Redvers and Son Get Into Bushido

Just in time for Christmas, our starter factions are complete. First up, here’s my Cult of Yurei starter set in all of its resplendent glory

My son has also completed his Temple of Ro-Kan starter set. By his own admission, he doesn’t like painting models that much and to this point, I think he’s only painted 3 in his life. He finds it quite challenging and much prefers reading the cards, meta gaming and playing the game. But, he was quite keen to get stuck into these and I also bought some speed paints for him to lower the entry level for him. He actually started a couple of them before I had even primed them, painted straight on to the bare metal. Those got several coats of varnish to try to protect them as much as possible.

I think he’s done a great job with them

We did have one casualty of war. The sculpts for the game are lovely and the Temple of Ro-Kan models really have a dynamic look. However, a number of the models are balanced on one foot. I’m not a big fan of this, especially for gaming pieces and GW have been doing this for some time now with their BB models. They get broken easily. In this case, not only are some of the Temple models on one foot, their on tip toes as well. This particular model eventually just fell of the base slot. I’ve no idea how to get her back on as her leg is very thin and pinning will be a challenge. Maybe a tactical rock or something…..

Starting the arms race.

Not part of the Temple of Ro-Kan starter set but one of my son’s favourite models is Kuma, the bo staff wielding panda. This is also the start of the arms race. Everyone knows that starter sets are just that, a starting point. Kuma delivers a big punch and coupled with my son’s other recent purchases (Master Po etc), he’s wiped the floor with me in the last couple of games (more battle reports to come!). I have some models up my sleeve that, once painted, will get deployed into the fight.

We both have additional stuff on our Christmas list, so as long as we have been good this year, the 2024 arms race is well underway.

Last, but not least, we have Mo Ises. He’s clearly made some poor choices in his life given that his skin is hanging off his back but he still seems well up for the fight. In game he has the disguise special rule, making it hard for him to be targeted early on. He also has the assassin rule, making surprise attacks he might make just that little bit more deadly. His Ki feats allow him to drain Ki from opposing models (handy), gain control of opposing models (very handy) and force them to move toward him (good for manipulating the battlefield).

I wanted to add some colour into the warband and Mo Ises seemed the perfect choice to do this, especially with his court robes. The green is a goblin green that has then had a number of dark green glazes added to try to create the shadow. The yellow started as light brown and then I’ve used a sunburst yellow to gradually build up the highlight. The under robes were a khaki given a brown wash. I picked out the fan and the scabbard in purple for the warband theme colour.

And that is the starter set fully painted. I’ll set them up for a group shot and load that here.

The game is a little sketchy on what or who Ibara is. But given the face covering and robes, perhaps he or she likes it that way.

Within game, they’re quite a cheap model to take and provide an average combat ability. They’re main weapon is their Ki Feat that allows them to blast fire markers onto enemy models from afar. When used with the Crush the Oppressed event card that the Cult of Yurei can take, you can double any markers in play. Double the fun!

I wanted Ibara to be very muted. Given the face mask and low key clothing, they’re clearly not trying to draw attention to themselves. So I’ve opted for a black and dark green. The black is my usual approach, a base of dark rubber with a nuln oil wash (times 2). I then highlight up the raised areas using dark rubber and then a mix of dark rubber and luftwaffe grey. The green was a base of German Fieldgrey with a grey wash for shading. I’ve then highlighted up using fieldgrey mixed with elf green.

The headband and belt I’ve picked out in the warband theme colour of purple. Leggings were a simple bone given a wash and then highlighted. I’ve used a shiny bronze for the pot and the prongs of the farm implement. This was given a strong tone wash and then just left as it was as it looked fine.

Bushido draws upon a lot of Japanese and Far Eastern culture. It seems that vampires are not just confined to Romanian castles but are also part of the mythology in the form of the The Penanggalan (or Penny, for short). This was a new one on me so I did a little bit of reading. Penny is a dismembered head complete with the entrails and bodily organs suspended from its neck. It roams around looking for pregnant women and young babies to feed upon.

In game, Penny has the usual vampiric traits. In combat, if she hits, she gets to hold the opponent model. This is handy, as a held model becomes much easier pickings in combat. She also has a couple of handy Ki feats, one being able to ‘hypnotise’ an opponent so that they lose an activation counter, which is very debilitating. Finally, if she is holding on to someone at the end of the turn, she deals 2 damage and regenerates 2 herself.

The model is a two piece build, with the neck/head being separate from the body. I though about just using the head/neck as the mythology says this is what they look like. But after some thought, I decided to use the the whole model as the neck is quite flimsy and would be difficult to mount. As it happened, pinning the neck to the body was quite challenging given its size….

I decided to keep the paint job simple. A dark rubber base coat was given a couple of nuln oil washes. I then picked out the highlights with dark rubber and then dark rubber/luftwaffe grey mix. The bow is an off white and then I’ve used luftwaffe grey glazes to gradually create the shadows. I’ve edged the dress in purple as my warband’s ‘colour’.

The skin is made from the Scale 75 Skin colour set. I start with a base skin tone and then glaze accordingly. The entrails started with a cavalry brown base and then I’ve highlighted up using various shades of red. I’ve left the entrails with a satin varnish to create a ‘wet’ look. The rest got a matt varnish.

It’s not entirely clear whether Risu male, female or something else but they come armed with a pitch fork. In game, they are very much a supporting model, having a fairly poor combat dice pool. What they do have is a Ki ability to poison enemy models from afar, so very handy for slapping poison tokens all over your opponent.

The model is two piece, with the hat and curtain combo being separate. Painting the face is going to be largely impossible once the hat is in place, so I’ve opted to paint this up first. I also want a very pale, disembodied face peering out from the depths of a dark background. To try to mimic this, I’ve used the really black paint for around the face and inside the curtains. The face I’ve painted using my skin tone set but starting with the lightest colour and gently shading the darker areas.

I envisage Risu as a travelling farmer type, so I want to go for muted colours and a dusty, road traveled feel. Starting at the top, the hat is Iraqi Sand, washed and then highlighted. The white curtains and lower clothing was originally a 50:50 off white and Luftwaffe grey. The recesses then glazed down with Luftwaffe grey and even some dark rubber. The higher areas lifted with off white glazes.

The clothing was an elf green with the highlights being made from a desaturated elf green/off white mix. The wooden pole was a light brown given a wash, the ‘tights’ were khaki and any leather was painted using scruffulous brown.

The sash/belt I’ve painted purple to tie it in with the rest of the warband.

To create the dusty, road traveled look, I’ve used an enamel dusty earth. This was thinned and applied in several coats to build up the look. As each coat went down, I applied less on the upper parts and more on the lower part of the model, to really build up the dust toward the bottom.

To base the model off, I’ve used and acrylic dry earth and some dead grass. This again ties it in with the rest of the warband.

Way back at the beginning of this project, I bought some MDF terrain buildings. I completed the small rice stores but still have the temple, dojo and house to get painted up. I find painting MDF a chore, especially when there are plenty of lovely models to paint instead. But, you can’t put these things off forever, so time to finish off the temple at least.

Firstly, I had a look at some reference material. There’s plenty of pictures of Shinto shrines on the web, here’s an example of what I’m aiming for.

After sealing the shrine with an MDF sealer, I dug out my cheap acrylic paints and got to work. On the one hand, cheap acrylic paint is cheap and therefore cost effective for this size of model. But on the other hand, it goes on poorly, streaks and takes several coats, especially white

One positive from the streaking was that I quite liked the look it gave the wooden planking outside – it looked a bit more ‘wood’ like.

After the base colours of white, red and brown, I went in with some gold to pick out the door. This was tricky given the angles and the pillars. I used an enamel wash on the planking to try to pick out the boards and the recesses on the front wall. This had varying results….

For the roof, I went with a simple grey. I’ve applied some streaking with some thinned down enamels which provides a bit of variation.

I’ve varnished everything with a matt varnish except the wooden planking. I’ve left this as a gloss to try to replicate the highly lacquered flooring that you sometimes see in Japan and China.

Finally, some acrylic mud effect around the edges and a bit of static grass to hide the mdf base it is on and job done.

As we now have some new miniatures, my son was keen to see how his new ‘troops’ measured up. I decided to keep my powder dry and try to figure out my existing list before adding the new stuff in. I think there are synergies that I can get with my new models that aren’t necessarily there with my current warband. So, without any paint applied to the new models, we dived in. We opted for an 85 point game and decided on the Very Important Model scenario.

Scenario Objective. With the VIM scenario, each player secretly nominates a single allowable model as their VIM. This model has to make it across the board and exit the opponents deployment zone on turn 6 (not before). And of course you need to prevent your opponent from doing the same to their VIM.

For the Cult of Yurei, I went with,
– Mokoti (dreadful in combat but can control enemy models). I elected Mokoti as my VIM, mainly because it was one of the least obvious targets
The Penanggalan (who we’ll call Penny). A vampiric head that can hold opponents in place with a successful attack
– Yama Uba
– Risu (A pitch fork wielding nutter who can poison people from afar) who I’ve also given an enhancement card Violence Fetish to provide a bigger punch in combat
– Ibara (Can handle himself in combat and can throw some fire around at range)
– 2 Plague Rats. Cheap chaff that if they do get a successful attack in can poison the opponent
Drain Spirit Event. This allows me to steal a couple of ki tokens from an enemy model
Random act of unkindness event. When played, my son must either nominate a model and I can pick an unpleasant state that this model enters. Or my son picks a state and I get to apply it to a model.
Crush the oppressed. When I play this card, all of the state markers on the enemy get doubled
Cursed Honden. This is a terrain piece. At the start of each turn, any enemy model within 4” loses a Ki token

My son went with,
– Master Po. One of his new models and basically a fat monk who is a combat monster. He’s hard to hit and capable of handing out the pain. This was also my son’s VIM
– Tsutsumi. Another new model and another monk. This one provides a decent melee attack but more importantly, some ranged ability with a Sonic Blast ranged attack that leaves the opponent prone
– Oki Shisa. Effectively a temple statue. It’s slow but has the Durable special rule meaning that no matter how much damage to manage to deliver in an attack, it will only ever take 1 wound at a time. Very annoying
– Kiyozumi Hinadori. This is a Ronin from the 2 player starter set and a character that can Heal friendly models
A Gorinto terrain piece which allows 1 model within 6” to generate an extra ki token.
Prayer beads enhancement which allows the model it is attached to to generate 1 extra Ki per turn
Stillness medallion which stops Ki being removed from the model it is attached to
Name of the Wind which gives the attached model an extra 1” movement per turn
Master Po got all of the above enhancements

Turn 1.
This was the usual scurrying forward to get to within engagement distance. I managed to have Ibara use their Dark Fire Ki feat on Tsutsumi but I rolled double 1’s so it failed. I then had Risu cast Mortal Corruption on Tsutsumi but this also failed. Hardly a great start

Turn 2.
My son opened the turn by charging Po into Yama Uba. Yama Uba gets to attack first in combat and Po opted to use their special defence of Counter Strike Defence. If Po successfully defends against the attack then it is possible to cause damage to the attacking model. I rolled poorly, my son rolled exceptionally and he was able to cause 2 wounds through his Defence. Po was also able to land a successful attack, causing another 2 wounds. Yama Uba only has 6 wounds, so not a great start for my most expensive model!
I decide to have Mokoti cast obey on Kiyozumi which, if successful, would give me control of Kiyozumi for one activation. I rolled double 1’s again, so failed.
Tsutsumi then got involved with his sonic blast which knocked Mokoti prone and caused a wound. Mokoti would have to use an Activation to stand up, effectively taking him out of this turn.
Ibara got into an exhausted Po and was able to cause 2 wounds to the fat fella. This was short lived as Kiyozumi activated next and cast Heal to restore the 2 wounds.
Tsutsumi then sonic blasted Mokoti for a second time doing a further 1 wound and already putting my VIM strategy under strain.
I had been advancing my rats up my left flank to bring them round the back. My son spotted this and moved oki Shisa into combat with one of the rats. This was no match up and my rat died.
Penny managed to successfully Hypno Gaze Kiyozumi causing the young lady to lose the remainder of her activations and stuns her. Meanwhile, at the back of the board, Oki Shisa, with a hunger for rats, attacked my other one and killed it. So much for the rats….
With my son now out of Activations, Penny activates and attacks Tsutsumi. He fails his Fear test and, despite him being exhausted, frightened and losing 2 melee dice, I rolled poorly again and fail to hit at all.
Finally, Ibara continues to attack Po who just uses Counter Strike Defence and causes 2 wounds to Ibara, so completely useless from my side.

Turn 3.

Surely this turn will improve for me? I start out by playing my Drain Spirit card on Tsutsumi and taking 2 Ki and give that to Penny. I would have played this on Po but as he’s got the annoying Stillness Medallion, I can’t steal anything. It seems that my son has planned ahead….

I also play Random Act of Unkindness. My son opts for the Impetuous state which means that any model who has it has to activate first. I don’t want to give this to Po as he’ll continue attacking Ibara, so I assign it to Kiyozumi, who goes first and Heals herself.

I have two options, move someone else into combat with Po to support Ibara or try to control Tsutsumi. I opt for the latter with Mokoti using his Obey ability. Yet again, I roll double 1 and fail. 

Clearly my son is confident in Po’s abilities as he activates oki Shisa first and attacks Penny. Penny isn’t able to resist and takes 3 wounds and only deals 1 in return. 

I move Risu into combat with Po. Normally, with two models attacking one, the defending model would suffer a -1 dice pool penalty, but not Po, he’s got the Indomitable trait meaning that he only suffers the -1 when you get to three or more against one. Either way, Risu is not able to hit Po but Po also fails to land a hit.

I then move Yama Uba into combat with Po meaning that I now have 3 vs 1 and Po will suffer the -1 dice pool modifier. I also use Yama Uba’s Morph ability to copy Po’s Melee Statistic of 4. This will then give Yama Uba 4 melee dice against Po’s 3. Additionally, at the end of this combat, Po will be exhausted, removing another 1 from his dice pool for additional attacks! What can go wrong? 

Po declares Counter Strike Defence and rolls all three dice into defence. Yama Uba rolls three in attack and one in defence. Yama Uba not only fails to beat Po’s defence dice, she fails it by enough to give Po a damage roll through Counter Strike Defence. My son rolls high and Yama Uba is dead. Things are unravelling fast.

Ibara then attacks a now exhausted Po. This also doesn’t go well and Ibara ends up dead as well. The bodies are piling up around Po.

Turn 4.

Oki Shisa goes first and makes quick work of killing Penny. I’m not left with much but if I can get Mokoti to the board edge and off on turn 6, I can at least draw, maybe win. I need to support Mokoti and use Risu as a blocking force. I try to disengage Risu from Po but this goes badly. Risu ends up dead.

I do the only thing I can do, and march Mokoti up the board.

Turn 5.

Oki Shisa, as the nearest model, attacks Mokoti and manages to cause 1 wound. Mokoti is not looking too healthy now. Tsutsumi uses Sonic Blast to cause another wound and Prone Mokoti meaning he can’t move any further this turn. Tsutsumi tries to sonic blast again but manages to hit Oki Shisa, wounding the temple statue.

Turn 6.

By this time, Po has leapt across the board and attacks Mokoti. This is not even close to a fair fight. Mokoti tries to defend but to no avail, Po batters him and it is all over, the cult has lost.

Wrap up.

This wasn’t even close to a fair fight. My son has put together some good synergies in his list and played really well. I had no answer. I think we will be seeing a lot more of Master Po in future battles!

The Temple of Rokan can run some characters that are effectively temple statues. They come in two flavours, the smaller, less powerful Shisa and the more powerful Oki Shisa. Some time back, I 3d printed the Shisa and painted these up with a simple bronze effect. My son quite liked these and then wanted the bigger, ‘better’ version.

I searched the various stl file locations for a suitable file and found a free one that had been uploaded of a scan of a real world temple lion with a baby lion. Once downloaded, it was a simple job to scale it to the correct size and then virtually attach it to the correct base size (40mm round in case you were wondering). This then got printed out.

I wanted to keep the paint job simple here and given that they are statues, this should be possible. As the smaller Shisa were painted up as bronze statues, I want these to be jade in appearance.

I’ve started off with a zenithal highlight. I’ve then taken a bit of sponge and stippled the model with white and black. My thinking being that jade is not always a uniform green and the stippling will look like natural colour variation.

I’ve then given this a couple of coats of green ink. Firstly applied all over and then the second and third layers from top down. Once dry, I’ve varnished and flocked the base and job done.

It’s not the greatest paint job and could have done with a lighter touch with the stippling and perhaps a satin varnish rather than matt (I might correct this). But for a simple paint job, it works and didn’t take long.