If there’s one thing everyone knows about Sengoku Jidai warfare it’s that the Takeda had the best cavalry. As the title of this post suggests, that may not be the case… Two of the ‘iconoclasts’ of Japanese history, Fujimoto Masayuki and Suzuki Masaya, began questioning the validity of the ‘famous’ Takeda cavalry specifically in regard… Continue reading The Takeda Cavalry Myth
Unit types and names in Ningen Gojūnen
One minor issue I ran into with Ningen Gojūnen was what to call the units. I don’t really like the terms ‘samurai’ and ‘ashigaru’ for Sengoku warfare, and have so far been able to avoid using them. In Tenka Fubu this is pretty easy as there are no sub-units of sonae, but with a ruleset… Continue reading Unit types and names in Ningen Gojūnen
Revisiting Inō
In a previous post I talked a bit about how I wasn’t entirely satisfied with my “Ningen Gojūnen” rules. A commenter on a subsequent post mentioned Peter Pig’s “Battles in the Age of War” rules, so I thought I’d revisit them and see if they made for a better basis. I’d written some thoughts here… Continue reading Revisiting Inō
Sonae in Tenka Fubu
As it comes up from time to time, I thought I'd set out the reasons for choosing the sonae as the basic unit in Tenka Fubu. Especially as that decision was fundamentally about the kind of games I like to play. When it comes to tabletop games, I much prefer rules that have a clear… Continue reading Sonae in Tenka Fubu
28mm Rice Paddies
I made some rice paddies in 28mm. I've avoided them for a while due to the practical problems of using them on the tabletop. Fields of any kind are usually quite large in 28mm scale and sooner or later figures are going to want to stand on them. If they're modelled with standing crops, then… Continue reading 28mm Rice Paddies
The Battle of Ukino 1558 (or 1557)
Revisiting my "small battle" rules, "Ningen Gojūnen" with the Battle of Ukino. The battle was fought in 1558 (or 1557, the dates of some of Nobunaga's early battles are a subject of ongoing dispute among historians), and was a key battle in Oda Nobunaga's campaign to bring Owari province under his control. The politics are… Continue reading The Battle of Ukino 1558 (or 1557)
The Battle of Amanogawa
Well, it’s been a while but I finally got around to both playing a game of ‘Tenka Fubu’ and write something about it. I’ve revisited the campaign run by the board game ‘A Most Dangerous Time.’ The situation is it’s 1571 and an Oda army under Takigawa Kazumasu and Hosokawa Fujitaka marches towards Ishiyama Hongan-ji.… Continue reading The Battle of Amanogawa
6mm Castle Keep on Kickstarter
I recently painted a 6mm 'Tenshu' or castle keep for Slug Industries. The model is now on Kickstarter. It's an excellent resin model, very cleanly cast, no air bubbles or flash. The detail is clearly defined and very painter friendly. The tenshu fits neatly on a 10cm base, handy if you're someone who uses 10cm… Continue reading 6mm Castle Keep on Kickstarter
Nobunaga’s Guard Corps: The Oda Elite (part two)
In the first part I briefly described the role of Nobunaga’s guard corps in the early days of his reign. Now I’m going to look at the guard corps at the height of Nobunaga’s campaigns in the Kinai region. By the 1570’s, the guard had increased significantly in number and its role had changed from… Continue reading Nobunaga’s Guard Corps: The Oda Elite (part two)
Nobunaga’s Guard Corps: The Oda Elite (part one)
This is the first post in a 2-part article on Oda Nobunaga’s “guard” corps. I’m going to use the term “guards” here to refer to the group of warriors who fought around Nobunaga. The term hatamoto has too much Edo-period baggage and while you often see the term “Horse guards” used, a translation of umamawari, the… Continue reading Nobunaga’s Guard Corps: The Oda Elite (part one)
TENKA FUBU 