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Saturday, July 12, 2014

The Peasants are Revolting

In anticipation of some upcoming Ronin matches, I put together a third faction, in addition to the monks and samurai. As my preferred setting is the late Heian and early Kamakura period (11th-13th centuries), I try to be careful when purchasing Samurai.  But, much like in western history, peasants are fairly interchangeable across many time periods.  Fortunately, my favorite Samurai producer, The Assault Group, also makes two sets of Japanese peasants.

Peasants with improvised weapons:


Peasants with Naginata: 


Unfortunately, eight figures does not make for much of a peasant buntai in Ronin.  These eight would cost a total of 48 points (4 per figure, and an extra 4 points for the spears) - which is equivalent to two Samurai.  All in all, it is probably an accurate equivalency, but running them as bandits could upgrade a couple of them.

To round out the peasants, I made an ebay purchase for five of these unnamed figures in Japanese straw coats.  Properly called the mino, it was a rain coat or rudimentary protective gear worn from ancient times to the Edo period.  No manufacturer was identified by the seller, but from the proportions, it looks like Curteys or Dixon.  However, I couldn't find a matching example on either website.  Suggestions?


A few of these slightly better armed peasants would bring my point total up to 96 points.  Peasants can also hire any number of Ronin or a single Monk. Adding in a single Ronin (Assault Group) and a Monk (Reaper) brings the peasants up to 150 point, enough for a quick game.  



They look sufficiently determined, but I doubt their effectiveness in battle.  One bonus to this faction is the ability to earn victory points at a higher rate than other warbands, which could up for their obvious disadvantages.    

3 comments:

  1. Excellent work, love the peasants with improvised weapons especially!

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  2. They look great, a very colourful and eclectic bunch! They would have most samurai buntai outnumbered nearly 2:1, so some mob tactics could be effective. Looking forward to some Ronin game reports, it's a fun game. Cheers, Paul :-)

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  3. If you plan on expanding your peasants check out black hat miniatures samurai range. They have some great peasants with bamboo spears and some great Ronin/Bandits with scavenged armour.

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