I finished up some troops, so it was time to get command models finished up to field a proper force for my Nippon army in Warmaster Revolution. I sent back to the command set that I used to give command stands to all my units and focus on the overall commanders.
For these, I decided to prime them white and then glue them to popsicle sticks for actual painting. I needed one overall army commander, two Daimyos and two Shugenjas. I also did a Shugenja on a tatsu dragon I found on Etsy (the dragon, not the Shugenja). This would give me enough characters to play a 2000 point game. I still want to do one more tatsu mounted character, but am awaiting another taste in a different pose.
The Daimyos were the easiest. I selected two different mounted command models and two standard bearers, for the two stands. I went with a scheme that would match the two samurai forces I am working on, but opted for black armor. I plan to use this on most of my command and Ronin. I started with a black contrast over the armor. I then hit the cloth areas with reds, blues and grays. The flesh was painted and gold was painted brass. I then added some black for the reins and scabbards. The horses were hit with a contrast white and highlighted up in light gray. I then hit most of the models with a black wash and then went back and highlighted all the colors. I added marking decals to the back of the cloak and banner.
The Shugenja followed a similar pattern. I pulled a few kneeling models and one standing. I started with white also. These, I wanted a totally different look, so they would stand out. I decided to go with yellow armor and green shades of cloth. So, back to the contrast paints on all the primary colors, followed by some flesh and blacks on the various scabbards and stuff. I hit these models with a brown wash and then went back and highlighted all the ares with their original colors using regular paint. I then added the decals to the cloaks and back banners. I also painted up some shrine rocks I got from Irregular Miniatures for the bases shaded up gray.
The tatsu was just painted up. I started a spray of tan on the whole model. Moving on to the brush, I hit the model with some red paint and then highlighted up a level of red. I painted the teeth and I followed with a brown wash over everything. I then lightened up the red and added orange and yellow to the spine and spike areas. I went back a hit the teeth again and then painted the eyes. I finished up by shading up the stones on the base of the model. Once this was all done, I glued one of the kneeling Sugenja to the back of the model (had to remove a couple spikes).
The Shogun command stand came next. I wanted this to be a bit more elaborate, so I went with the whole tent diorama that comes with the command set. This included six panels, front panels, a shogun, a retainer, a messenger, a drummer and a back frick’n drum. These were all primed white and painted the same as the Damyos mentioned earlier. The messenger was in red brown armor, as I painted him with my original Ashigaru (see that article). The drum was just done brown with tan pads, stained brown with brass fittings. All these were given a wash and highlighted up afterwords. The panels started white with a contrast yellow. I did not get enough of the creases, so I hit those with some brown wash. Then I layered up some lighter shades of yellow and painted the posts black. Next I added decals to the cloaks and all the side panels and batters.
The Oni were an issue. I found a couple models online, but either could not get them shipped to me or I did not like the look. So, I went in a different direction. I ordered some 15mm samurai from Eureka to fill the slot. These would be clearly larger and ogre sized and fit the look of the army. I sprayed these with dark gray to start. I then painted all the flesh and banner red, cloth purple and scabbards black. All the models got a black wash. I then went back and painted the silver on the weapons and white on the sashes and standards, with a highlight on all the other colors. I added the back banners from eh Wargames Atlantic sprues, so they would match the size of the troops. The two banners were way too large, so I cut these down horizontally and reattached the cross bar on the top to make them square. I then added the decals.
All the models were glued to Shogun magnetic bases. 20mm for command and 50mm for the General. Each was flocked with the same mix I used on the troops. I dull coats all the models and then highlighted the silver and grass to brighten it up. With that, I have my command and two units of Oni!
- Mantueffel