天下布武

TENKA FUBU

Battles in the Age of Nobunaga

V.2
 Introduction
These rules differ from most, if not all, Sengoku Jidai rules in having the sonae as the
basic unit. A sonae was a unit of anything from a few hundred men to over a thousand,
initially composed of retainer bands led by the sonae commander’s vassals, and later on
composed of the more familiar specialist weapon groups of long spears, bows and guns,
along with more heavily armoured warriors fighting on horse or foot.
There are some advantages in using the sonae as the basic building block for the
army as opposed to the more familiar single weapon groups. Firstly, the weapons
groups were small units in wargames terms. Even allowing for combining some of them
for ease of use, these units are only going to represent a couple of hundred men, and so
an army of 30,000 would have over a hundred units, beyond the ability of wargames
rules to easily handle. Secondly, using the sonae means that we don’t have to worry
about modelling how the various types of unit interact with each other within the
sonae, much like Napoleonic rules that use a brigade as the basic unit and don’t have to
worry about which battalions have sent their skirmishers out. Lastly, by not
micromanaging the constituent parts of the sonae, the player is put in the position of
the army commander who is dealing with his subordinate commanders, rather than
also having to worry about smaller units that they would have no direct control over in
reality.
The rules draw heavily from two influences for their mechanics. The board game
‘Tenkatoitsu’ by Hexasim, and wargames rules ‘For King and Parliament’ by Simon
Miller. The former rules are in the public domain but the latter are not, so you will need
a copy of ‘For King and Parliament’ to use these rules.
This is a rather rough draft, so apologies for any lack of clarity in explanation. I’m
hoping to update them periodically as changes suggest themselves. If you have any
questions, you can email me at garethdjb@gmail.com.

Definitions

Taishō: The overall commander of the army.

Bushō: A subordinate commander who commands a shū. (Equivalent of K+P colonel)
Shū: A group of units (usually from 1-4) commanded by the same Bushō. (Equivalent
of K+P brigade)
Sonae: A unit (representing one or more actual sonae).

All units are sonae, there are no other types of unit. Only one sonae can occupy a
square.
 Orders and activations

Each shū will operate under one of 4 orders which restricts what it can do. At the
start of the battle, all shū are given orders. The default order is defend. Orders can be
changed throughout the battle. The orders are Defend, Attack, Regroup and March.

Order parameters and restrictions:

Defend: No sonae can move except to change facing.
May not attack or shoot at an enemy which is on attack orders.
Gets defensive shooting before combat.
Gets save bonus if uphill or behind defences.

Attack:
The first activation that the shū makes must be to issue a charge order if possible.
Otherwise, the first activation must be to move a sonae closer to the enemy than it
begins the move. After the first activation, the sonae may act normally subject to the
following restrictions:
Sonae must move in such a way as to end at least as close to an enemy unit as it
began.
Sonae may not move if it has an enemy in its ZOC, it must attack enemy instead.

March: Sonae move as if cavalry. As well as being able to turn and move one square
forward, sonae may move one square forward and turn.
Sonae may not move adjacent to any enemy, diagonally or orthogonally.

Regroup: Sonae cannot make a charge action

Sonae may move straight backwards as a simple action.
Sonae must attempt to leave an enemy ZOC as its first activation if it is in one.
May rally if outside enemy ZOC. Only sonae on Regroup orders may attempt to rally.
If in an enemy ZOC, it must leave it as first activation.
Sonae will evade attacks, this is to represent a sonae falling back to regroup.

The turn structure is different to K+P. Instead of activations by alternate sides, an

activation system by drawing chits is used. You will need the following chits (or cards if
you prefer)
‘Defend and Regroup’
‘Side A attack’
‘Side B attack’
‘Initiative’
‘March’
These 5 are the obligatory chits.
And one chit per Bushō, identified by letter or number or even name...
 At the start of the turn a number of chits are put in to a cup. The 5 obligatory chits
are always added. Taishō may add a number of Bushō chits depending on a die roll/card
at the start of the turn. Bushō chits can be used to change orders for that Bushō’s shū,
or to get them to have an extra activation for the turn. A Taishō that is not currently on
Defend orders only gets one order.

Taishō orders per turn:

1-4 1
5-8 2
9-10 3

The turn ends when all of the 5 main chits are drawn. If there are Bushō chits left in
the cup at this point, they are dealt with by the lost messenger table.

Examples of the 5 permanent chits and 2 Bushō chits. I’ve used Mōri and Oda for
the two sides.

Activation
When one of the 5 main chits are drawn, any shū with the corresponding order will
activate. For ‘Defend and Regroup’ and ‘March,’ roll a die each and the higher roller
activates one of his shū with that order. Then the opposing player activates one of his
and so on. The ‘Attack’ orders are carried out by the player/side specified on the chit.

For these chits, Defend/Regroup, March and Attack, the activation sequence is the
same:
1. The Būsho figure may move up to 2 spaces in any direction. A Bushō may not
move through a square occupied by an enemy sonae or a friendly sonae from a
different shū.
 2. The Bushō may attempt to issue a temporary order (see below) to an individual
sonae.
3. If the Bushō does not attempt this, they will have the ability to reroll a failed
activation for their square.
Note the Bushō cannot attempt to change the overall order for the shū on the
drawing of these chits

Bushō move with the unit whose square they occupy. Activation proceeds as normal
with K+P, that is, when an activation is failed, that activation round is over for that
particular Bushō. Note that a shū may activate multiple times in a turn.

When the ‘Initiative’ chit is drawn, any shū on ‘March’ or ‘Regroup’ orders who have
a unit in an enemy’s ZOC may attempt to change their order. Also, each side may select
any ONE other shū to activate to change an order. Each player rolls a die and the
highest activates one of his shū first. If a shū that is not on Defend or Regroup has been
chosen, this one must be the shū that is activated first. The sequence is:
1. The Bushō figure may move up to 2 spaces in any direction. A Bushō may not
move through a square occupied by an enemy sonae or a friendly sonae from a
different shū.
2. The Bushō MUST attempt to change the order for the shū.
3. If the Bushō is successful in changing its order, the shū carries out an activation
under the new order. If they fail, it does not and the activation ends.

When a Bushō chit is drawn, the relevant Bushō and their shū will activate.
Alternatively, a player may choose to pass and put the Bushō chit just drawn back in the
cup (hoping to draw it later in the turn). A player may do this a maximum of twice per
turn. The activation sequence is:
1. The Bushō figure may move up to 2 spaces in any direction. A Bushō may not
move through a square occupied by an enemy sonae or a friendly sonae from a
different shū.
2. The Bushō MAY attempt to change the order for the shū.
3. If they choose not to attempt this, the Bushō may attempt to issue a temporary
order (see below) to an individual sonae.
4. If the Bushō did not attempt either type of order change, they will have the ability
to reroll a failed activation for their square.

Order change table:

New order:
Current Order: Attack Defend March Regroup
Attack - 7 5 6
Defend 6 - 5 4
March 4 5 - 4
Regroup 7 6 6 -
Temporary orders
A Bushō may attempt to issue a temporary order to an individual sonae. If
successful, that sonae acts as if it were under that order rather than the order of the
shū. It will still activate along with the rest of the shū according to the main order of
that shū. This will be the case even if the shū only consists of a single sonae. The Bushō
needs a 7 or more to succeed and the sonae acts under the new order until the end of
the turn whereupon it reverts back to the same order as the rest of the shū.
Temporary orders allow a degree of flexibility. So, for example, a shū on defend
could change one sonae to ‘attack’ to launch a counter-attack, or to ‘march’ in order to
relocate a sonae. A shū on attack could change one sonae to regroup to bring it out of
the fighting to rally, etc etc.
Order markers for the shū can be put next to the Bushō, temporary order markers
can be put next to the sonae and removed at the end of turn.

Messenger Delay
Any Bushō chits left in the cup after the last of the 5 permanent chits are drawn will
be delayed.
Roll on table:
1-2: Messenger lost, return chit to honjin
3-6: Messenger delayed, place chit on delay track 1
7-10: Messenger delayed, place chit on delay track 2

At the start of the turn, when all chits are put in the cup, add any Bushō chits on
delay track 1 to the cup as well, then move all chits on track 2 to track 1, and all chits on
track 3 to track 2. Here’s an example of a honjin card:
 The Battle Rules
This section will deal with exceptions and additions to the usual King and Parliament
rules.

Units
All units are sonae. Each sonae occupies a whole square. Sonae are rated for guns,
command ability and military ability.
Sonae have a gun rating of either 0,1 or 2, though 2 would be applicable to the post-
1590 period. In the Age of Nobunaga, units will usually be either 1 or 0.
Command ability may be good, average or poor. This represents the internal
structure of the sonae and how efficient it is. Early on, many units will be poor due to
consisting of retainer bands, rather than more organised units. Good command units
have the +1 activation bonus that veteran troops have, poor command units have -1.
This modifier will also apply to any Bushō attempt to issue a temporary order to that
sonae.
Military ability may similarly be good, average or poor. Good military units have a +1
save, poor units have a -1 save.
Essentially, the attributes of Veteran and Raw units have been separated into 2
abilities.
 Example of a sonae with stat counters added. The ‘B’ indicates which shū the sonae
belongs to. The dot above the 2 on the second counter indicates that the sonae has a
gun rating of 1. The ‘2’ indicates an average rating for command and military (as
opposed to 1 for good and 3 for poor)

Terrain
*Fields and villages: Areas defined as fields and villages can be moved through at
normal speed. Any fighting into a field and village square gives a +1 save to sonae on
both sides.
* Low hills: Sonae on defend orders that are being charged get a +1 save.
* Rough ground and rocky hills: These are entered as a difficult activation.
* Woods: These are entered as a difficult activation. Sonae in woods get a +1
save against shooting.
* Forest: Dense woods that are impassable.

Activations
Sonae count as ‘units that began the battle with 1 or 2 hits.’ So there is a -1
activation penalty for moving diagonally etc.

Zones of Control
In addition to the ZOC to the unit’s front, a sonae has 2 secondary ZOCs on its
front two diagonals. This is to restrict movement close to the enemy. So a sonae on
attack, with an enemy in one of its front diagonal ZOCs must attack that enemy
rather than move past it. A sonae must attack a unit in its main ZOC to its front in
priority to attacking any enemy in its secondary diagonal ZOCs, unless the enemy
unit in the central ZOC is on Regroup orders. If a sonae is in the ZOC of an enemy
sonae, it cannot attack other enemy sonae who do not exert a ZOC on it.

Diagonal Movement
As an exception to making a diagonal move between two units, or a unit and
impassable terrain, a sonae on regroup orders may move diagonally backwards
through such a gap.

Group Moves
If a group move is failed on first draw, the Bushō’s re-roll may be used but this
will end the Bushō’s activation following the group move. Group moves cannot be
used within 3 squares of any enemy sonae.

Flank Attack
In order to claim a flank attack, another friendly unit must also have the target in
its ZOC and be able to charge the target. Otherwise, it is a normal attack and though
the target will not be able to shoot, it can battle back. If the target is engaged by
another friendly unit, then a flank attack gains one extra to-hit card and the target
can neither shoot nor battle back.

Shooting
Sonae with a gun attribute may shoot. The range is one square, the box straight
ahead and each diagonal. There are no ammunition rules. On a successful activation,
the unit needs a to-hit card of 8+ to inflict a hit (whether disordered or not). The
base save for the target is 7. A target on defence will return fire with a free shooting
action after it is shot at.
Sonae on regroup orders cannot shoot.
Sonae on defence cannot shoot at targets who are on attack orders (it is
assumed they cannot safely advance into range).

Melee
The melee sequence depends on the order type of the sonae involved.

Any charging sonae vs. Sonae with Regroup orders:

The sonae on regroup will attempt to evade. It can evade straight back or
directly away from the charger. If it is unable to do either, it may not evade. If
the sonae fails to evade, or cannot evade, the charger gets 2 to-hit cards if on
Attack, and 1 otherwise. The sonae on Regroup does not battle back. If the
sonae successfully evades, a charging sonae on Attack orders will occupy the
vacated square and may turn to face any direction, but only if they do not have
another enemy sonae in one of it’s front 3 zones.
Sonae evade table:
 Roll: 5+ Sonae evades.
3-4 Attacker resolves attacks, then sonae evades, attacker
pursues if able.
1-2 Attacker resolves attacks, sonae does not evade.

Charging sonae vs. sonae on March orders.

The charging sonae attacks first, 1 to-hit card for sonae on Defence or Move,
2 cards for sonae on Attack. The defending sonae then battles back.

Sonae on attack versus other sonae on attack.

The charging sonae makes one attack, then the defending sonae battles
back. Then the charging sonae attacks again, and the defending sonae battles
back again.

Sonae on attack versus sonae on defend.

If the defending sonae has guns, it first shoots on an 8+ with one card per
shooting rating. However only a maximum of one hit can be caused in this
phase.
Then the sonae on Attack orders makes one attack, the defender battles
back.
Then the sonae on Attack orders makes a second attack, and the defender
battles back.

To hit numbers in melee are 6+ for any sonae with no hits marked, and 7+ for
any sonae with 1 or more hits.

Hits, disorder and rout tests

Sonae take 4 hits before they are destroyed. If a sonae is destroyed, all friendly
sonae in orthogonally adjacent squares must take a rout test. As must all sonae of
the same shū, whether adjacent or not. The rout test is a basic rally attempt (one
attempt). Sonae only make one test per (combat caused) incident, so if a sonae is
destroyed by failing a rout test, it may trigger further rout tests on adjacent friendly
sonae, but sonae which have already tested need not test again.

Rally
Only sonae on Regroup orders may rally, and not if they are in any of an enemy
sonae’s ZOC. A rally action allows the sonae to make a save roll and to recover one
hit if successful. If the sonae’s Bushō is in the same square, there is a +1 bonus to
the rally roll.

Battle Plans and special orders

Before the battle begins, each player can select 4 ‘special orders.’ These are any
combination of the 4 orders that a shū may have. E.g. ‘3 Attack, 1 Regroup, 1
Defend.’ A special order is a replacement for a Bushō order. Either make special
order chits, or just note down when a Bushō is to receive a special order when their
chit is put into the cup. Each special order may only be issued once and is then
expended.

A special order is the same as a Bushō order except that the order change
happens automatically, no roll is necessary. Also, the Bushō may also issue a
temporary order or retain their re-roll. Any special orders still in the cup after the
last of the 5 main chits are drawn take effect anyway, but if the 5 main chits have
been drawn, the shū will only change its order, it will not get an activation. Note
that if the Bushō has somehow changed their order during the turn to match the
special order, nothing happens, the order is expended with no effect. The Bushō
must change order in order to get an activation.
The 5 orders can be viewed as representing a basic battle plan. So an attempt to
outflank the enemy may have 2 Moves, 2 Attacks and a Regroup. A plan to launch a
determined attack may have 4 attacks and 1 Regroup etc.

Risk to Bushō
There is a risk to any Bushō in the same square as a sonae that either takes a hit
or is wiped out. The risk to commanders is fairly low normally as they would usually
be near the centre of the formation.
If a Bushō is in the same square as a sonae that receives a hit, the bushō will be
injured only on the draw of an Ace of Spades. If the unit that inflicted the hit is
equipped with guns, the Bushō is hit on any black Ace instead.
If a Bushō is in the same square as a sonae that is eliminated, or the Bushō has
used a combat re-roll this activation, the Bushō is hit on a 1.

Effects of Bushō hits:

9,10: Dead
6-8: Badly wounded, survives the battle but counts as lost for this
battle.
2-5: Wounded. Subtract 1 from all command change rolls.
1: Inspiring stoicism as the Bushō ignores the wound. The Bushō is
unaffected and the army recovers 1 lost VP.

Army Break Point

The army breakpoint is calculated by adding:
4 pts per sonae
1 pt per Bushō
 2 pts per shū.

The usual army breakpoint is 40% of this total in victory points. Losses are the
same points values, so if an entire shū is lost it costs 2 victory points in addition to
the total of the sonae lost. For example, an army with 18 sonae and 5 shū would
have a breakpoint of 40% of (72+5+10) or 35.

Initiative mistakes
A Bushō attempting to change an order on the initiative check will make an error
on a roll of 1 on the order change die. Instead of the intended order, the Bushō will
implement a different order:
Intended order Actual order
Defend Regroup
Attack Defend
Move Attack if currently on Defend, otherwise
Defend
Regroup Attack if currently on Defend, otherwise
Defend
The Taisho’s Shū
The Taishō’s shū acts as any other shū except it is directly commanded by the
Taishō. Usually the Taishō will be on defend orders and his shū held in reserve.
However, the shū may be given other orders while the Taishō remains on defend (to
be able to issue more Bushō orders). In this case a subordinate leads the shū. A
subordinate does not get a command re-roll. The Taishō may choose to take over
personal command of the shū at the start of any turn before the number of Bushō
orders available are determined (i.e. the Taishō will only get one order). If the
Taishō wishes to change the order of their shū while personally commanding it, no
roll is necessary, the order is automatically implemented.

Bushō Attributes
Bushō may be given modifiers to give them some individuality. These are
expressed as ‘traits,’ and a Bushō may have one or more traits or none.

Aggressive: Bushō gets a +1 to implement attack orders. On an Initiative Mistake

roll the Bushō will always change to attack.

Heroic: Bushō may use their command re-roll to re-roll a failed combat roll
instead. Only one roll per activation and the combat re-roll cannot be used if the
command re-roll couldn’t be used, or if the Bushō has used a command re-roll
this activation. Increases risk to Bushō

Tactician: Bushō gets a +2 on all rolls to issue temporary orders.

 Tenacious: All units in the Bushō’s shū get a +1 on their rally rolls.

Defensive: Bushō gets a +1 to implement defend orders. On an Initiative Mistake

roll the Bushō will always change to defend.

Strategist: Bushō gets +1 to order change rolls.

Clear-headed: Bushō never makes Initiative Mistakes.

Stubborn: Bushō gets a -1 to all order change rolls except on initiative.

Taishō traits
Taishō may also be given traits. These may be a variation on the number of special
orders available or a bonus or minus to the die roll for Bushō orders.

Warfare in the Age of Nobunaga

The 16th century in Japan was a time of great social and political change, The century
began with a breakdown in central and local authority, with many provinces riven by
the rivalries of feuding petty warlords, and ended with central authority restored and a
(theoretically at least) rigidly ordered society that would last for 250 years.

Inevitably, there were military changes too, and Nobunaga not only witnessed
these, but influenced them as well.The introduction of European style matchlocks
around the 1540’s hugely impacted Japanese warfare. The Japanese wholeheartedly
embraced the new weapon. The matchlock gets a bit of a raw deal in some wargames
rules, but in reality it was capable of incapacitating even an armoured man at much
greater range than a bow. Guns were especially good on defence as was demonstrated
in some of Nobunaga’s rearguard actions, famously at Nagashino, and several times in
the war in Korea. Nobunaga himself was well placed to take advantage of his proximity
to some of the biggest gun manufacturing areas in central Honshū, particularly once he
had wrested control of that area from his rivals.

An organisational change occurred around the 1560’s with the shift away from
sonae organised by ‘retainer bands’ where all of a vassal’s men would fight around him,
to ‘weapons groups’ where each vassal’s infantry would be collected together into units
of long spears, bows and guns. This change originated in Eastern Honshū and spread
throughout the country.

The last change was under way at the end of Nobunaga’s life, and was eventually
completed by Hideyoshi. This was the separation of social classes and the removal of
warriors from the countryside to be concentrated in castle towns. This effectively ended
conscription and saw the end of the part-time warrior.

These developments happened gradually and at different rates throughout the

country, and there isn’t the information available to make the kind of exact definitions
that wargamers would like. One of the advantages of the sonae-based approach is that
we can avoid having to directly model these developments. So a sonae’s gun rating
represents the effectiveness of its guns without having to deal with modelling the
individual units. More usefully, a sonae with retainer bands may be classified as ‘poor’
in command terms to represent its more unwieldy nature, while a unit that has fully
transitioned to weapons groups composed mainly of professional warriors may be
classed as ‘good.’

Notes on the rules

If you have played ‘K+P’ before, you’ll notice that the ‘to hit’ numbers for combat
are much more generous in ‘Tenka Fubu.’ If you find combats happen too quickly then
you may want to change those numbers. At the moment, it feels right to me, but I
haven’t played enough games to be certain.
Optional rule could see larger or smaller sonae modelled that take 5 or 3 hits
respectively.