SHOGUN VARIANT:

Rule Changes and Additions

By Matt Whaley and Jonathan Vonk

GAME SETUP
1) Deal out the Province Cards
Shuffle the province cards and deal them out facedown to each player, according to the number of players in the
game:

5-player game: deal 7 cards to each player

4-player game: deal 11 cards to each player

3-player game: deal 16 cards to each player

Place the remaining province cards aside for now.

2) Claim Your Provinces

Each player places one spearman in each of his provinces on the gameboard.

3) Draw Swords
Players draw swords according the regular rules.

4) Claim Extra Provinces and Place Reinforcements

Each player takes 18 spearmen from his planning tray.
In the turn order according to sword numbers, each player places one spearman in any unoccupied province,
and takes the matching province cards from the extra cards. The player then places two more spearmen as
reinforcements in provinces already owned. Both spearmen may be placed in 1 province, or 1 spearman each in
2 provinces.
No province may contain more than three spearmen during this step. Each player will claim one new province and
add reinforcements in turn order, until each player has done so six times.
At the end of the step, the status of provinces owned and spearmen placed should be as shown in the chart
below.

NUMBER OF
PLAYERS

PROVINCES
OWNED
PER PLAYER

SPEARMEN
ON BOARD
PER PLAYER

SPEARMEN
LEFT IN TRAY
PER PLAYER

PROVINCES
STILL
UNOCCUPIED

13

25

11

17

29

22

34

5) Set up Your Army Card

Each player sets up his army card as follows:
A. Place one daimyo in each army. Place your three experience markers into the lowest hole (marked 1).
B. Distribute the following troops among the three armies:


5 Samurai bowmen

5 Samurai swordsmen

6 Ashigaru gunners
(No Ashigaru spearmen)

Each player may distribute his troops among his three armies as he wishes, as long as he stays within the legal
limits of each army.

6) Place your Army Markers

Now each player deploys his three army markers on the gameboard in turn order, one marker at a time, according to
the regular setup rules. Continue until all players have placed all three of their markers on the gameboard. Armies
may pick up spearmen from the provinces they occupy.
Once this step is in progress, no player is allowed to make changes on his army card.

ACTION SEQUENCES
Action 1: Plan
Players are not required to spend all of their koku during this phase. There will, however, be a penalty for saving.
Players will only be allowed to save 1 koku for every 2 koku not used. There is no limit to the amount of koku a
player may save.

Action 2: Take Swords

No changes were made to this phase.

Action 3: Build
No changes were made to this phase.

Action 4: Levy Units

No changes were made to this phase.

Action 5: Hire Ronin

How to Hire Ronin
To hire ronin, each player takes 2 ronin units out of the master tray for each koku he placed in his hire ronin bin, and
places them in front of him. All players do this together.

Running Out of Ronin: If there are not enough

ronin in the master tray for all players who need
them, players hire ronin based on who spent the most
koku. The player who spent the most hires ronin first,
followed by the player who spent the next highest
amount until the ronin are gone. Any players who are
not able to hire ronin lose their koku allocation.

RONIN REVOLT
RONIN TO
REGULAR
TROOPS

ROLL NEEDED
TO PREVENT
REVOLT

(PERCENTAGE UNDER
OR EQUAL TO)

(UNDER OR EQUAL TO)

100%

12

125%

11

150%

10

175%

200%

225%

250%

275%

300%

325%

350%

375%

400% +

WILL REVOLT

How to Deploy Your Ronin

After all players have hired ronin, they deploy them at
the same time. Ronin are deployed secretly by each
player as follows:
1. Decide into which province(s) you want to place
your ronin units, and then remove the matching
province card(s) from your pile. Place these card(s)
facedown in front of you.
2. Place the number of ronin you wish to deploy in
each province on top of the matching province card(s).
There are limitations to the number of ronin you may
have in each province before you risk a Ronin Revolt
(see below).
3. Write on a slip of paper whether the ronin are in a
provincial force or army (if applicable).

Ronin Revolt
You may hire as many ronin as you wish, but if you
hire more ronin than you have military units in the
army and/or provincial force they join, you risk a
Ronin Revolt. The die roll to determine if there is a
Ronin Revolt will occur when you Reveal Your Hidden
Ronin (explained below). To determine if your ronin
will revolt, use the chart on the side.

Note: Never count army markers, castle, or fortress bonus defense units (daimyos do count).
If a Ronin Revolt occurs, the player who hired the ronin must use all the units in the province to defend against the
revolt (army and provincial). The units will battle each other, using the same rules from Action 7- Phase B: Conduct
Combat, until the battle is resolved. If the Ronin Revolt is successful, the player loses the province, and the ronin
remain on the board until eliminated. If the player eliminates all the revolted ronin, they maintain control of the
province, but they will not be allowed to use any units in the province to attack, move, or occupy for that round.

When to Reveal Your Hidden Ronin

Reveal your ronin only when they are prepared to attack, defend, or move. You will roll the die at this time to
determine if a revolt has occurred. Units that have not done any of the above must roll to determine if there is a
Ronin Revolt in Action 8- Remove Ronin. If the ronin are not used, and they do not revolt, players are not required
to reveal their location.

Action 6: Hire Ninja

Rule Clarification: Once a battle marker is placed indicating an attack, an army is committed to that battle, even if

the daimyo is eliminated by the ninja. Players will be given the opportunity to work out the details of the attack even
if the Ninja strike occurs before they have done so in Action 7- Phase A: Declare All Battles. Ninja strikes will not
affect army and provincial force swapping.

Action 7: Wage War

There are three phases to the Wage War action:

A) Declare All Battles

B) Conduct Combat
C) Final Movement

Wage War In Turn Order: In the turn order indicated by his sword, each player completes the entire 3-phase
Wage War action, from A to C. The player with the 1-diamond sword wages war first; after he completes all three
phases, the player with the 2-diamond sword wages war; and so on.

Critical Concepts: An Overview

There are several critical concepts involved in various phases of the Wage War action: garrisons, daimyo experience,
army movement, provincial forces movement, and army and provincial force swapping. All are explained below.

Garrisons
Players are not required to leave any units behind as a garrison. They may leave a province empty at any time and
will retain ownership of the province until it is occupied by an enemy unit. When leaving the province empty, players
must leave behind a control marker to indicate ownership.

Daimyo Experience
Daimyo experience represents the knowledge and status a daimyo achieves with success in battle. A daimyos
experience is charted on your army card by its matching experience marker. Any provincial or army force engaged
in battle against an experienced daimyo will have its unit roll values negatively affected. This simulates the daimyos
effectiveness in battle. For a complete list of the roll values, see Wage War- Phase B: Conduct Combat.
How Does a Daimyo Gain Experience? A daimyo gains experience either by attacking and eliminating all enemy
forces in a province, or by repelling an attack from an enemy army. If a daimyo has made one or more successful
attacks or defenses, his experience will increase. A successful attack is one in which the daimyo eliminates all
the enemy forces in a province. A successful defense is one in which an enemy daimyo attacks and retreats or is
eliminated. The daimyo is not required to occupy the province to gain experience.

Point Increases:

1) If a daimyo attacks and eliminates an enemy provincial force, they increase one experience level.
2) If a daimyo attacks and eliminates an enemy army and provincial force (if applicable), they increase
two experience levels.
3) If a daimyo successfully defends against an attack from an enemy daimyo, they increase one
experience level.

These point increases are not cumulative, and players must choose only one of these point increases in Action 9:
Increase Daimyos Experience.

Army Movement
All armies can move up to two provinces and attack up to two provinces, in any order during Wage War. They can
only move up to two provinces during the entire Wage War Action, but the player may choose how to distribute
these moves amongst the phases (e.g. an army that moves once and attacks twice in Phase B, will still have one
movement point for Phase C).

Only one army marker may occupy a province at one time. An army can pass through a province occupied by
another one of your armies, or it can move into and remain in an army-occupied provinceas long as the other
occupying army is, in turn, moved out. When moving two armies in this way, players may never exchange units
between them. This can allow a player to declare multiple battles in Phase A that are dependent upon each other,
meaning an army will not be allowed to retreat and must be victorious in battle or die.

Provincial Forces Movement

Provincial forces may attack one province and move one province, only in that order during Wage War. The attack
must be declared in Phase A, and carried out in Phase B. The only movement that is possible for provincial forces
is in Phase C (except what is allowed in Army and Provincial Force Swapping).

Army and Provincial Force Swapping

Units can be exchanged between army and provincial forces in any of the three Wage War Phases. Some restrictions
will apply in these unit swaps, as outlined below.

Phase A:
-Army force to provincial force: A player may leave behind any units in the territory they occupy at
the start of the round (without violating the 5 unit provincial limit). These units will be treated the same
as a provincial force that has occupied the territory from the start of the turn.

-Provincial force to Army force: An army may pick up any provincial units in any territory they occupy at
the start of the round (without violating the army unit limits). The provincial forces must not have
moved or attacked before joining the army.

Phase B:
-Army force to provincial force: A player may leave behind any units in any province(s) they occupy in
Phase B (without violating the 5 unit provincial limit). These units will not be allowed to move once
they have been removed from the army.

Phase C:
-Army force to provincial force: A player may leave behind any units in any province(s) they occupy in
Phase C (without violating the 5 unit provincial limit). These units will not be allowed to move once
they have been removed from the army.

-Provincial force to Army force: An army may pick up any provincial units in any territory they occupy
in Phase B (without violating the army unit limits). The provincial forces must not have moved or
attacked before joining the army.

Note: This means it is not possible to occupy a province with forces that have been removed from
an army. The occupation must occur by a separate provincial force, or by the entire army.

-Provincial force to Army force: An army may pick up any provincial units in any territory they occupy
in Phase C (without violating the army unit limits). The provincial forces may have moved and/or
attacked before joining the army.

PHASE A: Declare All Battles

In Phase A, the player waging war must declare which provinces he plans to attack during Phase B: Conduct
Combat by indicating it on the board with battle markers. He must declare all battles, including any second battles
in which the army is planning on participating. An army must attempt all battles that are declared, unless they were
forced to retreat in the first battle.
There is no movement in this phase, other than what is allowed by the Army and Provincial Forces Swapping rules
(see above).

PHASE B: Conduct Combat

In Phase C, the attacking player must conduct combat against each declared enemy province. Empty provinces
are occupied in Phase C, unless they are a declared battle of an army with multiple moves.
The attacker conducts combat one battle at a time, in any order he chooses. Once an army has begun its first
attack, however, it must resolve all the attacks it has declared before moving on to fight other battles. All units in
the attacking army or provincial force must take part in the battle. The defender always defends with all units in the
defending province.
The combat sequence is on the right panel of the reference screen, and is accurate for the order of battle. The roll
values, however, are reflected in the chart below, and are dependent upon the enemy generals experience level.
All provincial forces are considered to have an experience level of 1.

UNIT ROLL VALUES

LONG-RANGE UNITS
ENEMY
GENERALS
EXPERIENCE
LEVEL

SHORT-RANGE UNITS

ARCHER

GUNNER

DIAMYO

SWORDSMAN/
RONIN

SPEARMAN

Battle Results:
A battle ends as soon as one (or more) of the following happens:

1) Defending units are eliminated

2) Attacking units are eliminated

3) The attacker calls off the battle
If an attacker calls of the battle, they must remain in the province from which they launched the attack, and cannot
move for the remainder of the turn, including moving units from army to provincial forces. They can still be reinforced
by provincial forces that comply with the rules in Army and Provincial Force Swapping.
Rule Change: Players are not required to remove temporary defenders given by a castle or a fortress first. They
may choose the order in which all units are pulled.
Note: Temporary bonus units for castles and fortresses do not take part in the first strike defense of a naval
invasion.

PHASE C: Final Movement

In Phase C, the attacking player can move any or all of his armies or provincial forces that still have movement
points remaining. They may also transfer any units between armies and provincial forces in accordance with the
rules in Army and Provincial Force Swapping. All occupations not previously carried out by an army on the move to
its second battle would occur during this Phase.

Action 8: Remove Ronin

Any ronin that did not attack, defend, or move must roll to determine if they will revolt (see Action 5- Hire Ronin:
Ronin Revolt). Any other ronin must be placed back in the master tray.

Action 9: Increase Diamyos Experience

All players may increase their daimyos experience level in this action (if applicable).
Remember: You may only increase the experience using one of the point increases methods described in Diamyo
Experience.
These experience increases will all be effective at the start of the next full round of play.

Action 10: Collect Koku

No changes were made to this phase

WINNING THE GAME

Be the first person to hold the following number of provinces at the end of a complete round, depending on the
number of players in the game:

5-player game: own 30 provinces to win

4-player game: own 35 provinces to win

3-player game: own 40 provinces to win

If a player is eliminated during the round of play, the provinces required to win the game are immediately increased
to the appropriate level.

This revision borrows from the text and concepts in the original Milton Bradley Samurai Swords rulebook. The
original rules are copyrighted and protected from distribution for profit. All alterations to the original content are for
personal use only and should not be reproduced or distributed for profit without written consent from both Milton
Bradley and the authors of this document.