers, gunpowder-carriers etc.
> So shields could be viable i think.





jimmy gunn said:


> Coming along nicely mate, I really like the black & white checks on the legs and the deep reds.





Kreuger said:


> These guys are shaping up nicely! And I can certainly see the face issue, but midge might be right on with the solution.
> 
> As for image manipulation, there's a program called GIMP which is sort of a poor man's photoshop. It doesn't have All the bells and whistles, but it has a lot of the basic photo paint tools and the ability to manipulate the levels histogram as well as sharpness and color balance.
> 
> ...


Cheers guys!

I take my photos with the macro function, but I'll try back off a bit and see how it looks.

*EDIT

Just did a quick test, had to use my daylight bulb so the colours aren't quite right, but I think the focus is better! Also ran it through the auto adjustments in Photoshop which made a bit of difference. 





































I'll have a full play around tomorrow and try out different backgrounds :grin:


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