Samurai Castlle

I hereby present  my Samurai Castle. I wanted to  create a Japanese castle with authentic architectural elements, but in a playable scale. For this I could use the pieces that were created for the Ninja series in 1999. I started the first construction in February 2015 and after many tryouts and re-designs I got  the set I present you now.

The castle is the residence of the lord Kenshin.  It features gatehouse, a corner turret and the main keep in greatly contrasting black and white. One half of the castle is a garden with a cherry tree surrounded from white walls.

Entering the gate, there’s only one stairway leading to the upper level. From there, you can see that the castle grounds contain more than meets the eye. There’s a nicely layed out garden with a Chinese style pavilion, serving to receive emissaries and spend some leisure time. From the pavilion there’s a nice view to the garden and also to a picturesque red bridge that stays invisible from the outside. It’s the only path to the main keep.

The main keep features a lot of elements typically found in Japanese castles in order  to create nice architectural texture. The keep has four floors in total: a cellar for the storage of goods, a great hall for weaponry and housing the guards, a reception hall and the lord’s chamber. The rooms are all laid out with tatami (woven bamboo fiber) mats. In the reception hall, the lord’s place is on a higher stage, his sword and his armour to each side. In his chamber, there’s a table, a lamp and a futon (Japanese bed). The roofs and floors can all be removed for more indoor play.

The greedy lord Takeda envies Kenshin’s magnificent castle. He wishes to have it for his own and to expand his dominion. His officers are the hot blooded commander Harada with his mighty spear and the talented swordsman Yoshioka.

He knows well that conquering the castle wouldn’t be an easy task. The gate can be defended by bowmen from the hidden bridge. If you can enter the castle grounds, it’s difficult to take the stairway from below.

The passage over the bridge is easy to defend with a single soldier, while bowmen attack from behind the defenders.

If you try to enter the castle in the inner precinct directly by ladders, the invaders can be attacked with the ishi-otoshi (stone-drops) from the turret and the main keep. Also the narrow gaps in the wall can easily be mounted with a few men. And then, there’s still the main keep…

So does lord Kenshin rightly feel at ease in his powerful fortress? Or could Takeda find a way to take the castle by force? You can find out on your own…if you help me to let this castle become an official lego set!