Inspired by fellow blogger, Mr White from Wyrd Stones and Tackle Zones I decided to pick up Ronin Samurai rules from the Osprey Wargames series.

Although the book is the standard 64 pages the rules only extend for 17 of those pages. The rest covers eight different Buntai or factions. These include Bushi (standard Samurai force), Ikko Ikki, Sohei monks, Ronin, Koryu or military schools, Bandits, Koreans and Ming Chinese. For players of Test of Honour there is not much which cannot directly translate. Unfortunately there is no Ninja Buntai but a single Ninja can be included as a “Soldier for Hire” in most Buntai lists.

The inclusion of Ming and Koreans is a great idea, allowing you to fight the Imjin wars of 1537 – 1598. Also, the background to each force is a good as it provides those not familiar with the period some insight into the history of each Buntai.

The rules and mechanics are straightforward and similar to other sets, with one key difference: the combat pool. Each model has a combat pool ranging from 1 to 5, with regular warriors having at least 2. During a fight, both players secretly allocate points from their combat pool for attack or defence.

After both reveal their allocations, initiative is rolled to determine which model attacks first. Players can use markers to enhance their model’s attack or defence, resulting in bonus dice to roll. The defender then gets a chance to attack if they survive, and this process repeats until one side is defeated or both run out of attack counters.

This works extremely well giving players lots of tactical choices. I really like this mechanism.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as the Osprey Wargame series can be quite hit or miss. Not sure that it will replace Test of Honour for me, but nevertheless they look like a great set of rules.