Perhaps equal to my love of Star Wars gaming is Samurai skirmish gaming. My search for a decent set of rules culminated with writing Bushi no Yume but then, as always, when I play them it seems like 'work' not fun and I end up continously thinking, "MMmm that would be better if..."
So I am always intrigued to see a new set of samurai rules come out and here was another - Ronin by Craig Woodfield. A slim and cheap volume published by Osprey Books under their 'Wargames' line of titles.
It is supported by a very tempting line of figures from Northstar as well. It is both a shame and a good job I already have a plentiful sufficiency of figures to use,
So I am always intrigued to see a new set of samurai rules come out and here was another - Ronin by Craig Woodfield. A slim and cheap volume published by Osprey Books under their 'Wargames' line of titles.
It is supported by a very tempting line of figures from Northstar as well. It is both a shame and a good job I already have a plentiful sufficiency of figures to use,
I rarely comment on the layout etc of published rules as they damn well should be good as Osprey have a lot of resources behind them. Also for around a tenner one can hardly gripe. I must admit I took the plunge solely on the fact they are written by an Aussie, I know not good logic but as I see myself as an honoury Aussie Dude it has to be done!
On first read through I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the book and the rules. Seemed solid but nothing to make me get my gaming stuff out and force people to play (which is what happens when I suspect a set is going to be awesome. But inbetween caring for the wifey (which is becoming a more and more time demanding job (curse of terminal cancer I am afraid) and a desperate attempt to lose weight and get fit before it is too big a job I managed to try out the mechanics. I thought these were aiming to be pretty boring to be honest. Seemed like the old humdrum of adding and subtracting modifiers to get a wound result. Maybe playing with the Edge of the Empire dice had spoilt me - I am now craving a narrative result all the time.
But half an hour later I was warming to the little Aussie rippas. The intitiative and combat pool saved the day big time, and not just because it suggests using GO stones. Initiative took me back to the good old days of early 2Hour Wargames NUTS... Individual rolling to see who goes first within each combat. Just a d6 (the game only uses d6) roll plus the initiative stat of the figure (which can be changed by being stunned or wounded) to determine who has the chance to pass or strike first. This remains the case even in multi figure combats. The actual combat roll is what I took as being pretty mundane, roll 2d6 v. 1d6 and add fight skill and a few modifiers based on weapon, status and armour of target. If the result is a plus to the attacker then they have hit, the wider the differential the better the effect (ranging from 1 = stunned to 6+ = dead). BUT and it is a big BUT good old Craig has thrown the combat pool into the mix. Each figure gets a combat pool rating of between, a norm, of 2 and 5, characters ganging up pool their 'pool'. The player secretly choose white or black stones to this amount (one is defensive use and the other offensive use) and then these are revealed. Note this is done before initiative is rolled, one can spend a stone to alter the initiative roll. When attacking the character who wone the initiative gets to choose if they want to attack or pass. If they attack they spend a stone... This gives them 2d6 to attack with (plus their fight etc) and the defender then chooses to defend with 1d6 (plus stuff) or spend a defence stone (if they chose to have any) to give them 2d6. A final decsision is then made by the attacker to power the attack by spending another attack stone which gives them the option of rolling 3d6 and discarding one. At this point the dice are rolled, modified and totaled and we are back to the slightly mundane. But the bit in the middle is surprisingly addictive and effective. Overall the figures do as they are supposed to do in a small level skirmish game, the better characters with more abilities can wade through the dross at a very chanbarra style rate. BUT they are always only a crap dice roll or mismanagement of the stones away from being taken out, especially if the dross is out in force,
This gives a WAY better samurai film type feel to the game than I thought it would. Turn sequence and movement, morale is fast and simple. Missile troops get the chance to fire twice (if they are capable) but at negatives (once in the move phase and once in the action phase - it goes move, combat, action, tidy up) or stay still and effectively aim until the action phase. Game play is kept simple and therefore very fast, There is no facing, morale is easy but effective and the only real thing to keep track of is wounds, but that will always be the case in a 'detailed' game, and what characteristics/abilities the better characters have.
On first read through I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the book and the rules. Seemed solid but nothing to make me get my gaming stuff out and force people to play (which is what happens when I suspect a set is going to be awesome. But inbetween caring for the wifey (which is becoming a more and more time demanding job (curse of terminal cancer I am afraid) and a desperate attempt to lose weight and get fit before it is too big a job I managed to try out the mechanics. I thought these were aiming to be pretty boring to be honest. Seemed like the old humdrum of adding and subtracting modifiers to get a wound result. Maybe playing with the Edge of the Empire dice had spoilt me - I am now craving a narrative result all the time.
But half an hour later I was warming to the little Aussie rippas. The intitiative and combat pool saved the day big time, and not just because it suggests using GO stones. Initiative took me back to the good old days of early 2Hour Wargames NUTS... Individual rolling to see who goes first within each combat. Just a d6 (the game only uses d6) roll plus the initiative stat of the figure (which can be changed by being stunned or wounded) to determine who has the chance to pass or strike first. This remains the case even in multi figure combats. The actual combat roll is what I took as being pretty mundane, roll 2d6 v. 1d6 and add fight skill and a few modifiers based on weapon, status and armour of target. If the result is a plus to the attacker then they have hit, the wider the differential the better the effect (ranging from 1 = stunned to 6+ = dead). BUT and it is a big BUT good old Craig has thrown the combat pool into the mix. Each figure gets a combat pool rating of between, a norm, of 2 and 5, characters ganging up pool their 'pool'. The player secretly choose white or black stones to this amount (one is defensive use and the other offensive use) and then these are revealed. Note this is done before initiative is rolled, one can spend a stone to alter the initiative roll. When attacking the character who wone the initiative gets to choose if they want to attack or pass. If they attack they spend a stone... This gives them 2d6 to attack with (plus their fight etc) and the defender then chooses to defend with 1d6 (plus stuff) or spend a defence stone (if they chose to have any) to give them 2d6. A final decsision is then made by the attacker to power the attack by spending another attack stone which gives them the option of rolling 3d6 and discarding one. At this point the dice are rolled, modified and totaled and we are back to the slightly mundane. But the bit in the middle is surprisingly addictive and effective. Overall the figures do as they are supposed to do in a small level skirmish game, the better characters with more abilities can wade through the dross at a very chanbarra style rate. BUT they are always only a crap dice roll or mismanagement of the stones away from being taken out, especially if the dross is out in force,
This gives a WAY better samurai film type feel to the game than I thought it would. Turn sequence and movement, morale is fast and simple. Missile troops get the chance to fire twice (if they are capable) but at negatives (once in the move phase and once in the action phase - it goes move, combat, action, tidy up) or stay still and effectively aim until the action phase. Game play is kept simple and therefore very fast, There is no facing, morale is easy but effective and the only real thing to keep track of is wounds, but that will always be the case in a 'detailed' game, and what characteristics/abilities the better characters have.
Building your 'Buntai' from the lists provided is easy and fun to customise. One can choose from Bushi (samurai) who have a neat way of pulling a draw from the grasp of defeat by using 'seppuka', Koryu (like a traditional Ryuha or Bujutsu school) who can have a school specialization, Sohei (warrior monks types- mine will have to be Yamabushi of course), Ikko-Ikki (sort of a 'popular uprising' army) who have an interesting mix of troops and fanaticism (I am using my fantasy Japanese 'oni' army for these) and then a bandit bunkai - which you need to refight the seven samurai of course. Customisation comes from composition and giving abilities and bujutsu skills to the better rank troops. These are all well balanced and are really what give the game its feel.
Other lists are provided for the battles against the Koreans and Chinese as well as for later periods (Last samurai anyone?). Most of the 'buntai' can employ 'Swords for Hire' which include the reclusive wandering budo machine, think Musashi, and of course the stereo-typed Ninja (which can be deployed in disguise which is quite a laugh - the opponent knows there is a ninja, but just who is it).
There are rules for random time of day and weather for those who want them and seven interesting scenarios which all seem fun to play through. Threre is a ninja attack scenario so I was happy!
A small progression system for campaigns is followed by suggestions for holding a tournament. tI will be easy to make the campaign system more detailed and to be honest when it boils down to it I suspect the rules will be used primarily for pick up games. Lastly there is an advanced rules section for bringing in 'fatigue' for people who want to model this.
Size of forces (Buntai) - well it is suggested a small game is 100 points which means you are looking to field between 3 and 10 figures and we have been playing in 30-60 minutes. Suggested table size for this is 2'x2' and this means you are straight into combat (which is fairly brutal), short and fairly sweet. Personally I have been enjoying 150 points and this is still about an hour play time.
SO, final verdict?
Well I enjoy them, they are simple to pick up and play, looks like they may scale up to 200-300 points for a large game without bogging too much, but suspecting most games will be club pick up games at about 150 points on a 3'x3'. There are things that will not sit right with Nihon Bugei nerds but I think they will give almost everyone the feel they want from a samurai game without any real effort on their part. The NorthStar figure sets give starting buntai and the rules do the rest. I'll be playing them a lot when I don't feel like 'work'. :