As I outlined at the beginning of the year in Planning this Years Project I'll be entering the Early War tournament with an infantry based Japanese army. Unfortunately due to all the other projects I've been working on this army has been on the back-burner for some time but now it's time to kick things into gear again.

This week I finished off the biggest and most onerous portion of the force, the Hohei Chutai infantry company with is the army's core. With a total of 108 infantry figures which needed painting it took quite a while and it feels great to have it complete!

Most of the work had been finished months ago so it was just a matter of finishing off the basing and a couple of infantry models I'd somehow missed earlier.

Basing

To base these troops I started with Vallejo Brown Earth Paste, which gave the texture and then followed that with a wash of AK Interactive Dark Mud. Once that had dried I did a quick drybrush of Citadel Ushabti Bone just to bring out the texture some more.

Then I used some PVA glue to apply some Woodland Scenics Earth in small patches and used superglue to apply some Army Painter Wilderness Turf. Finally I painted the edges of the bases in Vallejo Light Brown.

The Platoons, HQ & 2IC

In order to maximise the benefit of the extra points spent on banners my first Hohei platoon has the full 3 rifle squads allowed, each of which also includes a light mortar team.

When I was selecting the figures to make up this platoon I choose as many of the figures which had banners and flags attached to their rifles. This makes it very clear to both myself and my opponent that the platoon has the optional banner upgrade and will help prevent me forgetting during the game.

My second platoon is a little cheaper, with just 2 rifle squads and I saved some points by not giving them banners, although this will make them a little less effective on the battlefield. Each platon also has a command sword team to lead the way.

Lastly I have the 2 most important infantry stands, my Company Commander and Second in Command.

The regimental standard bearer is own of my favourite Japanese models I had to pay the hefty 75 point cost to purchase the upgrade but I'm hoping its worth the points as it looks awesome! It makes the platoon which the 2IC is attached to ignore platoon morale checks which should make a big difference.

The Full Hohei Chutai

Now that the biggest unit is completed I'm rewarding myself with working on my Light Sensha Platoon, before starting on the support platoons. There's still quite a bit for me to paint but I'm confident I'll get it all finished in time.

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From the Hobbies Gorilla