I actually made this board and wrote/ran the demo scenario in Summer 2015 but am now posting about it here for what I guess one might call "archival purposes." This board was made to demo Ronin at a now-defunct game store and we managed to sell a few copies!
This was my first scenery project and it definitely gave me the "terrain bug."
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| space orc for scale only |
It's just 1-3 layers of 2' x 2' pink insulation foam purchased in that size from Home Depot and cut with a Woodland Scenics hot wire. The "hard candy coating" is playground sand and diluted white glue covered in a dark reddish-brown acrylic paint and then drybrushed up to lighter browns. The bridge is by Plastcraft.
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| fiat herba |
I figured two colors of grass would break it up a little. I used spackle to seal the edge and sanded them down to a smooth finish before painting them with black latex paint.
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| oh man look at those ronin go |
The finished board with the demo scenario in play. The house is from 4ground. The torii is an aquarium ornament borrowed from Mike. I believe the grave stones are from Plastcraft (although made from resin) - designed for the game Kensei, I believe. The bamboo and cherry trees were ordered from some Hong Company via ebay and then based by yours truly.
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| of course there was a duel on the bridge! |
I used Go stones to track attack and defense tokens - just to dial up that Japanese vibe. I originally planned to pour clear resin into the stream bed but had no time. I think it turned out really nicely all the same.
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| note the repackaged WGF samurai sprues |
Here is the demo scenario:
Tokugawa has triumphed. The monks of Mount Hiei seek the shogun's favor by executing an exiled official who has taken refuge at their temple. The official and his double fled with the fearsome monks at their heels. Across the stream, a former soldier (who did not fight for Tokugawa) turned dojo master spots the fleeing old men and decides to help.
The old men start at the base of the bridge on the narrow bank and move down the road to the torii at the beginning of each movement phase by d6 inches (rolled separately). The sohei buntai deploys on the same side of the stream, ten inches away from the old men. The koryu buntai deploy on the hill on the far side of the stream.
The official is worth 5 victory points and the double is worth 1 victory point to the sohei player, for slaying them. The sohei player secretly tells the referee who is who before the game begins. If either old man makes it to under the torii, the koryu player gains as many victory points as that figure is worth but does not find out how many until the end of the scenario. Slaying opposing figures gains victory points equal to the slain figure's rank, per normal.
There are four end conditions: both old men are killed, both old men successfully flee, a combination of those two, or either side is wiped out.
Koryu Buntai (86 points)
Sensei (Leader) - Bunjutsu (Kenjutsu), Commander, Fast,
Tough
Senpai - Bunjutsu (Kenjutsu), Commander, Yojimbo
Kohai - Bunjutsu (Kenjutsu)
Sohei Buntai (84 points)
Sohei (Leader) - Fearless, Powerful, Medium Armor
Sohei - Fearless, Intuition, Teppo
Initiate - Fearless
Initiate - Fearless
