Looking for inspiration to build your Daimyo army? Author, Alexander Smith, shares a look at his miniatures, how he assembled his army and his favourite units.

 

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Army Showcase

Here we can see my combined Ikko-Ikki and Uesugi clan army. The models are a mix of Fireforge, Perry, and North Star. I was initially drawn to the Uesugi for a couple of reasons. The first is that I find Uesugi Kenshin a fascinating historical figure - the Buddhist monk Daimyo who led his forces in numerous campaigns against the likes of Takeda Shingen and Oda Nobunaga. The Uesugi also fought against many different opponents, giving me plenty of historical matchups.

 

An army of wargame miniatures for the game Daimyo. Units of Samurai, cavalry and Ashigaru with a commander sitting in a tent.

 


I decided to pair the Uesugi with an Ikko-Ikki force as I had come into a large lot of sohei and Ikko-Ikki models from Perry Miniatures. Aside from what we see here, I have another dozen units or so in various stages of completion that will flesh out both armies.

I also couldn’t resist painting up a unit in Ii Naomasa’s famous “Red Devils” scheme. Maybe a Tokugawa force is in my future!

 

Miniature Samurai in red armour ranked up and wielding spears.

 

Jinmaku Command Tent

 

The centerpiece of my Uesugi forces is the jinmaku command tent. At the center is the Daimyo himself, surrounded by his retainers. In the back we can see a couple Ashigaru playing a war drum, the Daimyo’s spear carrier (a great honor), as well as various attendants holding supplies of banners.

 

A miniature Daimyo sits in their Jinmaku command tent surrounded by their retainers.

 

The tent itself is 3D printed, while the miniatures inside are from Fireforge’s Command set. I designed a special base for this model with recessed spaces for models to fit into, allowing me to swap out and rearrange figures at will.

 

Yari Cavalry

 

This was probably the most difficult paint job so far. Painting horses is always slow going, and when you put an ornately dressed samurai atop him it becomes even more of a project!

 

A unit of yari cavalry miniatures.

 

Lacking proper decals for the heraldry, I opted to hand paint the devices on their flags, which I’m pretty pleased with.

 


 

Newest Unit

The newest addition to my collection are these sohei warrior monks from Fireforge. I wanted the option to have this unit act as a commander unit if I chose, so I kitbashed a samurai and monk together to make an Ikko-Ikki commander. I then added a banner from the command kit and slapped an Ikko-Ikki decal on it.

 

miniature sohei warriors monks by Fireforge miniatures.

 

Favorite Unit

 

Choosing a favorite unit in my collection is tough. The Perry sohei warrior monk models are a ton of fun because of how dynamic they are.

 

miniature sohei warrior monks from Perry Miniatures.

 

However, I think in the end my favorite unit is this rag-tag band of Ikko-Ikki, which is a mix of Perry and North Star bandits. I love how much variety there was in the models, ranging from a half-naked man with a farming instrument, all the way to someone in scavenged samurai armor. It made painting up this unit a lot of fun.

 

a rag tag band of ikko-ikki miniatures.

 

Wrapping Up

 

So, that’s my army as things stand at the moment. It’s a constantly evolving force as I add units based on my current whims, so who knows what the future holds for my samurai!

 

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Daimyo is available to order now.

 

What will you include in your force?

 

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