I wanted to come up with a set of miniature rules for playing out 15mm battles between armies representing the Samurai Clans struggling for position with each other during the period of the 16th century (the Sengoku period, which is typically from the mid 15th century, through the end of the 16th), roughly ending with the battle of Sekigahara (Oct 21, 1600).
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| Detail from the Battle of Sekigahara |
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The name of the rules ("From the Sky we Came") comes from a line in a death poem written by Hôjô Ujimasa. Ujimasa died (was forced to commit suicide, along with his brother) in 1590, after losing Odowara castle to Toyetomi Hideyoshi. Ujimasa had been the head of the Hôjô clan, so upon losing his clan's castle to his clan's enemy, he was forced to commit sepuku. Before doing so, he wrote the following death poem:
Autumn wind of eve,
blow away the clouds that mass
over the moon's pure light
and the mists that cloud our mind,
do thou sweep away as well.
Now we disappear,
well, what must we think of it?
From the sky we came.
Now we may go back again.
That's at least one point of view.
- Hôjô Ujimasa
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| Odawara Castle |
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Below are the rules. Keep in mind these are a playtest level prototype, and there might be some interesting combinations resulting from using these. They do seem to be pretty playable. Pictures of the playtest are coming.
From the Sky we Came
Units and organization
Units are roughly of two types, Cavalry (3-4 stands per unit) and Infantry (6-8 stands per unit). On the table top, Cavalry is always represented either in column (one stand wide, for movement purposes), or in a single line (one stand deep, 3 or 4 stands in width). Infantry is also either in column (one stand wide), or in line (two stands deep, either 3 or 4 stands in width).
Units are organized by clan (roughly), with a Clan leader being in charge of from 3 to 8 units per clan. Each clan will have a Clan Leader, as a separate piece, distinct from the units. Each side, will have an overall commander, or Army General.
Unit Types
Units are split between mounted and infantry.
Mounted units may be either:
- Mounted Warrior Monks
- Mounted Samurai
Infantry may be either:
- Warrior Monks
- Samurai
- Ashigaru
- Peasants
Cavalry are considered to be armed with a mixture of pole arms (spear, lance), and swords.
Infantry must be marked as being armed with hand weapons (katana, nodachi), pole arms (yari, naginata, etc), arquebus, or bow.
Samurai infantry units may have two categories of weapons - such as hand weapons (swords) and bow.
Command and Bushi
Each command stand (either Clan leader or General) has a
Command rating. This is a rating of that leader's ability to command troops in battle. It will be an 8 for a Clan Leader, and a 9 for the General, but could be modified by a scenario or based on a historical battle.
Command is used by the command stand to (1) activate moves, (2) rally routing troops, (3) reform disordered troops.
Each unit has a
Bushi rating. This is a measure of the unit's general martial spirit and willingness to fight. In the game, it is used for a test to see if the unit will (1) close to contact in a charge, (2) stand up to a charge from the enemy, and (3) charge lesser units if ordered to do so. The first two tests (charge, and stand) are made against a unit's Bushi rating whenever a charge is ordered.
The third test must be made by a Samurai unit that is ordered either to stand, or to charge another unit, when an enemy Samurai unit is within charge distance. If the this test is made against bushi when the Samurai unit is activated to move, and the unit Passes the test, rather than do what is ordered, it will instead move (at charge speed) towards an enemy Samurai unit within charge distance.
Unit Bushi Rating
Samurai - 9
Warrior Monks - 8
Ashigaru - 7
Peasants - 6
Optional - When a unit is required to take its first Bushi Test, roll 1d6. If the result is a 1, then the unit has its Bushi modified down by one point, and if it is a 6, then it is modified up by one point. Keep track of this, as the unit will have to make tests against this Bushi value throughout the battle.
Turn Sequence
At the beginning of a turn, the two Generals will each roll 2d6 plus the number of Clans they still have under their control. The high roller will then activate his first clan.
Activating a clan is done by rolling against the Command target of the Clan Leader for that clan. If successful (by rolling equal to, or less than the Command number of that Clan Leader), then the player rolls two d6, and chooses the highest of the two dice.
That is the
number of actions he has for the units in his clan.
If a player misses the roll against his Clan Leader's Command number, then that Clan may not activate this round. It is now his opponent's opportunity to nominate a Clan Leader to roll for. This alternates back and forth, as long as both sides still have Clans to activate. Once only one side has Clans left to activate, he may (one at a time) seek to roll for them, but the Command number for those Clan Leaders is treated as one lower than normal (representing that it is harder to coordinate a larger army).
