Back for part 2. It had been a little while, and so I had to remind the kids of some of the rules (combat pool, modifiers, and so forth). However they were willing to give it a go and off we went.
Our captain, fresh from his victory over one of the female sohei, turned towards their lieutenant, who had also been attempting to sneak past the village headman’s house. Barking a swift order, he and a loyal retainer pinned her against the wall while the other retainer was sent into the town square to chase the emissary, who was now fleeing back towards the traitorous dog Shimazu lines.
To delay the Sohei who had already reached the square, one of the Shimazu Samurai rushed out to block the senior Sohei while their archer traded fire with a Sohei archeress who had….Otomo’s Daughter in tow! Our archer tried to wound the fleeing emissary but missed! Cursing his warped arrows he vowed to have stern words with the fletcher at our barracks. The heavily wounded Shimazu archer, however, fired true putting a shaft deep into the bosom of the Sohei archeress. Alas her return shot struck him in the eye, and he collapsed dead to the ground.
The initial combat with the Shimazu and senior sohei saw the sohei draw blood first, nearly severing the samurai’s left arm. Luckily this slowed his speed enough so that the heavy no-dachi merely dazed her in stead of slicing her belly open. Our captain, meanwhile was landing a flurry of blows, and on a return strike he neatly stabbed the lieutenant in the heart, garnering another heathen’s head to adorn our spears. Truly we were blessed, as one by one faith shielded us from harm but smote our foes most terribly.
In the end the Shimazu captain darted from a back alley to cover the Emissary’s escape. His blood curdling battlecry completely unnerved the hapless girl and in an open strike he neatly severed her head and sent it flopping down the street (my daughter rolled a 1 on defense to my son’s 11 or 12, which made my daughter say 'ewwww' and then chuckle at my over the top narrative). Depleted and weary, the Sohei withdrew leaving us short on the needed trade contact, but having reclaimed the Lord Otomo’s daughter. I can only hope that assuages his anger at our failure to secure the trade agreement. At least the Buddhists will be unable to forge any documents now.
Overall the kids had a blast and the game was close. My son won with 9 points to my 8 and my daughter's 6. My daughter won a previous game, so this worked out well.
For the next time we will combine my Shimazu and my son's forces to build out a small garrison. Then my daughter and I will play ninjas trying to kill the emissary. I will be using Fistful of Lead rather than Ronin for it. The modifiers help with being able to do math fast, but I could see them occasionally get a zoned look at having to constantly perform such actions. I also like the unknown of the card activation at keeping engagement higher. Still, they enjoyed the game and 'playing with Daddy's toy buildings', so overall a success.
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April 25, 2024, 10:38:19 AM
