Board Game
Legend of the Five Rings invades board games with Art of War (formerly Emperor). Art of War is the first L5R board game, bringing full scale war in the Emerald Empire to life. Six Clans battle for supremacy, each attempting to control strategic locations in the Empire while crushing opposing forces. Samurai meet on the battlefield, mounted cavalry run down their enemies, mystical shugenja call on the powers of the elements, and great leaders face off in duels to the death. While your military might be strong, you must also control the courts, as a well-timed use of the Emperor’s favor can spell destruction for your mighty forces.
• Features over 100 miniatures of samurai, shugenja, cavalry, and more
• Play one of six Great Clans, each with their own strengths and weaknesses
• Deep strategy includes both the command of your troops and political machinations
• Fight for the Emerald Throne like never before
- 2-6 players
- For ages 12 and up
- 120 Minutes
Available – September 2008
Shugenja
Shugenja are the priests of the Emerald Empire, powerful spell-casters capable of raining fire and lightning upon enemies. The mystical power to call upon the kami is represented in the shugenja’s innate ability “Thunder X.” Thunder allows a shugenja in one province to roll a total of Xd10 for hits against units in an adjacent province. This level of destructive power combined with being out of harm’s way makes the shugenja a strategically important unit for any Clan. Shugenja cost 5 koku each, but are limited in availability for most Clans.
As a fan of L5R would expect, the Phoenix Clan shugenja are more powerful, not only in a stronger Thunder X value than other Clans, but also in a greater number of powerful tactical cards that rely on or assist shugenja.
Strongholds
Strongholds are permanent structures representing various economic and military enhancements to a Province. They symbolize things like castles, silk works, merchant houses, dojo, and training grounds. They cannot move, but provide Defense and Income boosts to their Province. Strongholds can be destroyed in Combat in the same way as other Units.
Clans such as the Crab have strongholds that boost the defenses of their local units, while the Crane strongholds do not provide military advantage, but rather economic, with increased Koku production.
Archers
The Archer is a powerful figure as Archers possess the ability to inflict hits on the enemy army before they have a chance to strike back. Each Archer has First Strike (X), where X is the number of Battle Dice the Archer rolls before the first round of combat. Those Dice inflict hits as normal, then the Battle begins. Archers cost 2 koku each to deploy, and roll 1d6 for hits in combat. Each archer can absorb 1 hit.
After the initial hail of arrows and the armies collide, the Archer drops his bow and becomes essentially a Bushi, with the same stats as such. They do not however count as Bushi for Strategy Cards that check for Bushi.
Bushi
The Bushi is the most common piece in the game. These rank and file samurai make up the primary forces of many armies. Bushi cost 1 koku each to deploy, and roll 1d6 for hits in combat. Each bushi can absorb 1 hit. While this may not seem terribly impressive, note that some Clans have ways to bolster their Bushi, including the use of Strategy Cards.
The Bushi have no special abilities like many of the other units, but there are more Strategy Cards that affect Bushi, such as Shiba’s Assault for the Phoenix Clan. When the arrows have all been fired, and the duels have ceased, it will be the Bushi who end the fight.
Strategy
So let’s talk Strategy. Strategy Cards that is. Strategy Cards allow you to affect the game in myriad ways to bring your Clan closer to victory. Each Clan has unique Strategy Cards that can be played at various times for varying effects. Strategy Cards cost koku to draw, so you do have to give up some potential military resources for the turn to gain them.
Here is an example of some Strategy Cards being played to full effect. Assume the following:
4 players - Lion, Crane, Unicorn, and Crab.
The Lion player won the Imperial Favor for the round, thus granting him Initiative.
The Lion has just attacked a Unicorn Province adjacent to a Crab Province.
When the battle begins, players have an opportunity to play Strategy Cards. First the Lion, who has initiative chooses to play Lion’s Charge, to give all his units in the battle First Strike in an attempt to wipe out Unicorn opposition before they can retaliate.
Next, the Crane player decides that the Crab player has forces just a little too close to his border, and responds with Proposal of Peace, targeting the Lion in the Unicorn Province! The Crane choose to move the Lion forces to the adjacent Crab Province, where they will now have First Strike against the Crab forces.
Of course, the Crab doesn’t like this at all, and responds with a little Crab Diplomacy, causing the Lion to stay right where they are.
That’s just a small sample of what can happen in an Art of War battle. Check again soon for updates on the various types military units, the Imperial Favor, hostage exchanges, and more!
