"15mm Sohei Monks" Topic

"The Samurai army has now been completed with the completion of a contingent of Sohei monks. The bulk of this force is comprised of nineteen elements of warrior monks armed with naginata…"

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Armand

Very nice looking and should be fun to play!

The good news with warrior monks is that we have a lot of artistic freedom in how to depict them for the gaming table. The ashigaru figures fit in quite well historically. Many monks and/or others who fought in the temple forces did not necessarily wear robes, hoods, or even fight with naginata. The robes were all different colours, and may have even included saffron ones.

The image of uniformly behooded naginata wielding regiments is an artistic tradition in Japan that started back in the Kamakura period and continues to this day, so that too is a legit artistic representation.

I'm in the process of building several Early Samurai DBA armies that are entirely temple warriors. Even before the start of the Genpei War, various temples were raising armies to fight each other in the Heian period.

I was originally aiming for building one army, but I started picking up figures from different manufacturers for variety. In the actual 15mm ranges, Essex, Two Dragons, Peter Pig, Viking Forge, and even Alternative Armies (except for the two-piece sohei figures) all work very well with each other. Some of these ranges are technically for the later period, but most the sohei warriors work just fine for early armies too. For scattered figures with various weapons, even ninja minis work great when painted with colourful robes and white hoods.

And now, I have enough figures on hand for three, maybe four, DBA sohei armies (many with hoods and many with naginata). Good thing we do a lot of big battle games at the club.
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For great historical reading on the topic:
The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha : Monastic Warriors and Sohei in Japanese History by Mikael S. Adolphson.

Happy you like them…

Armand