Symbol definitions: QS Quick Start rules LWTV Little Wars TV rules
- Each player: take a tray and a matching army board and screen.
- LWTV Remove the province cards for Yamashiro (Kyoto) and Settsu (Osaka) and place fortresses there:
- These are neutral provinces defended by 5 ronin which must be fought to gain control of the province.
- Kyoto controlling player: hold +1 event card in their hand beyond the normal limit.
- Osaka controlling player: +1 koku per turn.
- Shuffle and deal an equal number of province cards to each player.
- QS Each player: 7 province cards in a 5-player game, 11 in a 4-player game, or 16 in a 3-player game.
- Each player: add 1 spearman to owned provinces.
- Draw swords.
- 6x — In turn order: add 2 spearmen in owned provinces (Limit: 3/province).
- QS Each player first adds 1 spearman to an empty province and claims it.
- Setup army screens:
Normal rules — each army
Unit Qty Daimyo 1 Samurai bowman 1 Samurai swordsman 1 Ashigaru gunners 2 Optional rules — each player
QS Place 1 daimyo in each army, then distribute as desired.LWTV Place 1 daimyo in each army, then distribute as desired.Unit QS LWTV Samurai bowman 5 2 Samurai swordsman 5 4 Ashigaru gunners 6 5 - Game-Board State after Setup
Players Provinces Owned
Per PlayerSpearmen on
Board Per PlayerSpearmen Left in
Tray Per PlayerProvinces Still
Unoccupied5 13 25 11 3 4 17 29 7 0 3 22 34 2 2 - In turn order: each player deploys one army at a time .
- LWTV Shuffle the event deck.
- Collect Koku.
Each round of play is 9 actions. Players take turns within each action in order of their swords.
0 Begin Round
- Important: players keep their swords until later in the round.
- LWTV Each player draws 1 event card (limit 1/army).
1 Plan
- Must distribute all koku into planning bins.
- Build: may only place 0 or 2 koku in this bin.
2 Determine Turn Order
- In turn order: the highest bidder chooses a sword, then the next highest.
- Once all bidders have taken swords, the other players draw swords.
3 Build
- Place a castle in a province without one or upgrade an existing castle to a fortress.
- If there aren't enough castles for fortresses, players take them in turn order.
- If you cannot place a castle or fortress you lose your 2 koku from the build bin.
4 Levy Units
- Players first levy units simultaneously, then place units simultaneously.
- Levy at most 1 unit per province owned.
- Place at most 1 unit in each province (in provincial garrison or army card).
Stacking limitsAt most 5 units may be in a provincial garrison.Army stacking limits are printed on the cards.Don't count army markers, Ronin or fortifications for stacking or placing limits.
5 Hire Ronin
- For each koku, place 2 ronin on a facedown province card.
- Reveal ronin when they are about to attack, defend or move.
Stacking limitsAdd ronin to provincial garrison or army card.Ronin in armies do not occupy squares: place them below the army in the blank space.You must have more total units in a province (army and garrison) than ronin.
- Ronin can't move or fight by themselves.
- Return ronin to the tray at the end of the round (Action 8).
6 Hire Ninja
- The player who bid the most koku hires the ninja.
- In the case of a tie no one hires the ninja.
- All koku in the ninja bin is lost whether or not you hire the ninja.
Assassinate daimyo
Choose an opponent's daimyo and roll 8 or less.
- Failed assassinations: the opponent chooses a daimyo and assassinates on a 9 or more.
- Assassinations can be used during any player's Action 7: Wage War in Phase A, B or D.
- Assassinated daimyos:
- Turn the daimyo and army unit markers on their side.
- Armies can't move or attack and daimyos do not participate in combat.
- Note: If the daimyo was assassinated after an attack was declared (Phase B) the attack doesn't happen.
- If at least one unit in the army survives until the end of the round, they are replaced by a new daimyo.
- Move the new daimyo's experience marker to the left-most hole marked '1'.
Spy
After all players allocate koku, you may look at one player's bids and change yours.
- Return the ninja to the tray after using an ability or after the next Action 1: Plan.
7 Wage War
Each player in turn order completes each of the 4 phases of Wage War one after another:
- All army movements must be completed in Phase A before declaring battles.
- All battles must be declared in Phase B before any combats take place.
- After all combats are complete, armies may move again.
- The timing of the phases and steps within each phase are quite specific and must be followed exactly.
A Move Daimyo's Armies
- Only daimyo's armies may move in this phase (not provincial garrisons).
- An army leaving a province must leave a provincial garrison (provinces cannot be left empty).
- You cannot split off units for any other reason in this phase.
- Armies move up to their daimyo's experience level, only move between owned provinces and can't end in a province with another army.
- You may pick up provincial units into the army from the province it starts in or moves into.
B Declare First Battles
- You may attack an adjacent enemy or unoccupied province using an army or provincial force or both.
- Place an attack marker for each army and each provincial force that will attack an enemy or unoccupied province.
- Note: a battle may not be declared against a province containing an amry on the first turn.
C Conduct Combat
- The attacker chooses the order of combats to resolve.
- An experienced daimyo's army resolves all of its battles before the next combat is resolved.
- The defender defends with all forces (army units, provincial garrisons and fortification bonus units).
- Both attacker and defender can roll their ranged and hand-to-hand units simultaneously:
- Both roll ranged units, keeping track of the number of hits, then both remove ranged casualties.
- Both roll hand-to-hand units, keeping track of the number of hits, then both remove hand-to-hand casualties.
- The attacker may call of the attack after ranged and hand-to-hand casualties are taken.
- A daimyo gains one experience per turn if they attacked and won at least 1 battle.
Fortifications
Fortifications add temporary defenders which replenish each combat and must be taken first as casualties:
Castle: A castle provides 4 spearmen to the defending forces.Fortress: A castle provides 5 ronin to the defending forces.
Naval invasions
Before combat begins, the defender rolls for all of their units (not including foritifications). The attacker removes all first strike casualties, then combat begins as normal.
Experienced Daimyos
Immediately after a successful combat, experienced daimyos may attack again from the newly occupied province. Experienced daimyos may make one attack for each level of experience they have. Do not use a battle marker to declare the attack — attack an adjacent province immediately if possible. Experienced Daimyos may attack again even if the battle was unsuccessful because they called off the attack. Unoccupied provinces still count as battles. Armies may not move in between these battles.
- A daimyo's army is removed from the game when:
- The daimyo unit is taken as the last casualty in a battle.
- The daimyo is assassinated as the last unit in an army.
- The last unit of an army is killed in an assassinated daimyo's army.
- A player can only ever regain armies by eliminating another player.
- When a players last army is eliminated, they are eliminated from the game.
- When you eliminiate a player:
- You gain control of all of their units and provinces.
- You may regain any of your elimiated armies by:
- Place any lost armies back on their army card at the left-most experience level marked '1'.
- Place a single daimyo unit on the army card and place the army in any owned province without an army.
- Any units in that provinces provincial garrison may join the army.
- The new army may move as normal during phase D.
- LWTV Using the Little Wars TV optional rules:
- Do not gain control of the elimiated players units or provinces.
- Instead, remove all their units from the map and gain control of only their fortified provinces by placing a spearman there.
- Unoccupied provinces are now up for grabs.
- Do not replenish all your eliminated armies, but instead regain 1 elimiated army using the above procedure.
- LWTV Once the first player is eliminated, complete the current turn and play one more turn, then the game ends.
D Final Movement
- First, daimyo's armies may move up to their experience level.
- Second, players may move provincial forces to adjacent provinces.
- If the province contains an army, provincial garrison forces in that province can join the army.
- Armies and provincial forces can move into friendly provinces and also unoccupied provinces to claim them.
8 Remove Ronin
- Ronin are removed from armies and provincial garrisons and returned to the tray in this step.
- After ronin are deployed onto the board, they remain for all players Wage War action until this step.
9 Collect Koku
- Players collect 1 koku for every 3 provinces they own.
- Only collect koku for every complete set of 3.
- Always collect at least 3 koku.
Base Game
As soon as one player owns 35 provinces, the game immediately ends and they are the winner.
LWTV Victory
Ignore the above game end and victory conditions and instead:
- Once the first player is eliminated, complete the current turn and play one more turn, then the game ends.
- Each player totals their victory points (VP) according to the following chart:
| VP | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| +1 | Each province controlled |
| +1 | Each fortification controlled |
| +1 | Each enemy army eliminated |
| +1 | Control of Kyoto |
| ±X | Various event cards have VP conditions |