Yes I even wrote my own back around 2003. I have the Nippon, Norse and Estalian lists over at Dogs of War Online
I don’t get to play as much as I get to engage in the hobby aspect. but I’m modeling it after Empire which is the most flexible for humans. Brets could work but, I’m not a huge fan of the list or army for that matter. Also Empire makes the most sense since it includes bows, handguns and crossbows in the list. I’m also modeling the army with an eye that I could play it as a Dogs of War force if I wanted to.
Update #1 Almost complete with but a few parts to touch up on the spear and hat my first model is rounding to form for my Army of Nippon. The eyes need a bit of work too. When I created my Chaos Dwarf Army I started with a single model to kick it off so I figured I would do the same here.
I wouldn’t put too much stock into the color scheme as I don’t think I’m going to repeat it to any large degree in the army.
In terms of fluff he is the local priest that accompanies the army to battle. The Damiyo is not a particularly religious man, but allows the priest access to his flock.
This model is an important step for me as its probably the first model Ive painted in 2-3 years. All of my stuff was packed up from 2010-2012 in preparation of the move to my new house. I noodled around with stuff but didnt actually paint anything. This figure is also important as I haven’t painted anything other then hobbos, Chaos Dwarfs and orcs in years.
“Zen” Priest? 'Cause I sort of remember a book with a ?zen priest as one of its characters and he was a bit of a warrior and used a naginata if memory serves me correct.
Quite a bit underway as I collect more classic ninjas from Citadel back in the day (check my link in the Marketplace if you have any you want to part with). Also gearing up to order a unit of bushi spearmen.
Additionally I’m working on my unfortunate giant. I say unfortunate because he want through several abortive attempts at a conversion. I say abortive because I couldn’t make up my mind on what I wanted to do with him: started out standard, thought about converting him to a VC giant, then a siege giant, you name it. Then I had to pack up everything and move. On top of that I stopped painting him at about 10%. Moral of the story is have a plan before doing anything with an expensive kit. Anyways got a lot of him painted but not enough to show yet. He’s not going to be an oriental giant. My thought is he was captured and brought to Nippon recently in one of the Damiyo’s plundering raids. He is now confined to small island until his services are needed. Mainly the giant is for fluff purposes.
Oh and here are some WIP shots of the Daimyos castle. It’s going to be big yes, castles generally are… It will fit on my gaming table. The roofs are going to be removable (got the idea from my daughters Barbie doll house). Also that wood? A whole bunch of Popsicle sticks cut and glued O_O
Some quick pics of the assembling Host of the East.
Lots of gastly, unpainted metal and some that needs to be stripped. Along with the Ashigaru I just ordered the army has a good core to start. I’m just not sure of the size of the figures here as they are from the Legends of the Five Rings game; the warfoundry minis might be too big in comparison. I’ll have to wait and see.
Here is a shot of the unfortunate giant. I’m painting him like he was from the Old World and the daimyo captured him and brought him back to Nippon.
The war rocket I got from Baggronor which I’ll eventually repaint. Since it didnt have all the crew members I had some oriental sappers that will fill the bill.
And some Ninja from the same guy across the pond:
And as an added bonus the ad I was looking for from WD featuring some of the Ninja Im going for. Eventually much like Clam in his marauder mini quest Im going to try and collect one of each of the ninjas. I have three more coming and might have a line on another locally.
Update #3 As I continue to assemble the army and await my reinforcements in the mail ( I have a total of 7 more ninja coming! and 25 yari equipped spearmen). So inspired by Clam’s Collecting Quest I’m going to try for one of every GW/Citadel ninja model for my army. In the meantime I noodled around with the mortar from the Empire set and made a base for it. The gunners are yet to be converted. By putting it on a 40mm base and making it removable from the main base I can swap it in/out with different artillery. I might make a converted organ gun for a stand-in volley gun on a 40mm base. At least I think some Nippon style pavaise/shields may go on the sides.
The gun carriage is simply balsa wood and parts from the Empire and dwarf cannon sprues, pretty simple actually.
Update #4 I finally got my ashigaru (infantry) troops from warfoundy. They are nice models all in all and multi-part akin to the zombies from GW in terms of assembly. They are going together nicely and I have been noodling around with various poses but nothing to major yet. For $30 US with shipping, I cant complain as they are a low cost way tp bulk out the force. While I assemble them my thoughts are turning towards a Ronin type force, with the Damiyo as a mercenary leader more then a great lord.IF I go that route I’ll have to to come up with a reason for the presence of Sohei halberdiers, my count as Demigryphs and generals mount…
Anyways here are some pics:
Of special importance is this guy, from the 3rd edition Warhammer army rulebook: The kamikaze suicide squads of Nippon go into battle as human bombs carrying either a cask of black powder or a bandolier loaded with individuals charges.
Either? Pfffftttt. My kamikaze has both! Seriously, if I wanted to play 3rd edition Warhammer I’m all set. As is he makes a fun model and a quick conversion. Its an old metal set of barrels I had kicking around and powder charges from dwarf sprues, cant get any easier then that. Moral of the story? Never throw anything away.
Minor update The size of my force of ninjas continues to increase. Through eBay purchases ans CDO Ive doubled the amount of ninja my daimyo has at his disposal, so well on my way! Still looking for more however. Haven’t decided how I want to utilize them in game, part of me says use them as Empire- Free companies, after all there is the Law of Diminishing Ninjas
And as an added bonus the ad I was looking for from WD featuring some of the Ninja Im going for. Eventually much like Clam in his marauder mini quest Im going to try and collect one of each of the ninjas. I have three more coming and might have a line on another locally.
Willmark
Are you going to do any Vimto Monks? Another GW joke that is probably lost on the non-British.
Can I just say I love the balsa cannon! simple but very effective. great build (:
Bolg
Sure can but I cant quite say it was me who thought up the idea. I followed this to a degree. http://muraminiatures.com/building-a-samurai-battery-part-2-mortars.html
How do the models compare in scale, as you were not sure? I am impressed with those wargames factory models, they look decent quality.
Grimstonefire
They are on par in terms of height and width,and probably more to scale with dimensions on hands and weapons then GW minis.
That castle is impressive as well, how many levels to the roof will it have?
Grimstonefire
Three it looks big and it probably will be but at 28mm scale there is no real, "small" way to make a castle. Two more levels is the plan.
Minor update My unit of ashigaru armed with yari (spears) continues to grow. I will most likely eBay for a few more sprues to round out the unit. The leader and the champion of teh unit are going to be Citadel Oriental miniatures, just haven't decided on which one yet.
Good stuff. 
