Ancient Japan background for game

Last week I detailed the excellent, historically-themed miniature game SAGA, a game which focuses on the upper end of what I would call skirmish gaming with 25-30 minis a side.

This week I want to take readers a bit farther east, to the Far East actually, to the world of Japan in a time of stalwart samurai.

The game is Ronin.

"Ronin is set in the late 16th century near the end of the Sengoku Jidai or 'Age of Warring States' period, when feudal lords called Daimyos battled for control of Japan, fighting countless wars and skirmishes against each other. The Emperor of Japan had long been an impotent figurehead and true power was held by the Shogun, the greatest of the Daimyos.

"It was during this time the elite warriors known as Samurai reached the peak of their martial abilities. The constant warfare against other Samurai, warrior monks, bandits and pirates produced a class of warrior that was devoted to warfare. Even as Japan was slowly unified under first Oda Nobunaga and then Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Samurai armies were re-deployed to Korea in a long and untimely futile war of conquest against the Koreans and their Ming Chinese allies," details the rule book

Ronin is a game which focuses on small forces, usually 10, or less miniatures per side.

Printed by Osprey Publishing, Ronin is a ruleset which comes in a quick read book.

It does not have a dedicated miniature range, so like Pulp Alley reviewed here recently, you have to go through your collection to find appropriate minis to field on the battlefield.

The rule book does offer pre-generated faction groups, so that aspect of the game is looked after quite well. With several to pick from you can certainly find a group which match-up closely with whatever miniatures you have.

But if you want to sit down, read through the rules quickly, and get to the gaming table, you will like what author Craig Woodfield has managed with Ronin.

Woodfield said he had a simple inspiration for writing the Ronin ruleset, a desire to do a game from start to finish with his name attached.

"I've been playing miniature wargames for well over 20 years, and from an early stage I was interested in the development side of the hobby," he said. "After writing supplements for other people's rules (Crusader, Warhammer Historical and Warlord), I wanted to do my own set of rules.

"Osprey provided the perfect opportunity for this to happen, for which I am very grateful."

But why medieval Japan?

"I have a long standing interest and involvement in Japanese martial arts, as well as in Japanese history," offered Woodfield. "There are very few widely available samurai skirmish rules, so combined with my interest it seemed like a good idea."

Woodfield said in developing Ronin he drew on developments he had worked on over a number of years.

"Some of the mechanics and concepts I had been tinkering with for a few years, and were originally designed for a gladiator game," he explained. "For various reasons the gladiator concept didn't get up, but I had always intended to use the same concepts for samurai skirmish.

In terms of rules, Woodfield has included a number of scenarios, and mini games are often best driven by scenario play, so that is another plus for this tight little rule set.

Once the rules were fleshed out there was still much work to do before Ronin was ready for the general gaming world.

"Play-testing took about a year, though it was far from consistent and depended on my other work/life commitments," said Woodfield. "I was lucky that I had a couple of people who took an academic interest in the system and gave me some really good feedback and ideas.

"I was also revising and refining rules until the very last minute, which I know must have been pretty annoying for the editor."

As a designer Woodfield said there are some aspects of Ronin he is particularly pleased with.

Overall Ronin is a game I like, although I admit I am naturally drawn to anything ancient Japan. Beyond the general interest though Woodfield has created a pretty straightforward rule set that is easily picked up, and quick to get to the table.

Check out the game at www.ospreypublishing.com

If anyone is interested feel free to contact [email protected]