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I've been eager for some time to put my samurai miniatures to the test, but so far with no luck. I know Ronin/En Garde are considered to be go-to rules for samurai skirmish games, but, having played two games, I really disliked the mechanics and modifiers overload for no good reason; roughly the same with Daisho. Test Of Honor didn't impress me either. Blood&Plunder is a great rule system, but I don't really want to drag homebrew units there and they will be completely out of place (I know they're testing Japan-centered expansion right now, but I'm not sure I'm sold on this idea). One of my mates I usually play with suggested we try Pikeman's Lament, and the rules are not bad but incredibly simplistic, hardly any difference between units and the activation mechanics were too punishing for my tastes. I've recently stumbled upon Father Tilly - Escalade rulesets, and they seem to simulate 16th-17th century warfare very well, but the amount of modifiers and additional rules is honestly quite insane. Lack of online reviews isn't helping. Has anybody here tried playing those and what are your opinions?

I will be honest, I have not played them.

However, the little I do know about them is to keep in mind that they come from an older generation of games. In that generation, time was not an issue in gameplay as it is today, and instead they were looking closer to simulation than game.

Therefore, they might be great BUT will bring a very different experience than the other games you did not like.

You have tried a lot of games, and did not like them. It might make more sense for you to just write a game that you DO like. It is very liberating!