Warfare in the “Age of battles”

Rules based on Games Worksop© “Lord of The Rings” game system



The samurai (or bushi) were the members of the military class, the Japanese warriors. Samurai
employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns; but their most famous
weapon and their symbol was the sword. Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the
ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). Strongly Confucian in nature, Bushido stressed
concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior. After a
defeat, some samurai chose to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) by cutting their abdomen rather than
being captured or dying a dishonorable death.

DAIMYO – (Samurai Lord) Points value: 110

F S D A W C Budo: 3
Daimyo 7/3+ 4 6 3 3 6 Ki: 2
Karma: 2

The samurai lord or daimyo is the head of a samurai clan. You may only
have one daimyo in your force who will lead you army to battle.

WARGEAR
The base profile for a daimyo warrior includes a katana and wakisashi.
The daimyo can be given additional items at the following cost:

Naginata 5 pts
No-Dachi 5 pts
A daimyo may command up to Yari 5 pts
a number of Hatamoto or Dai-kyu 5 pts
samurai warriors equal to twice Light Samurai armour (+1D) 5 pts
his Courage value. Heavy Samurai armour (+2D) 10 pts
Horse 10 pts

Samurai Weapons

Katana (sword) – main weapon of the samurai.

The model gains +1S if using with two hands.

Wakisashi (short sword) – hand weapon, seldom used.

Yari (spear) – can support another model and also ‘shield’.

If used on horse back a yari counts as a lance.

Naginata (pole arm) – can be used as a two-handed weapon

or hand weapon.

No-dachi (2-handed sword) – two-handed weapon.

Dai-kyu (long bow) – range 24” S3, can move up to half and shoot.

Teppo (Arquebus ) – cannot move and shoot, range 18” S4

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 HATAMOTO ( Captain) Points value: 60
F S D A W C Budo: 2
Hatamoto 6/3+ 4 5 2 2 5 Ki: 1
Karma: 1

WARGEAR
The base profile for a hatamoto includes a katana and wakisashi.
Hatamoto can be given additional items at the following cost:

Naginata 5 pts
No-Dachi 5 pts
Yari 5 pts
Dai-kyu 5 pts
A hatamoto may command up Light Samurai armour (+1D) 5 pts
to a number of samurai or Heavy Samurai armour (+2D) 10 pts
ashigaru warriors equal to Horse 10 pts
twice his Courage value.
SPECIAL RULE
Bodyguard. As long as your daimyo is within 12”, the hatamoto will
automatically pass all Courage tests they have to take.

HEROES
In times of war, great deeds of valour are shown by many a samurai. Some of these warriors go beyond that –
they are Heroes.
You may select one hatamoto to be a hero. This hero can be given heroic skills at a cost of 25 pts each, once the
skills have been paid for, roll one dice per ability to see which skills the samurai gains. A hero also gains 1
Budo, Ki or Karma point for each heroic skill.

1 Expert Archer. The hero ignores any ‘in the way’ rolls.
2 Weapon Master. The heroes Fight value is increased by 1.
3 Dual Armed. This hero fights with both his katana and wakisashi giving him +1 Attack.
4 Whirlwind. The hero can spin his weapon at incredible speeds, any arrow or dart fired at the hero
or another model with the hero in the way, needs a 6 to hit.
5 Death Strike. The accuracy of this hero is unparalleled and can find the weakness in an opponents
defence or armour. Re-roll one failed ‘to wound’ roll once per Fight or shot.
6 Counter Strike. Once per Fight the hero may re-roll one dice to win the fight.

Some heroes go on even further with their courage and fighting skills – these become mighty heroes. A mighty
hero ability costs 50 pts, again, roll 1 dice to see which skill the hero has achieved.

1 Mighty Hero. The hero can make one Heroic Action per turn without expending any Might.
2 Defence Master. It is said that no blade can harm the hero. This hero has D10 when in a Fight.
3 Fated. Once per turn this hero can roll a Fate dice without expending a Fate point.
4 Sword Master. When fighting with a katana this hero’s Fight value is 10 and has +1 Attack.
5 Bow Master. The hero can shoot twice a turn and re-roll any one miss.
6 Commander. The hero has such presence that any friendly model within 12” automatically passes
any Courage test he has to take.

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 SAMURAI WARRIOR Points value: 10
F S D A W C
Samurai Warrior 5/3+ 3 4 1 1 4

WARGEAR
The base profile for a samurai warrior includes a katana and wakisashi.
Samurai can be given additional items at the following cost:

Naginata 1 pt
No-Dachi 1 pt
Yari 1 pt
Dai-kyu 2 pts
Teppo 2 pts
Light Samurai armour (+1D) 1 pt
Heavy Samurai armour (+2D) 2 pts
A samurai warrior may Horse 10 pts
command up to a number of Banner 25 pts
ashigaru or peasant warriors
equal to his Courage value. SPECIAL RULE
Bodyguard. As long as your daimyo is within12”, the samurai will
automatically pass all Courage tests they have to take.

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Ronin were masterless samurai, retainers who were deprived of their place in the usual loyalty patterns of
Japanese feudalism. The daimyo they had served might have died, been exiled, or become so poor that the
samurai had to abandon his lord. Ronin became farmers, monks, soldiers of fortune, or even bandits. In demand
in times of war, they were often a burden on society in times of peace. At their best, as in the story of the 47
Ronin depicted by Chikamatsu in his popular drama, they are a model of loyalty and self-sacrifice exemplifying
bushido.

RONIN HERO Points value: 30

F S D A W C Budo: 1
Ronin Hero 5/3+ 4 5 2 2 5 Ki: 1
Karma: 1

WARGEAR
The base profile for a Ronin hero includes a katana and wakisashi. Ronin
heroes can be given additional items at the following cost:

Naginata 5 pts
Ronin heroes may be given the No-Dachi 5 pts
same skill options as a samurai Yari 5 pts
hero. Dai-kyu 5 pts
Light Samurai armour (+1D) 5 pts

RONIN Points value: 8

F S D A W C
Ronin 4/3+ 3 4 1 1 4

WARGEAR
The base profile for a ronin includes a katana and wakisashi. Ronin can
be given additional items at the following cost:

Naginata 1 pt
No-Dachi 1 pt
Yari 1 pt
Dai-kyu 2 pts
Light Samurai armour (+1D) 2 pts

Ronin use the weapon descriptions

as found in the samurai section

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Ashigaru made up the bulk of medieval Japanese armies although it is the samurai who people normally think of.
Ashigaru literally means 'Lightfoot' and ashigaru were non samurai foot soldiers during this period. At first most
ashigaru were run away peasants who had joined an army in search of loot but by the end of the period in 1600
most ashigaru were trained professional soldiers. Although often forgotten they played a key part in many of the
battles of Japanese history most notably Sekigahara in 1600. Much like their infantry counterpart in Europe the
importance of ashigaru was greatly increased as new weapons were introduced, in the case of Japan the long
spear which almost became the same length as the European pike and the arquebus or early firearm.

ASHIGARU Points value: 5

F S D A W C
Ashigaru 3/5+ 3 3 1 1 3

WARGEAR
The base profile for a peasant does not include any wargear. Any
peasant can be given wargear items at the following cost:

Hand weapon or two-handed weapon Free

Yari 1 pt
Kyu 1 pt
Teppo 2 pts
Light armour (+1D) 1 pt
Banner 25 pts
Ashigaru are trained in the art
of war. They are relatively
unskilled compared to their
samurai masters but do provide
the numbers for any samurai
army.

Ashigaru Weapons PEASANT Points value: 4

Hand Weapon – covers all F S D A W C
swords, clubs etc. carried by
Peasant 2 3 3 1 1 2
ashigaru and peasants.

Yari (spear) – Models using a In times of emergency the peasant could be called upon to fight for his
yari can support another model samurai lord. Although lacking skill and courage they could be useful if
in a fight. used in large numbers to swarm the enemy.

Naginata/No-dachi – two- WARGEAR

handed weapon.
Kyu – ashigaru bow, range 24”
S2, can move up to half and
shoot.
The base profile for a peasant includes various weapons such as yari,
naginata and even farm tools. Whatever weapon the model is carrying it
counts as a hand weapon as peasants are not weapon trained.

Teppo (arquebus) – cannot

move and shoot, range 18” S4

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To a Samurai warrior acting in stealth and killing by assassination were counted as dishonourable and
a daimyo would not request one of his warriors to demean himself in such a way. Thus it came about
that as early as the 10th century AD a daimyo would recruit mercenaries to fulfill this role. The term
ninja comes from the Japanese character nin, which could also be read as shinobi no mono, but ninja
fits more easily on the western tongue.
The ninja in Japanese society were counted by many to be magicians and to have supernatural
abilities. Much of this is due to the secrecy of their training, methods of working and identities. They
were thought of as being beneath contempt but also indispensable.
Ninja employed a wide range of weapons such as bows and arrows, staffs and swords together with a
varied selection of tools to help them gain entrance to any building; but their most famous weapon and
their symbol was the T shuriken or throwing stars.
T

The ninja were actually samurai families from two districts of Japan (Iga and Koga) up until 1581 when
Tokugawa Ieyasu took control of these regions and would not let them be hired by anyone else. Other
daimyo then started to train some of their samurai in ninja tactics so that they could call on their
specialist services.
Ninja families had their own hierarchy with a Sensei or Shonin at the head of the family, Chunin as his
officers and Genin being the ordinary ninja.
SHONIN (Ninja lord) Points value: 100
F S D A W C Budo: 2
Shonin 6/3+ 4 5 3 3 6 Ki: 2
Karma: 3

The Shonin is the head of a ninja clan. You may only have one Shonin in
your force who will lead your army to battle.

WARGEAR
The base profile for a shonin includes a ninjato. He can be given
additional items at the following cost:

Bo 5 pts
A shonin may command up to a
Blowpipe 5 pts
number of chunin or genin
Han kyu 10 pts
equal to twice his Courage
Shuriken 5 pts
value.
Shinobi-gama 5 pts
Light armour (+1D) 5 pts

Ninja Weapons
Ninjato (sword) – main close combat weapon of the Ninja.
Bo (staff) – can support another model and also ‘shield’.
Han-kyu (short bow) – range 18” S2, can move up to half and shoot.
Shuriken (throwing weapon) – range 6” S3; can move full speed and shoot.
Shinobi-gama (sickle weapon) – counts as a throwing weapon, range 1” or may be used to immobilise the
enemies’ weapon. To immobilise the enemy, instead of rolling to wound, roll higher than the targets Strength; if
successful the target counts as if Immobilised for the remainder of the turn.
Blowpipe – range 12” S2, poisoned darts, can move half and fire. A model can remain hidden and use a
blowpipe.

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 CHUNIN (Ninja Captain) Points value: 55
F S D A W C Budo: 1
Chunin 5/3+ 4 4 2 2 5 Ki: 1
Karma: 2

WARGEAR
The base profile for a chunin includes a ninjato. Chunin can be given
additional items at the following cost:

Bo 5 pts
Blowpipe 5 pts
Han kyu 5 pts
A chunin may command up to Shuriken 5 pts
a number of genin equal to Shinobi-gama 5 pts
twice his Courage value. Light armour (+1D) 5 pts

GENIN (Ninja Warrior) Points value: 10

F S D A W C
Genin 4/4+ 3 4 1 1 4

WARGEAR
The base profile for a genin includes a ninjato. Genin can be given
additional items at the following cost:

Bo 1 pt
Blowpipe 1 pt
Han kyu 1 pt
Shuriken 1 pt
Shinobi-gama 2 pts
Light armour (+1D) 1 pt

Special Rules (apply to ALL Ninja types)

Stalk Unseen – Ninja learn to walk silently and stealthily through all manner of terrain. A ninja always counts
as wearing an Elven cloak.
Poisoned Darts – The blowpipes darts used by all ninja are coated in a special poison. When they hit an enemy
model and roll a 1 on the D6 to wound, they must re-roll the D6
All Alone Tests – Ninja are trained to work alone behind enemy lines and as such never need to take all
alone tests while their prime target is still alive.
Preternatural Agility – Ninja are graceful and elegant fighters, able to dart aside from the
thrust of a blade with ease and strike through the gaps in a foe’s armour with pinpoint
accuracy. To represent this dexterity, a Ninja can never be trapped whilst still standing.
Climbing – Ninja carry specialist hooks, claws etc to enable them to scale even the
most difficult surface. To represent this, all ninja and +1 to their climbing and
jumping rolls.