Ronin: Swords for Hire

A pair of Ronin and a Shugyosha looking for work. Any of these models could be used as either a Ronin or Shugyosha, but in my mind while painting, the two on the left were Ronin and the Ryu-looking model on the far right is the Shugyuosha looking to test his skills against the greatest warriors of my dining room table. The center model with yari (or nagae-yari) is from Warring Clans, the other two are from Bac Ninh Miniatures.

Ronin: Dragon Rampant Warband

The Rampant series from Osprey is another ruleset I’ve become enamored with in recent years. While painting Ronin models, I’ve kept an eye on what could be combined into a larger force so I could flex the same models between both rulesets. So, without further ado, here’s the 24point Dragon Rampant warband using three Ronin buntais and three mythological creatures, the Yami No Taiyo (or the Dark Sun). Starting with the Jorogumo and going clockwise:

  • Lady Kage (Leader): Light Riders (Single Model Unit – 4pts)
  • Shuten-Doji & the Amanojaku: Bellicose Foot (Reduced Model Unit – 4pts)
  • Shadow Dancers: Scouts with Invisibility (5pts)
  • Bandits of the Dark Sun: Light Foot with Mixed Weapons (5pts)
  • Hypnotized Swordsmen: Elite Foot (6pts)

Even though Jorogumo don’t work with Bandits, officially, in Ronin, I painted them in similar colors knowing they were going to be her general foot troops in Dragon Rampant. As shared last post, Jorogumo can lead Koryu by entrancing them. Here, I’m using them hypnotized as her elite guard. The Oni, Amanojakuo, and Ninja…well they’re up for working in her employ for their own shadowy goals.

Ronin: Mythological Creatures Part II

One of the advantages of Ronin, besides being a killer ruleset for small-scale skirmish gaming, is that it has a low model count. This makes collecting all the Swords-for-Hire or optional Mythological Creatures easy and affordable. Previously, I’ve painted up the Oni, Amanojaku, and Kappa. With the three above (L to R: Kitsune, Jorogumo, and Tengu) I’ve finished the other three types and completed all the creatures for hire in the world of Ronin.

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Experimenting With a New Basing Technique

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For me, basing has always been the last thing I do on my models when I paint them.  This tends to make basing one of my least favorite things to do as its the last hurdle needed to call a project done.  My current basing style looks fair, but I also feel that it takes a long time to get that look.  I want to find a faster way to get things based without sacrificing on the quality.  Enter Geek Gaming Scenics! Continue reading

Ronin: The Villagers

Quick post on eight Perry Miniatures villagers used for scenarios in Osprey’s Ronin. Despite my hesitation, I attempted an easy pattern on one of the lady’s yukata . It was basically a white circle with a red line drawn through. Even then, it didn’t come out great, but looks good enough on the table. As usual, looking at one of these posted photos…several fixable errors jump out at me. My next paint session is going to involve a little cleanup with this set. Still, they were easy to paint and fit my little village well. On to the next set…

Ronin: The Koryu Buntai

Last summer, I completed a Bandit Buntai for Ronin to face off against James’ Sohei. Though my Bandits weren’t very successful, the game Ronin itself is a lot of fun, and after those games I knew I’d want to expand my collection. Seven months later or so, I finally got around to painting that next buntai, The Koryu.

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Nuffle Amorical Football: The Miasma of Debauchery Part 1

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Back in another lifetime it seems I put together a Blood Bowl Team emulating the Cleveland Browns.  The idea got me thinking of continuing the trend of blending Amorical (American) Football teams into the game of Blood Bowl.  I’m not going to lie I probably (most certainly) own enough teams to do a full 32 team league, but alas I don’t paint fast enough to have enough lifetime to get to that goal.  The original goal was to plow through the AFC North Division first, but instead I drifted over to the AFC East and put together a lovely Chaos Chosen team.  Continue reading

Xenos Rampant: The Bandits

“For the good old American life: For the money, for the glory, and for the fun… mostly for the money.”

The last gang I have to paint models up for are The Bandits. I was calling them “The Rockers” or “The Smugglers” earlier, but we’ll go with The Bandits for now.

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Xenos Rampant: The Punks

“You think this is a f’n’ costume? This is a way of life.” – Suicide, Return of the Living Dead.

For this gang, I was thinking that maybe I’d have each model be unique in their own colors, but…nah. Unified gang colors make the models easier to paint. Plus, as they could be a unit in Xenos Rampant, probably Berzerk Infantry, I want them to have a unified aesthetic that’s better for gameplay. Besides, anyone who’s spent any time in and around punk circles has probably seen the irony in there being a bit of conformity.

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