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Made in us
Executing Exarch




Picked up Warlord's new Feudal Japan skirmish game yesterday. Test of Honour involves 1-3 samurai leading a group of ashigaru against a similarly sized opposition.

Haven't had a chance to play it yet, though the rules seem straightforward enough.

The figures in the box are all in plastic. Expansion boxes with more troop varieties are planned, and at least some of those are going to be metal.

The figures look good on the first pass. My primary complaint right now is how thin the blades are. I built a samurai last night, and left a bit of plastic on his katana from where it attached to the sprue. I'm going to need to be *very* careful when I clean that up before priming.

https://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/test-of-honour/


You can get a free downloadable PDF of the rule book at the link. Unfortunately, a few key items (for instance, what happens when you draw the first and second fate token each turn) are found in the *other* book that's included in the box - the 'Battle Guide'. So the rules found in the free downloadable PDF are only mostly complete.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

I've also gotten into this game, and was lucky enough to find a preorder set on ebay with the unarmored samurai mini included.

While the plastic minis included are serviceable, I'm selling them off and using the money to help buy a bunch of Perry samurai and ashigaru.

Any idea on what clans you might split the boxset up into? I'm thinking of Mori and Shimazu, or two brothers from Ran (maybe Jiro and Saburo).

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/04/03 19:56:14


   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I am a bit disappointed that the rules use the "Bag of Initiative" method (albet with a twist) and seem to use custom dice. I don not know why, but I hate custome dice with all the passion of a grognard neck beard.

Otherwise, it seems like a pretty fun little set of rules.

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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

You don't really need the custom dice, although they make the math quicker.

4's and 5's are one success for tests, 6's are two successes, 1's are failures and 2's and 3's are neutral.

   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




Yeah, the dice can be winged pretty easily, much like the ones in SAGA.

It might be a bit annoying to remember which numbers mean which results at the start, but with practice it'd go pretty quick.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




Picked this up, have both the metal models that came with it, though Mrs L has pinched the Geisha (Grrrr).

The Samurai are a pig to assemble (working out which arm and leg goes with which for example), the ahagashi are a bit better but still not obvious.

Rules seem fun enough, though there is a fair bit unanswered and a few pages of background wouldn't go amiss (including a drawing of which weapon is which say).

Plays well enough though, fast and enjoyable but looks like there is enough to it to keep you there - the way its built around using a campaign system is especially good
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




The figures are nice.

I'm in two minds about the rules to be honest. This should be a game we love. We were looking for a historical themed small scale skirmish game, with a narrative/campaign bent to it with pretty simple, straight forward rules (I described it as the lovechild of infinity and saga). Crits and fumbles add a lot to the narrative and we like the alternative activation/draw a random token to activate system .

I ran through the rules with the guys, and we were all really enthusiastic. We put together two small forces (using my lotr minis because I don't have the toh minis built/painted yet) with a single samurai and a bunch of commoners in each (spearmen, Bowmen and a musketeer) and had a go.

And in an hour and a half, one guy got killed. By a samurai. (Admittedly, he was cut down in a very amusing and dishonourable way). But then, whether it was the dice failing or whatever, nothing connected. It can't be this hard to roll the equivelant of a few 4+s on three dice?!

We left feeling a bit underwhelmed. We liked it. But like I said, we need to go back and make some changes.

(1) take more samurai. Samurai kill things (4-5 dice).
(2) commoners need to be in three man units for the strike roll bonus, (and we might even homebrew a damage bonus).
(3) use the 'support solos' (apologies for the warmachine term!) like sergeants and whatever.

We'll have a go again, but the best I can't say is that the jury's is still out. Like I said, we want to enjoy this game.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/22 21:50:26


greatest band in the universe: machine supremacy

"Punch your fist in the air and hold your Gameboy aloft like the warrior you are" 
   
Made in us
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





Affton, MO. USA

I also just picked up the game and started watching video reviews. The models are a pain to put together, but are more detailed than other manufacturers of plastics. The custom dice annoy me as well, but better than the silly chart systems.

It's got me wanting to build a Japanese village board though.

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

How do people compare this to Ronin by Osprey over even Bushido?

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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Maryland

 Easy E wrote:
How do people compare this to Ronin by Osprey over even Bushido?


I haven't had the chance to play ToH yet (still painting). I do know it's a bigger "scale" of game. Both Ronin and Bushido are small skirmish games, while ToH can field more miniatures, especially if you focus on Commoners instead of Samurai - but still less than, say, a Saga warband.

Having only played a couple games of Ronin, I think Test of Honour may be a little simpler when it comes to rules. It's also a little more random, with units activating by pulling tokens out a bag, and your samurai earning skills over the course of a game by drawing cards from a deck created before the games starts.

   
 
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