It’s been Onryō-tastic here at Warlord Games HQ recently, as everyone and their dog seems to be building their own versions of the new Imperial Japanese walker. Robin Daley has even abandoned his beloved Brits to tackle the challenge – here he is to tell you all about it:
I’ve been working on a Konflikt ’47 British Commonwealth force for a little while now and had been pretty certain that this would be my main army. I was determined to stay loyal to one project. That was, until I saw the Onryō on a demo board in the HQ Store!
Something about humanoid mechs has always captured my imagination and from the moment I saw that katana-wielding war machine I knew I needed one as soon as they’re released. (Then I read the rules, and now I want three!) So of course, I immediately picked up a Ghost Platoon box and got started on my new army in anticipation.
I’ve been loving putting together the Ghost Attack squads and Kimura Tadaaki, and the army is really coming together, but I’m eager to get them on the battlefield to fight against my friend’s Soviets and they’re in serious need of some armoured support. So in the meantime, I decided to set myself the challenge of kitbashing my own Onryō!
I wanted it to fit in with its future ‘official’ battle-buddies, so I set myself the following requirements: It had to be faithful to the general size and shape of the Onryō, it had to look like a prototype and, importantly, I wanted to build it entirely out of existing Warlord Plastics. I thought the best way to achieve this would be a mix of the Nachtzehrer body with the legs of a US Linebacker (and assorted bits from both). There were no bits on the kits that could do a katana justice, so I decided to build it with dual HMG’s and a Light Shiboru Cannon.
For the legs I used mostly parts from the Linebacker, and used the Nachtzehrer’s legs as feet. I wanted to build it with the thighs being bulkier than the shins, to give a similar silhouette to traditional Samurai armour.
I made the shoulder joints and the arms almost exclusively out of Nachtzehrer parts. The Nachtzehrer’s arms are already really articulated and posable, so they were vital for achieving a realistic action pose. For the HMGs and the Shiboru Cannon I used the Autocannons and Tesla Cannon from the Linebacker kit (with a makeshift aerial built from a Linebacker .50 cal).
Finally, the head took a little cutting and sculpting, with the general shape coming from a cut-down Nachtzehrer leg and the camera lens eyes from the same kit.
For the colour scheme I took inspiration from the iconic Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. I was determined to keep it down to a three-colour paint scheme, and the white/black/red combo felt very thematic.
All in, this kitbash can be achieved by buying just the two kits for a total of £67. And now that it’s scratched the itch, I can finally get back to painting my British! (Or maybe I’ll try making that katana…).
Has all this Onryō madness got you inspired? If you’ve got a conversion you’re particularly proud of, why not send it to us? You never know, it might get featured on here or our socials! Drop it in to wipwednesday@warlordgames.com – happy hobbying!
