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Summer and winter in the stone garden

Introduction
All game materials are hand crafted. This is a collectors item: only 30 numbered copies
of this game were produced. Play hints and examples are in italics. You can contact us
through www.ganeshagames.net if you have any questions about the game.
The Game board
Zen Gardens board represents a Japanese garden. Figures represents two squads of
armored samurai belonging to two clans: Black (Winter) and Red (Summer). The clan
who kills all the members of the other clan is the winner.
materials
You need this booklet, the game board, black and red samurais, the rake (used as a
measuring stick), the range measurer for shooting, counters and dice.
turns
The game is played in turns. When play begins, roll a die to determine who begins.
Players alternate in following turns. The acting player attempts to move his figures and
gain the upper hand in combat.
The length of a turn and the number of actions that may be attempted by a figure is
variable, and depends on the result of a die roll called an ACTIVATION roll. The activation
roll represents a warriors speed and resolve.
ACTIVATION
Each samurai may be activated only once per turn and during each activation he may
perform one or more actions. The controlling player rolls 1, 2 , or 3 dice for that figure,
as he sees fit. Each action requires one or more activations. Activations are gained by
rolling the white and red dice with a Japanese symbol. You dont have to declare WHAT
you are attempting to do with a samurai., just point your finger at the figure you want
to activate and roll 1,2 or 3 dice for him.
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Movement
Movement of figures is measured with the rake. A
movement unit is the distance that a samurai may
move using ONE activation. Place the base of the
rake adjacent to the characters base. The samurai
may move in a straight line until his base touches
the other end of the rakes base, as shown in the
illustration. The model may not move around corners nor bend his movement in any
way. To move around an obstacle, for
example to go past a boulder , he will have
to use two movement actions.
It is NOT mandatory to move the full stick.
You may move a fraction of a move as you
see fit, but in any case ANY movement will
require the expenditure of ONE action. In
other words, a samurai may spend one action
to move from the spot where he is now to
any other spot along the measuring stick.
Spending 2 or 3 activations, he may perform
2 or 3 separate moves.
The area occupied by a figure is represented by the round base of the figure. A figures
base may not move through obstacles such as boulders or other characters.
A figure may NOT exit the board. If surrounded by enemies, a character must remain
where he is. He will be allowed to move, using activations as normal to do so, when the
situation changes.
Activation dice
Activation dice have a stop Japanese symbol showing the FAILURE of the activation
roll. There are 3 activation dice , 2 white and 1 red. White dice have 2 sides showing the
failure symbol. The red die has 3 sides with the failure symbol. An unhurt figure rolls the
red die as his third activation die. A wounded character rolls the red die as his first die.
Example: an unhurt character wanting to roll 3 dice will have to roll 2 white
dice and the red die. An unhurt character wanting to roll 2 dice will roll 2 white
dice. A wounded character wanting to roll 2 dice will have to roll the red die
and a white die.
Turn-over
When, on an activation roll, you roll 2 or 3 failures, you score a turnover. That character
performs his activation, if any (for example if he rolled 3 dice and scored 1 success and
2 failures he could still perform one action) and then play passes to the opponent.
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It is not always advisable to roll 3 dice. The more dice you roll, the more actions you may
perform but the risk of a turn-over increases.
Reaction
If you get one or more failures in an activation roll, the opponent may perform one
reaction. Before you perform the actions you rolled, your opponent will roll a single die
to react with a character of his choice. If the chosen character is wounded, he will roll a
red die. If he is unhurt, he will roll a white die. If he gets an activation, that character may
perform one ranged attack (shooting with a loaded arquebus or bow) OR a single
movement. After the reaction is performed, play goes back to the original player (the
one who caused the reaction) so that the figure may complete its actions. N.B. if two or
more failures were rolled, this is a turn-over and play will pass to the opponent.
A reaction represents a momentary loss of initiative.
RELOADING RANGED WEAPON
Arquebuses and bows start loaded, but after they are used, a character must spend 2
actions to reload before he can use them again. You cant reload if any foe is closer than
1 move to the samurai wishing to reload. The arquebus may NOT be fired in the same
turn it is reloaded. A bow may shoot the same turn it is reloaded (assuming that the
samurai has enough actions). Put a counter on the samurais card to remember that his
weapon is unloaded.
Ranged and melee combat
To perform a melee or ranged attack, you
must spend one activation. You may also
spend 2 actions to attack with a +1 on the
die roll. You may either attack in melee or
shoot a ranged weapon in a turn, but not
both.
shooting
Shooting represents attacks with bows or
arquebuses. The ranges of arquebuses and
bows are measured with the colored stick.
A samurai in melee may not perform a
ranged attack, nor may he be targeted by
a ranged attack. In other words, if a
samurai is in base to base contact with an
opponent, he may not shoot nor be shot
at. You may fire at any enemy on the
board, as long as you can draw a clear,
unobstructed line of sight between the
shooter and the target. Draw an imaginary
line between the center of the base of the
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shooter and the center of the base of the target, and you may perform the attack if this
line does NOT go through bases of other characters, pagodas, or boulders.
A samurai standing on a boulder has a clear line of sight to figures standing on other
boulders.
To measure shooting range, use the range stick (the painted toothpick). Place the
pointed end on the shooters base and the other end towards the target. Anything that
is even partially within the first part
of the stick may not be targeted.
Anything within the second part of
the stick may be targeted normally.
Anything that lies within the third
part of the stick is targeted with -1
on the combat roll. Anything that
lies within the fourth part of the
stick is targeted at -2. Anything that
lies within the fifth part of the stick
is targeted at -3. Always apply the
worst modifier if the target is across two different parts of the stick.
melee
A samurai in base to base contact with a foe may fight in melee. Attacking in melee
requires the expenditure of one action. To move away from a melee, the character needs
to spend one action to break away and one action to perform a move. A character
attacking in melee rolls a numbered die and adds the value of the weapon he is using
as printed on the character card. Add any modifiers that apply. The defending character
rolls a die and adds his armor value, plus any modifiers that apply.
Support in melee
Every friend helping an attacker in a melee gives a +1 support
bonus to the combat die roll. Unless armed with a naginata, the
figure must also be in base to base contact with the enemy. The
defender may also benefit from the presence of an adjacent
friend. A maximum of 3 figures may give this +1 modifier (in the
case of a character surrounded
by 4 enemies).
Example: in the illustration, 2 red
samurai attack a black samurai.
When the red samurai attacks, he
does so at +1. When the other red
samurai attacks, he also does so at +1 on the die.
naginata
A naginata is a polearm allowing the samurai to attack a
distant target. To use it, the samurai must be within 1
move from the target. A naginata-armed samurai may
give melee support when he is in range.
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Boulders
Climbing up or down a boulder requires an additional activation. Fighting from an
elevated position gives a +1 die roll bonus to the samurai on higher ground. Only one
character at a time may stand on a boulder.
Combat results
If the attacker doubles the defenders score (e.g.: 8 vs 4) the target is wounded. The
character card is turned over (on the blood splattered side). If the card was already
turned over, the samurai dies and is removed from play.
If the attacker beats the targets score without doubling it (e.g.: 5 vs 4), the attack causes
a Distraction (place a counter on the samurais card to remember that he is distracted).
To wound a Distracted samurai you just have to beat his score (no need to double it).
A samurai may recover from distraction by spending 3 activations (remove the counter
if he does so). The distraction remains if the character is subsequently wounded.
A distraction represents a flesh wound, fatigue, loss of balance, etc.
combat effects
If the attacker wins a combat roll with an odd number on the die (1, 3 or 5), the defender
must retreat by 1 move. If this is not possible, the defender remains where he is.
If the attacker loses a combat roll, is NOT using a naginata, and his die scored a 1, he
suffers a Distraction. If the attacker is wounded, he also suffers a distraction also if the
die rolled a 1, 2 or 3, not only on a 1.
Retreating
The frame around the game board is impassable. If a figure must retreat to it, he stops
in contact with the frame (the walls of the garden).
Initial deployment
Both players line up their samurai on the corners of their short side
of the garden, placing the samurai with the lowest numbers on the
corners. Players roll dice to determine who gets to act first. Reroll
ties. The acting player may activate his samurai in any order he
wants. Remember: you may NOT roll dice to activate each figure
more than once per turn.
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Scenarios
These are variants to try when you are familiar with the basic game.
Scenario: lone wolf
In this variant, a player uses only his number 4 samurai, armed with a katana.
The other player uses all his warriors. The lone wolf must always roll at least 2
activation dice. He acts until he rolls a turnover. He ignores distractions. When
he is wounded, one of his activation dice must be the red one. The opponents
use the normal rules.
Scenario: blades versus shooters
In this variant, a player uses all samurai with ranged weapons, the other all
those with no ranged weapons. Samurai armed only with a katana must
always roll 2 activation dice. When one is wounded, one of his activation dice
must be red.
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Expanding the game
Zen Garden will give you many hours of fun but you might want to expand it. A first
step could be building a larger battleground using paper buildings or a cloth to
represent a grassy hill, and add more figures by purchasing more 10mm samurai. This
will turn your board game into full-fledged miniature wargaming. You may also expand
the rules by adding special abilities to represent ninja, peasants, warrior monks,
mounted samurai, and so on, and new scenarios with different objectives and victory
conditions.
And why limit yourself to feudal Japan only? Visit www.ganeshagames.net to get in
touch with a wonderful community of gamers playing many different historical periods
and genres.
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Rules by Massimo Moscarelli
Based on the Song of Blades engine by Andrea Sfiligoi
Handmade materials by Angelo Moscarelli
Rules editing and layout by Andrea Sfiligoi
Cards and cover by Fabrizio Passatempi
English text edited by David Gretton
www.ganeshagames.net