Painting the Shogun Legion: Black Lacquer, Crimson Plates and Cyan Optics
This set contains ten 32mm figures: five Tech Shinobi and five Teppo Neo Samurai. The live Maximum Minis listing places them in the Shogun Legion collection, identifies ArcaMinis as the licensed designer and confirms that the physical miniatures are supplied unpainted in grey resin.
Prepare the warband as one project
At 32mm, consistency does more work than elaborate individual recipes. Clean any remaining support points, test-fit parts before assembly and use cyanoacrylate-style super glue where needed. Prime the full group together, then batch-paint one material across all ten figures before moving to the next.
A black primer is ideal for the featured scheme because missed recesses become natural separation between armour plates. Add a quick zenithal pass in dark grey so masks, layered armour and equipment remain readable without turning the whole unit pale.
Featured palette: black lacquer, crimson plates and cyan optics
Paint the main armour satin black, highlighting with a controlled progression from blue-grey to a final narrow cool-grey edge. Leave broad plates dark and place the brightest marks only on upper corners, mask ridges and blade housings. This keeps the lacquer effect disciplined at gaming distance.
Use deep crimson on selected shoulder guards, forearm housings and waist plates. Begin with black-red, layer a muted crimson toward the upper edges and add a few chipped marks with dark brown followed by a smaller metallic dot. Vary the crimson placement slightly between figures so individual models are easier to identify while the unit still feels coherent.
For the technology, paint lenses and small displays near-white, glaze them with cold cyan and deepen the surrounding frame with blue-green. A thin cyan reflection immediately beside the brightest source is enough; avoid flooding entire masks or hands with glow. Finish blades in dark gunmetal with bright silver working edges, and use muted brass sparingly on fasteners and belt fittings.
Fast cloth, weapons and weathering
Keep undersuits charcoal rather than pure black so they remain distinct from lacquered armour. Highlight folds with neutral grey, then glaze the deepest areas back down. On weapon grips, use a dark leather base and two short warm-brown highlights rather than outlining every wrap.
For tabletop weathering, concentrate dust and chips below the knee and around the lower edge of waist armour. A thin grey-brown glaze followed by stippled tan gives the impression of city grime without hiding the red-and-black scheme. Repeat the same rust or dust colour across all ten models to unify the group.
Rain-dark urban bases
A restrained urban base supports the cyber-samurai theme without overwhelming 32mm figures. Texture the bases with fine grit and a few thin pieces of scored plastic for broken paving. Paint everything charcoal, drybrush through medium grey and add a near-black satin glaze in selected hollows to suggest damp ground.
Small hazard-yellow marks, faded road lines or a single cyan reflection can create contrast, but use only one accent per base. Finish the rims in clean black so the models look deliberate as a unit.
Invented lore: The Fifth Gate Protocol
The following is original campaign material inspired by the miniatures, not official product lore. The Tech Shinobi are infiltrators carrying stolen access codes, while the Teppo Neo Samurai are the armoured response unit ordered to recover them. Neither side knows that the codes open a sealed district where an abandoned defence intelligence has continued issuing commands for generations.
Encounter one: silence before the alarm
Place five objective markers across a compact industrial board. The Tech Shinobi must scan three before escaping; the opposing force can raise the alarm by controlling two markers at the end of a round. Each scan reveals either useful data, a false route or a dormant security system. The Teppo Neo Samurai can enter later as reinforcements, turning stealth into a fighting withdrawal.
Encounter two: divided loyalties
Use the ten figures as two five-model squads with different objectives rather than a single block. One squad must destroy the recovered data while the other is secretly ordered to preserve it. Midway through the scenario, reveal a third threat controlled by simple automated rules. Players then choose whether to cooperate, betray one another or race for separate exits.
Campaign rewards and progression
Surviving Shinobi might gain infiltration advantages, one-use bypass tokens or contacts inside the sealed district. Teppo veterans could earn improved armour, command abilities or the authority to requisition heavier weapons. Mark progression visually with a new crimson panel, a brass badge or a changed cyan lens colour rather than repainting the whole miniature.
Build your own Shogun Legion strike force
Explore the ten-figure Tech Shinobi and Teppo Neo Samurai set at Maximum Minis, then adapt the black, crimson and cyan scheme for your own tabletop faction.
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