Warriors of Japan: A Country Aflame 1335-1339
Warriors of Japan: A Country Aflame 1335-1339 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Goal of the Game
In the game, you take control of either Kuge (the Southern Court) or Buke (the Northern Court) forces. You will use your Samurai and their soldiers to fight and maneuver against your opponent, earning victory points by killing enemy Samurai and controlling regions on the game map. Victory points are scored on a "zero sum" basis as described in Rule 15. The game ends after twenty turns or at the end of any turn if a player has 10 victory points or more.
If the game ends in a tie, a special Samurai contest is held to determine the winner.
Players note: having the Northern Court player sit on the Northwestern side and the Southern Court on the Southeastern side, and having the counters facing each player will help. Often with the changing nature of the composition of your forces, this helps greatly in seeing which forces belong to you. In addition, placing moving Samurai right on the borders will help show which border crossings have been used and are not available to be used again.
1.2 Game Components
- These rules
- 1 Map
- 140 counters
- 6 dice
2 The Game Map
The game map represents the part of Japan over which the conflict was fought - the islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku.
In addition to the playing region, the map includes a number of tracks, charts and tables to help with game play. These are the: Victory Points Track, Game Turn Track, Victory Points Awards Summary, Samurai Loss Table, Sequence of Play Reference, Movement Limits chart, and a Quick Set-Up Guide.
2.1 Map Regions
The map is divided into land regions that correspond to the geographical and political regions of the times. Each region, with the exception of the Kyo region, has several "Mons" or family crests printed in the region that are reproduced on the piece of every Samurai who calls that region "home". Note that some of the Mons are in color; these are different from the ones not in color, and only the Samurai that has that Mon in that color would call that region his home. In addition, again with the exception of Kyo, each region has two holding boxes, one for each court, to place Samurai that have not yet entered play. The regions of sea surrounding the land regions are out of play.
2.2 Borders
Each region is surrounded by borders that affect how units move and run away from battles.
There are three types of land borders, each of which represents the dominant terrain separating two regions: clear terrain, depicted with a black line; obstructed terrain, depicted with a broad red line; and sea connected, depicted with a dotted blue line running from one region to another.
In addition there are roads on the map that allow for faster movement through the map region. You are using the road if you move from one region to another and there is a road that crosses the border of the two regions.
Sea connections are treated exactly like clear terrain borders.
2.3 Adjacency: When Regions Are Considered Next to Each Other
Two regions are adjacent if they share a land border, or if there is a sea connection that directly joins them. Adjacency is important for moving and for running away from battles.
2.4 Region Victory Point Value
Regions controlled by a player are worth either 1, 2 or 3 victory points during the victory point scoring phase. Kyo is the only 3 point value region. South Kanto and North Kyushu (these regions are marked with an orange border) are worth 2 victory points. Every other region is worth 1 victory point.
3 Game Pieces
Most of the game pieces represent ornately attired military units, well-armed with the brand new weapon of the time - the Katana. There are two types of military units: soldiers and Samurai.
Samurai are special because they can command soldiers. In fact, soldiers are virtually useless unless they are assigned to the command of a Samurai.
Other game pieces are informational markers that are mostly self-explanatory (Samurai, Soldiers, Initiative, Control, Great Battle markers).
3.1 Soldiers
Soldiers are the grunts of the game; they are generic, and both sides use the same game pieces. The number on a soldier piece is its troop strength, and the soldier pieces are inter-changeable as long as the value remains the same. For example, three 2-strength soldier pieces are the same as one 6-strength or six 1-strength pieces. There should be enough generic soldier pieces in the game so you never run out, but if you do run out, feel free to make your own: the countermix is not a limit. These represent from a few hundred to a thousand men per point of value.
3.2 Samurai Overview
Each Samurai represents an historical personage and his martial entourage of lesser Samurai, assorted flunkies, court followers, bodyguards and troops. Although the Samurai pieces do not have a troop strength number printed on them, each Samurai always counts as one troop strength point in battle. Most Samurai have a home region to which they belong; you'll know a Samurai's home region because his piece will have a Mon that appears in one region on the map. If the Samurai has an "N" instead, he doesn't have one specific home region. As explained below, Samurai can command soldiers that are assigned to them.
A Samurai fights for either the Northern or Southern Court. Some Samurai lean towards one court or the other and this is indicated by a stripe on their piece of either red (for the Northern Court) or blue (for the Southern Court). This doesn't mean the Samurai will not fight for the other court but there are cases where their court leanings matter in the game. Other Samurai begin the game non-aligned and these may join either side. These Samurai have a gray stripe on their piece.
3.3 Samurai as Commanders
Every Samurai has a rank, which you can tell by the number of stars on his piece. The more stars, the higher the rank and the more victory points your enemy will win if he kills your Samurai. A Samurai can command a number of troop strength points equal to twice his rank, i.e., twice the number of stars on his piece. For example, a 2-star Samurai can command up to 4 soldier strength points. (Do not forget that each Samurai also has his own intrinsic soldier strength point; but this intrinsic soldier point does not count against a Samurai's ability to command troops.)
3.4 Samurai and Troops
Samurai can remain on the map without soldiers but soldiers cannot remain on the map unless they are assigned to a Samurai. When soldiers are assigned to the command of a Samurai, they are placed underneath the Samurai piece. Soldiers must stay with the Samurai to whom they are assigned until they are eliminated in battle or the Samurai dies. When the Samurai moves, his soldiers go with him. He may not drop them off, nor may he transfer them to another Samurai.
Play note: When a rule says a Samurai can or must do thus-and-such, it always means the Samurai and whatever soldiers he commands unless noted otherwise.
3.5 Samurai Battle Ratings
Each Samurai has a battle rating (the number on the lower right of his piece) representing his ability to control and maneuver troops and other Samurai in battle. The higher the battle rating, the better. A Samurai's battle rating is the maximum number of dice the Samurai can throw in a round of battle.
Play note: The number of troops a Samurai can move around the map with him has nothing to do with the number of soldiers he can bring to bear in a round of battle. Put in game terms, a Samurai's battle rating has absolutely no relationship to his rank. Just because a high-ranking Samurai can drag a lot of troops around the map with him this doesn't mean he can deploy them effectively in a battle; conversely, a lower ranking Samurai might be a most excellent battle Samurai but cannot move around with many troops, alas, because he is but a lower level Samurai.
3.6 Samurai Bravery Ratings
Each Samurai also has a bravery rating (the number on the lower left of his piece) representing his personal fighting prowess and his ability to inspire his men to fight. A Samurai's bravery rating may favorably influence a round of battle. The higher the bravery rating, the better.
4 Sequence of Play
Each turn is divided into phases, which are printed on the map as a reminder. Play through the phases in order and begin a new turn after the last phase. It is possible for a player to win the game before the last turn by scoring 10 or more victory points. If no one has won before the last turn, then the player with more points at the end of the last turn is the winner. If the score is tied, there will be a final round between two Samurai to determine the victor.
Here is the Abbreviated Sequence of Play:
- Determine the Initiative Player and the Number of Action Impulses for the Turn
- Conduct the Movement Impulses
- Resolve Combat
- Determine Control of Regions
- Recruit Troops and bring new Samurai into play
- Adjust the Score
Extended Example of Play
We'll be doing an example of a common move at the start of play.
At the beginning of the game, the Northern Court has the advantage of interior lines centered around Tokai but has two strong Southern Court forces on opposite sides of him. He has enough strength to take on one force, but not both. In this example, the Northern Court heads north to deal a decisive blow to the forces of Kitabatake's Southern Court army.
Here is the map at the start of the example (which is mostly the beginning of the game setup in the north).
5 Phase 1
Determine the Initiative Player, the Initiative Number, and the Number of Action Impulses for the Turn
Each player rolls one die.
The player with the higher roll is the initiative player for the rest of the turn and his unfortunate foe is the non-initiative player. Remember the lower die roll because you will use it in a moment to determine the number of movement impulses. If the players rolled the same, the initiative player from the last turn wins the tie. The Southern Court wins tied initiative rolls on turn one.
Place the Initiative marker, winning side up, on the Initiative track with the turn's initiative number.
The initiative player now takes the losing die roll (if the roll was a tie, use either number) and adds one. The result is the number of movement impulses for the initiative player this turn, while the non-initiative player gets one less action impulse. For example, if the lower die roll was 3, then the initiative player would get 4 action impulses and the non-initiative player would get 3 action impulses.
Extended Example of Play (continued): At the start of the game you need to know which player has the initiative and the initiative number. So each player rolls a die and in this case, the Northern Court player rolls a 5 and the Southern Court player rolls a 3. So the Northern Court player has the initiative (rolled the higher number) and the initiative number for the turn is 4 (lowest roll plus 1).
6 Phase 2
Conduct the Movement Impulses
The players now alternate movement impulses until all movement impulses are used. The initiative player goes first. Use a spare die to track this by flipping the die over after each movement impulse. After all the movement impulses are over, move on to the next phase.
A player can do one of two things as his movement impulse:
- Move one or more Samurai
- Pass
6.1 Moving Samurai
A player may use a movement impulse to perform one of the following Samurai moves:
a) Move up to four Samurai from the same region to an adjacent region if moving along a road.
b) Move up to two Samurai from the same region to an adjacent region across a clear border or by sea connection.
No Samurai may move across an obstructed border (bold red border).
There is one major restriction on moving Samurai (the Flypaper Rule):
- A Samurai may not move away from a region if the number of enemy Samurai in the region is equal to or greater than the number of friendly Samurai in the region. An enemy control marker counts as an enemy Samurai and a friendly control marker counts as a friendly Samurai. If you are able to move away from a region, some, any or all Samurai may leave the region (you don't need to leave any Samurai behind to match the enemy's total in the region).
And four reminders on moving Samurai:
- A Samurai always moves with any troops he commands.
- A Samurai may never pick up or drop off troops, nor may he transfer them to another Samurai.
- Each individual Samurai may only move once per movement impulse.
- A border may only be used once per movement impulse to move across. After it has been crossed, no Samurai force, friendly or enemy, may cross that border for the remainder of the movement impulse.
Extended Example of Play (continued): This is the completion of the first movement phase. Often the trick to winning in this system is to not rush. Here the Northern Court player is moving forces north but carefully not engaging the Southern Court player yet on unfavorable terms. The Northern Player has to let the South come to him.
Here are the moves:
- Northern Court moves first and moves Ko no Moronao and Ko no Moroyasu to Tosan. The Northern Court player will want Moroyasu to be his commander in the upcoming battle and is moving him into position to move to North Kanto for the great battle to come. This closes off the border between Tokai and Tosan for the remainder of the turn. Since this is a "regular" border, he can only move two Samurai over the border.
- Next the Southern Court player moves Kitabatake Akiie and Kitabatake Chikafusa from O to North Kanto. Again this closes this border and two is the maximum number of Samurai that can move over this border. He leaves Yuki behind to convert the region to his control at the end of the turn.
- Next the Northern Court moves Ashikaga Takauji from South Kanto to Tokai to prevent this leader from commanding a battle against the very tough Kitabatake Akiie next turn. Although up to 4 Samurai may use this border, only one still closes the border for any future movement.
We'll assume the remaining impulses are used elsewhere on the board.
6.2 Pass
A player may forfeit his movement impulse by passing.
Play note: Don't be afraid to pass - it's a valid game tactic.
7 Phase 3
Resolve Battles
A battle must occur in every region that contains Samurai of both sides.
Resolve battles one region at a time. The initiative player decides the order in which to resolve the battles, one battle at a time, i.e., he does not have to announce the order at the beginning - he can wait to see the result of a battle before announcing which will be next.
Play note: As a general overview, a battle is a die rolling contest where it is better to have more troops and a superior battle commander. All Samurai in a region (and their soldiers, of course) must participate in the battle. However, one battle commander is chosen from each side from among the highest-ranking Samurai. Although all Samurai and soldiers on a side participate, it is the battle commander's battle rating that determines how many dice his side can roll in a battle round.
We've added a "Great Battle" marker to the countermix to use to mark where a battle is occurring so you can move the forces off to the side to complete the battle.
Extended Example of Play (continued): We move to turn 2 and the great battle of North Kanto of 1335. After all moving has been done on turn 1, the Southern Court player successfully converted both North Kanto and O to his control. South Kanto is also now controlled by the Northern Court. During the recruitment phase of turn 1, both players recruited soldiers and after the additional soldiers have been added, during the leader recruitment phase, Satake Sadayoshi has joined forces with the Southern Court in North Kanto.
In the movement phase of turn 2, both players use their impulses to move into North Kanto for the great battle to start. We'll assume the Northern Court has the initiative once again.
Here are the forces for both players in this North Kanto battle on turn 2:
- Southern Court: Kitabatake Akiie (with 4 soldiers), Yuki Munehiro (with 2 soldiers), Kitabatake Chikafusa (with 2 soldiers), Satake Sadayoshi (with no soldiers)
- Northern Court: Ko no Moroyasu (with 1 soldier), Ko no Moronao (with 2 soldiers), Shiba Ienega (with 2 soldiers), Uesugi Shigeyoshi (with 1 soldier)
Follow this sequence to resolve battle in a region:
Step 1 Betrayal
Each player may make one attempt to get enemy Samurai to join his side. The non-initiative player goes first (note that a Samurai that betrays the initiative player here may be in turn targeted for betrayal back to his original side immediately).
- Target a Samurai you are attempting to get to join your side
- Choose a Samurai that will attempt to talk him into betrayal
- Roll a die
- Subtract the number of stars of rank of the targeted Samurai from the number of stars of rank of the friendly chosen Samurai and if the die roll is equal to or less than this number, the targeted Samurai has betrayed.
Modifiers to this roll:
The rolling player may spend one Victory Point to reduce his roll by 1 (you must have victory points to spend, i.e., you must be positive on the Victory Points track).
If both the targeted and the friendly Samurai are in the same Court, reduce the roll by 1 (Neutral Samurai aren't applicable here).
3-Star Samurai may never be targeted for betrayal.
Should a Samurai betray, he and all his assigned soldiers immediately switch sides and join the Court that obtained the successful betrayal.
Extended Example of Play (continued): First up is betrayal and to see if either player can entice his enemy to join his side. The Southern Court (the non-initiative player) may try first. Kitabatake looks over the Northern Court forces and eyes Uesugi Shigeyoshi. He's the strongest one star general and would hurt the North the most. Attempting betrayal is comparing the ranks of the two Samurai and rolling the difference or less with a die. The Southern Court player needs to roll a 2 or less (3 stars - 1)... he rolls a 3. Uesugi will fight for the Northern Court. Note that if Uesugi had a blue stripe, the betrayal would have succeeded since he would have been of the same original Court as the side attempting to control him (3 stars - 1 but +1 is 3).
Now it is the Northern Court's attempt. Ko no Moroyasu looks over the Southern forces and chooses to try and get Yuki to join his just cause. He needs to roll a 1 (2 stars - 1 = 1)... and succeeds with a roll of 1. Yuki Munehiro and his 2 soldiers join the Northern Court.
Step 2 Determine the Battle Commander for Each Side
The non-initiative player names his battle commander, after which the initiative player chooses his battle commander. The highest-ranking Samurai (most stars) on a side is the battle commander. The owning player chooses his commander if there is a tie.
Extended Example of Play (continued): Now we determine who will lead the battle for each side. Looking over the Southern Court forces, there is one 3 star ranked leader, Kitabatake Akiie. Since he is the highest ranking leader, he must command the Southern Court forces. Over on the Northern Court side, there are two 2 star ranked leaders - so the North may choose. He'll pick Ko no Moroyasu to lead his forces into battle.
Step 3 Conduct a Round of Battle
The players must conduct at least one round of battle as follows:
a) Each player now figures out how many dice he can roll for this round of battle (battle dice). A player can roll a number of battle dice equal to the lesser of:
i. his battle commander's battle rating; and
ii. the number of soldier strength points the player has in the region. (Make sure to count all Samurai and their soldiers - not just the battle commander and his soldiers. And remember that each Samurai counts as one soldier strength point!).
b) Now compare the bravery ratings of the two battle commanders. The player whose battle commander has the higher bravery value may add the difference between their ratings as a modifier to all of his battle die rolls in step (c). If the battle commanders have the same ratings, then neither side gets a die roll modifier.
c) Each player now rolls his dice.
If a player received a favorable die roll modifier in step (b), he now adds it to each of his die rolls. For example, if the difference between the bravery ratings was 1, then the player whose Samurai had the better bravery rating would add 1 to all of his die rolls. There is no modifier on the die roll of the battle commander with the lower bravery.
Every die roll of 6 or more is a battle hit. Results are applied simultaneously.
d) Each player must now remove a soldier strength point or Samurai of his choice for each battle hit he received, according to the following restrictions and priorities:
- A Samurai may not be removed until he has no soldiers left under his command.
- The battle commander must be removed last of all.
Place removed troop pieces aside for future use. Removed Samurai have their fate decided in the next step (step (e)).
e) Each player now rolls one die on the Samurai Loss Table for each of his Samurai removed in step (d).
Players modify this roll by subtracting the Samurai's rank (his number of stars) if and only if the Samurai is a member of that player's court. So, if you're the Northern Court player and are rolling on the Samurai Loss table with a Samurai that is red, you will reduce your roll by the Samurai's rank. If the Samurai is blue or gray, there is no modifier to the roll.
The possible results are:
- Rout: Place the Samurai in the Friendly Holding box of his home region. If the Samurai is an "N" Samurai, he is placed in the Friendly Holding box of the region he is currently in, or any adjacent region.
- Samurai Death and Succession: The Samurai has died. Check to see if the Samurai has a successor (a successor is a leader on the reverse side of the counter that hasn't entered play yet). If he does, roll immediately on the Samurai Loss Table for the fate of the Samurai replacement.
- Rout and Betrayal: Place the Samurai in the enemy Holding box of his home region. If the Samurai is an "N" Samurai, he is placed in the enemy Holding box of the region he is currently in, or any adjacent region.
- Immediate Betrayal: The Samurai immediately joins the opposing Court.
If an enemy 2-Star Samurai is rolling on this table, regardless of the result, the friendly player immediately gains 1 victory point.
If an enemy 3-Star Samurai is rolling on this table, regardless of the result, the friendly player immediately gains 2 victory points.
f) If all Samurai of one side (or both sides, however unlikely) have been removed, the battle in this region is over. If there is one or more Samurai of both sides left in the region, go on to step (g).
g) Beginning with the non-initiative player, either player may now elect to run away. If one player elects to run away, continue to follow this step. If neither player elects to run away, skip this step and go to step (h). A player who elects to run away must obey the following:
i. All friendly Samurai from the battle region must run away.
ii. All Samurai must run away to the same region.
iii. The Samurai may not run away to a region that contains enemy Samurai.
iv. The Samurai may not run away to a region that is enemy-controlled.
v. No more Samurai can run away across a border than could move across during a movement impulse (e.g., only two Samurai from the region could run away across a clear border).
vi. If there are more Samurai in the region than can legally run away, the player who controls them must now choose which will run away and which will stay. The Samurai that must stay all immediately betray the retreating player's side and join the non-retreating player's Court.
vii. Before the Samurai run away, the enemy may conduct a final battle round against them. Note that only those retreating are attacked; any betraying Samurai have already joined the enemy and may attack the fleeing Samurai as well. This is a normal round of battle, conducted exactly as in step 3, but with two terrible exceptions:
- the Samurai running away may not roll any battle dice; and
- their enemies add an additional 1 to all battle die rolls.
- all other rules for a normal combat still apply
viii. Any Samurai that survived this far may now (finally!) run away.
ix. The battle in this region is over. Go on to the next battle, or, if this is the last battle, to the next phase.
h) Conduct another round of battle starting with step (a).
Extended Example of Play (continued): The battle has begun. Results are applied simultaneously but let's do the Southern attack first. There are a total of 9 factors on the Southern side (3 Samurai with a total of 6 soldiers under command). Kitabatake's command rating is 6 - so even though there are 10 total that may attack, only 6 dice are rolled. Comparing Kitabatake's bravery rating with the commander of the Northern Court we see they are equal at 3 each. So no modifier would apply there. If the Northern commander had a 1 bravery, for example, there would be a +2 added to each die roll in Kitabatake's attack (a 4-6 would be a hit). Since they are equal however, Kitabatake needs to roll sixes to hit the Northern Court forces.
Kitabatake rolls 6 dice and gets the following results: 2, 2, 4, 6, 5, 1. One total hit.
Now Ko no Moroyasu rolls. He has a total of 14 factors (5 Samurai commanding 9 soldiers) but since his command rating is 5, he only rolls 5 dice.
His results are: 1, 2, 5, 5, 2. No hits.
Results from the combat are now resolved and Ko no Moroyasu removes one soldier from Uesugi Shigeyoshi. He now has a total of 13 factors for the next round.
Kitabatake, as the non-initiative player, decides if he wants to retreat first. He sees the writing on the wall and would like to retreat but he can only retreat across one border and would like to go back to O. There is a regular border there so only two Samurai would be able to retreat - and the 1 left behind would just join the enemy side. He'll stay for now and battle at least one more round.
Ko no Moroyasu likes his odds. He's not going anywhere yet.
Next round sees the same exact number of dice rolled (since the number of factors under command still is greater than either commander's command value).
Kitabatake gets 2 hits this time and Ko no Moroyasu gets 1 hit.
Kitabatake wants to be able to retreat so he eliminates Satake Sadayoshi (allowed since he has no soldiers under his command that must be eliminated first) and since he is not a 2 star or more leader no victory points are awarded to the Northern Court. Satake must now roll on the Samurai Loss Table.
Satake rolls a 5 - note that if Satake had a blue stripe, this would modify to a 4. But 3 is rout and betrayal. Satake betrays his side and is now placed in the Northern Court holding box of North Kanto (his home region).
Kitabatake removes 2 soldiers from his force.
Now Kitabatake will retreat. Before he does, Ko no Moroyasu gets one last shot in - but this time, since Kitabatake is retreating, with an additional plus 1 to his roll. He rolls 5 dice and gets no 5s or 6s. Kitabatake gets away to fight another day.
8 Phase 4
Determine Control of Regions
Go over the whole map region by region to determine who controls each region. You need only check regions that contain one or more Samurai. For each region, first apply paragraph a), and then immediately apply paragraph b).
a) A controlled region becomes uncontrolled if it contains at least one Samurai from the opposing Court.
b) An uncontrolled region that contains a Samurai will become controlled by that Samurai's side if:
i. The region is not the Samurai's home region and the controlling player rolls one die that is equal to or less than the Samurai's rank (number of stars). If a player has more than one Samurai in the region he may choose which one to use for the die roll, but he may only make one die roll per region per turn.
ii. The region is the Samurai's home region.
Extended Example of Play (continued): North Kanto is Southern Court controlled but has Northern Samurai occupying the region - so the control will certainly come off now. No Samurai was from North Kanto so the Northern Court player would only gain control of the region if he rolled equal to or less than the highest ranked leader in the region. In this case, it would be a 2 or a 1. Thank goodness for Ko no Moroyasu. He rolls a 1.
9 Phase 5
Recruiting Soldiers and Samurai
a) Beginning with the Initiative player, each player must now raise new soldiers in the regions he controls. A controlled region automatically raises a number of troop strength points equal to the highest ranking Samurai in the region (so always either 1, 2 or 3 soldiers would be recruited in any one region). A player simply places a number of Soldier strength points equal to one Samurai's rank in that region.
Place newly recruited soldiers, one at a time, with the Samurai with the fewest soldiers under his command and continue dispersing soldiers with the Samurai with the fewest soldiers until there are none left. If the number of soldiers under a Samurai are equal, the owning player may choose which Samurai is given soldiers. Any excess soldiers that cannot be placed with a Samurai are eliminated.
b) After all soldiers have been recruited, the initiative player may bring Samurai in friendly holding boxes in friendly controlled regions into play. He may enter a number of Samurai (total) equal to the current initiative number. After the initiative player has entered all of his Samurai, the non-initiative player may do the same for a number of Samurai equal to the initiative number minus one. Either player may bring in as many Samurai as he wishes (he doesn't have to use his entire allowance of Samurai to bring in).
Both players must bring in Samurai from his own Court before any neutral or betrayed Samurai may enter in any one region.
Extended Example of Play (continued): Ko no Moroyasu, fresh from his great victory, now recruits in North Kanto. He may raise a total of 2 new soldiers (the highest rank in the region). He must add these to the Samurai with the fewest soldiers first - and continue to add to the Samurai with the fewest soldiers until two or more Samurai are even in the number of soldiers. Then he may choose which gets the force. Here he adds to Shiba Ienega (who had none after the battle) and one to Ko no Moroyasu (who had 1 - and no other Samurai had less than 1 after Shiba got his soldier).
The Northern Court now brings in his two leaders (assuming his initiative number was at least 2) in his Court's holding box - one great leader by the name of Mononoi Tadatsune and a lesser one, Uesugi Noriaki. Note that soldier recruitment happens before leaders enter - so neither of these fine gentlemen can have any soldiers attached to them just yet. Satake Yoshiatsu couldn't make it in the game as the Northern Court can only bring in as many leaders as the initiative number and there were better options elsewhere on the board.
10 Phase 6
Adjust the Score
Each player now scores his victory points for this turn as follows:
- Control of Kyo: 3 victory points
- Control of either South Kanto or North Kyushu: 2 victory points
- Control of any other region: 1 victory point
Note that rolling on the Samurai Loss Table can also add victory points during the Combat Phase.
The Victory Point Track goes from 0 to 10 points favoring one Court or the other. If you reach 10 victory points before this phase, no more victory points are awarded. During this phase, after both players determine their victory point total for control of regions, subtract the smaller number from the larger, and adjust the victory point total by the difference in favor of the player with the higher total. If either player has 10 points at the end of this phase, he immediately wins. Otherwise, continue play until the last turn of the game. At that time, the player with more points wins. If on the last turn the victory points are on the "0" space, proceed to the field of honor.
The Field of Honor
Both players choose their highest ranking Samurai in play (players may choose which Samurai if there is more than one at same rank) and a combat will occur between those two Samurai (and any Soldiers currently being led by that Samurai) to decide the fate of Japan. If the Samurai has a successor, he too must be eliminated to win. This is treated as a normal combat except that neither side may run away. The player that eliminates all of his opponent's forces is the winner. If both sides are eliminated at the end of a round of combat, the game is declared a draw.
11 Setting Up the Game
This information is also printed on the game map.
a) Both players decide which side they wish to play.
b) Both players roll dice to determine the Initiative for the turn, the Initiative number and which player has the initiative this turn. If the rolls are tied, the Southern Court has the initiative on the first turn. Place the Initiative marker in the correct numbered space for the current Initiative number.
c) The Southern Court sets up his pieces as follows:
- Kitabatake Akiie (with 3 soldiers under command), Yuki Munehiro (with 1 soldier under his command) and Kitabatake Chikafusa are placed in O.
- Nitta Yoshisada (with 4 soldiers under command), Wakiya Yoshisuke (with 2 soldiers under command) are placed in North Kinki.
- Kusunoki Masashige, Chigusa Tadaaki, Nawa Nagatoshi and Yuki Chikamitsu are placed in Kyo.
d) The Northern Court then sets up his pieces as follows:
- Ashikaga Takauji (with 3 soldiers under his command), Uesugi Shigeyoshi (with 1 soldier under his command), Shiba Ienaga (with 1 soldier under his command) are placed in South Kanto.
- Ashikaga Tadayoshi (with 3 soldiers under his command), Ko no Moronao (with 2 soldiers under his command), Ko no Moroyasu (with 1 soldier under his command) are placed in Tokai.
- Shiba Takatsune (with 1 soldier under his command) is placed in Hokuriku.
- Hosokawa Jozen (with 1 soldier under his command) is placed in Shikoku.
- Place all remaining Northern Court Samurai in their home region's Northern Court holding box.
e) Place all Neutral Samurai in a cup or mug for drawing randomly.
- The Northern Court then draws a number of Neutral Samurai equal to the initiative number.
- Starting with the Southern Court, each player draws one Neutral Samurai alternatively until none remain in the cup.
- The Southern Court player then examines his chosen Neutral Samurai and chooses 6 of them to be placed in North Kinki (each Samurai has 1 soldier under command).
- The Northern Court player then examines his chosen Neutral Samurai and chooses 7 of these to be placed in Tokai (each Samurai with 1 soldier under command).
- All remaining Neutral Samurai are placed in their home regions in the holding box of the Court that drew that Samurai.
f) Place the Victory Point Marker in the 0 space on the Victory Points Track.
g) Place the Game Turn Marker in the Spring 1335 space.
Extended Example of Play (concluded): Lastly there is the end of turn scoring for the game. In our battle, the Northern Court took a region worth 1 victory point. This would be added to his total across the entire board (which we'll just assume is 5). The Southern Court adds up his total and sees a total of 6 for his side. The victory point total would move 1 towards the Southern Court this turn. Summer 1335 is now ready to begin.
Samurai Guide
The final page of the rulebook is a Samurai Guide giving short historical biographies of the individual Samurai on the counters (Nitta Yoshisada, Kitabatake Akiie, Kusunoki Masashige, Ashikaga Takauji, Ko no Moronao, and so on). These are purely historical/flavor notes with no game rules and are omitted from this transcription.