"Samurai Miniatures in 28mm" Topic

If you were going to collect and game Samurai in 28mm what would be in your opinion the best miniatures (whether by price or sculpting) that you would use to build your forces. The second part is would you stay with a skirmish level of rules or go for something that allow for the larger battles?

There are no wrong answers here and even the discussion of other sizes is an option although I am mainly interested in 28mm. And yes I going for historical not fantasy in this context.

Thanks

I have some of the Perry's that I bought for skirmish and one-on-one gaming. Really like them.

Get them all, otherwise just Perry.

Other than the Perry's who else makes Samurai in 28mm? I know there are other manufactures and how do they stack up to the Perry figures?

The Perry minis look superb!

Old Glory is the only other manufacturer that I can think of off the top of my head. Can't say how they fair against the Perry's. While I like the look of the Perry's I do think they are on the heroic side, though not terribly exaggerated.

Wow, Five posts and nobody mentions Kingsford!

The Perrys are very nice – same as Kingsford; those two are probably the best around for later-period (1500's on) 28mm Samurai. That said, OG can easily fill your ranks, especially the Ashigaru – although a little on the smaller side, but not much. For earlier-period (1100-1300ish) – TAG has a great range. These can be supplemented by Curteys and 1st Corps.

There are actually quite a few 25-28mm Samurai makers – please see this earlier post on the same subject: TMP link BTW, in that earlier post, I erred in stating OG had some with sashimono (back banners); they only have the larger banners in the command pack.
Best, Dean

I was asked by Battlespace to write a short introductory text on samurai tabletop wargaming. It hasn't been published yet, but I put most of it up on my homepage link Maybe it can have some ideas regarding the whole skirmish vs big battles question, and it also lists some 28mm makers for you to check out.

Personally, the majority of my 28mm are Perry, with some Old Glory, The Assault Group, Black Hat, Museum Miniatures and em-4 mixed in. That said, there are many others that I'm kind of interested in checking out in the future, like Kingsford miniatures and Curteys Miniatures. It depends as much on which period and what kind of forces you are interested in as in the aesthetics, IMHO.

I am still interested to see what the forthcoming plastic 28mm Samurai from Wargames Factory are going to be like?

They might be a cheaper option if you are starting out!

I currently have piles of Perry Ikko-Ikki (lovely) and lots of Museum figs for the unarmoured Samurai:

Some Perry Ikko-Ikki

link

Some Museum figs

Kingsford are the most crisp, easily painted Sengoku era samurai available. I've painted two armies of Perry samurai for a client and I can say I won't buy them for myself unless I decide I need some figures no one else makes. The lacing on Perry figures can be sketchy.

Kingsford and Perry are the best. There are a few of the Old Glory figs that can be used, but the detail is very hit or miss on some of the sculpts.

Dean thanks for the link. Rats, I did a search before I started this thread I am not sure how I missed that one. Great information everyone and Rellik I had not even heard of Kingsford until you brought it up thanks. I will take a look at your article setsuko.

Nice to know that Warlord plans to do plastic Samurai that would tie in well with the another thread I started.

TMP link

OK, what about other sizes/scales for Samurai?

I also collect 6mm, it's a pretty good scale for large battle armies as you can get a metric ton of soldiers on the board, and they are really simple to paint. That said, I'd love to pick up some 15mm or 10mm at some point too, as there are many nice options out there for the scale. Most importantly, we have other 15mm armies at the club that they could meet, which I can't say for 6mm or 28mm.

I have enough 28mm for small, 100-200 miniatures battles, but looking back I don't think 28mm would have been the best choice if I only wanted to do big battles. Now, I use them for skirmishes as well, so I don't feel like the 28mm miniatures are a waste. Few armies are as much of a bother to lug around as a big metal samurai army, and the banners, spears etc. bend and break all the time. From pure logistics alone, I prefer the 6mm stuff for big battles. It would be different if I was playing all my games at home, of course.

I cant see collecting anything other than Perry's in 28mm. I also believe I have finially badgered them into doing a plastic set of samurai in 28mm. Stay tuned for more on that in 2012!

What!? You are my hero Uesugi. Serious samurai-crush going on over here. *_*

;-)

back at you

Seriously if the Perrys pruduced plastic Samurai or Ashigaru its game over for me! I shall add my name to the Dragon of Echigo's list of admirers!

No promises. I have such a large collection of 15mm samurai (I'm working towards doing Sekigahara at 1:50 scale), that I have shied away from collecting any 28mm minis despite the great stuff thats out there.

I am such a fan of the Perrys though that I have been a constant badger after them to do a plastic set of samurai/ashigaru ever since their War of the Roses plastic Bill & Bow (my second favorite period) first came out.

All I will say is that my most recent badgering email was warmly responded to.

;-)