Sengoku Skeletons

Another common enemy type in Sengoku Monster Hunter are the skeletons - for these I went with red and grey for their clothes/armour as part of my attempts to make each monster type (those that there are multiple of at least) have a different colour.

Anyway, first up the archer skeletons:

And a trio of naginata wielding skeletons:

And finally the katana armed skeletons (complete with blades stuck in their skulls!):

The SMH collection is definitely taking shape now! 😀

Sengoku Snakes

The last of the more numerous enemy type for Sengoku Monster Hunter is the Snakemen.  I researched a little into snakes from Japan - I knew I didn't want any complex patterns to try to replicate across multiple miniatures, so instead I took some inspiration from the Okinawa Habu and went with a golden look (I made mine brighter to highlight their strangeness).

First, a group armed with katana:

And some with tetsubo:

And a group of archers too:

Finally, one with a naginata.  I might make some special rules for her and treat her as the second in command to the snakemen!

For the iron fan wielding Snakeman commander I went a little different and made him an albino:

It doesn't photograph very well 😓 - it's much better in reality I promise!

And finally for the snakes - the Snake Demon.  I liked the clearly unnatural colour used on the Alternative Armies site and went with my own take on it:

Keep an eye out for more SMH stuff soon!

Sengoku Tanuki

Like with the goblins I posted previously, I've tried to make a dent into the SMH collection and tackle the more numerous enemy types first.  So, next up was the Tanuki!

First up a Commander (L) and Shaman (R).  I went for a traditional art-inspired cloud to add some detail to the Shaman:

A little posse of sword wielding Tanuki provide the bulk of the melee chaps:

And a few different types of Archers to provide some ranged threat to the Monster Hunters:

Finishing off the melee Tanuki are some armed with kusari-gama (the chain weapons) and a couple with clubs:

Finally, although not a warrior, I painted the Tanuki Merchant at the same time, using some of the same palette as for the others:

As you might have noticed, I went with blue as a unifying colour for the Tanuki (the Goblins had purple). Wouldn't want to mix up our enemy types in the middle of a game!

More OSHIRO buildings!

I've added some more OSHIRO buildings from their 15mm range to the collection for games of Sengoku Monster Hunter.  First up, the Odou with Ornate Roof - I figured for supernatural-themed games a shrine was a must!

This is a two piece kit - the roof section is separate from the main building and just needs gluing in place.

Another item I knew I needed was a Yadoya (Inn) - the Alternative Armies range includes an Innkeeper miniature after all so I figured he needed an establishment to manage!

I also opted for a two-storey shop to increase the variety of building types in the collection:

Finally I added a Large Townhouse, again to increase the variety in the dwellings:

As with other OSHIRO pieces I just filled any small air holes with Vallejo Plastic Putty to get them ready for priming (when weather permits!)

I'm sure I'll get more from OSHIRO - perhaps some walls.  If they are able/choose to make some of the 28mm additions range in 15mm I'd definitely get some (the sake display, lanterns, graves, gorintō and the like).

Sengoku Goblins

It's been a couple of years in the making, but I've started working my way through the Sengoku Monster Hunter collection! First up, the most common enemy - the goblins.

Providing the goblins with some leadership - a commander, flag bearer and shaman:

The bulk of the goblins are armed with various polearms - first up, with jūmonji yari:

And some with naginata:

Finally for the polearm-wielding goblins, some with kama-yari:

I also painted some archer goblins:

I also had a selection of goblin cavalry - two archers and two katana-armed goblins each on two different types of mount.  First, the Uma-no-Jaku:

And Kutsusura-mounted cavalry:

I'm really pleased to have gotten stuck in to the Sengoku Monster Hunter collection - if you are interested in getting some for yourself, the range is available from Alternative Armies.

The SMH scenery collection expands!

The Sengoku Monster Hunter scenery collection has expanded thanks to OSHIRO - you may remember we already have the basis for a nice sized village (see my previous post), but it's always good to have some variety to be able to create all sorts of layouts.

First up, a small town house - marked out a little from the other dwellings in the collection by its tiled roof:

And a two-storey merchant's house that'll stand out nicely from the other dwellings:

As you can make out there was some damage to the first storey tiles. Nothing unnatural looking though so I filled any air bubbles with Vallejo Plastic Putty and called it done.

Finally on the dwellings front - the rather impressive samurai house.  Unlike the above pieces, this came as two parts that required gluing together.

The final piece to join the collection is the kajiya (blacksmith).  This comes as two pieces of resin (the main structure and the roof extension) and a couple of matchsticks to make the wooden supports over the outside workshop area.  The supports were a bit tricky, but certainly not impossible:

I definitely want to add more OSHIRO stuff to the collection - the two-storey shop and the Odou are musts I think!

OSHIROmodels - Japanese Buildings

I knew I wanted some scenery for games of Sengoku Monster Hunter so was on the lookout for suitable options and quickly came across OSHIROmodels.  

I decided to start with a selection of homes - the three Medium Dwellings from the 15mm Village range and the Large Dwelling from the same range:

I thought it might be good to have a couple of non-dwelling options too, so I picked up a Small Kura (storehouse) again from the 15mm Village range and a Shimeii Torii from the 15mm Religious range:

I've filled a few small gaps on these using Vallejo Plastic Putty - the stones on the rooves are seemingly a little prone to bubbles, but nothing major or you wouldn't expect from resin pieces.  I already know I want more from OSHIRO - the Odou (roadside shrine), Kajiya (blacksmiths) and Yadoya (inn) are certain purchases when funds allow, probably more though 😉

I can definitely recommend OSHIRO for value, quality and service.  These will really provide the perfect setting for our yokai hunting shenanigans!

Alternative Armies - 15mm Bastion Walls

I've finished painting up the 15mm Bastion Walls from Alternative Armies' Horde of Buildings range.  As with the wooden stakes, the pack included 12 sections - I painted these all the same this time:

But to mix it up a little, I added tufts to half of them along the base of the wall:

I went for a deliberately simple and quite non-specific colour scheme on these - they'll primary find use in 15mm games of Dragon Rampant, but I think they'll work for Sengoku Monster Hunter too (there's drystone walls in Japan after all!).

Alternative Armies - 15mm Wooden Stakes

You might remember me posting about some scenery purchases from Alternative Armies - well I've painted up the Wooden Stakes set ready for some 15mm wargaming!

As there were 12 pieces I did six each in a couple of different shades of brown to mix it up a little:

As you can see, I added grass tufts to some of each shade to further vary things.  I'm really happy with these - they are great value and provide a versatile set-up for our games of 15mm Dragon Rampant and Sengoku Monster Hunter.  To give you a better idea - I took some pics with a couple of 15mm miniatures I had to hand:

I'm really happy with how these turned out with just a simple paint job.  They are sure to see a lot of use in our gaming at this scale!

Autumn Trees and Flowering Bushes

We want to get playing some games - especially things like Dragon Rampant and Burrows & Badgers - but of course we needed some scenery actually assembled and painted!

I thought I'd start quite gently with some basics - trees and bushes (the ones I got from Arcane Scenery and Models).

I based them on appropriately sized round MDF bases, textured with my standard sand dip and gave them a quick, basic paint job.  I deliberately didn't embellish the bases further as I intend to use them with a range of games - and the minis for those games will certainly have different basing themes (for the tufts and grass etc).

Here's the taller of the trees first - with a couple of minis to give a sense of scale (as they were still hanging around since the previous photo shoot they were used in!):

I think they'll work well either placed together as a copse or as random single trees.

The bushes pack I got included two with yellow flowers and four with red - again these can be placed as groups or single bushes:

I think these will work even better as trees in 15mm games - here's the rest of the pack with a 15mm Ral Partha Orc and a Two Dragons Samurai:

I'm pleased with these - simple but will do the job, hopefully looking decent while they do it!