Samurai : Game of Politics and Warfare in Feudal Japan (Avalon Hill)

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Avalon Hill – Samurai – Game of Politics and Warfare in Feudal Japan (1979)

You are now back in time-12th through 17th century Japan, to be exact. Your objective: the exalted title of “Shogun”. As “Shogun”, you will have the right to enforce the emperor’s will, and become the real ruler of Japan.

Samurai allows you to take control of Japan. In medieval Japan, the central government of the emperor was dissolved. He becomes a powerless figurehead while various clans competed to take control of the country.

These clans were similar to the noble houses of Europe; and their leaders the equivalent of medieval Dukes, Barons, Counts, and the like.

Using formidable samurai warriors, the clans waged endless wars across the major islands of the Japanese archipelago.

Each player controls a clan, with one or more lords. Each lord has a province representing his personal “fief” or home, and often has additional holdings of troops, titles, ships, castles, and more provinces.

The game is played in 20 turns, each representing a pace of historical events running between a few months to a few years. In each turn, moves are conducted on a mapboard that portrays the three major islands of Japan.

The playing pieces-360 in all-include Samurai Lords, clan control markers, holdings and title counters, troops, garrisons, and more; all explained in the easy­ to-follow prose of the 18-page rules folder.

An excellent game for 2 to 8 players. Samurai is suitable for beginning and intermediate play, with plenty of optional rules and strategic options for even the expert. And for the really hard-core power-politics fanatics, special rules create a nearly “perpetual” game representing the true ebb and flow of Japanese feudal conflict.

Samurai includes a variety of playing aids to make learning and playing the game truly an effortless task. The rules manual contains historical background and designer’s notes that offer the player the full flavor and authenticity of what medieval conflict was all about in the age of the “Shogun” struggles.