We spent a good chunk of today visiting Himeji castle. It's impressive on so many levels: size, complexity, longevity, current condition...
I'll post up some photos when I get back, and have enough material for a The Mill article, if there's interest out there?
Japanese castles. Great. :) Is there much Christmas in Japan?
There is Christmas in the sense that there are piped instrumental versions of Christmas-themed songs wherever you go, and shop windows with trees and Santas. So perhaps a bit like Halloween represents a retail opportunity in much of the Western world?
Our Japanese friend visited just before Christmas with armfuks of presents. She certainly embraces the festive season! She bought me a lovely travel mug which will come in useful for my journeys south next year!
Also, yes please on the article.
Battles in the Age of War is one of my all time favourite games and I have always intended to make a section of castle walls for the siege version of the game.
OK Sean, will do. We're in Nagoya today and will try to see how much of the castle here is not closed for renovation (they're replacing the steel and concrete post-war reconstruction with a timber-framed copy of the original).
I got my castle wall and towers from King & Kerr.
I enjoy 'battles in the age of war' as well.
I think that and AWI will be on the list for next years WWW.
Stewart
I often forget about Kerr & King - they do make some nice stuff (including their Oriental Buildings, which look the part to me).
Simon
Are Kerr and King still going?
Quote from: Sean Clark on December 26, 2019, 11:20:09 AM
Are Kerr and King still going?
Yes, they are closed until 6th January.
Martin
Here are a few of Nagoya castle:
(https://i.imgur.com/E4mnP4e.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/QR4JXi5.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MsSr2qS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Rzf8KMa.jpg)
More details and commentary to come in the promised The Mill article...
And some from Himeji (it's BIG):
(https://i.imgur.com/ULpeOg9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Qug2HSh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/nX3PD6p.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/EW9RDdj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/liIhYOK.jpg)
Great pictures, thank you Colonel.
There was a fabulous line of 10mm Japanese castles and buildings which I believe were picked up Pendraken. No sign of them on their website or Minibits though.
Thanks Radar,
There are also several Japanese firms that make plastic castle kits in the smaller scales. Not great for wargaming inside, but they could be nice in the background of a game.
The nicest building and castle wall models I've seen in 15mm are by Oshiro (which means "castle" in Japanese): https://oshiromodels.wixsite.com/oshiromodelswebshop
Thanks Simon, great pictures, I have a castle set from King & Kerr.
Makes me want to get my Samurai armies out.
Zvezda had a great 20mm castle on the drawing board. They published pictures of it, but I have not seen it on their catalogue. This was about 7 years ago.
martin
Amazing pictures Simon!
Quote from: Sean Clark on January 03, 2020, 02:24:36 PM
Amazing pictures Simon!
Many thanks, Sean. I have a few more in reserve for The 15 Mill ;)
https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Japanese-Castle.html
There it is!
That looks very nice, Martin, if they ever get around to producing it!
Would it look ok with 15mm figures?? If it gets produce I'd buy one. There a certain something about the Japanese architecture.
Given the recent interest in Samurai it seems only fitting to show a stalled project from years ago that may well get revitalised...
A lowland Sengoku-Jidai fortress which will have a small all-wooden Tenshu in the same manner as burned in 'Ran'. It is a modular structure composed of predominantly polysterene ceiling tile tiers with added balsa and matchstick timberwork sections. While it is easy to get distracted by fine fortresses like Himeji they are almost all later and embellished in the Edo period. It's a bit like basing your idea of all WoTR period English castles on the substantially C19 romantic reconstruction of Warwick castle. Sengoku period defences were far more rudimentary which makes for interesting modelling. they were about complex networks of baileys for area-denial with ditches, stout palisades and low clay rendered walls. Only a few key structures would be substantial to merit battered stone bases. They had far more in common with Iron Age hillforts blended with Vaubanesque in-depth defensive works. The gatehouse has embossed tinfoil to replicate the fireproof iron reinforcement on the gates. The only snag is it developed a larger than anticipated footprint... ::)
Figures are mostly Two dragons with hand painted Nobori and sashimono
That looks like a good project to un-stall once you've done your MexRev stuff, Neil!
Those flags look fantastic!
Simon
This is really beautiful !
Amazing work : the final result will be superb !
2nd Episode all about my Ikko Ikki army
Stewart
Thank you for the pictures, Simon! When we were there a few years ago they were still doing the restoration, and all the scaffolding was still up (though being able to see the carved dolphins at the top of the towers was a compensating factor).
Your photos emphasize that I need to get back there...
Cheers,
Dave
You should, Dave - it's quite impressive after all that restoration work!
Simon
I was going over for the British Olympic volleyball team but the 12,000 ahead of me did not pull out for injury etc.
i expect I can see all the castles from my hotel room Simon?
Gutted.
martin :'(
Martin,
Don't worry, no-one would have been able to go out and watch you play anyway.
We have some Tokyo 2020 T-shirts - must surely be collectors' items?
And yes, you can almost certainly see castles from your hotel Martin - if you happen to turn to a stupendous article on that very topic in a recent edition of The 15 Mill.
Simon
You can 'virtually' walk around the grounds of a lot of Japanese castles in Google street view. Some, like Gifu, you can walk around inside as well.
Amongst the many items on my 'wants' list, is a Japanese castle or tower of some sort.
Any of you seen this site? looks useful
http://jcastle.info/view/Special:BrowseData/Castles
Wow - there's a lot of content there, Neil!
Simon
Crikey! Thats a fantastic resource.
Something for everyone I think!
Wondering now, looking back, whether I can develop this further. My problem is my forces are built around the idea of DBA/DBM based armies (Takeda, Uesugi, Tokugawa and Hojo). I could never reconcile the feudal army composition (much like WotR) with the military formations believed to have been adopted and the individualistic heraldry of the commanders.
Fortifications were also just set dressing, hence the concept died out as the castle got bigger!... Are fortifications catered for in Battles in the Age of War?
Neil,
Have you considered a card kit?
Matsue here in 1:100:
http://www.marcle.co.uk
UK company have dealt with them, very good service and have a eBay shop.
There are all sorts of models or puzzles in card wood or even some expensive plastic models.
Neil
Thanks for the shout, Neil. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the model-making process, and am quite happy to sink time into it. However, I realised belatedly that investing all that time in a Sengoku period castle was wasted if I never got a chance to use it on the battlefield, unlike my Mexican presidio which is of a reduced scale to participate... I have to say I am liking Martin's Japanese houses - altogether far fiddlier to model i.m.h.o... I can see a few of those joining the roster. I need to find the Japanese battlefield equivalent of an ECW star fort or fortified manor house, something that looks believable but on a smaller footprint.
I've never played BAW, but do seem to recall seeing pictures of Stewart's (?) fortifications on the edge of a games table. So I was assuming they have a role to play in the game!
Simon
Indeed
The castle siege is a big part of the BAW ruls.
I have a whole castle wall from Kerr and King. It is very good indeed.
They seem to have gone to ground though?
martin :)
So if I were to recreate a Japanese fortification, would a full table width modular rampart be the order of the day, or are there other configurations the rules could cater for?...
Hello Neil
In BAW the castle is always an L shape, enclosing a rectangular part of the table.
The measurements are 3feet by 1 foot.
In BAW there is a lot more detail, but this gives an idea.
martin :)
Thanks Martin,
That is really useful to know. I like a design challenge! ;D
Ralph scratch built some great castle walls and towers. They are pictured in the rules.
I will see if i can find those photos.
martin :)
That would be most interesting, Martin. Many thanks
My castle structures are based on a Japanese book about the Takeda during the Sengoku Jidai period which has some fascinating reconstruction drawings of their mansions, watchtowers and other installations within the Takeda domain with some photos of the surviving castle mounds and stone platforms. The text is all in Japanese alas. I have some guidebooks a friend visiting Japan gave me as well as the usual plethora of detail contained in Stephen Turnbull's works. The other main source is an incredible book on Japanese castle architecture by a chap who has been involved in restoration projects on castles like Himeji. I picked it up at the Japan bookshop in Central London decades ago. One incredible photo is a vertical panoramic shot showing a single tree (cedar?) which served as the central spine of the tenshu. All the stone platforms are contour hugging and designed to withstand earthquakes - hence the batter. They are not regular and the carpenters making the superstructures have to invent ingenious joints and ways of surmounting the odd angles and curves... I'll have to dig it out and send you the reference.
Neil
Long overdue but the reference to the Japanese castle book is by Motoo Hinago, Japanese Arts Library 14
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Castles-arts-library/dp/0870117661
I am aware I am behind the curve and the interweb has largely taken over source material for most gamers but anyone interested in Japanese castles will be truly fascinated by this and will want to add it to their library.
Neil