"15mm WWII Japanese Forces" Topic

All,

So here they are, I did it, knocked out the Japanese forces for WWII in the Pacific. In record time, I might add ;) Nothing special, but they look pretty good I think. Like the US Marines, and in contrast to all my 15mm forces for Europe/North Africa/Mediterranean, these weren't built in accordance with Rapid Fire. Hell, they weren't really built around any particular set of rules as I'm still trying to figure out what rules I'm going to use them with. I keep looking at a modified version of 'Fistful of Lead,' which is the latest set of rules I've fallen in love with despite not actually having played them yet ;)

Here they are, the whole mess, all in 15mm. The troops are all from Battlefront and Eureka, while the lone Type 95 tank is from Peter Pig and the five Type 97 tanks and two A6M Zeros are plastic or resin, manufacturer unknown. I painted everything except the five Type 97s and the Zeros, which I picked up on Ebay (from the same guy who sold me the landing craft for the Marines).

The Japanese riflemen, four units (probably platoons) of three stands (probably squads) and a leader. I can't really see doing it for the Pacific, but I've been looking at other rules to play higher echelons, where one of these rifle stands would represent a platoon, or even a company.

Yes, those are flags, and yes, they are poorly made by yours truly from some printer paper with a red Sharpie and some Elmers' glue.

A 'woodpecker.'

Looking to 'banzai' charge a tank.

And a regular old banzai charge.

To see more pics, please check the blog at:
link

Well, there they are, finished and ready to hit the table. Well, almost. I still need to do up casualty figures for the Japanese and Marines, and I need some air support for my Marines, as well as some more Amtracs, and probably another M-1 37mm anti-tank gun and 75mm pack howitzer…

So, let me know what you think, and with baseball finally winding down I'll see if I can actually get some games in soon.

V/R,
Jack

I think it is a great looking force.

Nice figures.

Nice stuff as always, but your Ha Go is actually a Te Ke. Not that there is all that much of a real difference in what they can do.

Those look great! For a 1 base= 1 platoon, Command Decision might work. I don't think that the standard CD base recommendations are set in stone.

Jack,
I think the emperor's IJA is ready and eager to face off
against the Marines! You are too critical on yourself with the armor.
This is a great looking force. How did you do your basing?
The mix of light brown and green is a great blend for both
jungle, scrub and beach. Gosh, nobody can paint this fast!
Another great job!

Semper Fi!

Sam

Thanks everyone, and dammit Tony, I do believe you're right! Aside from looking at photos on the 'net, I just looked at Peter Pig's website and they don't even make a Type 95 Ha Go, so not sure what made me think that!

Thanks for the recommendation, Khanscom.

Sam – Semper Fidelis, old man! The secret to painting fast is to make your family hate you by spending all your spare time painting, which then gives you more time to paint ;) The basing is easy:
-Paint and wash the figures*
-Stick the figures to the bases (I use this industrial glue, something 6000, you can get it at Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Michaels, etc…)
-Apply Vallejo pumice (I use the dark earth most of the time) to the bases
-Paint the pumice (in this case I used Vallejo Iraqi Sand
-Wash the bases with Army Painter Dark Tone
-Apply static grass (I use Army Painter static grass, and I just use a cheap acrylic green paint to make it stick. That is, I swab on some green paint with a paintbrush everywhere I want grass, place the stand in a box of static grass, shake it around to get grass on all the paint, then turn it over and thump it a few times, which knocks off the extra and makes the static grass stand up)
-Spray a matte coat on them (which is what gives them that super flat look that I love), I use Windsor and Newton, it's fantastic and never turns my stuff white

*For simple uniforms like these Japanese, sometimes I'll actually base them first, spray prime them a khaki, green, or desert yellow (Krylon colors you can get from Walmart for $5 USD), and paint them there. Then you wash the figures and base, apply static grass, and matte spray coat them.

Hope that helps.

V/R,
Jack

Nice work, great looking figures!

Thanks, Rob!

V/R,
Jack