Rules

 

Samurai Miniature Wargaming Rules

Cover	Information	Comments/review
	Warhammer Armies of Antiquity by Historical Wargames Ltd A supplement to Warhammer Ancient Battles (which is based on Warhammer Fantasy Battle). The samurai armies are just one part of the complete ancient-wargaming rules. All examples and text in the rulebook are focused on romans/celts. Dice system: D6	Based on a great set of rules this couldn't go wrong. Once again Jervis and co. delivers what one expects. Great. One step closer to reality than CW. The combat system is better than that of Clan War but as the samurai army only is featured on two measly pages of one book... Soon to be released (in 2004), the supplement: Divine Wind, Armies and Enemies of Japan and the Samurai !
	Samurai Wars by Steve Lawrence, Old Glory/Westwind productions Dice system: D6 This is a "story telling" set of rules where you take a clan, led by pre-determined generals, through battles specified in the book. The "clans" are: -The Clan of The Great Fiery Mountain -The Four Pillars of Buddha -The Ikko Ikki -The Christian Daimyo -The Clan of the Night -The Rebels -The Pilot and the Travellers -Female Samurai -Street Thugs of Edo I have really mixed feelings regarding these rules. They are obviously based on a working rules concept (with lots of other wargaming rules in the same series) - unfortunately this makes the whole Samurai Wars loose much of it's quality feel. Editorial errors include referring to "Gladiators" (an obvious error due to Samurai Wars being based on Gladiator Wars). Also, the author ignore the fact that Japanese words should be uncountables (i.e one Daimyo, many Daimyo).	The rules system rely much on players using/buying the pre-set commanders and special characters - thus I cannot understand why the author give the persons extremely strange names (family name examples: Fisharu, Borusta, Pafariki, Kareshna, Garigore, Tamelin, Maiko etc.). Also, the language used when specifying rules is somewhat strange, I quote: "A Samurai Character uses a Special by announcing he is using a Special and which Special he/ she is using. (A player may not announce a Special after the die, which would be affected by the Special, has been rolled). Certain Specials can be used in conjunction with another Special, but must be called at the same time." The thing that strikes you the most as you flip through the 80 pages and look at the illustrations is the enormous difference in quality! The book is full of absolutely stunning grayscale sketches by Dan Horsecheif - the images alone are reason enough for buying these rules ... but there is also a seven page map section with the worst drawings I have ever seen! The "maps" seems to have been made by a half-blind four year old, using a computer and Paint for the first time. Arrghhh.
	The Road to Osaka by Tim Hallam, Martin Jones and Nick Walker, Daisho Publications (Two Dragons/Brookhurst Hobbies). Printed in 1995. Full of really good black and white drawings and featuring nice movement charts for limiting the turn radius of mounted warriors at different speeds, these rules looked really promising. The rules are based on a simplistic way to classify warriors, they are given a "Grade" - which reflects their social status and battle skills. As the warrior gets wounded his Grade is reduced. A warrior can have different skills that modifies the Grade for selected weapons. Also a fighter may switch weapons during combat, the "old" weapon is then treated as dropped. Dice system: D6	The authors brag on how the Osaka rules succeed were others don't, and that the rules have been thorougly tested for years before print. Still there is a lot of errors in the book and on the quick reference sheet. Something I just couldent work out from the rules was how to design equally matched forces, the book speaks of calculating this but gives neither examples nor formulas on how this is done (i.e. how to combine a fighters grade, skills, weapons, armour etc. into a points value). Errata (example): The rules state different ways to calculate missile fire effects - and the quick reference sheet has close combat info under the missile fire headline... I quote: "Throw 1 x d6 and add the result to the firers current grade. Multiply this result by the Weapons Factor." With a d6 score of 6, a grade of 4 and a WF of 3 this adds up to 30. If we inserts the numbers above into the printed formula instead: (1xd6 + Firers Grade x Weapons Factor) the total score will be 18 (!). Guess the authors either needs to study math or proof-read better...
	Katana by Emperor's Press, Stephen Lawrence Including eleven scenarios and some really nice rules for mass combat (and the "Arrow Cutter" skirmish rules). Dice system: D20, D12, D10, D8, D6	?
	Clan War by Alderac Entertainment Group This is the rules needed to play samurai battles in Rokugan (fantasy-Japan/China). More of a complete game than "just" wargaming rules. Clan War takes the roleplaying game (and the card game) from "Legend of the Five Rings" onto the tabletop, and does it surprisingly well. Massive support on the web, zillions of pages focused on this game. Many with errata sections, there are obviously quite a few errors in the rulebooks - although I only found one (p.72. Range for Dai-kyu should be 15"/30") when reading it for the first time. Discontinued?. Dice system: D10	Minor complaints: The nice illustrations doesn't always appear alongside the relevant text sections (i.e. a picture of a samurai-ko with a naginata on the "Moving and Firing page" etc.). Some illustrations (and miniatures) have the sword sheats totally wrong. And many miniatures are left-handed - making it hard to use them as historically correct fighters. The box and some of the expansion packs have the miniatures made with only a few variations, forcing major conversions for players who doesn't want their army to consist of siamese twins. The combat system favours many ranks, which may sell a lot of miniatures but (IMHO) spoils some of the fun. More skirmishers! The combat system is a bit to complex for small battles. Major compliments: The books are well written and has lots of very good illustrations. The Rokugan world is vast and well documented (Legend of the Five Rings). Most of the miniatures are of highest possible standard. The box comes with a lot of metal miniatures. This is in my opinion the absolute best way to play Japanese fantasy battles, especially in long scenarios where you will get emotionally engaged with your clan.
	Warhammer Fantasy Battle Nippon by various authors + Games Workshop There are atleast 20 different army lists for Nippon floating free on the internet. They are unsupported and not approved in any way by GW. Many of the lists are in a early beta stage but nevertheless: they are fun they are free they are based on WH Dice system: D6	As there are so many Nippon-lists out (I even wrote one myself a few years ago) I cannot comment on the rules in detail. If you have the WHFB rules, like them and want to play samurai battles - I suggest you search on the net ("warhammer" and "nippon") download and try a few.
	The Age of the Country at War Wargaming rules for Samurai Warfare 1550-1615 by Barrie Lovell These are "real" wargaming rules with counters etc. in which a single model base contains a few miniatures and represents hundreds of samurai. Dice system: D6	These were my first samurai rules (1993) but I have yet to play a game with them as I focus on small skirmish battles. However if you are into wargaming I highly recommend this set of rules. Also they contain many good ideas ("Heroic actions" such as "Glorious charge", "Taking a famous head", Honourable Death" etc) well worth reading for other rulebook authors.
	Senso Japanese Feudal Warfare Rules for skirmish actions by Martin R Goddard, 1979 Dice system: D6	A good (if somewhat old) set of rules for fighting skirmish battles.
	Taiko! Samurai Warfare During the Age of Country at War Dice system:	?
	Bushi Miniature rules for field battles in Japan 1100-1600 century by R.J Rockefeller Intended to fight large scale battles in feudal Japan, these rules incorporate unique systems to capture the spirit as well as the historical nature of samurai warfare from the advent of military rule from the Taira to the Tokugawa. Sieges are excluded. Free. Homepage. Dice system:	? Download
	Killer Katanas Rules for recreating the battles of the Sengoku-jidai (Warring States period) with model soldiers. While the rules are intended for use with 15mm figures, other scales may be used as well. Most rulesets for the samurai are skirmish level. It was the goal of KK to allow the larger battles of the samurai to be played, such as Nagashino. There are two scales for doing this: 1:15\40; one man represents fifteen and one inch is 40 feet, or 1:30\80, which is intended for larger battles. Dice system: D6	?
	Seven Samurai Skirmish Simple tactical skirmish rules based on the classic movie Seven Samurai. Hex board. Dice system: D6	? Download
No cover picture	Rencounter Rules for Ambuscades, Skirmishes, Rencounters, Affrays and Divers Small Actions Conducted with Model Soldiers by Edward A. Allen, 1997 Dice system: D6	? Download
No cover picture	Katana to Yari 15th Century Japan Intermediate figure game of Samurai Skirmish Battles by Jim Wallman. Homepage Designed to allow small groups of fighters of varying skill to interact. Designed with the Japanese sword movie in mind - a well handled skilled samurai master can hack through a group of lesser warriors. Quite long rules with a lot of scope for various weapons and troop types, but the basic principles are very simple and easy to pick up. Dice system: D6	? Download
No cover picture	Naginata by Craig Grady A free set of rules, downloadable from the net. Dice system: D6	Most notably is the power gaming ninjas: They have a basic movement of 8", ignores difficult terrain and with their charge modifier of 3" they may always charge 11"... In comparison, mounted troops may charge between 7" and 12" depending on terrain. Although these rules has an enormous appetite for D6-dice I like 'em. The rules are best used when playing small skirmish battles The rules are relative fast and supports individual combat. A few errors in the text (no "W"-stats for other troops than samurai etc)- but what can one expect from a free set of rules? See separate review and battle report.
No cover picture	Samurai Skirmish by Craig Grady A free set of rules, downloadable from the net. Dice system: D6	? Download

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Updated 2004-02-22 © Magnus Johansson, 2004