'East' from AnthonyO: Nakatomi Yakuza

When I began to plan for this challenge I had no real idea other than to rummage through my bits box and hope inspiration would hit me. Well it did in the form of some miniatures I had acquired through a mystery 50 metal miniature lucky dip box I had purchased from Northstar Games.  These guys are from a game called A Fist Full of Kung Fu and formed part of the Yakuza Gangsters set. I had no idea what I would do with them when I found them in the lucky dip and had placed them into the bits box for perhaps an eternal slumber.

Well this painting challenge to the rescue and when looking at them I was inspired to make a gang with a lot of inspiration from those terribly bad yet amazingly good 1980's Police V Yakuza movies. The Yakuza was the arch enemy of every Detective for a good few years, you know the detectives who were top tier martial arts experts trying to atone for losing there partner in a gun fight and were just returning to work after being shot themselves type, or a Green Ranger Seal.

So I bring you the Nakatomi Yakuza Gang in this East v West battle, a ruthless group trying to muscle in on the drug and gambling trade of the New York China Town district. They are led by Tsukuda Yoshimatsu, the son of the clan leader who is trying to prove himself to his father and earn the respect of the clan. He is supported by his loyal followers and treats the local Police Department with disdain, if they can't be bought off they will suffer the consequences with meddling in his affairs!

The Nakatomi Gang, yes I loved the 80's.

Kubo Kado (The Sumo) - A rising star of the Sumo grounds in Japan he fled to the US after it was found out he threw a fight for money. Adopted into the Nakatomi Clan he acts as Tsukuda's personal bodyguard and his signature move is crushing people to death with his bare hands.

Sawa Yoichibei (Onmyōji) - Sawa is the Gang's sorceror, summoning Shikigami to manipulate their enemies or gather information. It is said Sawa is over 1000 years old and has been sent by Tsukuda's father to keep an eye on him.

Tsukamoto Ukon (Uzi) - Tsukamoto loves his Uzi submachinegun and is his weapon of choice when taking down the Gaijin. He moved to New York to study but found himself drawn to the gangster lifestyle and was recruited to the Nakatomi Gang by Tsukuda when he found him playing Double Dragon at the local arcade.

Toma Kane (The Doctor) - Toma is a medical student who acts as the Gangs medic, doubling as the torturer when the gang needs those skills. He has been known to cut his victims up just to practice putting them back together, it is rumored he is acing his medical studies.

Tsukuda Yoshimatsu (The Leader) -  Tsukuda has been given this assignment from his father in an attempt to secure a foothold in the US. Educated at the best schools and universities Tsukuda is a highly intelligent person and knows it, often mocking his victims before offering them single combat with his preferred weapon, the Katana.

Painting

These guys were such fun to paint, the scheme was simple yet effective (hopefully) and suited a bad guy Yakuza gang that were the stereotype in all those movies.  The background was all free hand painted by myself other than the three posters I have printed off and glued on. The dragon is a copy of a wall mural I found online and the graffit is just random ramblings.