Noble & Minstrel

My finished Noble (& her Minstrel) for my Lustrian-themed Warhammer Quest collection.  When I saw the Maika von Ostwald sculpt from Hasslefree, I knew it would make an excellent Noble.  There is an alternate charging version of Maika, but I also picked a Barbarian figure in a similar pose, & think the relaxed confidence communicates her character better.  I'd been looking for figures to use for the WQ Warriors which befitted the tropical climate of Lustria - so this miniature, radiating privileged arrogance / relaxed heroic confidence, minus the cloak so often sported by fantasy heroes, & with a conquistador-vibe seemed perfect.  I also liked the twist that she was female, & quickly imagined a backstory for her. 

I have painted her as a Marienburger (so not technically an Imperial Noble), & see her as the daughter of a wealthy merchant lord of that archipelago city-state.  Bored of the sheltered dullness of elite trading guilds, & even duller courtiers, she paid for passage to the New World for a life of high adventure, planning to put her sword lessons under the tutleage of some of the finest Tilean duelists to good use.  She prefers to live (or at least dress) as a man, as it makes for more ready acceptance into the male-dominated world of adventuring, & avoids the unwelcome attractions of would-be suitors.

The Minstrel is an older Hasslefree Miniature that I bought quite a few years ago, & he required a repaint to match Maika's colours.  He travels along at Maika's heels, quite literally singing her praises & lyricising her many virtues & heroic escapades.  Much to the annoyance of her fellow adventurers.

Yakuza gang complete

This weekend I finally completed work on my Yakuza buntai for Osprey's Ronin skirmish game.  This is a rarity for me, with my scattergun approach to the miniatures/wargames hobby - a finished force... it helps that Ronin requires fewer than a dozen figures a side!  I posted photos of this Yakuza buntai back in October last year, when it was a 95pts roster max, but since then I have expanded it slightly so that I can field 149pts for larger games. 

Ya-ku-za (8-9-3) is the worst losing hand in the game Oicho-Kabu, & alludes to the illegal gambling dens that were set up by local 'bosses' in late-Edo period Japan. These crime bosses would run gambling, loan-sharking, prostitution, & extortion rackets, preying like parasites upon the rural peasantry. Some Yakuza gangs grew in influence to encompass several districts, so that lesser bosses owed allegience to more senior ones.

The term Bakuto (gamblers) was also used to describe such gangs, and those who associated with them. Gambling was illegal, and regarded with disdain by society at large. Gambling dens would often be set-up at the edge of towns or villages, sometimes in abandoned temples or shrines.

Below are rosters for 50pts, 100pts, & 150pts games with this force.  In the biggest roster, the Yakuza have hired a pair of Ronin (masterless Samurai mercenaries) to bolster their mediocre abilities.

Ronin

Today I put the finishing touches to a pair of Ronin... for Ronin, the Osprey skirmish game!  These are two of the figures from North Star's Koryu Buntai, of which seven of the figures are based on the iconic ronin from Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai'.  The characters of my ronin suggested themselves to me as I considered the sculpts before deciding on paint schemes.  The one with the nodachi (great sword), with his pouch of coins & smart appearance suggested to me a fairly wealthy ronin.  A brash, showy character who splashes his money about on drink, gambling, & women.  By contrast, the more circumspect-looking ronin with the ragged-edged cloak & bare feet suggested to me a down-on-his-luck ronin, perhaps with an edge of bitterness about him.  I'm thinking that he may have been expelled from one of my other buntai, the Koryu (Sword School) in dishonour, & resents this treatment.

The wakazashi (short sword) on the ronin in the fancy white kimono is one of the 3D-printed katana that I bought for my figures that have them in the rules, but not on their sculpts (e.g. my Yakuza thugs with arquebuses).  I trimmed & filed it to a suitable length, & sculpted a sash loop for it using Green Stuff putty.

Most buntai in Ronin can make use of Hired Swords such as these wandering ronin, but I will mainly be using them as hired muscle for my Yakuza gang.