Ronin Buntai on a Budget

I spotted some of the Zvezda 1/72nd scale plastic Age of Battles samurai figures at Colours the other day but only after I'd bought my 28mm Northstar Sohei buntai.

However, it got me thinking about a less expensive alternative to 28mm metal for Ronin, which would be quicker to do and which would still features some decent figures. The Zvezda figures come in packs of four or five for about three quid and are made of hard plastic that can be cut, glued and painted, so look like a definite budget alternative.

I've decided to get a few packs to see what the figures are like and to work out if I can put together a couple of bushi buntai. The range features samurai, ashigaru and ninjas but there are sohei listed as a future release on the Zvezda catalogue. A lot of the snap together figures have seperate arms, so I could probably do a bit of fiddling around to create different poses from the same figures, or just do some weapon swaps to create variations.

As a way to try out the rules, these might be a good starting point, although the 28mm metal route is by far my prefered option. In the meantime, I can quickly and cheaply assemble enough figures to create a couple of opposing factions, then use them to learn the game mechanics before I graduate onto the 28mm metal figures. If they aren't great or I don't like them, I can always re-use them for my old favourite, Samurai Blades!