Development Notes: NIPPON Warring States ARMY BOOK

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Cavalry


There are four types of cavalry, five, if you count Mounted Infantry:

Ultra Heavy Cavalry - Basically, Renaissance Men at Arms in Gothic armour on top of a very large warhorse.

Heavy Cavalry - The rather more romantic version which hovers between plate mail and plate armour, and a happier looking steed.

Medium Cavalry - Usually the preserve of Sergeants, Squires and the more poorly equipped Knights; since the destriers are geldings, they don't care.

Light Cavalry - Minimum to no armour, and friskier horses.


With the best will in the world, Japanese Cavalry will never be described as Ultra Heavy, and charitably can be placed somewhere between Medium and Heavy. They use spears, not lances. What I'd like would be the equivalent of Dragon Princes, what we'll end up with is slightly below Silver Helms.

Whereas Bow Cavalry and Light Cavalry can be easily catered to, since both would go under the Fast Cavalry rule; however, YAri Cavalry and Katana Cavalry would expect to make a greater impact, especially if they were charging their opponents. This means that they'd need some form of upgrade from a special rule to provide for that impact, since a spear is not the equivalent of a lance (that's assuming the unit in question no longer qualifies for Fast Cavalry). Then you have to take account for the Oban unit.

The Naginata was added as a compromise, to compensate for the lack of a lance, and makes the unit more dangerous in prolonged combats; this weapon might be confined to the Hatamoto/Oban unit. Is this historically accurate? When you consider the halberd as options for mounted units in other factions, I'd have to say yes in this context.

Barding will be permitted for Heavy Cavalry.

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Army Structure


Going by the last two books, we're looking at a ratio of around 5-7 Core, 8-10 Specials and around 8 Rares. Might be an attempt to compensate for the lack of shiny stuff.

Currently, that would mean the army list should look like:

Core

Ashigaru - Spear
Ashigaru - Longbow
Ashigaru - Matchlock
Ashigaru - Loan Sword

Tomb Kings and O&G list Light Cavalry in this section, but since we want to confine cavalry to the Samurai caste, it's not possible to include them here by default, excepting by finessing some attribute that can be purchased by a character.


Specials

Samurai - Katana Infantry
Samurai - Spear Infantry
Samurai - Longbow Infantry
Samurai - Matchlock Infantry
Samurai - Naginata Infantry
Samurai - Nodachi Infantry
Warrior Monks - Matchlock Infantry
Warrior Monks - Longbow Infantry
Warrior Monks - Naginata Infantry
Samurai - Longbow Cavalry
Samurai - Spear Light Cavalry
Samurai - Spear Heavy Cavalry
Samurai - Katana Heavy Cavalry

Ronin are members of that rare group which socially don't quite fit in, too good for one caste, too despised by the other, like governesses. Also, going by the above list, I've run out of slots to place them


Rares

Ninja - Infantry with bad *****
Fire Rockets - Infantry with Rocket Launchers
Fire Bomb Throwers - Infantry with Grenades
Dragon - Monster with attitude
Traction Trebuchet - Warmachine
Cannon - Warmachine
Oni - Monstrous Infantry, either Ogres or their larger cousins, Dragon Ogres
Tengu - Flyers, Yoda or Old Ben Kenobi, which would be funnier?

I find Monsters a problem here, since you don't really find them taking such an active part in warfare, even in folklore. Dragons are rather an over-used trope, and I don't really see Nagas as filling an intermediate role.

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Army Structure


I think I'll drop peasants, they're actually not listed in Shogun 2, and would therefore be a needless complication in this variant; that does seem to leave some slots open in Core, but honestly, what can you fill them with that wouldn't unbalance the Faction? Loan Sword Ashigaru will just have to take over their perceived role as cheap cannon fodder,l though Ashigaru in general perform well there anyway.

Some modifications are trying to add in Pirates, and presumably brigands, but I don't see a need to do that here. In a way, this list is starting to look suspiciously vanilla.


Characters


I'm changing one rule of army composition - Characters can make up to 50% of points available; this will be balanced by There Can Be Only One, in which an army can only have one Lord character. I don't see having only one Lord a real problem until you start up a four thousand point list.

That brings up the difficulty of filling up the Heroes roster; the Lord one is actually now simplified, since there is only one Lord generic character, the Daimyo. Your army does not need the Daimyo to lead it, as any Hero can be the general, but no other class will have a generic Lord character.

Which brings us to the other mainstay of a Fantasy army, the Wizard. I never envisioned this Faction to have make overt Magic displays a major function, so lack of a Lord Wizard or an Arch Lector doesn't bother me, that doesn't mean that their Hero counterparts aren't almost as capable, the problem is pruning out candidates and systems.

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Magic in Nippon


So what could you expect to find in magic systems in the Land of the Rising Sun?

High Elven derived - The High Elves have one or two very large garrisons and naval stations stationed there (shades of Okinawa), though how remote they were from the primary centres of Nippon culture or population is difficult to say. There's no indication that they came as conquerors, nor that relations were strained with either the clergy, the Imperial court, the aristocracy or the peasantry.

This could be due to several factors, the most important one is that no one felt threatened by them. In fact, they may even have viewed them as benign supernatural guardians, that protected their shores against other supernatural forces, which could include sea monsters and their Kin, the Dark Elves.

Question would be, if they were willing to protect them against more mundane opponents, like the Mongols, Imperial China, the Portuguese, or the Americans? Perhaps indirectly, as a deterrence, military advisers and "technology transfer" in the form of the Eight Colleges of Magic, which should have been easier, since unlike with the Empire, they would have had a continuous garrison presence for thousands of years, which guarded both against incursions by forces of Chaos and havens for their naval forces stationed on the other side of the world. And in the meantime, sea control for the benefit of their merchant fleet.

The Nipponese could have come to regard them as a form of Youkai or even Kami, nature supernatural beings that seem linked to natural phenomenon or topography; after all, tales told by their ancestors probably identified Elves still very much living and youthful. Which begs the question, how much actual contact occurred between the Elves and the various strata of society. They may even understand the difference between the Dark Elves and High Elves, based on their folklore. There might even be colonies of Wood Elves in the more remote mountainous areas.

The Chinese never bothered to invade, quite content to accept vaguely worded "oaths" of allegiance on occasion they remembered there were a bunch of large islands to the west and sent an envoy. The Mongols took a closer interest, and isn't it interesting, their invasion fleets tended to get destroyed by forces of nature, over which the High Elves could be described as masters of indirect control?

The Portuguese would be viewed as direct military and commercial competitors; not taking a direct hand, they might have encouraged a more isolationist policy and as a consequence, more religious intolerance. Since Elven religion isn't evangelical in nature, Nipponese clergy nor aristocracy would have regarded them as a source of destabilization.The Dutch, or Marienburgers, could be afforded limited commercial access (it would give them an added incentive to ensure the safety of their Elven burghers back home). The Portuguese? The Imperials, of course.

It doesn't take a Teclis to teach humans the basics underlying the magic system the Elves are using, though it might have taken one to figure out how to convey these universal laws in a way that his his human students can understand it in a systematic way. Despite this, and due to thousands of years of contact, it's quite likely that some or all of the Eight Lores would be known in their magic circles.

The question would be, in what form(s) would this take? While Elven religions wouldn't be regarded as destabilizing, their magic system probably would be, mostly due to it's military applications. It would then go two ways, either all the clans have some sort of access to Magicians, or a central authority controls them, rather like in Riftwars. Since that would be boring, I'd say that each clan has access to Magicians in some form or other.

High Elves are going to concerned to remove any possible taint of corruption from the recipients of the Eight Lores, so it's likely there is a centralized college that would teach that, if only to control the candidates. In the end, it might be a combination of college and master-apprentice relationships, with hedge wizards rooted out early by the rather close communities that the Nipponese have.

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Magic in Nippon


Chaos

They're like cockroaches, so Chaos is everywhere; however, you tie this up with a really tight social system, and Nippon may not have been the ideal place to really incubate. If we include an active recruitment system that tries to identify those most receptive to becoming wizards, and communities policing themselves out of self-interest, Chaos would find succour only in remote rural areas or under the sponsorship of powerful organizations, such as the Yakuza or ambitious Clans, away from prying eyes.

Personally, I think it would have been too much of a risk to use Chaos sorcerers in the open field, since it might have been one of the issues that unites rival Clans, who're only too happy to find a reason to wipe out one of their rivals, with the blessing of the Imperial Court.


Geomancy

Doesn't really matter what you call it, whether Dragon Lines or Feng Shui, or any other variant; the question is if any magic system would make it's way across from the mainland, like any other number of philosophies or religions. That the knowledge of such systems would be imported, I'm quite sure, but that it would remain in it's original form, I rather doubt it.

I think for Nippon, you actually have to have a physical presence of foreign advocates to keep anything in more or less in it's original form, otherwise it becomes integrated with indigenous systems, rather than remaining recognizably independent. Missionaries have their zeal to evangelize and sustain themselves in heathen lands, magic users tend to be rather self centred and rather secretive as regards to their arts.


Onmyōdō

Onmyōdō (陰陽道?, also In'yōdō), (lit. "The Way of Yin and Yang,) is a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism. It is based on the Chinese philosophies of Wu Xing and Yin and yang, introduced into Japan at the turn of the 6th century, and accepted as a practical system of divination. These practices were influenced further by Taoism, Buddhism and Shintoism, and evolved into present-day onmyōdō around the late 7th century.

Onmyōdō was under the control of the imperial government, and later its courtiers, the Tsuchimikado family until the middle of the 19th century, at which point it became prohibited as superstition.

That's an adaption, under control of the Imperial Court, and about the only magic system that I found that could be described as really Japanese in flavour.



Witches

It's been hard to really identify any unique pattern here, though a recent anime series tried.


Mahoujin

In popular culture, a lot of magic systems look like they were adopted wholesale from Western sources, which leads back to High Elven derived.

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Provisional Timeline


-15'000 IC
Old Ones arrive after fire-sale by by local galactic real estate agency; discovered they have bought swampland.

-10'000 IC
Finally approve architect's plans; start cultivating cheap labour for maintenance and interesting pets. The islands of Nippon start taking shape.

-5'600 IC
Homeowner's Insurance lapses.

-5'000 IC
Fecal matter strikes the ventilator.

-4'000 IC
Ulthuan begins colonization move; enclaves established on Nippon; indigenous tribes resolutely ignore arriving Youkai.

-1'000 IC
Culturally advanced tribes immigrate from mainland onto the islands of Nippon, establishing themselves around the central portion and driving aboriginal hunter-gatherer tribes North and South, if not destroying or absorbing them. Rice cultivation is established. Skaven begin to arrive in significant numbers in the Far east.

-500 IC
Central island tribes are now strong enough to exert military force; early clashes with elusive High Elves demonstrably show that this causes famine and other misfortunes. High Elves recognized as a form of Kami, to be placated. Five Kingdoms emerge.

0
After centuries of diplomacy and military build-up, a single kingdom manages to unite all feuding states under a legendary Empress/High Priestess; amongst her achievements, a trade relationship and non-interference pact with Ulthuan. In the chaos of war, idspossessed aristocracy and other social outcasts retreat to inaccessible mountain regions, creating secret villages and starting the practice and philosophy that some later group under the term Ninjitsu.

500 IC
The first signs that the Imperisl system is breaking down; the Emperor tries to resolve this by aggressive expansion into the remaining aboriginal areas by restive warriors; he appoints the first Shogun. A new religion from the mainland arrives, which somehow manages to learn to co-exist with the established animist one. In the meantime, a major part of Clan Eshin decides to return home.

1000 IC
The entire island chain of Nippon has by now long since been conquered; successive Imperial Courtiers intrigued to diminish the Imperial Family into mere figureheads.The new religions discovers internal schisms as doctrinal disputes turn violent.

1500 IC
Decadence in the Imperial Court results in massive power struggle between rival factions of courtiers, who call in the military administrators of distance provinces to their cause. These administrators rapidly recognize the power their position gives them and revolt, establishing their fiefdoms. A series of military dictatorships are established as one clan after another seeks military dominance over the Empire.

1676 IC
Wu becomes Dragon Emperor of Cathay.

1690 IC
Dragon Emperor Wu sends a large invasion force to conquer the Southlands. Only Yin-Tuan manages to return.

2000 IC
A single Clan manages military domination over the entire Empire. A golden age is established that's shattered shortly afterwards as two invasion attempts are made from the mainland; High Elven weather wizards destroy the invasion fleets. Loss of confidence in the ruling clan triggers off the next round of internecine warfare.

2305 IC
Teclis founds the Colleges of Magic in Altdorf.

2377 IC
The Monkey King ascends to the throne of Cathay. He installs Warlord Kishkik of Clan Eshin as an adviser and begins to trade with the Underempire.

2500 IC
They're still at it. However, Old Wolrd trading ships have managed to evade High Elven patrols and other unspeakable dangers, they bring both a new religion and advanced gunpowder technology.

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Magic In Nippon


Shinto

Or whatever you want to name to name what is a mixture of ancestor and nature worship; while you might not think that having one of their priests waving paper fans over a battlefield as very impressive, having watched any number of animes, you realize that the shrine maidens can really kick ***.

They're really interested in keeping a balance between material and spiritual worlds, so their magic is likely to be effective against undead and Chaos; more of an inspiration pre-battle, rather than during it. This would seem to be divination and augmentation spells, anything with a more indirect effect. On the other hand, if you deploy Miko, you want to see some direct damage spells; looks like it's hard to balance their Lore(s).


Buddhism

Another case of a Lore that would be strong against Chaos and undead, but it's perceived non-violent nature seems in contradiction with it's inspired orders of Warrior Monks. Their spells would concentrate on non-violent means to effect the outcome of battle

While it is easier to combine both Shinto and Buddhism into a single religion for game purposes, it's rather like combining Druidism and Christianity, each has it's distinct flavour. At this period of time, they both manage to co-exist.

I also see Buddhism has directly maintaining morale on the battlefield, and direct damage sp0ells only weakly effecting normal troops, but having a greater effect on monsters.


Christianity

Or Sigmarism, or whatever. Some disruptive religion from the Old World arrives, which is attractive to those in the lower social scale, as well as some in the aristocracy who see it as potential counterweight against the oppression by the central government (or, more likely, as a useful political tool).

Basically, it would be a copy paste from the Empire book. While Estalia seems a more historically correct source for it, you'd have to invent another Army Book, and the Empire sounds more interesting as an existential threat for the Shogun, or an attractive ally for the rebellious Daimyo.


Other Sects

Obvious candidates would be based on Chaos worshippers. Confucianism would be integrated as a philosophy, Taosim either never set foot or got absorbed, Any worship of the High Elves would get mystified and co-opted into whatever version of Shintoism that will be practiced. One interesting variant would be a worship of some giant monster.

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Characters


Daimyo

The only Lord level character in this faction, with the exception of legendary Special Characters. There is a specific prohibition of more than one Lord level character in a Nippon army list. A Daimyo would be the equivalent of the generic Dogs of War general in profile. In addition, he gets an upgrade allowance of 200 points.

The 200 points covers everything, from weapons to mounts to magic items. You'd also need those points in order to partially pay for alliances and affiliations that allow the use of Rare units. Basically, for a monster like a Dragon to turn up on your side, he'd have to be summoned. That summoning is going to cost the Daimyo in his upgrade allowance. I'm also moving Warrior Monks to Rare, this will make the Rare selection bulge, but the Daimyo can pay to either directly move some Rare units to Specials through a religious affiliation, or if not, he'll just have to pay for them directly from the rare points allocation, so a very secular and somewhat honourable Daimyo will find that his artillery, Warrior Monks and Ninja are competing for the same points.

Let's put in a word for the Shogun here; most Shoguns are going to rather clever and/or lucky clan leaders, whose family may be temporarily occupying the pinnacle of political power, paranoiacally looking around for the next challenger. He's not going to be a figure like the Emperor, who has his own dragon as a mount. A Special Character for one of the legendary ones should be included.


Taicho

The equivalent to a Dogs of War Captain, except no Pegasus and a 100 point upgrade allowance. This sounds like it has a great potential for abuse, and I agree; however, the fact that you're going to need them to lead blocks of troops (amongst other duties) should keep that within boundaries. Besides, they'll want to show off all that magic armour and ancestral weapons that they have lying around at home.

Special Characters from this lot could any number of famous warriors, even from the ranks of the Onna Bushi. A Ronin upgrade (or downgrade), could allow a Ronin unit to be fielded as a Special unit.


Mahoujin

Generic Empire wizard, at least for the moment. Seems the sensible solution, unless a more nifty one can be successfully introduced. Also, 100 points of upgrades are allocated, not including level increase to second, which would be paid for separately.

Might be able to pay the cost for summoning a monster from his equipment allocation.


Priest

The obvious solution is to use the Empire Warrior Priest, though that may be a tad too fanatical for me. The only way out would be to invent a new Lore. In this fandex, the pragmatic way would really be to combine Shinto and Buddhism into a single path; for the converted Daimyo, they'll have to use actual Empire Warrior Priests.

Of course, they get 100 points as well for upgrades. Considering the lack of a Lord equivalent, they might be upgradeable to second level. Also, for every Priest character, you can field a single Warrior Monk unit as a Special unit.


Ninja

Basically a Skaven or Dark Elven Assassin. No exotic poisons, at this level that's asking for trouble. A master Ninja would be a Special Character. 100 points equipment allocation. You can field a Ninja unit in Specials.


Metsuke

Needed an Engineer type, but I'll settle for him. He's there to frustrate the enemy or augment some capability. With this character, I do wonder if he should be allowed 100 points as equipment allocation. Hard to say if any unit can be identified with him.

Since we're on the topic of Engineers, I don't really see a place for them here.

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NIPPON ARMY LIST



The following army list enables you to turn your miniature collection
into an army ready for a tabletop battle. As described in the Warhammer
rule book, the army list is divided into four sections: Characters
(including Lords, Heroes and Champions), Core Units, Special Units and
Rare Units.





Choosing an Army



Every miniature has a points cost that reflects how effective it is on the battlefield.



Both players choose armies based upon an agreed upon point cost; it may
be impossible to use every single point allocated, and in some cases,
opponents can agree in advance to permit a certain tolerance in the
total number of points utilized.



The following pages contain point values for each unit and/or miniature that is available for selection for your army.





Army List Entries



As normal.





Choosing Characters



Characters represent the most able, ruthless, noble, and/or successful

individuals in your army, basically beings that have risen to prominence
either by their own efforts, fate and/or by family connections: they
may have extraordinary capabilities in the fields of war or arcane
matters, or they have been promoted to their current positions. These
form a vital and potent part of your forces.



Characters are divided into three broad categories: Lords (the most

powerful characters), Heroes and Champions. The maximum number of

characters and their distribution that an army can include is shown on the chart below.



The army must always include a character that is designated the General,
or overall commander of the forces represented on the tabletop. If you
include more than one character, then the one with the highest
Leadership value is the general. When one or more characters have the
same (and highest) Leadership, choose one to be the general at the start
of the battle. Make sure that your opponent knows which character is
your general when you deploy your units.






The army does not have to include the maximum number of characters allowed, and can always include fewer than indicated down to a minimum of one (the General). Similarly, an army does not have to

include Lords, it can include all of its characters as Heroes, if you prefer.



At the beginning of the battle choose one of the characters in your army to be the General and tell your opponent which one it is. Your General will always be the character with the highest Leadership value in your army.

However, as there can obviously only be one General in each army, you will have to choose who to nominate if two or more of your characters tie for highest Leadership.



Chariots & ridden monsters

Characters are sometimes allowed to ride on the backs of monsters or in chariots. Every character you want to field mounted in the army must be given their own chariot or mount. They will not all cram into one! For purposes of this book, no ridden monsters nor chariots are available for selection.



Magic items

Nipponese characters may only choose magic items from the ones listed in
this army book. Note that you cannot take magic items from other army
lists. Lords may have up to 200 points worth of magic items; Heroes may
have upto 100 points worth of magic items. Special characters come with their own
set of magic items and cannot be given any extra normal or magic
equipment. Their items cannot be taken by other characters either. Units
that can take magic banner equivalents, which are listed at the end of
the army list.





Choosing Troops



The number of each type of unit allowed depends on the army's points value and their respective categories. However, a minimum of three non-character units must be included.


While up to 50% of the points available can be spent on character choices, there is only one Lord level character permitted per each Nippon army list. Any number of Heroes may be recruited to fill in the remaining points allocated to this category.




Core units represent the most common types of warriors in the army. They usually form the bulk of the army and will often bear the brunt of the fighting. As such, you must spend a minimum of 25% of your points on units in this category.



Special units are the best of your warriors and could include some of the more common engines of war. They are available to your army in limited numbers. For most Nippon warhosts, these tend to be exclusively units drawn from the Samurai caste. There can never be more than 50% of the available points spent on units selected from this category.



Rare units are so called because they are scarce compared to your ordinary troops. They represent unique units, uncommon creatures, unusual machines and ancient alliances between the mortal and spiritual world. Units in this category may never exceed 25% of the available points



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Troop Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . Character Slots

Army Points Value . . . . . Core . . Special . . Rare . . . . . Lord . . Hero . . Champion

Characters Up to 50% No limit
Core Minimum 25% No limit
Special Up to50% Up to 3
Rare Up to 25% Up to 2

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Loan Sword Ashigaru - The Japanese can manufacture swords in industrial quantities, sufficient to even equip their huge armies, the question I have would be if these would be up to the quality we usually associate with Samurai swords, which even the most common ones require weeks of production. In the game, this unit is great for making up the numbers, since their upkeep is 50 koku, and in the long run that pays for itself, but historically, you went to battle with either a polearm or a missile weapon, anything else seems rather unhelpful.Also, for the tabletop, you want to distinguish between the equipment your common troops have access to and the Warrior elite.

Katana

Well, I've had a change of heart.

After reflecting the lengthy (Warhammer) existence of this blade (which I've decided someone came up with around 500 IC), two millenia are sufficient to stock up the arsenals of even the most parsimonious clans with any number of rejects and apprentice efforts.

One problem with it's existence is, that it would be inevitable that the High Elves would have adopted it, if you give it characteristics that make it superior to a normal hand weapon, assuming it didn't stem from their smiths in the first place. The Cathayan Longsword in the OK book has always been assumed to to be the Warhammer equivalent. It's rated at WS +1, I +1 and AP and probably worth around 4 points to a human.

This issue came up because of the Loan Sword Ashigaru; if it was restricted to the Samurai, you could just fiddle around with the unit profile. My original take on this weapon was:

Katana
If used two handed, +1 strength; if used one handed, treat like hand weapon; treat as additional hand weapon if model already possesses hand weapon.

I'm reluctant to dismiss the Loan Sword Ashigaru from the list, seeing as Core already looks rather meager. Also, because these units would be the more trusted amongst the foot soldiers, allowed to carry the ancient symbol (if borrowed) of both warrior-hood and authority, and probably sent in as the first wave.

So either I alter the profile of the Loan Sword Ashigaru for WS from 3 to 4, or having possession of the Katana gives you an automatic bonus to WS.