武士道&茶道

[Primarch]

As I am currently embarking on (yet another) new project, I figured that getting a hobby log started from the get go would be a good idea. This thread should cover my progress towards having a fully painted Sengoku era Samurai army. Ideally the army will be usable under Hail Caesar and Pike & Shotte rules, though I am aiming more for Hail Caesar at the moment. While hand guns, (Teppo in Japanese) did increase in use throughout the period, most battles were generally resolved at the business end of a sword or spear. As both systems use the same basing style, it isn't too hard to switch from one to the other when needed.

Of course, if anyone else wants to use this thread for their own Samurai minis, feel free to do so.

For unit composition, I was working along the lines of
1 Daimyo per brigade with a Hatamoto unit of his loyal retainers (either cavalry or foot samurai)
Mounted Samurai with spears and swords (max 25% of the brigade)
Infantry Samurai with spears and swords
Infantry Ashigaru (min 50% of the brigade).
- With spears
- With hand guns
Ashigaru skirmishers with bows attached to the hand gunners as sub-units, 1 per brigade. (As bows fell out of favour due to the increase in arquebuses, those men trained in their use were often mixed into gun units as a way to keep up volume of fire and to provide cover while the gunners reloaded).

There would of course be some exceptions to this list as some clans had more or less access to trained cavalry or hand guns, but for the most part I think that seems like a good way to break down the forces of the period.

My plan is to have mixed units of Samurai and Ashigaru across the board. Samurai units had Ashigaru in their second rank as spear bearers. Ashigaru had Samurai in their second rank as support. Cavalry units had infantry alongside the mounted troops as support. In game terms, this makes no difference, but I think it will make the units look more striking on the tabletop. For example, I intend to have 1 mounted figure per cavalry base, with two infantrymen running behind him. Rules wise, it will be a cavalry unit, but it will look very different to the more European style of cavalry where everyone is equipped identically.

I'm also looking at ways to include Ikko-Ikki forces, Taisho (sub commanders working for a Daimyo), and Horo (messengers with large cloaks on their back used to deliver messages and orders). First of all though, I need to get a brigade or two done.

I already have a pile of Perrys minis thanks to a trade with Mike the Pike and I have some of the Wargames Factory plastics on order to fill out the ranks a bit.

[me_in_japan]

Having played a fair bit of Shogun II, I actually understood most of that! Huzzah! And boo to those horrible Ikko Ikki. They caused me nothing but grief the whole campaign. Didn't help that I was the Oda clan and got ol' Nobunaga killed off early on.

[komura]

I will build my samurai army as west army headed by Ishida.
As I researched several books I own, the typical samurai brigade is formed following company.

2 teppo ashigaru company, 1 spear ashigaru company, 1 samurai cavalry, 1 bow ashigaru company, HQ with bodyguard, bagage, At late SENGOKU era, teppo is fairly common.

I will bring several book and copy in next Joshin. Also, I tell my project to beginner club member.

I am looking forward to talk this with you at next Joshin.

[Primarch]

I will build my samurai army as west army headed by Ishida.
As I researched several books I own, the typical samurai brigade is formed following company.

2 teppo ashigaru company, 1 spear ashigaru company, 1 samurai cavalry, 1 bow ashigaru company, HQ with bodyguard, bagage, At late SENGOKU era, teppo is fairly common.

I will bring several book and copy in next Joshin. Also, I tell my project to beginner club member.

I am looking forward to talk this with you at next Joshin.

So my unit estimates weren't far off then. I look forward to seeing your book collection, it sounds like it is quite useful. Most of the (English) books I have read talk about how armies were recruited based on the Koku a Samurai could provide from his land and they talk about how they were deployed, but I have seen very little about how the troops were divided into actual units.
Well, if you are building an army around Ishida, then I will build mine around Tokugawa. Sadly the Date Masamune and Kato Kiyomasa minis I have won't be usable as themselves as they weren't at Sekigahara, but they can serve as stand ins for other, less famous Daimyos.

[Primarch]

A shot of my first samurai.



And some more WIPs.


The start of a Teppo unit.


And the start of a cavalry unit (yes, cavalry).

[me_in_japan]

Best of luck mate. They look like right fiddly minis and no mistake.

[komura]

Wargame factorys samurai and ashigaru have arrived. I will start assemble and paint them in this weekend.
Further discussion about rules will need with Prim, but I imagine my army composition as below.

1 ashigaru spear company : Treat as battle line infantry, 2 foot deep
1 ashigaru teppo company : Treat as battle line infantry, 2 foot deep
1 samurai mounted infantry : Treat as skirmisher
1 samurai foot infantry : Treat as skirmisher

In SENGOKU era, pure cavalry like European army did not exsist.
Mounted samurai fought by foot in melee and fought on horseback at persut wavering opponents.

[Primarch]

1 ashigaru spear company : Treat as battle line infantry, 2 foot deep
1 ashigaru teppo company : Treat as battle line infantry, 2 foot deep
1 samurai mounted infantry : Treat as skirmisher
1 samurai foot infantry : Treat as skirmisher

Mounted samurai fought by foot in melee and fought on horseback at persut wavering opponents.

The depth of the battleline has no effect on the strength of a unit, it is simply a way to represent units which fought in deeper formations such as the Macedonian Pike Phalanxes.
Skirmishers is probably inappropriate for Samurai. It prevents them from charging to start with. Skirmishers are lightly armed, unarmoured troops who actively avoid fighting whenever possible. Earlier Samurai who fought as mounted archers may benefit from it I guess. In Black Powder, skirmishers are great because the wars generally revolved around shooting rather than charging. Infantry only had muskets and rifles, so spreading out and firing carefully worked well. When a unit was engaged in hand to hand combat, a solid line of troops was a far better formation.

Under the Hail Caesar rules I would break units down as:
Samurai - Spear - Heavy Infantry battleline.
Samurai - Cavalry - Medium Cavalry battleline. (They still delivered the charge from the horse and dismounted once they reached the enemy. HC rules can represent this quite well actually).
Ashigaru - Spear - Medium Infantry battleline.
Ashigaru - Teppo - Light Infantry battleline.
Ashigaru - Yumi - Light Infantry skirmishers.

Heavy/Medium/Light is largely determined by armour, weapons and battlefield role. As the best trained and best equipped men of the time, Samurai should be Heavy Infantry, the elite of the army.

[komura]

Thank you for your comment. Very clear one! I shall use Hail Caesar rules at samurai game.

[komura]

I have just started assembling my ashigaru. I feel a bit of pain for tiny parts.
Mendoukusai.