This summer Warlord Games will be releasing the Armies of Imperial Japan book for Bolt Action. This release will expand upon the basic Imperial Japanese Army list already available for download from Warlord Games. Armies of Imperial Japan will allow you to fix bayonets and banzai charge for the Empire of the Rising Sun. While Warlord has a range of excellent Japanese, figures several other companies also offer comprehensive ranges of Japanese figures. (One last teaser before the Armies of Imperial Japan book review! - Judson)
One of those ranges is the 25mm Battle Honors range offered by Old Glory 15s. The Battle Honors range is diverse and includes many minor nations, like Finns, Sikhs and Ghurkas. The figures come ten to a bag and cost $17. However OG15 has two bulk deals. They offer 30% off orders between $100 and $399 (use the coupon code large100) and 40% off orders over $400 (use the coupon code large400). If you need less than $100 worth of figures, but don't want to pay full price, go to Warweb.com. They offer the Battle Honors bags for $13.60.
I picked up my Battle Honors Japanese in a trade. It included two packs of riflemen and a command pack. These figures are 25mm not 28mm, so they are smaller than the rest of my collection. Its not too noticeable, unless they are side by side or next to a 1/48 sale tank. I have very few complaints about the figures. The detail was nice and crisp. Little clean up was required, and there was a good diversity of poses, giving me a variety of figures.
I painted my Japanese in the green uniforms. I thought about painting them in khaki uniforms, but my Russian are khaki and I want to fight some Russian Japanese board conflicts. I thought about the yellow looking Japanese uniforms, but did not have the proper colors laying around.
First Squad
Second Squad
Command Section with flag and samurai sword
Artillery Observer
Of all the Japanese figure ranges out there I think Battle Honors is my favorite so far. Their range is also comprehensive and includes HMGs, mortars, light artillery and special weapons.
I give these figures 8 out of 10 Samurai Swords.
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“Craig Baxter is the Director of the WWPD Northern Research center in Anchorage, AK. When he’s not contributing to WWPD.net he is busy blogging, painting, modeling and rolling dice. You can find more of his work and articles at frozengamerak.blogspot.com.”
