Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai

Zach Goodier

Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is an add-on DLC to Shogun 2: Total War, and what an expansion it is.  Fall of the Samurai takes place during the Meiji era, when Britain, France, and the U.S. were all actively involved in opening Japan and modernizing it.  While you still have the traditional spear, sword, and bows, you now have the introduction of modern late-19^th century weapons.  These weapons include advanced field cannon, carbine cavalry, ironclad ships, and even Gatling guns.  With these weapons, you must declare loyalty to either the shogun or emperor, and proceed to expand your control over Japan.

This isn't always as one-sided as it looks, guns work better at a range, but once those swords close the gap they are deadly in the hands of experience samurai.

For starters, the mechanics are still the same, yet very different in the overall feel and dynamic.  Where Shogun 2 generally forced you to pick between vast peasant units, or smaller elite units, now there’s another element involved: modern or traditional.  That isn’t to say that shogun supporters HAVE to limit themselves to traditional units, they have modern weapons as well.  However, one of the key elements to using modern units is how your clan develops.  Tokugawa supporters are more geared towards traditional units, and their most efficient military consists of less-advanced units.  Clans that build a lot of military academies to train modern infantry advance their clan development, but this also angers the populace as you change local government and culture to a more Western-style, but it also opens up trade with these nations, and allows you to gain more income through trade, and use their agents to train your troops and advance your technology.

These aren't the little wooden rafts you used to control, and they have cannons.

Diplomacy was… Well almost a joke in the original game, with you barely needing to use it, and the realm divide making you wonder why you ever bothered in the first place.  This has been changed a great deal in Fall of the Samurai.  It is very difficult to get ahead by being a solely military power, and you’ll find enemies nipping at your heels all the while, and they will find ways to agitate you.  Enemies make more effective use of navies, even landing armies behind your borders and tearing up the countryside to damage your economy if they don’t take your territory altogether.  The realm divide has also been changed, with you becoming the “vanguard” of your respective side: shogun or emperor.  By doing this, all the other factions that share your loyalty will rally behind you, further solidifying their allegiance, generally.  However, you also have the option of going it alone, declaring both to be unworthy of ruling, and declaring your intention of conquering Japan for yourself.  While this might sound tempting, you will have all but your most loyal allies turn on you. 

Gatling guns take a while to build up to, and they might not be all that impressive at first, but once you level them up they can be devastating when properly positioned.

Naval battles are another major change, with the new Western-style ships.  You can take control of individual ships, in order to control their weapons manually, and helping you get more involved in the action.  You can also do this with cannons and Gatling guns in land battles, but you’ll find yourself having to leave them to give orders to your units more often than you would in naval battles, which have a much slower pace.  Naval units can also engage in night battles, raiding enemy fleets and ports.  However, the coolest thing is the ability to bombard enemy ground emplacements and cities with your fleets on the coast.  Fleets have a set range which is outlined when you select the unit, and if another clan’s city, port, or building is range, you can try to damage it without engaging in an actual battle.  You can also use them to support armies, being able to use 2 bombardments in per battle to support your army.  This can have a HUGE impact on a battle, allowing you to take of forces much bigger than your own by planning your naval bombardments to maximize enemy casualties and break their morale.  This element makes for some of the most exciting battles I’ve ever had in a strategy game.

Conquest has never been more entertaining.

If you know Shogun 2, then you should have a good idea what you’re in for after reading this review.  If you haven’t played the original game, then now’s as good a time as any to start.  I really loved this expansion in a way that makes it hard to go back to the original game.  The added elements of modern weapons and a more in-depth diplomacy system to make you feel like you have to play not only battlefield, but the political field as well.  If you are interested in the time period, strategy games, or you’re looking for a challenge, then this add-on should do it for you.  However, if you don’t like the genre, or the original game, then this probably won’t do much to impress you.

Good:

-Brilliant portrayal of an important time period in Japanese history.

-Expansive units that contain both traditional swords and bows, to modern muskets and Gatling guns.

-Navies are much more important, and can really make or break your clan.

-Diplomacy much more central to survival, and while you can avoid it you really want, you can benefit greatly from taking the time to use it.

Bad:

-Obviously strategy haters need not apply.

Scully Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan

By Zach Goodier

This board game involves a relatively simple basis: 2-4 players can play on 2 teams, one is trying to infiltrate a Japanese castle as a Ninja and Traitor, while the other team plays the guards, and seeks to defend the castle from infiltration and kill the intruders.  The guards choose the locations for 6 objectives within the castle itself, as well as hidden sentries and traps.  Meanwhile, the intruders pick 2 of the objectives (1 per agent) to try to complete, then escape the castle to win.  Obviously, the guards win if the intruders are caught and killed, or fail to complete their missions.  However, there's a big twist: the intruders don't put their pieces on the board unless the guards find them.  The intruders must use paper copies of the map to track their movements, and calculate where objectives are within the castle as they search for the one they need to complete.

The game board. Note the numbers in the upper right, that is the turn count, and the bottom right has the alert level.

The game lasts for a total of 20 turns, with the guards organizing patrols and sentries around the castle, along with stationing guards in barracks to use later in the game if needed.  The ninja starts outside the castle, and must sneak into the castle through various tools such as a secret passage (which the intruders can place before the game starts), and ropes that can help them get over castle walls.  Intruders can move up to 3 spaces per turn (sneaking, walking, and running).  The faster you move, the more noise you make, and the easier it is for the guards to notice you.  So intruders must balance stealth with the race against time, making them feel the  pressure.

This is the full setup, in this case for only 2 players.

Some of the objectives that the intruders might have to complete within the castle.

On the other end, the guards don't have to complete any objective other than prevent the intruders from completing their goals.  So guards must try to sniff out where the ninja and traitor are using cards to have their patrols and sentries listen and search out where they believe the intruders are. 

 

(Left to right) Traitor, Sword Guard, Ninja, Spear Guard, Drunken Guard (only used if Traitor uses his Potent Sake ability to incapacitate a guard without arousing suspicion).  Each Guard player controls one type of guard, sword of spear.

Intruders have cards, as well.  Both sides can perform attacks to wound/kill opponents if in conflict, and guards can search, while intruders can deploy rope, use passages, or perform other acts to avoid detection and neutralize guards.  It is impossible for the intruders to eliminate all the guards, so don't think you can "run and gun" your way through this game as the intruders, you must think of kill cards as a last resort to avoid being killed or found.

Some of the cards, the two left cards are exclusive to the Traitor, while the Secret Passage if for both intruders.  All players have access to the Kenjutsu card to kill guards or wound intruders.

The brilliance of this game is that it is relatively quick to set up, simple to play, and has amazing stealth mechanics for a board game.  It provides a challenge to both sides, as it has the guards and intruders playing cat and mouse with the time playing against the intruders, and the open expanse within the castle grounds, as well as the mobility of the intruders, working against the guards.  The only real issue is that, like other games, you need to get the right people together.  It can be frustrating for players, as well, if the teams aren't properly balanced.  Fun is had when both sides know what's going on, and are equally skilled in the game.  Otherwise, some of the danger is taken away and the experience.  In all, a great game for anybody who enjoys a little strategy and stealth.

The Good:

-Exciting game that challenges both sides, while making them feel diverse yet fair.

-Stealth mechanics make the game extremely fun.

-Involves use of strategy, skill, and a lot of luck, but no silly dice rolling to determine your fate, you make all the calls.

The Bad:

-Teams must remain balanced, if possible.  Otherwise, the experience as a whole suffers when one team is dominating the entire game (this isn't against the game itself, this essentially applies to all games, anyways).

-Honor system is in play.  Since the guards can't see where the intruders are, they rely on the honesty of the other team to tell them when the guards find something, which is easy to abuse at the expense of the other players.

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10