"Samurai rules recommendation " Topic

We are preparing for a campaign that will be set in feudal Japan around 1560 and we are looking for rules to fight the non-skirmish battles. The criteria are that the rules not be card driven, simple to pick up, playable in a single evening and reflect the period with reasonable accuracy.

Does anyone have any suggestions? These can either be out of the box rules or modifications to more generic period rules. Can I also ask you to briefly explain why the rules you suggest would be recommendable.

Our club has used Battles in the Age of War for larger samurai-era battles and enjoyed them. Like most Peter Pig systems, the rule book is a mess but the game itself is excellent. It can be played in one night, is not card driven, allows medium-to-large battles, and has a very fun pre-battle sequence which can result in interesting betrayals, treachery, reinforcements, deployment adjustments, etc. All of our players had a solid grasp of the mechanics after a couple turns. This system is ideal for random pick-up games, but less well suited to specific historical scenarios. Overall, highly recommended.

Try War and Conquest. You will find a free official samurai list here

link

Killer Katana 2; dedicated rules by one who knows his subject well.

Killer Katana 2, without any doubt.

KK is a card game guys.

Don't worry, this is TMP. If someone asks for a game with (x) criteria and a brief explanation of why you like it, you will invariably have fan boys suggest a game with the opposite criteria and offer no explanation for it. That's why I come here to look at pictures and on very occasions speak up to try and legitimately answer someone's question.

KK is apparently worth getting anyway for the info it contains though, like 1871.

I appreciate the suggestions but Killer Katanas is out as it was already considered and rejected. That was the game that convinced the club not to use any card driven games. War And Conquest was sampled and met with mixed reviews by the players. And while it's not out of the running we are looking to see if we can find something that satisfies more of the players.

Another vote for Battles in the Age of War. Quick, simple and fun.

FOG Renaissance?

Battles in the Age of War is certainly worth trying. It has the usual Peter Pig pre-game sequence which sets up the battle scenario, and though this will be less useful if you're playing campaigns, it may give some ideas as to how to translate campaign events to the tabletop.

It has the typical features of the samurai battle, the general in his honjin, messengers riding around the battlefield adding to command abilities of sub-generals and, of course, single combats. It also has some siege rules.

Impetus

We just picked up FoG:renaissance at the club, to play Italian Wars. I'm going to give it a shot with my samurai as well. My impressions this far is that you will likely end up with very ahistorical armies if you approach it trying to make "good" FoG armies, but I have high hopes that it will look better when using the army dispositions described in KK2. This far I've like FoG:R in our playtests, even if it is a bit rules heavy to get into.

As for reasons why I like it, I like how cavalry manouver, I like the gambit of using leaders in combat, and I like how units can lose cohesion (which can recover) and bases (which can't). But the main reason in my case is that we have several players who want to play european armies, so I can field my army without convincing anyone to get a samurai army, or wait until I can field an opposing army as well. If you are already several people dedicated to play samurai armies, you have a big advantage in available choices.

I think Impetus is a good suggestion. I however use Sword and Spear, with some home rule tweaks, with most of the core rules.

Also, isn't the use of cards in KK2 just a mechanic for determining which units activate? Couldn't you just replace that small activation portion with a rule you like? and now you have KK2 without cards….

Here is a video review of KK2 for those who haven't seen it: youtu.be/kDCLKBf9jmQ

I wish I could see a BAW review vid, but I might pick it up anyway since people seem to like it.

I think i own all the mass battle sets. KK is worth getting for scenario info alone. Really good stuff including their scenario books too.

PP Battles in Age of War looks interesting. But it seems like a lot to wade through. I have seen a Black Powder variant that may be worth trying. My personal favorite set filed of Battle would likely work but needs some tweaking to get a good fit. However, it is a card game and while I love that, it's not within the parameters the OP stated.

Thanks,

John

KK2 is worth buying for the OOBs and clan arming %s, even if you don't play the game.

I like Peter Pig's Battles in the Age of War.

Private Matter
I am
[one day when I get around to it – don't hold your breath wating for that mind!]
going to try to use the GW big battle War of The Ring rules [not the skirmish set]
The game engine is fairly elegant [the different races will give me samurai, ashigaru & "peasants" hopefully]
The "magic" is less "fireball" style and more "morale effect" types – so hopefully that'll translate as individual leadership qualities
The games I've played straight seem to flow nicely – might be worth a glance to see if it will work for you
[and I got the rules recently for under £10.00 GBP new off the web]
Good luck
I'd be very interested in knowing what set you eventually settle on
Gary

Like yourselves we are looking for a good set of rules to play 16th/17th Japanese battles one of and campaign games.

DBR to constricted on weapon and troop type.
FoG-R the Japanese are a good competition army and works well to points against armies it would never and could never had fought.
We find FoG-R just do not work for eastern armies, trying to shoehorn eastern troop type into western models.

We play Peter Pig's Bloody Barons and enjoy them, giving a feeling for the warfare and the time they are fought in.

We have bought but have not read Battles in the Age of War yet, we are hoping they are as good as Bloody Barons are for War of the Roses.

Forget what you have read higher up. If not KK (wich I believe unwise not to use), you have no other choice than TAIKO. KK and TAIKO are at the moment the only rules that are specific and representative to Samurai warfare. Nobody uses for ex "War of the Rings" for Napoleonic battles either. There are good reasons for that. There is no "one rule to rule them all" if you want some autenticity also.
And remember : the West is not the East. Not in wafare either.

Peter Pigs Battle in the age of war, easily playable in an evening, even with new players

It may seem unlikely, but the second edition of Irregular Wars gives a pretty decent representation of Japanese warfare in the Sengoku Jidai. It has lists for small Daimyo armies, ikko ikki, Sohei, pirates, Koreans, Ming Chinese, and the early Manchu Chinese. A game can be played in an hour or less from set up to finish, which helps to facilitate campaigns.

Typical armies range from ten to sixteen stands, and can be modified to something larger if desired. One stand equals a "company," and is given as a 30mm x 30mm base. I've put mine on 40mm x 30mm bases in order to have more figures per stand.

With each stand representing a different company, such as mounted samurai, dismounted samurai, spear armed ashigaru, bow armed ashigaru, arquesbus armed ashigaru, sohei, or whichever, it allows the player to recreate something like the formations seen in books and movies.

Gameplay is easy to learn and remember. Its simple, but elegant. It does NOT play like DBA, despite the single stand units. No offense to DBA players is intended. Its just a different game.

There IS a set of cards which can be purchased or printed, but they are not essential to the playing of the game, and can actually be ignored. However, they are a lot of fun to use because they provide factors such as weather, treachery, spies, illness, competence or the lack of it; All things that make a game a lot of fun between friends.

Originally, I bought the rules on impulse, and then was miffed at myself immediately after for buying something not related to my three projects, one of which is Japan. It was a very pleasant surprise to find the Asian lists in the rules, and even more so to find that they work so well for the Sengoku Jidai. I've since abandoned my other rules sets in favor of using Irregular Wars. I'm pretty happy.