Ronin (by Osprey) weapon rules and point values

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Hi guys,

I just picked up a copy of Ronin, and have begun painting up my first buntai.  The rules look like fun, but I'm a bit puzzled by the relative values of some of the weapons. Can more experienced players perhaps shine some light on this for me?

The most apparent example is a naginata vs. a tetsubo/no-dachi (those latter two being the same, as far as I can tell). The naginata is clearly better, but all of these weapons tend to cost the same in points.

Am I missing something, or is it just negligent balancing?
Has anyone come up with a house rule that they feel is fair?

Any input is much appreciated, thanks!

[nandrin]

Hi,
there is an errata regarding Nodachi/Testubo:
Nodachi: +1 Ini in first round of combat, in the following rounds -1
Tetsubo: If the attack is enhanced, add a further +1 modifier to attack.

RONIN is a very simple rule system and not very detailed. It is like in many games: Some buntai fare better against some foes than others. The author states explicitely that this is not intended as tournament system and should be scenario-driven, not point-driven.

For me, as I am not participating in tournaments, it works very well and we have tons of fun with our regular games!

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Yeah, I think the rules look like a lot of fun and I'm excited to play.  I'm not looking to play this as a particularly competitive game, I'm just going to build my lists based on the armament of the models, but I was struck by the rather obvious disparity, and wondered if I was missing something.

Thanks for the reply!  Both of those added rules sound interesting.

[craigjwoodfield]

Thanks nandrin.

The errata is here: https://ospreypublishing.com/gaming-resources

I wasn't overly worried about balancing every single aspect of the game, hence a blanket 3 point cost for weapons upgrades. The naginata was by far the best close-combat weapon available to warriors of the period. Having done some training with it since, I would probably make it even better if I were to re-write Ronin.

cheers

CW