The Shinobi Academy

When I was looking at my Bad Squiddo Onna-Bugeisha figures, I wanted a theme for some of the figures. It occurred to me that I could invent a Ninja (or Shinobi) training school, where young women could be schooled in all the disciplines and techniques of Ninjutsu.

Therefore, I decided to use the figures below as instructors and pupils at my fictional Shinobi Academy.

First, the Chief Instructor and two of her most experienced members of staff.

I decided that they would all wear a simple grey kimono with a pale blue obi, with the exception of the Chief Instructor who would be allowed to wear whatever she chooses, although I used the same blue as the obi of the other figures for her tunic to create a degree of unity.

Next, some students. First, the very youngest pupils, who are learning the basic skills and are not yet permitted to use actual weapons with sharp blades.

And finally a pair of senior students, who are trained to the level where they can be trusted to take part in a range of covert activities, generally, but not always under the supervision of those who have already graduated from the Academy.

Once again, the bases have been finished with the excellent tufts by Gamer's Grass, available from Bad Squiddo.

Ninjas!

 Bad Squiddo female Ninjas, to be precise.

I decided against a black colour scheme, and kept them pretty much to the way they look on Annie's website. I think that the grey colour scheme works pretty well, because, as anyone who drives at night knows, people wearing grey can look pretty invisible in low light, as well as in complete darkness.

Here they are from behind;

I like the poses of these two a lot, especially the one who is creeping forwards through the undergrowth waiting to strike as soon as her enemy comes into view.

Ninjas are also known as Shinobi in Japanese and, as we all know from live action films as well as from from anime, shinobi were deployed as assassins and spies. Their heyday was in the Sengoku period between 1467 and the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1615. Most of what we know about them comes from folklore and popular fiction

They are lovely crisp casts, as one always expects from Bad Squiddo and paint up really nicely. The bases are finished off with Gamer's Grass Tufts, also available from Bad Squiddo.

These will be great for all manner of different game systems, I think.