The Art of War in Rokugan

The Rokugan art of war still follows certain properties which a Japanese feudal era Samurai would recognize. For any army, whatever the clan, certain absolutes should be understood. These principles can be understood through the terms Size, Balance, and Maneuver. Each element is important though some are easier to master than others. Also, certain game mechanics present opportunities, or gambits, which can be extremely effective. These are listed after the discussions of principles as are methods to deal with some of the more problematic gambits available.

Size is the easiest idea, though to a certain extent it is linked to Balance. Simply put you should strive to field a minimum of around one figure per thirty koku. The Unicorn Army which I posted contains 77 figures at 2000 points and 115 at 2500 points. Even if you exclude the command group from the count, it still maintains the minimum, and the Unicorn are the most expensive per figure army in the game. Look at the other posted armies and you will find that most easily fulfill this minimum. Though Jimmie Noyes Lions are cutting it quite close, he admits size is a weakness for them.

Balance is not quite as easy as size, since it deals with more factors. The first aspect of balance is the idea of maneuver elements. A maneuver element is a combat unit, not a command group nor a shugenga unit. Any army should try to have at least one maneuver element per 400 koku, round up if this leaves you less than five units. Again, most of the armies listed manage this with the notable exception of Jim Cowling’s Phoenix Denied Army which is designed around a very narrow gambit.

The next question is whether you should have a command group. The easy answer is yes, if this leaves you with five maneuver elements and costs no more than 15% of your koku. The hard answer is to ask you to examine your force and decide whether the advantages of a command group are worth the expense.

The remainder of your koku will be divided between troops, leaders, and magic. Precise ratios are a matter of taste and clan, but a firm minimum of 40% of your total koku should be spent on troops. This can be lower for Shadowlands if you consider ‘individual’ monsters as leaders instead of troops. Next, insure that at least 15% of your koku are spent on leaders separate from the command group. The remaining Koku can be divided between more troops, items, and magic. Magic, which includes magicians who are not leading combat units, yojimbo, and spell costs, should probably take no more than 25% of your koku unless you have a specific tactic in mind. Items should be no more than 10% of your total koku.

I am now going to shift from talking about percentages of your koku to percentages of the total figures you field. This is because the relative costs of units vary too much for a koku analysis to work well.

First is the question of archers; how many should you field? I would strongly caution against more than 25% of your force, since this would leave you almost helpless in close quarters. Yes, archers can inflict damage at range, but there are many defenses against this, and, except for very expensive units, the archers are quite weak in melee. This is especially true if you tend to place your archers in archers row. On the other hand, archers are useful in several situations, so you should probably have at least 10% of your force armed with ranged attacks.

Next, decide how many cavalry. This is trickier than the archer question, since the Unicorn are a primarily mounted force, but certainly no more than half of any army should be mounted. I know that this is very different from the CCG, but trust me, there are too many weaknesses for an all cavalry force. I recommend around 10% to 20% of your total force in cavalry unless you are playing Unicorn.

Finally, determine how many ‘special’ troops you are fielding. Special troops are those with specific battlefield duties which are not necessarily combat. These include Kaiu Engineers, Naga Ashamana, Scorpion Straw Targets and most Yojimbo. If their number exceeds 10% of your force, you can get into serious trouble.

I am not listing a separate ratio of elite house to unaligned bushi or ashigaru since this will probably be taken care of if you keep to the ideas in the section governing size. I will however advise you to compare house units with unaligned troops on a man per cost basis since you occasionally find house units, like the Dragon Medium Elite, which are extremely effective or the reverse, units which are overpriced for their apparent effectiveness.

Maneuver is the hardest concept to describe, but the most important for effective play. Though some may disagree, I prefer a game of movement, and maneuver becomes the center of my tactics. In every Clan War game which I have played, whether against a ‘mirror image’ force during a learning game or when faced by the superior numbers and quality of an opponent with a 20% koku edge (handicapping for the weaker player), I have triumphed through superior maneuver. This is why I emphasize the use of command groups in army construction, as they greatly increase an armies maneuverability.

Your use of maneuver during a Clan War game should emphasize attacking enemy units on the flank, limiting the effectiveness of enemy archery while enhancing your own, and forcing your opponent to commit his reserves too soon while maintaining you own until the critical point of the battle. The only way to master these techniques, particularly the timing on releasing reserves, is to play several games with well balanced forces. This means two forces which have no major advantage inherent in their composition with the opposition played in a competent manner.

Flanking is perhaps the easiest technique to master, but only because the others are even harder. The first consideration is the enemy deployment. If his troops are widely spread, concentrate on part of his forces while delaying the remainder. If his troops are bunched up, then try to place your units so one maneuver element can tie down two enemy units. This should free one or more of your other units to maneuver to the enemy flank. If this sounds like Sun Tzu ‘When the enemy is concentrated disperse, when dispersed concentrate’ then you have just about grasped the point. The point is to pay very close attention to the placement of units. You need two to three inches separation between your own units to maneuver effectively, but anything beyond nine inches, a safe distance for morale checks, is an open invitation to have a unit swamped by the enemy. Yet the exact distance which you should leave depends upon your forces, the enemy forces, and the particulars of terrain on the current battlefield. If you have reserves properly deployed, you can safely increase the separation of your forward elements and use the threat of your reserves to maintain the safety of your troops.

Another technique which deserves mention is refusing a flank. Historically this was used when an army suspected an enemy would try to attack one flank strongly, and consisted of having the units on one flank remain back in a defensive stance. Refusing both flanks was not done since it left the center very vulnerable to envelopment which would typically result in the entire army being destroyed. To refuse a flank in Clan War, keep the units of that flank in a staggered formation with each about four inches back of the next unit toward the center and otherwise with the flank clearance you would normally leave. This should allow you to remove a small portion of the units from the refused flank to strengthen your center or reserve. Placing an archer on the refused flank often serves the dual purpose of gaining better lines of fire and convincing the enemy not to push too hard or fast.

Archery is a topic which seems easy, place your archers forward and force the enemy to die in a recreation of Crecy or Agincourt, but is truly difficult to master. Remember what I said about terrain in the flanking section? Archery is even more susceptible to the slings and arrows of outrageous forests. Ow, I can’t believe I actually said that, but perhaps the massed archery battery fans will take note: a well placed forest can wreak havoc on an arrow heavy force. Another problem is the use of peasant levies to shield better units. Yes this is a cruel tactic, but a historically accurate one. Add a few more tricks, like shadow assassin’s smoke pots, and archery becomes much less useful.

To use archery effectively you need clear lines of fire and some protection from enemy archers. You can try to place a modest unit of Defenders of the Wall behind a 4” linear obstacle provided by Kaiu Engineers as Gabriel Hosterman suggests, but this ties them to a single location which is not likely to give them the best line of fire as the battle develops and insures that the only targets they face will be those chosen by the enemy. A better method is to place a few skirmishing archers on your flanks with, perhaps, a strong archer force in your center. Advance your melee units a two to four inches ahead of your archers, and around four inches aside to avoid blocking their fire zones. Target the enemy archers if possible, particularly if they have more archers than you.

Try to make your lead elements peasant levies, as an eight point peasant unit will stop a volley, or units with particularly strong defense against archers. Straw Targets, Otaku Medium Infantry, and units with magic defenses all fall into this category as can some skirmishers.

Another important point with archers is the archers row formation is not always useful. It ties your archers to a single spot so they cannot follow enemy movement. It also makes them more vulnerable to enemy engaging moves as they may have trouble leaving the formation for anything but a full retreat. A unit of eight archers can regularly inflict wounds on most units, so all that a unit of twenty four archers does is force your unit into archers row to fire effectively and eliminate the possibility of engaging three different units with your archery. Since one of the goals of your deployment and maneuvers with your troops should be to reduce the incidence of casualties to your archers, the extra resistance of large units to morale checks is somewhat moot.

When closing with archers, move a fast as you can and try to place your units off of the archers’ center. This will limit the number of front rank figures which can fire at a single unit at close range when the arc of fire becomes critical. This also limits the use of reactionary fire at your high priced units since the only legitimate target is the moving unit and any unfired bows are lost.

Once the front line is heavily engaged in melee, move archers to the flanks to harass broken enemy units and force them from the field. Only use archers for flank attacks if you have no better unit available, and even then engage only when the enemy is already engaged, otherwise fire a volley into their reserve.

When Archers, particularly skirmishers, are close to the enemy increase their initiative scores so they move last. If this is not possible, consider not moving the unit since once they make any move, even changing formation, they are vulnerable to enemy charges.

If your opponent has massed his archers then maneuver around them. Attack the other flank. Sweep behind a hill or forest. Anything except charge into the teeth of a concentrated kill zone. If you try that expect results similar to Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg.

Reserves are crucial to victory in Clan War. The proper deployment of reserves is the single most important factor in determining victory. It is also the hardest technique to explain or master. Essentially you need to commit your reserve at the critical point in the battle. Too soon, and it is blunted by part of the enemy reserve. Too late and the battle has already been decided. You also need to know whether your reserves are salvaging what they can from a lost field or breaking the enemy line for a pursuit.

Keep about a third of your melee units in reserve, your archers should be kept busy on the flanks firing at the enemy reserve and are usually too few and ineffective at close quarters to make good reserves. Naturally, Shahadet’s legion and the Doji House Guard are not considered archers in this case.

Generally, the best reserves are cavalry and elite units. I know that many players are tempted to use these early to get ‘their koku worth’ of the price paid for these expensive units. Yet this is the very reason that you should save them until they have maximum impact on the battle.

Reserves should be placed about six to nine inches behind the front units. Close enough to get into melee when needed, but far enough back to maneuver. If their modified morale check is greater than a three they should keep nine inches back to avoid being caught in a collapse precipitated by a single units morale failure. Shoring up a broken line is a defensive reserve action which pays big dividends. Broken units which withdraw behind advancing reserves have the opportunity to recover and return to the battle, but a turn or two of unchecked pursuit will typically rout a unit.

Pay attention to reserve formations and sizes. A unit of sixteen, twenty, or twenty-four men in a formation with a frontage of four can use a right or left turn and still be in a standard formation. Even if you are one short of these numbers, you will still be able to position the rear line to make turning one direction into standard formation possible. Also, a small unit frontage facilitates easy withdrawal of broken units between the gaps in your reserves.

While defensive reserve commitment may seem fairly straightforward, the offensive use of reserves is very tricky. If you want to attack with a reserve unit make sure you engage the enemy unit on the flank or rear and cover your unit from any enemy reserve which might try to flank them. If this sounds easy, wait and try it when you are facing a competent enemy on an actual game field.

These guidelines are just that guidelines. They represent my experience from over twenty years of ancient and Napoleonic miniatures wargaming, so don’t expect to become a master overnight. You need to practice moving units until you can ‘tell’ what needs to be done in a particular situation. You may even find that your temperament is not suited to maintaining a strong reserve. If so, develop your own methods for a lightning assault, but don’t be surprised if your defeats are as total as your victories.

Now for some easy stuff. Gambits, tricks of the trade, are tools within a system. They do not represent fundamental tactics, or even fundamental ideas expressed in game mechanics. Rather they are little quirks which can either enhance your enjoyment and prospects of victory or be abused and spoil everybody’s fun.

The Ginawa Gambit consists of using Ginawa any time you can. For fifty-six points he is the most cost effective leader in the game that I have found to date. It only costs seven extra to give him an oath of fealty and put him in charge of a clan unit with an honor requirement of one. Use his charge to good effect against enemy archers.

Rush to position consists of using a Bonsai Charge to reach a specific position by moving toward an enemy unit who happens to be along your unit’s extended line of advance. Yes, you become unformed, but this is no problem for skirmishers, and other units can reform if they end up far enough from enemy units. Particularly useful if an advantageous piece of terrain can be claimed early in the game.

Rush to contact uses the Bonsai Charge to attack an enemy unit. Put your unit into a four man front, if they are not in that formation already, and then you only have four men engaged. Sure you don’t get an attack that round, but the enemy is unlikely to inflict more than one or two wounds on your unit. This is especially useful against archers since it can deny them several rounds of fire which might otherwise devastate a unit. Remember that archers cannot melee attack if they use reactionary fire. further it allows you the choice which unit they can fire at since once you engage them they can no longer fire that turn. It is also handy against enemy Yari troops since they would get one round of first attacks anyway.

The peasant army consists of several units which cost eight koku. Each has four peasant levies. Yes, their morale is pathetic, and with no leader they will never accomplish maneuvers. But each unit you place at the start of army placement reveals a little more about your opponents intentions. They even beat straw targets and ratling conscripts for wounds soaked per koku spent. However you need to make sure they are well away from all other units since they will break, or even be destroyed, with little effort on your opponents part. Last, these are pretty useless units once the fighting really gets going, so don’t spend too much on them or count them for the limits discussed in Size or Balance.

The Illusory reserve costs only forty koku if you have a shugenga, but can fool an opponent for the entire game as long as it is screened from archery. This can be particularly nasty if you keep a strong reserve anyway and place a sixteen figure unit from your clan which is normally limited to twenty men. Confuse the issue with a different unit of similarly priced real troops who are twenty in number. This is because most enemy players who keep close count of koku values will realize you have an illusion somewhere and will probably assume that the twenty man unit is the illusion.

The obvious illusion consists of placing covering terrain with Mists to give cover to one of your archer units and using the enemies desire to rush forward and negate it to draw him out of position. This is one of the trickier Gambits to use to full effect as proper placement of the terrain is crucial.

The Magic Archer gambit is very well done in the Phoenix Denied Army. It represents the extreme use of archers supported by magic to achieve a total victory, and will either work very well, or not at all.

Toku’s Skirmish consists of having a unit which consists soley of Toku. I am told this is a legal unit since Toku is a personality. Place him behind another unit and after melee is joined rush him around the enemy flank to try and break their morale. Expect to lose Toku quickly, so decide if the 20 koku is worth the opportunity it represents. Last, remember you can only field two Toku and other characters tend to be too expensive for the expected return.

Toku’s Challenge requires two cards. Either Iaijutsu Duel or One Strike Duel and Kharmic Strike. Against Crabs and other high water nasties use Test of Might instead. You lose Toku. They lose Toshimoko, or Kisada, or some other big ugly. At a minimum that character will become very hesitant to hang around your other Toku.

She may be pretty in pink, but she’s murder in Unicorn Purple. Kachiko, Yogo Asami, and even Bayushi Goshiu all cost less to place in a non-Scorpion command group then they do to place them in a Scorpion army. Stock up on your blackmail cards because you’re going to need nine.

The charging, frenzied Crab Berserkers just activated the LION tattoo! Yes, you can hire Togashi Gaijutsu and add tattoos to any clan. It gets quite expensive, but some of the combinations can be lethal.

‘Pure’ killing machines can destroy powerful enemy units. Combining the card Strength of Purity with the spell Fires of Purity gives +2#S, +1 ATT and +5 DAM. This can combine with Biting Steel, Frenzy, Writ of the Sword, Charge, etc. to gain some truly devastating numbers. Shiba Tetsu can combine this (including the effects of the second sentence) with his own innate ability and a few cheap magicians to get 6#S, +8ATT, and +10DAM. Go Master Mirumoto Yukihara can use the Yari of Air while leading the Dragons Talons to get 4#S, +7ATT, and +11DAM without the need for the extra effects from the second sentence. Finally, Togashi Hoshi can reach 6#S again with huge ATT and DAM bonuses plus he gets two damage dice for every successful hit. Note that while the Kitsuki magistrates have an Honor requirement of 3, a leadership package does not count as a personality and thus cannot use either of the purity tricks. This particular gambit can be countered with Iaijutsu Duel or One Strike Duel since they will force a personality into a fight where all the affected ratings are ignored.

All the gambits before Toku’s Challenge are reasonable, believable adaptations of single abilities or units. Starting with Toku, the ‘cheese’ factor increases to the point that Gaijutsu and the purity option can dominate a game. Although legal options, you should consider restricting their use to tournament and tournament preparation games.

Some gamers prefer very large, powerful units with the best leaders possible. An example listed by Bill Green is Doji Hoturi leading the Daidoji Iron Warriors. This unit gives strength in two ways. First, the Iron Warriors can expect to break a lot of units with their initial charge, particularly if you pump up Hoturi with Strength and Fires of Purity. Second, Hoturi, particularly if equipped with the Star of Laramun is a savage duelist who will quickly decimate your leaders. Approach a unit of this sort with your units in a four man front and try to trick the enemy into charging. No matter which particular unit is attacked, go to full retreat. This will force the iron warriors to advance into the middle of your units, since once an engagement has been declared the attacker must attempt to reach the enemy, while simultaneously making them unformed. Now, press multiple attacks against their rear and flank possibly breaking them, and use the penalties they suffer for being flanked and unformed to inflict heavy casualties. Even though Hoturi may duel one of your unit leaders, he cannot kill them all at once. If they don’t charge, send a unit to engage the extreme end of the Iron warriors front line. Since the unit costs well over 500 koku, your opponent won’t be able to field many units, and this will allow you an edge in total units allowing you easy access to the numbers required to swamp the super-unit, again breaking or routing it in the first few rounds.

The same methods work reasonably well against large creatures, though archers can also target them more easily.

Duelists represent a particular problem. Particularly those who have the innate ability to challenge enemy leaders and dishonor them. Use Ginawa leading light infantry, he can be dishonored and still lead them. Save your Another Day and Superior Tactics cards to negate their card based duels since these cannot be refused. This will take much of the sting out of enemy dueling armies, though duelists will still retain certain uses they will not single-handedly determine the outcome of the game.

The last problem army is the all light infantry and ashigaru archer army led by nikutai and gunso. Though the enemy will have an enormous number of figures on the table, his morale will be very brittle. Keep your units close enough to prevent an easy encirclement and use his unwieldy nature against him. He can only bring a few units to bear at any point, and your skirmishers will slow any attempt at long encircling moves. At long ranges, target the enemy archers, but closer and break their infantry. Remember that breaking a unit will force morale checks on neighboring units and a routed unit can sweep across his line with devastating effect. Once you realize that his army, despite its overwhelming numbers, can be beaten, you will find this is an easy force to defeat.

Charles Stucker