The Samurai Warbands
Times of turbulence are seen as a golden opportunity for samurai, whether they are nobles who want to gain a reputation as great warriors and expand their realms or if they are ronin down on their luck. Because of the power vacuum after Nobunaga’s demise there’s plenty of powerful lords ready to throw coins and lands at those who prove useful. When you start a samurai warband you get to choose from three different types of warbands.The first warband is the retinue of a samurai of great battlefield prowess who aims to make a name for himself and be recruited as a general by one of the powerful warlords. The second is the retinue of a rich samurai ruling prosperous farmlands who is willing to fight anyone to expand his wealth and power. The third warband is a gang of masterless ronin samurai who muster around a ronin of great renown, looking for revenge, redemption or simply just drinking money.
SPECIAL RULES
The battle hardened warband: The samurai in these warbands are accustomed to the demands of military discipline and have a strongly developed loyalty between officers and men. To represent this, fighters may use their Captain’s Leadership if within 12" rather than the usual 6". A strong tradition of martial training is also responsible for the high standards of archery amongst the samurai. All Marksmen therefore add +1 to their Ballistic Skill, whether they are recruited when the warband is first formed or added later.
The wealthy landowning warband: due to contacts with and leverage over local merchants the landowning warband receive a +1 bonus when attempting to find rare items (see the Trading section for rules). To reflect their wealth landowning warbands start off with and extra 100 gold crowns (600 in total) when fighting in a campaign. In a one-off game they are permitted an extra 20% gold coin when recruiting a warband. For example, in a 1000 gold coin game a landowning warband will have 1200 gc.
Masterless samurai gang: Only the toughest of the tough manage to scrape by in these cut-throat times without the protection of a powerful clan. To not only survive but to lead a gang of these desperate men is something only the most resilent of veterans can due. The survival of the fittest results in ronin Captains and Champions starting out with Strength 4 instead of Strength 3.
Choice of warriors
A Samurai warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns available to spend. The maximum number of members in the warband may never exceed 15.
Captain: Each Mercenary warband must have one Captain: no more, no less!
Champions: Your warband may include up to two Champions.
Youngbloods: Your warband may include up to two Youngbloods.
Ashigaru: Your warband may include any number of ashigaru.
Ashigaru Marksmen: Your warband may include no more than seven ashigaru Marksmen.
Samurai Swordsmen: Your warband may include no more than five samurai Swordsmen.
Starting experience
The Captain starts with 20 experience.
Champions start with 8 experience.
Youngbloods start with 0 experience.
Henchmen start with 0 experience.
Mercenary skill tables
Battle hardened warband
Captain: Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed
Champion: Combat, Shooting, Strength
Youngblood: Combat, Shooting, Speed
Landowning Warband
Captain: Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed
Champion: Combat, Shooting, Speed
Youngblood: Combat, Shooting, Speed
Ronin Warband
Captain: Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed
Champion: Combat, Strength, Speed
Youngblood: Combat, Strength, Speed
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Samurai Warband Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st free/2 gc
Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Double-handed weapon . . 15 gc
Spear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Naginata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Missile Weapons
Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc (30 for a brace)
Handgun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 gc
Bow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Long Bow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Armour
Light armour . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Heavy armour . . . . . . . . . . 25 gc
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 gc
MARKSMAN EQUIPMENT LIST
This list is for Marksmen only
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st free/2 gc
Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Missile Weapons
Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc (30 for a brace)
Bow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Long bow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Handgun . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 gc
Hunting rifle . . . . . . . . . . 200 gc
Armour
Light armour . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
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Heroes
1 Samurai captain
60 gold crowns to hire
The captain of a samurai warband, no matter if he is a local nobility or a rough masterless warrior, is a seasoned fighter who has proven his worth on many battlefields. He holds his warband together either through blood ties and authority or simple charisma and his orders go unquestioned.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 4 3 3 1 4 1 8
Weapons/Armour: A samurai Captain may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Samurai Equipment list.
SPECIAL RULES
Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the samurai Captain may use his Leadership characteristic when taking Leadership tests.
0-2 Champions
35 gold crowns to hire
In any samurai warband there is one warrior who is bigger, stronger (and often uglier) than his comrades. These men are called Champions. Champions are amongst the toughest and the best fighters in the warband. They often act as the lieutenant of the warband leader and, after the Captain, they get the pick of any equipment and loot.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Champions may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the
Samurai Equipment list.
0-2 Youngbloods
15 gold crowns to hire
These are young samurai who are still inexperienced, but eager to win their spurs in the savage fighting.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6
Weapons/Armour: Youngbloods may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the
Samurai Equipment list.
Henchmen
Ashigaru soldiers
25 gold crowns to hire
Ashigaru, or ‘light feet’, form the bulk of the armies of Japan. They are the lowest rung on the ladder of the warrior caste and carry weapons, dig trenches and build walls. However they are not to be underestimated as they also form the fearsome spear and musket units on the battlefield. Peasants turned professional soldiers, the ashigaru are a useful resource for any samurai lord.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Ashigaru soldiers may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Samurai Equipment list.
0-7 Ashigaru Marksmen
25 gold crowns to hire
The archers and handgunners of Japan are famed for their skill. Most samurai warbands have a number of ashigaru marksmen who give valuable support as the samurai close in with their swords.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour Marksmen may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Marksman Equipment list.
0-5 Samurai Swordsmen
35 gold crowns to hire
Samurai swordsmen are professional warriors, experts at taking on and beating several opponents at once. They are much sought after by samurai lords, who spends lots of money and give out parts of their lands for the fealty of competent samurai who fill out their retinue.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 3 3 3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armour: Samurai Swordsmen may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Samurai Equipment list.
SPECIAL RULES
Expert Swordsmen: Samurai swordsmen are so skilled with their weapons that they may re-roll any failed hits when charging. Note that this only applies when they are armed with normal swords, and not with doublehanded swords or any other weapons.
Realy nice art and inffooo.Swords
SvaraRadera