Wednesday 23 May 2018

"First Clash" a Test of Honour playthrough

Two young samurai from rival clans have met by chance on the road. Each intended to stop for rest and to pray at a small roadside shrine, but having arrived at the same time neither is willing to back down and make way for the other.
Heated words are exchanged, families insulted, and soon swords are unsheathed.
The only honourable course is to strike down the upstart who has disparaged your good name.

The above is the introduction to the introductory scenario in the "Battle Guide".
Designed for 'Head to Head' play, the rules call for a coin toss to decide who deploys (and subsequently acts) first - I replaced this with a dice roll for solo play........
Saito Yoshihito barked brief orders to the ashigaru retainers before donning his face mask prior to battle. One of the two bowmen was sent to use cover out on the right flank, while he and the rest of  the group occupied the road.
Meanwhile, Murayama Tanjiro ushered his own retinue into line to face their opponents.
This battle will end as soon as one of the samurai is cut down. The retinue whose samurai remains will be the victor.

Turn One: Yoshihito draws the first token - "samurai"! He assigns this to himself ,
and makes a 'cautious' (half speed and allowing a free reaction to any attack) advance along the road.
 Tanjiro draws the next action token, which is also "samurai",
and moves to the left flank in search of the bowman he saw taking cover there.
Yoshihito draws the first "Fate" token (there are three mixed in with the Action Tokens, and when the third is drawn the turn ends), so the Mori clan can do nothing and it's Tanjiro's draw phase again.
A "Commoner" token is drawn and allocated to one of the Takeda clan ashigaru bowmen,
who has a clear shot at the samurai who has insulted his clan's honour and now foolishly approaches along the road!
When the shot is taken, the arrow flies wide of its mark however.
All actions in the game test for 'successes' and need 3 "swords" - the archer has only scored 2 swords (on the right-hand dice) with this roll. The other dice show a blank "miss" and an X  "miss" (If there are more X's than swords, the roll is an automatic "miss" even if 3 or more swords were rolled!)
Once the ill-aimed arrow had whistled past, Yoshihito drew the next token and assigned the "Commoner" action to his own bowman out on the flank,
who makes a half distance move (so he can still shoot), and takes aim at one of the opposing dogs who dared take a shot at his master!
He rolls 4 "swords" and the shot is on target!
The bowman must shoot at his nearest target unless he first takes and passes a "test of wits" - in this instance, the spearmen are obscured by cover, so the offending bowman is the target and since he has taken his action for this turn, he cannot attempt to 'dodge' the shot.
The Mori clan bowman now rolls for damage,
only 1 "sword" (a 'fail'), so the target only receives a "Light Wound"
As his companion lets out a yell of pain, the second Takeda bowman has been assigned the next "Commoner" action token drawn by Tanjiro,
and attempts to seize victory by taking a shot at the approaching samurai.....
Missing his target dismally - the fool next to him hopping around attempting to remove an arrow from his thigh probably didn't help his aim!
Yoshihito ignores the wayward arrow and draws the next action token - a second "Fate" token,
so the draw immediately passes back to Tanjiro,
who draws the third "Fate" token, ending the first turn.
The three Fate tokens and all previously drawn and allocated Action tokens are returned to the pool and whoever drew the 3rd Fate token gets to draw first next turn.
Turn Two: Tanjiro draws a "samurai" Action Token,
and makes his way cautiously along the treeline towards the enemy bowman.
Yoshihito also draws a "samurai" token,
and moves towards his foe.
Tanjiro draws again and seizes his chance having drawn a second "samurai" action token,
and charges his enemy!
Using the Action Token to charge into contact with the enemy also allows the charging character to attempt a 'strike' as part of that action.
Tanjiro launches a well aimed cut at his opponent
The strike is a success, so Yoshihito must attempt to block it.
A "samurai" Action Token is removed from the pool and allocated to his card because he's taking this action, and he takes a "Test of Agility" to try and block/avoid the strike.
Yoshihihito's reflexes were fast enough for him to avoid the deadly attack, and his opponent had no option but to step back!
If the attack caused no damage, the attacker is forced back 1 inch.
It's the Mori clan to draw next, and it's a "commoner" token, which is immediately assigned to the bowman nearest the melee and he moves into position for a clear shot
but narrowly misses his target!
Tanjiro now realises that he's isolated and hopes for a favourable draw - but it's a "Fate" token!
The smile behind Yoshihitoh's polished face mask slips as he also pulls a "Fate" token from the bag,
and the initiative slips away to the enemy.
Relieved, the Takeda draws another token - "commoner", 
and advances the ashigaru spearmen.
Seeing the spearmen advance, Yoshihito knows the balance could swing against him as he draws the next token, and his smile returns when he sees that it's a "samurai" - his third and final 'action' for this turn!
and he immediately counter-attacks his foe!
He makes his "Strike" roll, three "swords and his blow is on target,
and forces Tanjiro to take an action token from the bag and attempt to block the attack -
Two "swords"!!
  - he fails to block, and the sword cuts home as Yoshihito rolls his "Test of Strength" to damage his opponent.  The test is passed with four "swords"
 and Tanjiro is cut down!
When a warrior is "Cut Down", he may not actually be dead, but he is certainly too seriously wounded to take any further part in the battle.
The fight is over as his opponent lays bleeding on the ground. Yoshihito signals to the Takeda ashigaru to carry off their fallen leader, before heading for the Shinto shrine, where he will give thanks for his victory this day and the maintenance of his honour.
(While Tanjiro swears revenge while he is carried unceremoniously from the field!) 

So, after quite a long wait, I have my first game and first impressions - I like it!
The game mechanics are well suited to solo play, I didn't even really need to replace the "coin toss", I could have assigned 'heads to red and tails to blue', but rolling red and blue dice saved me having to remember anything.
The scenarios in the "Battle Guide" are designed to be played in order, with consequences for the victor and loser of each game. They also appear to increase the battles in size and introduce more advanced rules (I've avoided 'reading ahead' so as not to spoil any surprises), and I intend playing through all six before 'freelancing' my own games.

Sorry if this AAR has been a bit "rules heavy" - I've only done it this way since it's my initial post. From here on, I'll only explain any 'new' rules as I encounter them, and the battle reports will concentrate more on the "narrative" that the game generates.

Congratulations if you managed to read through the whole thing, and many thanks for doing so.
Your comments and any queries are most welcome.
"Ja Matane"   (See you later)

 

29 comments:

  1. What are you doing, Wargame Addict!?! I'm supposed to be tempting you currently with my "Burrows & Badgers" postings, and you go and tempt me with this genre!! Curses!!

    Terrific posting, and really well explained/written. Loved it. Hopefully you've got another ready for tomorrow? ;-)

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    1. Thanks Simon, but you should be blaming John (Vagabond) for the temptation - this COULD have been a Viking AAR if it wasn't for his samurai batrep a while ago ;-)

      Sadly I can't play the next scenario until I've assembled three buildings :-(

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  2. Thanks Greg as an insight to rules are always welcome & make it easier to follow whats happening when you post other AAR's using the rule set.

    From the eye pleasing point of view everything looked wonderful :)

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    1. Many thanks Frank :-)
      "Special dice" have always put me off rules in the past, but these really work well in Test of Honour which is very much a 'rules light' system.

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  3. Most excellent, Greg. For a first posting I'm glad you decided to go "rules heavy" and explain the rules and what the dice rolls mean. Much appreciated, especially as I don't have the game... but you sure are tempting me! If I didn't have so many other projects on the go I'd definitely invest heavily in this game. More please!

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    1. Thanks Bryan, I've been looking forward to giving the rules a spin since I bought into the game in March - though it WAS with a little trepidation after time!
      The intro scenario runs through MOST of the main rules, and there's only a few to cover in the coming games, so please stay tuned :-)

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  4. That seemed to go very well for a first game with new rules, speaks well for them. Your tight photos show the scenery off to best effect and look very atmospheric, excellent.
    I like the idea of six scenario's introducing new rules and developing the storyline as Blax said next one tomorrow?

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    1. First off, I really need to thank you again John for getting me back into samurai gaming - if you hadn't posted your AAR when you did (just as I was trying to decide between Vikings, Samurai and Napoleonics)

      The rules are VERY straight forward (and available as a free download from Warlord Games), but I'd recommend downloading the FAQ as there are a few typos which could cause a bit of head scratching - it seems 'proof reading' is a lost art :-(

      I've read some bad reports about the game, but they all stem from problems encountered in "competitive" situations. I can't see any issues for those of us who prefer "narrative" style games - though of course, it's early days yet, and I'll reserve final judgement until I've got some more games under my belt.

      Just starting on the terrain for the next scenario, and I won't waste time posting about it, as soon as it's done it'll be on the table and appear in the AAR (ASAP) TTFN ETC ;-)

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    2. I'm also not keen on special dice, especially as they cost so much, but your enthusiasm is making me pause a little.

      Just after a bit of advice, the insulation foam, did you glue it and if so what glue. I've made my observation balloon and used PVA to glue three fins in place and it's not working. It may be because I sanded the surface and it was still a bit dusty or it may be the wrong glue!
      What do you think.

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    3. The ToH dice COULD be substituted with regular D6, but then you'd need to remember (or have a reference chart) which numbers represent 1 sword, 2 swords, blank and X. There's also blank D6's available, so you could make your own.
      Obviously a set of (white) dice comes with the core game, and I splashed out on a second (red) set just so I could assign different colours to the two sides in a game - I was making the most of my 10% discount at the time ;-)

      I carved the outcrop from a single piece of foam, so the only gluing I did was to fix it to a base - PVA was fine for this because of the area and the fact it was sitting flat.
      For foam, card and MDF modelling I use Wilko's "Interior PVA Wood Glue". It's just as it says on the bottle - "High strength and fast drying".

      What you COULD try, would be to give the foam 'ballon' an overall coat of PVA to seal the surface, then you can attach the fins with superglue.
      Another alternative - if you haven't already, re-shape the fins (or modify them with wire "struts") so that they effectively have "pins" which you can insert into the foam for strength?

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    4. Cheers mate.i did pin them with tooth picks, but I think you are right and maybe I need to remove them and coat the body with PVA before reapplying.
      I'll see how they are in the morning because I'm hoping for rain, all this good weather means I'm catching up with jobs outside and not having hobby time.
      Cheers

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    5. John you can also use no more nails for sticking bits to the foam core, using a form of pin is a definite must

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    6. Dave thanks for your advice, this morning they were stuck together but the problem was my poor mating surfaces, I'd just not made a good job of getting a flush joint the PVA had eventually stuck but I had big gaps in the join. All filled now and three coats of PVA to try and smooth and harden the surface. I won't win any awards but I've saved £40:00 on a 3d print, so it's all good.

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  5. Great AAR Greg, this looks a great game, the game mechanic seems easy to follow, look forward to reading the other scenarios as you play them

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    1. Cheers Dave, I'd describe the key game mechanic as a "goal system" - anything you want to DO requires three successes ('swords' on the dice), and the better you are at DOING something means you roll MORE dice when you attempt to do it.

      Drawing the activation and 'fate' tokens works BRILLIANTLY for solo play btw :-)

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  6. Now I had decided this wasn't for me, but reading this has certainly piqued my curiosity.

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    1. As soon as I saw the "special dice" when the game was released, I decided it wasn't for me Michael ;-)

      I was convinced that the Test of Honour system was just going to provide a source of minis and terrain that I'd use with any one of several other sets of rules I own......... Oops! :-)

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  7. Ah excellent! I do love the look of the game and obviously love the theme/genre. Thanks Greg for this, I’m looking forward to seeing more

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    1. Cheers Andy, I thought this would be up your street (but we've not seen much of your Bushido recently - understandably) and I'm glad it gets the dGG seal of approval :-)

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  8. Excellent! I am sorely tempted by monks for this game. The Metal figures they have done are fabulous. Immensely enjoyable read look forward to more!

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    1. Many thanks Simon - rest assured there WILL be monks
      and Ronin, and bandits, and Onna-bugeisha to come :-)

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  9. Great aar and good explanation of the rules, which I feel is pften needed for newcomers to a specfic rule set.
    There are a couple of things that do put me off rules generally - character cards, special dice, multiple counters and games that generally on't scale up well. (I can't imagine one of these games with two or three players a side, with a dozen figures each - but I am willing to be convinced otherwise!

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  10. Thanks Joe, I actually think that the game WOULD scale up pretty well due to "fast play" nature of the mechanics. Of course, I don't ever envisage trying that myself unless I can sweet talk our 'social group' to ditch D&D for an evening ;-)
    (and if they DO, I'll let you know how it goes)

    Other than that, if you add to your list "rules released to breathe life into an old range of miniatures acquired by the company", you have ALL of the reasons why I was initially dubious about Test of Honour when it was released ;-)
    It took a lot of time on the interweb to convince me it was worth 'giving it a go' (and even then, I've made sure I have other sets of rules for the genre to hand "just in case")
    Early days yet, with just the one game under my belt, but I'm pleased (and relieved) so far :-)

    Oh, as for the figure count, it increases as the supplied introductory scenarios progress, so please stay tuned to see how that goes :-)

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    1. Good to know it scales up well and is fast. I have been trying to find a set of 'Samurai' rules for decades and yet to find one that I like. I await with growing interest of further scenarios.
      If I could get my Warhammering friends away from their Orc, goblins et al, I would have a dozen or so opponents!

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  11. A VERY nice post, and an excellent AAR. Describes the game extremely well, and lovely table set up by the way :)

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    1. Many thanks Hils - and please pass on my thanks to Steve, since it was his enthusiastic write up on TGC that helped make my mind up to give the rules a try :-)

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    2. oooh that's sweet: bless, I will tell him, and thank you. He`s really not about on the blogs much at the moment as his spare hobby time tends mostly to be devoted to working away on the new D&D campaign he`s creating: but I know he still loves to play of ToH a lot, and in fact he has added a lot of it (in the form of the minitures and the terrain) into our rpg and table top skirmish D&D games.. for use at Chult and "Tomb of Anihilation"

      Your own Test of Honour really is very lovely, beautifully rendered, and a delight on the eyes. I love your reading style too :-)

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  12. Most intriguing! Samurai are probably at the top of my "like, but mustn't get involved/sidetracked" list. Posts like this don't entirely help my resolve :-) ...

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    1. Sorry Hugh, but at the same time I'd LOVE to see the paintjob you've do on a couple of samurai characters! :-)

      The worrying thing I've noticed, is that this is yet ANOTHER "civil war" genre I've chosen!!
      I wonder what the psychologist would make of that?! ;-)

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