28mm Fireforge Game Samurai Shooters

 

 

the front of the box

        Fresh off the presses I got a look at the Fireforge Games Samurai range figures courtesy of Michigan Toy Soldier and what an impressive group of figures these are! Cast in a medium gray plastic they exhibit fine detail, excellent proportions and historic fidelity in equal measure. They are solidly in the middle of 28mm size-wise which perhaps makes them "overscale" as most Japanese were smaller than Europeans of the era but it matters little as they spent most of their time playing on their home turf.

        In all honesty I am no authority on "things samurai" so I dug through my references and spent some time online before I looked at these minis. I find that he equipment and armor are excellent depictions of mid to late period Samurai. The armor is delicately detailed and fits the figures well, it doesn't appear "stuck on" the figure as some other ranges of samurai minis look. The weapons are correct for the period including the eccentric Japanese longbow. But enough of my chatter, let's look at the figures themselves.

 

the back of the box, no help with painting ideas but it gives you a good idea as to assembly

 

 

the box with contents, two sprues of bases, four each of weapons and bodies

 

the bases are simple and have a mild textured surface on one side

 

 

bodies sprue side A

 

bodies sprue side B

note, there are seven sets of legs and only six torsos! 

if you can find, or fabricate, another torso you have a seventh samurai per sprue!

 

great detail on the faces and wild helmets

 

the bare-headed faces have loads of character

 

 

the detail on all of the surfaces is crisp

the poses reflect activity without getting outlandish

 

arms sprue side A

 

arms sprue side B

 

the weapons are nicely detailed

 and there are enough of each type to equip all of the figures either way 

I like that the hands are cast onto the weapon,

 it is so much easier to assemble and there is no unsightly gap between the hand and the weapon
 

 

               A most excellent offering, these figures are the best samurai that I've seen in a long while. The detail is crisp, the posing active and effective and there is an ample array of options. The way that the minis are broken down will allow a considerable degree of customization so none of your figures will end up posed alike (unless that is what you want). I am sorely tempted to buy a box or two just to run a little skirmish game and I look forward to the rest of the range (please tell me that Fireforge plans on doing mounted samurai, their medieval horse are simply delightful). At $38US these guys work out to just under $1.60 each (if you can round up a spare torso they drop to $1.36 each) making them cheaper than metal and far better detailed and posed than most metal ranges.

        Very Highly Recommended!