Dances with Samurai - Set Up

Fielded the troops for this scenario based loosely on the final battle scene from "The Last Samurai Movie With Tom Cruise." The Imperial troops have somehow surprised the "rebel" samurai at their fortified village. The samurai (and ashigaru) are in the process of reacting to this by streaming out of the village in clusters. Sparse woods provide a little cover for the samurai from the artillery and Gatling guns atop a small bluff overlooking the village.

These are, of course, staged shots, prior to the actual play test, but I find it useful to see how the troops and terrain can work together prior to the game. I plan to try it out with modified Bolt Action rules. As mentioned in a previous post, it should also work with Black Powder or Hail Caesar modified.

Although there are less Imperial troops than samurai, their fire power, notably the artillery and Gatling guns should balance the game. The only missile weapons the samurai have are bows, but their spear armed brethren have two attacks each in close combat. They are also harder to wound (or Damage in Bolt Action terminology) due to their skill and armor.

The samurai units are larger to hopefully buffer the expected casualties suffered from Imperial rifle fire prior to engaging in hand to hand combat.

Hopefully the Imperial artillery and Gatling guns will be effective prior to the infantry and cavalry contacting the samurai.

An update after the play test will follow. Until then, I've added the draft Bolt Action and Black Powder QRS's (both modified & simplified).