Nippon Castle for Warhammer Fantasy Battle - Part V – Seven Years in the Making

The completed Nippon Castle

Note: Parts I, II, III and IV of the construction of the castle.

Also of note here is the real world castle this was inspired by: Kakegawa castle 

Boom, and just like that…well, not really just like that, as this was a lot of work; the castle of the Army of Nippon is finished. What started back in the winter of 2013 is complete, seven long years later. When I say complete, there is still some more stuff to add here and there (mainly the moats), but it’s ready for warfare.

In terms of the moats, I’m working on getting a darker shade of blue/green to make it look murky rather than the “bright” blue it currently is. An old broom is providing the rushes that I’m gluing down with my hot glue gun in small dabs.

In all, it’s fairly practical as the roofs are removable in the manner of a dollhouse and the interior is painted.

One of my oldest friends and one of the people I gamed the most against in the 3rd Edition days brought up a great idea of running some smaller games where ninja have to fight samurai! This is a great idea as I have plenty of both (although the last two samurai of my quest are surprisingly frustrating to get!)

Now that it’s finished? It’s time to clear it off the gaming table as Willmark Jr. and I are looking to get some 3rd Edition Warhammer games in over the upcoming holiday break!

As I noted previously, next for terrain is a more traditional European-style castle in the vein of the Warhammer Mighty Fortress (good write-up on the Games workshop kit here). It’s going to be a bit smaller in terms of footprint to fit on the table and more utility for siege games.

Like drawing inspiration for an actual Japanese castle for the Nippon one, I’m drawing from England for the next one — in this case, Harlech Castle in Wales.

Also of note, this will be the 2nd traditional-style castle I made for Warhammer. The original one was the one we used for our games of siege way back in the day. It’s long since gone. It survived many moves over the years and various storage closets/rooms when I was living in apartments. Somewhere along the way from my last apartment to my first house it was lost or damaged — or maybe both. Sadly, no photos exist of it either.

So on wards to the next project. Toothpicks, foam core, cardboard, masking tape, glue, hot glue, thin cardboard, milk cartons, scotch cartons, Popsicle sticks, and patience are all that are required. Hopefully this next one doesn’t take me seven years to finish.

So, how did I do on creating a Nippon castle set in the world of Warhammer?

Painting the Nippon Castle for Warhammer – Part III: Progress and Next Step

It’s been quite some time since I posted any progress on my Nippon Castle (or anything in general on the blog). So with that in mind, it’s time to show some progress. I completed the construction on the castle around the first of the year and have been working on painting it off and on. I was looking back through the photos of it and it appears that I started working on it in 2013, as outlined here. It’s well past time to wrap this up.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The painting on this is very much WIP.

The castle started out as just the base keep itself, and the layout was inspired by...

The great thing about a project like this is that for those who want to create something like this for their own armies — whether a Nippon one or not — is that it’s really not that expensive. The castle is really nothing more than the following: cardboard, white glue, super glue, craft sticks, balsa wood, toothpicks, masking tape, and duct tape. The base of the castle proper and the walls are formed from foam-core boards to keep it light. While it might not make the base as strong as say plywood, it does save on weight.

So with all that in mind, in order, the following are complete in terms of painting:

• The outer walls
• The towers
• The moat sections
• Both gatehouses

Now, a note on when I say “complete”: the large area painting is done, as is about 99% of the detail painting. With the moats there is still a bit more that has to happen with the water area, but those are pretty well finished. I anticipate having to do some more detail here and there to truly finish it up.

For the towers there is still a bit of work to do on the removable roofs. I’m also not sure if I want to add a contrasting color like blue to them. The idea of the color also applies to the roof on the main keep.

So what is all this leading to? My goal is to get this complete by the end of the year. I’ve been working off and on a traditional European-style Empire castle in the vein of the old Warhammer Mighty Fortress, which will be smaller and a bit more practical for siege games. The Nippon castle has also been going on for seven years — time to finish it up!

Only snag is, simultaneously to this, I’m also working on clearing the considerable backlog on the painting desk.

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Inspiration for Warhammer Nippon Armies – Shōgun, Ran, Seven Samurai & More

Inspiration for actual Games Workshop Asian-inspired materials was hinted at in the mid to late 1980s, but never delivered on. Nippon and the East in general is mentioned in the 3rd Edition Rulebook and had an ally section in Warhammer Armies, but it ended with the advent of 4th Edition Warhammer and the changes it entailed. It is important to note that 2nd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay did have a Nippon list that, with a few tweaks, is quite usable.

Fortunately, the world of the internet allows for this constraint to be eliminated.

In Warhammer, Nippon (Nihon) is analogous to Japan of our world. What it is not is mythical China. This can’t be overstated because all too often in Warhammer circles I hear suggestions about a Nippon army that would make it more like Cathay. If I wanted to create a fantasy Cathay army, there are a number of resources out there, but that’s not the point of this blog post.

So, in no particular order, here are two of the best inspirations for a Nippon-themed world and Nippon army that can help, in my opinion of course.

Shōgun — The book written by James Clavell and the TV series are both excellent. It is a pseudo-historical telling of the late 1500s and the unification of Japan by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa Shogun, in the form of “Toranaga.”

Shōgun is the quintessential TV mini-series of the 1980s and consists of six parts. Richard Chamberlain stars as Pilot-Major Blackthorne. Blackthorne is based on the real-life exploits of an English sailor who was shipwrecked in Japan in 1600, William Adams.

Shōgun covers nearly all aspects of late 1500s Japanese life — from the peasants to ninja, the start of the geisha, betrayal, honor, bravery, as well as romance. The ambush of bandits at night in a village, ships, ninja! The only thing it lacks is the actual Battle of Sekigahara , which it all leads up to.

The rising tension of the plot makes an excellent backdrop for Nippon vs. Nippon battles or, perhaps more likely as I do, reasons for mercenary Nippon to go and plunder the Warhammer World.

Ran (pronounced “Rahn” to our Western ears, at least mine) — the movie by the legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Ran is essentially King Lear, but far richer in the telling. Ran is widely regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time. I agree. Any Top 10 movie list in the All-Time category that doesn’t include it is no Top 10 at all.

Ran is rich in its visuals and massive in scale. I think perhaps the only true way to do it justice is to see it in a movie theater (which I never have, but would love to).

A side note is that Ran has one of the best soundtracks for any Asian-inspired game. I listen to it often when working on one of my Nippon army projects.

Ran is indispensable to a Warhammer gamer interested in a Nippon army, as it has literally all the right army units on display throughout (remember I use the 2nd Edition Nippon list for 3rd Edition Nippon armies).

Other Good Sources Include (but are not limited to):

• Oriental Adventures by Zeb Cook (1st Edition AD&D). Some folks have a hang-up about this work — tell them to pound sand. A lot of people seem to want it to be “epic China,” which it’s not. I think the rules are quite well done, especially considering the timeframe. 
• Kobu of the Two Strings. This might seem surprising, but I found this extremely well done.
• The Seven Samurai. Many people don’t realize that they have seen this movie — in the form of The Magnificent Seven. The soundtrack of The Seven Samurai is great too. Oh, and it also inspired George Lucas with the droids in the original Star Wars trilogy.
• Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire — a documentary narrated by Richard Chamberlain. It’s too short (I wish this was 40 hours long!), but it is excellent. It’s not really a secret, but meh… it’s just the title.

Endnote: This should not be taken to mean that I dislike a Cathay army or its inspirational sources — far from it. I think epic China is a fine topic, and if I ever did an army inspired by it I’d go with something like Kung Fu Panda! Panda bear warriors would be very cool. Clay warrior golems, river dragons, etc.

Let me know your thoughts!