Thanks to Wargames Atlantic for providing this kit for the purposes of review.
Though it has perhaps an outsized prominence in the popular culture, feudal Japan often lacks for great options on the tabletop. There have been several well-regarded skirmish games, but for playing mass battles the miniatures have, in the past, tended to be of poor quality or harder to source. This has rapidly changed in the last couple of years, and this small scale offering from Wargames Atlantic is part of a trend of bringing the age of the samurai into modern, high-quality, plastic kits.
10mm is a scale that also does not get enough love, in my opinion*. Sitting between the genuinely mass impact impressionistic effect of 6mm armies, and the well-detailed but fiddly world of 15mm, it provide something of a pleasing middle ground. The models are well proportioned albeit often slightly cartoonish (something that becomes rapidly more pronounced at smaller scales), and they have an accessible amount of detail meaning you can really distinguish the notable aspects of the models without feeling overwhelmed with the number of tiny details to paint. The best 10mm models take to a simplistic approach for painting, letting washes, drybrushing and simple highlights bring out of the character of the miniatures. I’m pleased to report that these models are in that tradition, and overall (with a few minor caveats) these are an enthusiastic recommend.
Editor’s note: Looks like Wargames Atlantic are going to make a whole lot more 10mm, so that might change in the future.
Box and Sprues
This Samurai box makes up one half of the initial offering of Wargame Atlantic’s new Grand Battle range, which promises a range of eras in hard plastic at 10mm figure scale. As the more iconic of the two sets it needs to really be a home run and things are excellent at first glance.
The box boasts 192 infantry and 32 cavalry, with some casualty figures as well. This comes with a huge range of weaponry and in good proportions – 2/3 of the infantry are armed with yari or katanas in a mix for your melee troops, and 1/3 with bows for ranged threat. The cavalry are all a mix of weapons with a sprinkling of bows but mostly spears and polearms of various kinds. This befits the tactics of the era, and this is probably roughly the proportions you’d be looking for in a box like this, so it’s a solid choice.
The miniatures come as a mix of single models, small groups and full ranks to give some variety which is nice, though there could be more variation in the models themselves – they’re very simple, which makes sense, but I don’t know how I feel about the repetition you can see here. Just a few tweaks would have really helped.
The sprues are a little bit of a challenge – I did have a couple of breakages initially, but this set is not plagued by the same issues as the Ashigaru set is. No long fragile spears here, just short slightly less fragile ones. The reality is over time you’re likely to see some breakages, but it’s a much less pronounced issue. Just be careful, don’t try to cut right up against the pieces on the sprue initially, and you should be ok.
Painting
I really really wanted to do these models justice and the paint gods were just not with me on it. I’ve achieved a look that I think will be relatively striking in large groups, but it just doesn’t feel like it’s making the most of the sculpts. There’s a lot of nice detail here, but the sheer number of models (and my enormous impatience) meant I didn’t feel like I managed to bring any of it out.
Don’t let that put you off though – other people seem to have found much better success with them than I, and this is just about finding your approach. I have started a second batch using a strong zenithal shade and then inks, and that looks to be coming out much nicer, so perhaps less is more with these. Ink washes might be the way to handle the very find detail and the strong colours of the source material.
In conclusion this is a well-made and well-considered kit that serves to fill an important niche. However, you may find painting and modelling something of a challenge, especially given the bright colours of the period.
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