Sengoku Jidai

This week saw us wheel out another old favourite. As all the regular tables at the club were already booked we were left with the small table in the library. Hence, I needed something that would work on a small table with multiple players. As Peter Pig games are usually designed for a 5 by 3 foot playing area something from this stable seemed ideal. Therefore, I blew the dust off my Samurai collection and put on a game using Peter Pig's 'Battles in the Age of War'.

Shockingly it seems that, although I bought these when they were first released in 2008, we have only had a couple of games so far. A pity really as they do give a really good game; essentially I think we're just spoilt for choice these days.

The rules are actually based on the Bloody Barons game engine, the Peter Pig Wars of the Roses rules, and we have played that game rather a lot.

On the day we mustered 6 players. Four of us had played quite a lot of Bloody Barons in the past and two players were completely new to the game. Although really designed as a 2 player game, we have found that Bloody Barons plays really well with up to three per side, with each player taking a battle or ward. The Samurai version also divides each side into three, this time termed clans, but also adds an overall commander. Thus I suspect the game would easily handle up to four players per side.

The concept of the overall commander, or Daimyo, is one I really like and adds much period flavour. For the most part the Daimyo does not take an active part in the battle but commands from a screened enclosure, the maku, by sending out messengers from his elite  messenger corps, the tsukai-ban. I have two of these screened enclosures, representing the headquarters of my Tokugawa and Takeda armies.

Takeda Shingen. Figures Peter Pig, Two Dragons and Naismith. Maku by Peter Pig

Tokugawa Ieyasu. Figures Two Dragons and Peter Pig. Maku curtains and platform Museum Miniatures

For the game, we dispensed with the pre-game and ignored the deployment restrictions; partly to accommodate the narrow table and partly for speed. 

The armies deploy. Takeda on the left, Tokugawa on the right.

Unfortunately, I became so engrossed in the game that I forgot to take many photos and I only recall the events on the Takeda right flank where I was commanding.

Tokugawa Left Flank

Tokugawa advance

Opposing Takeda mounted samurai

Takeda Charge

Takeda mounted Samurai make a breakthrough

The action far far away - the Takeda left flank

We ran out of time in the end, which with new players and a large game was only to be expected really. However, the game was very well received and all the players picked up the game mechanisms really quickly. The consensus seemed to be that everyone would happily play again, so I take that as a win. Let's hope it's not another 10 years before we play again!