Presenting -- Sengoku: Warring States

Lots of sweat, late nights, and the realization that this may have been a colossal waste of time--but it's ready to test.

http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Sengoku_Main

The main module contains the strategic map and pieces. The combat module is the modified Ancient Battles Deluxe system for large combats. The saved game shows the rebels' starting stacks.

Time to sleep now. I've earned it.

Full Map

Not exactly a full map, as I'm finishing up sea area demarcations, but here's a look at the main Sengoku Jidai map of Big Japan in all its cluttered glory. Each province capital/castle shows how many units can be placed in garrison. Terrain for mountains/forests/rivers is largely for show, though some mountains restrict movement across the thick black lines.

Clans

Due to popular demand, let's talk about clans.

Depending on the number of players who are interested, we might have 10-14 clans watering the fields of Japan with cardboard blood. I love the idea of giving each clan a tiny specialized bonus, but I'm wary it might break the game's balance somehow. Here are some rough ideas:

1. Shimazu - master swordsmen, recruiting costs for heavy infantry reduced by -1.
2. Chosokabe - expert bowmen, recruiting cost for heavy archers reduced by -1.
3. Oda - tacticians, generals gain +1 experience point after battles.
4. Mori - naval tradition, naval movements require -1 lumber.
5. Takeda - master of horse, recruiting costs for heavy cavalry reduced by -1.
6. Hattori - information network, ninja bonus something something (more to come).
7. Hojo - advanced architecture, Hojo controlled castles can hold +1 unit.
8. Tokugawa - respected leadership, general's maximum capacity increased +1.
9. Uesugi - tranquil living, supply costs reduced for all land movement by -1.
10. Ashikaga - expert tradesmen, castle storage capacity +1/2.
11. Otomo - westernized, recruiting cost for heavy gunners reduced by -1.
12. Date - expert blacksmiths, recruiting cost for naginata samurai reduced by -1.
13. Hosokawa - royal lineage, recruiting time for generals decreased by -1 month.
14. Ikko Ikki - battle rage, panic rating (morale) bonus of +10%.


These bonuses may not be in the final version, but they do give a little flavor. Some are certainly more useful than others, but we won't know until we've played.

Strategy Map

This exploded pinata is a rough draft of the main Sengoku map.

• 65 Provinces with capitals
• 15 areas with port access (for trade)
• 13 areas that provide iron (for high-level infantry)
• 12 areas that provide luxury resources (to trade for gun units)
• 11 areas that provide lumber (to move across sea zones)
• 10 areas that provide horse (for high-level cavalry)
• 8 areas with gold mines (to throw excess manpower into)

That means there will be 134 distinct tactical maps to fight on (I've made 20 so far), most of which will look similar, but you'll know what you're getting into before you fight. If there's a heavily-wooded area next to your capital, build light units that aren't disrupted moving through forest. If there is a river choked off with a bridge, stock up on ranged units to pick them off one by one.

The resources are not evenly distributed; western clans will have greater access to ports and luxury resources, which means they'll be able to buy gunnery units more often. Central clans have access to iron and horse necessary for powerhouse army stacks, southeastern clans have gold mines but not enough peasants to toss down the shafts, eastern clans have greater access to lumber which allows fast travel across the sea.

In the center is Kyoto, but no one would dare attack the Emperor.

Economy

Now that the adjustments to ABD are finished, we're ready to move forward and create the game's larger strategic map of Japan. Since we've got a handle on simultaneous movement, the next step is balancing the income without homogenizing the economy.

Each area of the map will contain one element:

• Capital - generates the bulk of a province's income
• Iron - needed to create heavy infantry (HI), naginata samurai (NS) and great guard (GG) with horse
• Horse - needed to create mounted cavalry (MA), heavy cavalry (HC) and great guard (GG) with iron
• Gold Mine - allows you to convert extra manpower into additional income
• Land Bridge - not necessarily an economic element, but allows short naval travel
• Lumber - allows you to make longer naval moves, but the "ship" lasts one turn
• Port - buy/sell with Europeans (iron, horse, lumber)
• Luxury Goods - necessary to purchase light gunner (LG) or heavy gunner (HG) with port

Iron, horse, lumber, and luxury goods will generate +1 per economic phase (every 3 months). Storage capacities will be limited, because high-end units should be in short supply. Clans can trade, or purchase resources at premium prices using ports. 

These resources won't be balanced throughout the map; western clans will have greater port access, central clans will have more horse, eastern clans will have more lumber.

What else needs to be included? 

Skirmish Combat System

Sengoku Quick Combat

1. Secretly choose and reveal a formation

2. Compare choices; you may gain a +1 modifier if you have X > than your opponent

3. Players roll a die on the casualty table and apply losses/kill units

Example:

Attacker: Generals with +2 CPs, 18 infantry strength, 4 ranged strength, 6 cavalry strength = 28 total

Defender: General with +1 CP, 4 infantry strength, 2 ranged strength, 8 cavalry strength = 14 total

Attacker chooses Arrowhead, Defender chooses Crane’s Wing

Attacker’s modifier is 0 (+1 for infantry advantage, -1 for formation choice)

Defender’s modifier is +2 (+1 for cavalry advantage, +1 for formation choice)

Attacker rolls a 4 and deals 40% of 28 in casualties = 11.2 (rounded to 11)

Defender rolls a 3+2 and deals 50% of 14 in casualties = 7

Attacker has more than twice defender after combat and gains +1 Honor. Defender loses no honor because this was a skirmish combat. NOTE: you don’t receive change when removing casualties above what’s required.

Choose formation:

	ATT.
DEF.		Birds in Flight > CPs +1	Arrowhead > Infantry +1	Keyhole > Ranged +1	Crane’s Wing > Cavalry +1	Yoke > CPs +1	Fish Scales > Infantry +1
	Birds in Flight > CPs +1	A:-1 D:-1	A:+1 D:-1	A: 0 D: 0	A: -1 D: +1	A: 0 D: -1	A: 0 D: +1
	Arrowhead > Infantry +1	A: -1 D: +1	A: +1 D: +1	A: +1 D: -1	A: +1 D: -1	A: +1 D: -1	A: -1 D: +1
	Keyhole > Ranged +1	A: 0 D: 0	A: 0 D: +1	A: -1 D: 0	A: +1 D: -1	A: +1 D: -1	A: 0 D: 0
	Crane’s Wing > Cavalry +1	A: +1 D: -1	A: -1 D: +1	A: -1 D: +1	A: 0 D: 0	A: +1 D: 0	A: +1 D: -1
	Yoke > CPs +1	A: -1 D: +1	A: -1 D: +1	A: +1 D: -1	A: -1 D: +1	A: 0 D: 0	A: +1 D: -1
	Fish Scales > Infantry +1	A: +1 D: -1	A: +1 D: -1	A: +1 D: +1	A: 0 D: +1	A: -1 D: +1	A: 0 D: 0
	Half Moon > Ranged +1	A: 0 D: 0	A: +1 D: -1	A: -1 D: 0	A: 0 D: -1	A: -1 D: +1	A: -1 D: +1

Casualty Roll

1 – 10%, 2 – 20%, 3 – 30%, 4 – 40%, 5 – 50%, 6 – 60%

Maps are a Go-Go

These individual maps are going to take longer than I originally hoped. However, the image above, remade from one of the ABD maps, was created from scratch. More importantly, the dimensions match the ABD module on Vassal so I won't have to play around with the pixels or programming -- that comes later with the main Sengoku module.

Speaking of Vassal, I would welcome programming partners in creating the main game. Since Vassal doesn't automate rule enforcement, there's no heavy lifting - no java, no math, no arrays, no formulas  A series of toggles are applied to art images that become pieces that players click and drag.

Who'd like to help?