Bushido – An Archive For The Steinberg Shed Space Blog

Undercoating While The Weather Holds

Living in the UK we have to take opportunities to undercoat when we can. Gamers across the land can be seen, on weekend mornings, sensing the weather. They stand on their doorsteps, with noses lifted to the sky, trying desperately to pick the few hours that undercoating can be attempted. A wrong decision can lead to a higher risk of those cooler damp days ruining the finish on their prized miniatures…

Recently, a weekend perfect in every way, afforded me the chance to undercoat a few batches of miniatures. I grabbed as much as I could as the window of opportunity would not last long. Everything from a resin Ironclad Miniatures tunnelling machine, that has sat for over a year on the shelf, to a batch of newer ironclad Sanwar Infantry and Cephalopods got laid out.

It was also an opportunity to get the Venusian infantry undercoated to match their War Barge.

But I cant stop to chat as other batches need to be attended to…

Salute Bits – Starting To Build Things

The jobs on the go in the shed recently (ever since I returned from Salute with a very mixed bag of purchases) have been a bit varied. Quick jobs have been completed, in-between other equally quick tasks, as I build a few miniatures here and clean a bit of resin there. Some older items have been mixed in, as and where needed, to make the batches more worthwhile.

An example of a Sunday afternoons work.

Sci-fi objectives in resin washed, trimmed and filed.

The recently completed statue topper. Basing for the Smudgester Elite. One half of a new Bushido crew cleaned and based to fit the old Bushido crew style. (Of note: The Fire Kami in the back – I have no bloody clue how it is supposed to go together, only 2 parts, and no obvious tab to join them. Even the manufacturers website fails to have a clear picture of what the final figure should look like. So, I crossed my fingers and stuck it where it looked like it would go…)

Smudgester 2 basing. Second half of the Bushido Crew and basing.

Resin cleaning and trimming again but this time with a more oriental theme.

Both resin sets are from the TTcombat range. Their range appears to be growing quickly in a number of directions and mediums. Resin, MDF and publishing new games on what seems like a monthly basis. All in a year when other major British companies are going out of business. If they keep this up they will be running the country in 10 years… Imagine that as a post apocalyptic setting for a game…

Meet The Bushido Boys (And Girl)

These guys have been up on the painting table for the last few weeks. Ever since Salute if I am honest. When last seen, they only had their base coat (I prefer to undercoat in a cream colour for some reason that even I don’t understand fully).

They needed to be finished off so that Coronasan could get a game of Bushido booked with me. He has been asking me for a game for some time. I have been promising that I would sort him out for that game for months.

The base coats were done after the basing was completed. The basing for these guys was not well thought out, or planned in any formal way. I had an idea that I would try planking the bases, but without investing in anything to do it with. So as I had a few offcuts of MDF from my recent building projects I ploughed on regardless of the lack of planning.

The result looked fairly poor but, never one to wait and think things through, I carried on adding even more things to cover up each mistake. Finally some sand covered the last of the gaps and added some secondary texture. I had a plan to paint them as light coloured bases but when I washed the sand with a slightly darker shade they ended up looking like they would need to be edged in black as normal.

The overall effect is passable and I learned something about not giving in to spontaneity too 🙂

So, first up is Tsubaki one of the factions ‘Roses.’ These play the role of a geisha, who in the game itself, appear to be useful for distracting the lesser elements of the opposition stopping them from attacking.

Far less subtle is Manu who is a Sumo bodyguard. These guys are the muscle in the faction. He looks good for combat and also as protection for the leader with his bodyguard skill.

Senpu is a cheap fighter. He looks a solid combatant with only a few skills.

As all factions needs some brains, Harukichi is there to lead from the shadows. His abilities appear to benefit others so is unlikely to be played as a combatant unless his bodyguard is not paying attention.

Lastly we have Wasupu with his crossbow. He is the ranged combatant. Rapid fire and armour piercing skills help him out. I will have to see what his chances to hit are, as he seems quite cheap for his abilities.

So there they are… One starter set done. What next to buy? Maybe I should play them first and see what seems to be missing. I get the feeling I may find the 2 non combatants a bit of a challenge to get working at first. Only time (and a game) will tell!

Bushido Progress

I managed to get only a few minutes this week in the shed. Not enough time to get much done but the undercoat was finally applied to the Silvermoon starter set.

The scale, when compared to the shorter Wolsung Triad Orcs, is notably different. Even more so than I first expected. Some will fit in with my Triad crew, sumo wrestlers are meant to be huge aren’t they? Others may not be quite so useful for the other games we play.

When they are painted though, it will not be Wolsung that gets played first. We really need to get some games of Bushido played. Just so that I can lose at another game. It helps to make sure that I feel that I have made another great investment.

Bushido And The New Oriental Push.

Salute, the biggest one day gaming show in the UK, happened recently. We made our annual trip all the way to London (not too difficult as the UK is only a small country really). This year though I had less on my list of things to buy…

The central aspect for my plan was to dip my toe into a new game. Not an uncommon expectation for an attendee of a game show. This year though, I had the name of that game clear in my head.

Bushido – by GCT Studios. Coronasan had introduced this game to us a year or so ago. I liked it back then, and the more observant of you may have seen an increasing number of oriental items appearing in the shed and in these posts. The general theme of the last months has varied but a lot of the games have shown an oriental edge. These influences include Ronin by Osprey, my Wolsung Triad Orc crew, new bamboo groves and smaller stands of blossom trees.

I succeeded in picking up a starter crew and the main rulebook for Bushido at Salute at good prices. On the day after, during a family shopping trip, I found these great little items. The arch was a fishtank ornament and the Buddha was a tea light holder from a pound shop. Both Bargains to my mind.

The starter I chose was for The Silvermoon Trade Syndicate. The fluff in the book describes them as a group of criminal gangs that have used their ill gotten gains to make themselves into the bank for the Bushido world. As such, their power is now widespread and they have gained influence over the other families due to their loans and debts.

The crew itself fits in well with my Wolsung Triad crew. The figures are however, of a notably larger scale than those for Wolsung.

The figures are great although the smaller parts are very fine. So fine that the weapons and hands were too fine to pin (not that I am any good at that anyhow).

My solution is one I have used in the past. Glue coated thread and a heavy frown on my brow while I am carefully winding it around the wrists. If you do it right the thread looks like bracelets or bindings. If you do it wrong it looks like you wrapped the arms in glue and thread…

Even after all the hassle with the arms, this chap stands out as a great example of the effort taken by GCT Studios to pose their figures. From the momentum expressed by the clothing and ribbons to the flip flop stretched to its limits as he leaps forward. The effort they have put in is greatly appreciated by me. We will see how the whole thing comes out after I paint him up.

Judging by our owning Wolsung for a year before playing it, I will wait and see how long it takes to get this on the table.