15mm Samurai

Well two posts in 24hrs! Ha ha. This is a number of photos taken from my game on Sunday at our local gaming club, The Contemptible Little Wargames Club in North Shields, Newcastle Upon Tyne (Here's our website http://sites.google.com/site/contemptables/Home ). For a number of years one of our patrons has had two 15mm Samurai armies for the Sengoku period of Japan (at least I think it was, I'm not that well informed about the period) around AD1560 if I remember correctly. Steve had came up with his own set of rules as he felt that most sets available today do not capture the feel or look of the period effectively. He demoed previously with another member of the club and was due to play him again after the game had been amended with some playtest revisions. Unfortunately something came up (Fiasco in Leeds) and he was unable to play. So, I stepped up to the plate.

I had been very impressed with the demo steve had previously put together and had quite fancied a blast myself. The system seemed simple, effective and most importantly exciting! I had a basic understanding of the system after hearing about it from the previous session and whilst I stood around gawping at Steve's wonderfully painted figures, so I felt I could stumble through a game no problem.

We did not stumble however, the game is very fast and easy to pick up. It revolves around multiple dice throws based on the number of bases in a unit. I won't say too much at this point as this may yet be something that is developed and I don't want to give away too many secrets. The number of bases is important for morale, casualty and fighting prowess too. This keeps a nice visual reference for the effectiveness of your units and overall strategy. Ninjas play a key part in deployment and initial recce. They allow you to spot hidden enemy troops and of course perform assassination attempts. All of this is toned to the point where it does not interfere with the main focus of the game. The Battle.

I enjoyed the game so much that an order to peter pig is on it's way with the start of my new Hojo clan! I will give as many updates I can on the development of these rules and of course of my New CLAN HOJO SAMURAI army, as soon as I can. In meantime here are some pics.

Keep safe and Happy Gaming!

The Legend

Samurai from Uesugi Clan catch a unit of peasant after having destroyed a unit of Teppo.

Uesugi Kenshin attempts to emulate a praying mantis and tries to surround the approaching Takeda Samurai. Unfortunately this goes badly and the Household Samurai are devastated.

A better view of Uesugi's Trap.