Rich W wrote:Super work Owen. They are lovely looking figures and you have done them total justice.
Thank you very much!
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[1/72] Sengoku Ikko Ikki Japanese Army - The Tanba Peasant Ikki
"We could use a little enlightenment from a pirate. How would you kill a king?" - Wakisaka Yasuharu (The Admiral: Roaring Currents, 2014)
The 似島 氏家 (Ninoshima Ujiie) - translating to the Ujiie family on Ninoshima Islands, are a band of wokou pirates that commonly raided the Ming coastlines in the past but have lately focused their attentions on Japanese settlements with recent wars raging nearby. In the wake of bloody skirmishes, villages are left ransacked and defenceless; easy prey for the wokou to raid. From their base on the Ninoshima Islands, the Ujiie family have settled to make their fortunes, once using their knowledge of the currents and surroundings to fish, now using it to infiltrate and attack their neighbours.
Their followers are also driven to the same desperation and have opportunistically seized the chance to enrich themselves in this lawless time. Their leader, 氏家 長種 (Ujiie Nagatane), is a veteran of many raids that has decided to join the Tanba Peasant Ikki to claim ever larger spoils. The pirates are not afraid of the risks of war, having been steeped in violence to survive but their loyalties are to themselves. They will cut loose and run if a greater force makes its attentions known.
They take calculated risks, aligning themselves to the Peasant Ikki for now as they have become a dominant regional force, but their allegiance can shift like the wind. The monk leader Kiyoyasu is aware of this, but must marshal as much strength as he can. Out of necessity, the Tanba Peasant Ikki will take skilled warriors wherever they hail from, regardless of how dubious their motivations.
(似島 氏家 form the fourth unit of my Ikko Ikki army. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to depict the Wokou archetype, as they are an iconic part of Sengoku warfare but didn't seem to fit my daimyo force. I wanted to create a more pop culture conception of the Wokou rather than just a historical depiction, as the visual potential for that was more interesting.
For me, that meant researching wokou in pop culture media such as games and Japanese animation. The end result is more armoured than historically but still grounded in a plausible history.
Some figures look quite historical, one of them looks like the poster character from Seven Samurai but no figure is fantastical. I wanted to see what would separate the Wokou from other units and it seemed to be more bared flesh, there are less sleeves and shorter pants.
I also took inspiration from the Ikki Island raiders from Ghost of Tsushima, which showed wokou wearing patch-work clothing. I liked the chaotic look of clothing sewn from patches, it made them seem even more dishevelled than the peasants.
I made greenstuff patches for sleeves and wrappings and plastered them onto my models. I also wanted to keep the weapons varied if possible and luckily the sculpts I chose showcased a variety of different weapons.
To link the unit to my broader Tanba Peasant Ikki, I've continued the use of cream coloured accessories and cream coloured tints for clothing.
The sculpts come from all over the place, a few are Saga Miniatures 3D prints, two are custom 3D prints given to me by a friend, one is a wokou 3D print from Red Dawn 3D Miniatures and one is a greenstuff custom build using a Zvezda Gaul Warrior head, a Caesar Miniatures Ninja body and various greenstuff clothes. The base uses the same principles as the first unit.)
(unit 4 of 14 - 浄土の慈悲 - Sengoku Ikko Ikki Japanese Army - The Tanba Peasant Ikki - Basic Impetus)
