Senjutsu: Battle For Japan

Mini-Update #3: James And Max Duel! And welcome Ukraine!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Oct 29, 2021 at 01:15:51 AM

Good morning, afternoon and evening Noble Backers!

Little update for you now before tonight's 'The Master, Samurai Spotlight.'

James And Max Duel: 

Yesterday Paul, myself and Max (our lovely painter) managed to film some content for you- two new Battle Reports! Watch Max play first myself and then Paul (in the second video releasing tonight!).

Max played a fantastically flexible Student build whilst I took on a very punchy Ronin build- with the improved Signature Cards as shown in previous Samurai Spotlights (With all icons and text resized to be larger, plus new prototype art added pre-Raben's do-over). 

Two fantastic games were shot, that clearly showcase the complete difference between the Student and the Ronin and yet- as you'll see by the results- very interesting tactics can emerge throughout the game, even with the Ronin and Student not changing their 40 card Ability Card Deck between the two games!

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/GIOhm61NrnY

Welcome Ukraine!

Senjutsu has made it to Ukraine- welcome Geekach! 

Geekach LLC is Ukrainian board games publisher and distributor. They guarantee the final product will be of the highest quality, delivered within a reasonable time frame! Geekach are one of the largest specialized retailers in Ukraine and we think they are an excellent fit with Senjutsu and Stone Sword Games. 

Happy to have you with us Geekach!  

Samurai Spotlight #2 The Ronin- Hell hath no fury like a Samurai scorned...
over 2 years ago – Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 07:17:48 PM

Good morning, afternoon and evening Senjutsu backers! Back with you today to talk Ronin! 

The Ronin:

A dark spectre on the battlefield, the Ronin stalks his prey like the cold shadow of death itself. 

Armed with a Naginata (Sword-staff), the Ronin Miniature attacks without fear despite the falling shafts of arrows! Fuelled by hate, he has left a trail of destruction and broken bodies across Japan. 

We will explore his backstory extensively in the first Solo Narrative Campaign 'Path Of The Ronin'.

Designer's Notes- Where Does The Ronin Fit?

When designing the Ronin, Paul and I knew we wanted an Aggressive character with an in-built thematic charge up mechanic that needs exploiting in order to unlock the Ronin's full potential. His Kamae Tree makes getting into the Red Aggressive Kamae very easy but will stop you simply moving back to the Green Balanced or Yellow Defensive Kamae positions with a one-direction Kamae branch. 

Let's look at the Ronin's Core Cards...

Every Samurai in Senjutsu has both a Core Card and a Core Weapon Card. Whilst the Core Weapon Cards vary wildly depending on what weapon the card represents, the Samurai Core Cards are fairly uniform (in most cases) except each has a special rule that Paul and I felt represents the Samurai thematically on the battlefield.

The Ronin's long Naginata allows him to strike from a good distance- and although he has a lot of great forward movement cards the Ronin will suffer if he gets too turned-about from a lack of Signature Card Rotation actions. 

The Ronin's Core Card has a special and unique ability, you may choose to self inflict a Stun Card to immediately change to any Kamae Position. Paul and I felt that this is a great hand-reducing but temporary compromise and represents the Ronin becoming overcome by rage!

Here are three brutal examples of the unique Signature Cards you can choose from with the Ronin.

Crimson Whirlwind:

Crimson Whirlwind hits the most Hexes of any Attack Ability Card in Senjutsu! Targeting the entire ring-plus-one of Hexes around the Ronin. 

It is a Jade Card, so you will only get one and as you can see- it requires the Red Kamae and three Focus to play! If your opponent does not see that they are in your front facing, spaced two hexes away and that you are feeling aggressive and have three focus- then launch this Attack to deal four Wounds in one go! It is a fantastically fun card to pull off! Even more so in Multiplayer game-modes- where any Samurai, friend or foe, will be subject to your violent orgy of Naginata destruction and death! 

Heavy Armour:

Heavy Armour is the Ronin's unique and "tanky" method to soak up wounds from Enemy blows. 

Played as an Instant Additional Card- Heavy Armour is the Ronin's idea of defence! Throwing his bulky armour into the incoming Attack to reduce any Wounds taken by 1 (to a minimum of 1, and applies to ALL wounds taken that round). We have decided to reward Players for being in the Balanced or Defensive Kamae with Heavy Armour- granting them one Focus and a great little draw of up to two cards!

Oxen Barge:

(One of my favourite Signature Cards), Oxen Barge is a relentless forwards movement at a mid-range speed. Use it to close with the enemy and even rotate towards them with a single Focus spend. 

Use it as an Attack and smash the Enemy aside! Dealing no Wounds but giving them a Stun, a forced Rotation and knocking them back a Hex! 

Ox Barge is a Wood Class Ability Card- allowing for three in your Ability Card Deck- and provides an excellent way to get into the Aggressive Red Kamae. 

Samurai Spotlight #1 The Student, The Student Core Cards and the Student Signature Cards
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 02:34:23 AM

Good morning, afternoon and evening esteemed Senjutsu retainers! 

The Student:

The Student is a young and fierce practitioner of the Bushido arts- armed with a Katana and poised to draw his blade from its Saya (scabbard). His backstory will be heavily explored in the first Solo Narrative Campaign as we explore how he came to train under The Master. 

Designer's Notes- Where Does The Student Fit?

When designing the Student, Paul and I aimed to create a character that could act a benchmark for good strength, speed, utility and defence. The No Daichi armed Warrior hits harder, the Master defends himself more skilfully and the Ronin closes the distance and soak the hits better than the Student can.  

But no Samurai can do as much as well as the Student! 

Let's look at his Core Cards...

Every Samurai in Senjutsu has both a Core Card and a Core Weapon Card. Whilst the Core Weapon Cards vary wildly depending on what weapon the card represents, the Samurai Core Cards are fairly uniform (in most cases) except for a special rule that Paul and I felt represents the Samurai thematically on the battlefield. 

As the Student is learning the art of war and how to fight, his unique Core Card allows you to search your Ability Card Deck and draw any Wood type Ability Card into your hand (Shuffling afterwards). This gives the Student's deck a ton of fantastic combinations to try out and doesn't punish new players - as with the Student, a new player can bring their needed Wood type Ability Cards to their handfor when the situation calls for it later in the duel. 

The Katana Swing delivers a very basic Attack at a decent speed- hitting the Battlefield Hex directly in front of your Samurai. To represent his honed reflexes and powerful physique- a single Focus spend on this card will rotate your Samurai through up-to two rotations to face any Hex except his very rear facing Hex. 

Here are three fantastic examples of the unique Signature Cards you can choose from with the Student. 

Mountain Switch: 

Mountain Switch is the first example of an Ability Card we've previewed that can utilised by being in either the Balanced or Defensive Kamae. It targets the forward Hex to the Student's front facing and acts as a very special Defence Ability Card- swapping the position of your Student and the Enemy Samurai. This swapping action does not alter either Samurai's facing and acts as a thematic trip or grabbling move for your Student as he throws the Enemy Samurai behind him. The movement and double-rotation then allows you to reposition, hopefully behind the Enemy Samurai and ready for a killing blow! 

Reflection Pool:

Reflection Pool is a very versatile Gold Card that can be used, either with 0 Focus accumulated, to search your Discard Pile and draw a Wood type Ability Card from it. Or... Spend Two Focus and suddenly you are able to pull a Steel Ability Card from the Discard Pile. 

What is really special is that you can spend that final Focus Point to immediately play the Ability Card on top of Reflection Pool card as though it were an Instant Replacement Ability Card. 

(Note: The discard-draw Ability Card must be an Attack or Defensive Ability Card to play it on top of this Meditation Ability Card and resolve at a slower Initiative Speed than Reflection Pool's speed of eight. )

It is fantastic for when you really need a specific Ability Card back in your hand and stops players from necessarily failing to pull off an interesting card combo if the opponent found some way of getting out of it.

Heavenly Insight:

Heavenly Insight is a Jade type Ability Card. Only one Jade type card can be in your Ability Deck at any time. Being in the Balanced Green Kamae and spending three Focus will allow you to Draw the top five Ability Cards from your Ability Card Deck into your Hand. 

You will then look through these cards, returning any 5 of the Ability Cards in your hand back to your Ability Card Deck in any order you choose! These cards aren't revealed to the opponent- so clever planning ahead can ensure you are a Student who is really in control of his own destiny! 

You might decide that it is time to defend yourself and send some attacks back into the Deck- or take some interesting Attack cards out and leave a good Defence Ability Card as the top card for next Round's draw! The combinations you find will be deep, impactful and really shape the duel as you battle for your life in Senjutsu. 

Gameplay Guide #4 Player Counts , TableTop Simulator Update, Yasuke Sculpt Reveal and Fallen Lord Game-mode
over 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 25, 2021 at 11:28:34 PM

Playing Senjutsu- How many players can the system support?

With the addition of the new 5-Player and 6-Player Kamae Rings and Advantage Trackers, Senjutsu now supports 1-6 players using a single Core Box and Miniature Double Pack. Craft amazingly diverse gaming experiences by setting new combinations of characters against each other with feudal Japan as a backdrop. 

Looking beyond the classic 1 vs 1 duelling experience we have; 

Team Battles: 

Playing in a team adds a fantastic change of pace to the Senjutsu experience. New exciting dynamics emerge as you and a partner develop the levels of co-ordination needed to pull off Ability Card combinations only made possible by having a second fighter on your side! 

For example: Trying playing a Staggering Blow Instant on your Quick Stab- and push the Enemy Samurai in the Dashdown Strike of your waiting teammate!

The asymmetry of each Samurai means that each Ability Card Deck can be tailor-made to fit a new niche in this team dynamic. For example, build your Samurai fighter to inflict wounds and be all about aggression as your teammate comes in with fantastic Blocks and Meditations designed to disrupt the machinations of the enemy! Or dance around the opponents, looking for a new way to get in their defences and cause damage as your teammate works on splitting one enemy Samurai from the other!

Adding in the AI:

Missing a 4th or 6th Player? The AI provides an intelligent and functional player just with the standard rules. Or treat their deck like your own and customise away until you have a fantastic AI partner to join the team! You can alternatively choose from a list of pre-set AI Decks that make the AI more or less aggressive in order to complement your playstyle. 

Battle Royale:

Senjutsu wasn't just designed to be a 1 vs 1 duel. The system uses simultaneous card reveals  to get around a classic high-player-count problem, that game times increase as the player count increases. 

In larger player games, simply set your Ability Card next to the opponents that are within striking distance- keeping combat  swift and leaving actions within a Round to be easily resolved against each other. Once your current opponent is dispatched, swiftly more to the next Samurai and get slashing! Playing your Ability Cards next to their controlling player and keeping gameplay simple, fun and tactically deep- meaning that game times are barely increased by the addition of more players. 

Paul and I have ensured that there are enough Wounds, Stuns and Status Cards in the core Game to cover a huge myriad of combinations of player, AI and team-based battle. 

Fallen Lord - New Gamemode - Yasuke and Oda Nobunaga's story:

An African-born mercenary, Yasuke, was brought to Japan in the service of the Jesuit Christian Missionaries devoted to bringing Christendom to Japan. Whilst history tells us that the Japanese had very different plans for this influx of Christians, we do know that at some point on Yasuke's journey he was presented to Oda Nobunaga, a powerful and incredibly ambitious Daimyo (Feudal Lord). 

"When Oda Nobunaga saw Yasuke, he immediately took an interest and managed to convince the Jesuits to allow Yasuke into his service." 

Yasuke would remain with Oda Nobunaga until he disappears from history, staying at his side as a Retainer with the many privileges gifted only to loyal and impressive men close to the Daimyo. It is for this reason that today Yasuke is considered to be the first "Black African Samurai". We have reflected his worldly origins in his miniature- described as towering over the other Japanese Samurai of Oda's court and being incredible strong and agile.

The Fallen Lord Game-mode:

History points to Oda's last wish being that his body should never be recovered by the man who betrayed him- we have interpreted this legend as Yasuke's last quest in the service of his lord. 

In Fallen Lord you will be charged with defending a single point (The Fallen Lord) on the Battlefield from the Enemy as they attempt to desecrate/steal your lord's remains. If you can survive the Enemy's reduced Ability Card decks whilst remaining within a close distance to your Lord's body you will win the game, if the Enemy manage to kill your Samurai or steal the body- they will win the game-mode.

This game-Mode has been written for Vs, Co-operative and Solo Play and gives Players an authentic but gamified way of experiencing some of the larger-than-life moments of Japanese history during the Sengoku Jidai. It will be included for free in the Rulebook from the Core game, with the Lord's Fallen Body being represented as a token or unique 3d plastic miniature. 

TableTop Simulator:

The TableTop Simulator Demo will be updated throughout next week with a new version of the Senjutsu Rulebook, new Base Ability Cards, Signature Ability Cards and components including sculpts and renders of the new Miniatures!

(TableTop Simulator is an digital engine/game available on Steam for your PC or Mac. It simulates basic physics and a table surface allows various Board Games to be played as though you were sitting at the table. More info can be found on the steam page here. )

Tomorrow's Update will cover off Wounds, special Wounds and Status effects as well as spotlighting the Student's unique Signature Cards.

Please go and check out the fantastic video by The Shogunate YouTube channel here. It is a brilliant resource for anyone wanting to learn about Japanese history in the feudal period. 

Gameplay Guide #3 Core Cards, Sifting Your Deck and Forming Your Hand
over 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 25, 2021 at 06:27:43 PM

Good morning, afternoon and evening Backers!

The Senjutsu train continues to thunder along. This long Gameplay Update is going to cover;

1) Why you will always have dependable options in your Senjutsu duels.

2) How a wise Player will get the most from their Ability Card Deck. 

3) What Prepared Cards are and how they help you plan your early Rounds.

Dependable Options - The Base Ability Cards: (Student Example):

Core Ability Cards are Ability Cards that return to the Hand after being resolved and force a discard from your Hand to make up for this infinite return. 

As you can see below, the Student Core Card allows your Student to make 1 Hex Movement in any direction and Rotate up to twice- all at Speed 0 (Dead last comparatively to any other type of Card). Then at the same speed ( 0 ), you may either; 

• Search your Deck and draw one Wood-type Ability Card to your hand OR
• Draw up to 2 Ability Cards OR
• Change your Kamae up to one Branch. A Kamae Branch is the thick black line on the Kamae Tree Card. 

Sifting the Ability Deck- Getting The Cards You Need:

There are many Ability Cards in Senjutsu that you can use to add Ability Cards to your hand and to mill* your deck (*Mill means to get through intentionally to find what you want). 

A good Player will intentionally burn through Ability Cards they don't need in a particular situation in order to find the Cards they need. Thematically this is the fighter quickly evaluating their options, discarding the ones they don't think will work and picking a course of action!

As you can see above, Trained Mind is a slow Ability Card with a lot of optional forwards movement. It will allow you to search your Deck to find a Steel or Wood type Card and add it to your hand. 

Calm Composure (One of my favourite Gold Cards) is an Instant Additional Ability Card, being played on the top of your chosen Ability Card and resolved in addition to the original Ability Cards effects! You can use it to add a Focus and change to any Kamae! But as it is Gold, you only get 1 Calm Composure! 

Firm Mind is a little faster than Trained Mind and allows for movement in any direction but it doesn't have the same ability to search your Ability Deck. Instead you can draw 2 Cards and mill your Deck, discarding any Ability Cards over your hand limit at the end of the Round. 

Prepared Cards: 

Prepared Cards are our alternative to the "Mulligan". You may, as the controlling Player, add any many Prepared Cards to your starting hand as you have room (so generally up-to 5 Prepared Cards can start in your hand). These Prepared Cards can be Attacks, Blocks, Meditations and even Instants- adding a huge amount of preselected variety to your starting hand. 

So why wouldn't I use Prepared Cards? 

Prepared Cards are usually weaker choices to the other Ability Cards in your deck. Starting with a hand of Prepared Cards may give you a great choice of Abilities to play in your first few Rounds but you will have negated the random-draw luck of pulling Jade, Gold and even Steel-type Cards. 

Asymmetry in Samurai:  

Some Prepared Cards are Base Ability Cards, whilst some like the Warrior's Shrug, are Signature Cards and unique to that fighter. 

Examples of Prepared Cards specific to other fighters include: 

The Ninja's 'Dawn Ambush' card.

The Master's 'Wise Sensei' card.  

The Ronin's 'Heavy Armour' equipment card. 

The Student's 'Keen Reflexes' Instant card. 

In tomorrow's Gameplay Update we will be talking about the fundamentals of playing Senjutsu in relation to the Battlefield and about the various game-modes you have wonderfully earnt through your dedication to our little campaign!