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Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× For those who like to push chits.

A Most Dangerous Time and other Sengoku games

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28 Sep 2016 12:18 #235094 by Erik Twice
Playing Nobunaga's Ambition has put me on the mood for a board game set in the Sengoku period. But it seems most of them are wargames or games about conquest, and I know nothing about these genres. So I turn to you guys for help.

I have very little wargaming experience, everytime I've played a wargame I've felt I understood the rules but not the actual strategy. For example, I remember playing C&C Napoleonics against Matt, and pushing my units fowards just to see them killed, while my OGRE playthroughs end up with overwhelming victories by the cybernetic tank despite its tactic being rushing the point and little else. The game I've felt more comfortable playing so far has been Hannibal: Rome versus Carthage. I was bad at it, and won one game against Matt on sheer luck but I think being strategic (As opposed to tactical) and generally more "boardgame-like" than average helped.

It's for this reason that I've been looking into A Most Dangerous Time: Japan in Chaos, 1570-1584 which looks very accessible and fun. I've read about it, and people don't think it's a bad game for new players, either. It seems people are divided on its level of "chaos" but, without having played it, it seems many are approaching the game expecting it to be something it's not. Have you played it? What do you think of it? Would it be a good fit for me, specially if I'm looking for a replayable game?

I'm told that Samurai and Ran from the Great Battles of History series are very complex and not really fit for a beginner so I've crossed them from my list. Far East War, despite not being about the traditional Sengoku theme, also seems more of my thing, but I don't think it's out yet.

Talking about Nobunaga's Ambition, I read about Feudal Lord, the 1983 (Sengoku Daimyo) and...is Nobunaga's Ambition a computerized clone of this game? Seems suspciously similar, at least in scope and the dates match. I know it's an old game and may not be all that, but I really wish I knew more about it. It seems one of those "big, complex, Avalon Hill-like" games, which are so hard to get on the table yet I like so much. So if you know anything, let me know!

PD: I know you guys have talked about this before, but it was many years ago so I hope you don't mind me bringing back the topic again.
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28 Sep 2016 12:39 #235099 by Mr. White
Nobunaga's Ambition is fantastic. I really liked it's sequel 'Lord of Darkness'.

I really just wanted to say that.

I'm not sure which game would work. Probably the euro Shogun (based on Wallenstein) would be best. I wasn't thrilled with Sekigahara.

I'd think a Hammer of the Scots/Julius Ceasar style block game on the setting would be incredible. Doesn't exist though...so....Shogun.

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28 Sep 2016 13:00 #235102 by Msample
A Most Dangerous Time is definitely a wargame. It can run on the long side, and the chaos derives both from its chit activation system as well as a sort of bucket of dice combat system. plus some event cards mixed in . I like it, but IIRC its about 35 turns long and is a bit of a "WTF do I do now" type of game in that the map situation is pretty fluid. But all that also contribute to a very high level of replayability .

If you're not a deep wargamer, I could see it being a bit intimidating . While the rules are not overly complex, they are not the best organized ones, like many of the IGS games your first few games will involve a lot of rulebook flipping ( since it lacks an index; an online PDF solves that issue ) .

Good thing is that AMDT can be had relatively cheap, so it won't cost you an arm and a leg if you don't like it. Shogun is an improvement on the system first introduced in Wallenstein, but its pretty Euro, and the random set up robs it of what little historical flavor there is .

Overall I'm a fan of AMDT, so I'd say give it a shot .
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28 Sep 2016 17:07 - 28 Sep 2016 17:08 #235114 by Erik Twice

Mr. White wrote: Nobunaga's Ambition is fantastic. I really liked it's sequel 'Lord of Darkness'.

I really just wanted to say that.

The most recent entry is a truly great game, I think you would enjoy it a lot. I'll drop you a link to my review if I can publish it before my blog gets a makeover.

Lord of Darkness has a great soundtrack, by the way, I'm listening to it right now :)

I wasn't thrilled with Sekigahara.

Oh true, I forgot about that one! You are the first I see that didn't like it very much, how come?

I checked Shogun but it seems too euro and unthematic for what I'm looking for.

@Msample

How long are 35 turns? Four, five hours? Seems that moves it into the "serious game" area. I don't mind that, I think the guy I would play it with will accept that, but it would be cool if it could be played in two hours or so. I know it has a short scenario so perhaps that works?
Last edit: 28 Sep 2016 17:08 by Erik Twice.

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28 Sep 2016 20:15 #235128 by Msample
Even the shorter scenarios wil run longer I think. Turns are highly variable in since the turn end chit is random.

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29 Sep 2016 05:00 #235143 by Erik Twice

Msample wrote: Even the shorter scenarios wil run longer I think. Turns are highly variable in since the turn end chit is random.

Longer than two hours or longer than four? The first can be ok, but if it's the later, that's a dealbreaker!

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29 Sep 2016 06:49 - 29 Sep 2016 07:32 #235144 by dontbecruel
I'm a light-end-of-wargame-spectrum sort of person and I like Sekigahara a lot. It's shorter and simpler than Hannibal but has a similarly tense, fun feel. Once you have it down, you can teach a new player in 10 minutes and it always plays in less than two hours. So it's practical. Although the rules are quite abstracted, the designer justifies the "meaning" of the abstraction very well in his notes and, for me at least, it tells a good story about the period with minimal fuss. Would be interested to know what Mr White's reservations were.
Last edit: 29 Sep 2016 07:32 by dontbecruel.
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21 Dec 2016 13:09 #241100 by Unicron

dontbecruel wrote: I'm a light-end-of-wargame-spectrum sort of person and I like Sekigahara a lot. It's shorter and simpler than Hannibal but has a similarly tense, fun feel. Once you have it down, you can teach a new player in 10 minutes and it always plays in less than two hours..


Seconded! That is a fantastic game.

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