Kensei/Rules And Tactics/2e

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Tactics for Kensei second edition, released alongside a Kickstarter that added the artillery and Komuso options to the game. Note that due to the second edition rulebook being professionally edited and community reviewed for the English-speaking audience prior to printing, this article will NOT attempt to cover all the rules of Kensei. Instead the following represents a true tactica page in the 1d4chan style.

For those who are unaware, Kensei is a Spanish-made tabletop wargame which thanks to its popular miniatures made by experts in the tabletop miniature sculpting community such as Juan Diaz spread rapidly in popularity throughout Europe and made its way into the collections of fa/tg/uys across the sea as well. The story takes place in a fictional version of Japan where things from throughout real life Japanese history all anachronistically appear at once and sometimes within the same faction and army. Although the game is based heavily on real history and in many ways plays like a historical genre game, there are optional fantastic elements and stereotypes taken from Japanese cinema rather than historical record. To date the game has had two very successful Kickstarters and one Indiegogo campaign to expand their original range.

Kensei plays like most tabletop wargames such as most famously Warhammer Fantasy, although the rules are designed to encourage more complex tactics via more punishing bonuses and debuffs from weapon types, the ability to entire destroy enemies that are surrounded with minimal effort, and a reliance on landscape and terrain.

Edition Changes

The following is a list of some of the major changes between 1e and 2e that experienced players should note when retooling their strategies and armies from 1e to 2e. Some changes will be noted in their tactics section if they pertain only to that specific model type.

• Intermediate is a new skill level of games with more complex rules. Command Cards are used. These allow players to do things like challenge the other player for Initiative, pray for divine aid on dice rolls, and finally spend their cards to command more Units than they normally would be able to in a turn.

• Models no longer have unique stats. They share a profile based on their rank (social background for humans, size for Creatures). These ranks also dictate special rules in Intermediate games.
  • Samurai may choose to automatically fail an Honor roll, or automatically pass one at the cost of one Wound. During they Maintenance Phase they automatically stop Fleeing.
  • Ashigaru roll 3D6 for Flee movement, and can pass through friendly Units as long as they end in a valid position.
  • Ninja automatically have the Adaptable and In The Shadows passive abilities.
  • Monks are immune to Fear and Terror.
  • Undead must take three Stunned markers to receive a Wound. They are immune to Fear, Terror, Panic, and Poison. When failing an Honor roll they do not flee, merely take an extra Stun marker. They cannot Run, Flee, or Disengage. On the Charge they do not add +1D6. Blunt weapons add +1 Damage against Undead. Undead have Regeneration, rolling a D6 for each Unit and on a natural 6 resurrecting a casualty (wound markers are not removed).
  • Spectre models automatically have the Adaptable and Agile passive abilities. They are immune to Fear, Terror, Panic, and Poison. They cannot Flee. When failing an Honor roll they do not flee, merely take an extra Stun marker. They can pass through Terrain and Units. Only other Spiritual models can make a Reaction against their Movement Orders. They Climb at their unmodified Movement.
  • Peasants lose models equal to the number that they lose Combat by.
  • Senshi have no special rules.
  • Heroes (H) have 10(Foot)/15(Mounted) Move, 4(Melee)/3(Shooting) Attack, 3 Initiative, 5 Honor, 3 Wounds.
  • Elite (E) have 10(Foot)/15(Mounted) Move, 3(Melee)/3(Shooting) Attack, 2 Initiative, 4 Honor, 2 Wounds.
  • Warriors (W) have 10(Foot)/15(Mounted) Move, 2(Melee)/2(Shooting) Attack, 1 Initiative, 3 Honor, 1 Wounds.
  • Peasants (P) have 10(Foot)/15(Mounted) Move, 0(Melee)/0(Shooting) Attack, 0 Initiative, 2 Honor, 1 Wound.
  • Onmyouiji (O) have 10(Foot)/15(Special Movement) Move, 3(Melee)/2(Shooting) Attack, 3 Initiative, 5 Honor, 3 Wounds.
  • Komuso (K) 10(Foot)/15(Special Movement) Move, 3(Melee)/2(Shooting) Attack, 3 Initiative, 5 Honor, 3 Wounds.
  • Colossal Creatures (C) have 15(Foot)/20(Special Movement) Move, 6(Melee)/5(Shooting) Attack, 4 Initiative, 5 Presence (functionally the same as Honor, but taking a Wound if failed instead of Fleeing), 4 Wounds, 7 Ki. They also have a Monster Skin as their armor, granting -2 to the enemy's Damage Roll.
  • Major Creatures (M) have 10(Foot)/15(Special Movement) Move, 5(Melee)/4(Shooting) Attack, 2 Initiative, 4 Presence, 3 Wounds, 5 Ki. They also have Protection Aura as their armor, granting -1 to the enemy's Damage Roll.
  • Inferior Creatures (I) 10(Foot)/15(Special Movement) Move, 3(Melee)/3(Shooting) Attack, 1 Initiative, 3 Presence, 2 Wounds, 1 Ki.

• Units are no longer automatically destroyed if entirely surrounded.

• Units that Flee suffer -1 Honor for the rest of the game. Units with the first two ranks complete do not Flee, but merely Retreat 2D6cm (3D6 if Mounted) in the opposite direction but stay facing their attacker. If the Unit has a Leader they may suffer one Wound to not Retreat or Flee.

• Once one player finishes activating Units the other player(s) may only activate one more of their own before the turn ends.
• Units can climb vertically across terrain at half their Movement.
• Troops in Combat attack at the same time which ensures both Units will take casualties.
• Markers are now mandatory.
• Each turn is divided into Maintenance (deal with Markers, discard and draw Command cards), Initiative (both players roll D6, the winner chooses which player's Units Activate and is Used first), and Activation (player with initiative chooses a Unit and undergoes the following steps: Unit Activations, Order Rolls, Orders, Mark Used Units, and finally End Of Turn followed by the other player doing the same).
• Unit Activation involves both players making a D6 roll for the singular Unit each is activating that turn and adding the result to their Initiative. If the result is 4+ the players have two Activation Orders, if three or less they only have one. If a natural 1 they only get 1 Order, if a 6+ after Initiative they get two and automatically get to use their Ki ability. As a result low Initiative models may only get to do one thing per turn, high Initiative ones may always get two and even their special ability. An Activated Unit suffers -1D6 on their Combat roll to represent exhaustion, and -1D6 if using Combat as a reaction to being attacked. These are cumulative.
• In regards to Activation any models in multiple melees (for example you have a Unit is engaged with two enemies) activate each other (so for example your Unit initiates an attack, the two it is engaged in melee with will both Activate in response).
• If an attack Hits but does not Wound it causes a Stun effect. Two Stuns become a Wound. Shooting attacks do not Stun.
• Running takes two Orders, and they must move a minimum of double their Movement value with a maximum of double their Movement after a D6 roll so R=(M+D6)2. Ranged attacks against Running troops are made at +1 difficulty.
• To represent exhaustion, troops can only make one Combat Order each time they are Activated.
• All melee, shooting, and damage dice rolls are a success if 4+ and a failure if 3 or lower after modifiers are applied. A natural 1 is always a fail, a natural 6 always a success. If modifiers somehow make the number of dice to be used technically 0, one is still rolled but only a natural 6 will be a success. Honor rolls don't fail or success automatically.
• Models are divided into the following Classes: Hero, Elite, Warrior, Peasant, Komuso, Onmyouiji, Colossal Creature, Major Creature, Inferior Creature. In addition they have keywords that grant them other abilities. They also have an indicator of the size of the model, from V1 which is the size of small animals to V4 which is the size of giants.
• Models come with many abilities, ones marked PA may be used at will while unmarked ones must be made with a 6+ Order roll.
• Models share stats regardless of clan or Unit based on what type of soldier they are.
• Lone models have no Flank.
• Players who cause casualties get to indicate which models they want to be dead and removed. Models that are Out Of Cohesion (more than the allowed distance from each other in one Unit, 5cm for Skirmishers and 1cm for all else) suffer -1D6 to melee rolls and when not in melee may only Move or Flee until Cohesion is restored. Models that are Out Of Formation (gaps are present in ranks where there is a rank behind them, due to models removed as casualties most often) cannot Run, do not add 1D6 to Combat rolls after a Charge, and when shooting subtract 1d6 from their Shooting Roll. Note that any Unit that starts a Movement out of Cohesion or Formation ends it back in a correct Unit again. Movement in Close Combat is closing the ranks after the front rank takes casualties.
• Every Unit in the army may have a Hata-Jirushi (battle standard), although the Hata-Jirushi must have the same Title and Class. The Hata-Jirushi grants +1 Order and +1D6 to the Combat roll when Charging if it is in the first rank. It can become a designated casualty but the model is replaced (another model picked it up) so long as the model was 1 centimeter away (so directly adjacent or diagonal) and was not in direct combat (so the rank behind in most cases). Unit Leaders cannot pick up Hata-Jirushi. Hata-Jirushi bearers cannot shoot and if the last model in a Unit abandon it to pick up a weapon.
• Models with Leader are eligible to become General, which you must have, but may also be appointed a Unit Leader of their Unit. It counts as using the equipment as the rest of the Unit unless it becomes no longer part of a Unit. It can only be hurt by a natural 6 while in its Unit. The rest of the Unit uses its Leader's Initiative and Honor and its Attack is added to the Attack role so long as it is in the first rank. The Unit can only have one Leader, it must be of the same type (melee, ranged, cavalry) and it must be equal or one Class higher. Unit Leaders may willingly leave their Unit and join others they qualify for. Each model within 1cm may try to take a Wound for a Leader on a 4+ from a 1D6.
• Units can Disengage melee and move 2D6cm directly away. Non-Skirmishers doing this suffer Attacks Of Opportunity from one Unit they are engaged with at 1D6 with only Flanking/Rear modifiers used.
• Unmounted non-Skirmishers that do not Move can use the Shelter Order to reduce enemy Combat and Shooting rolls against them by 1 at the penalty of 2D6 to their own melee.
• Some terrain can be interacted with by unmounted models using the Interact Order if they have not Moves using 1D6+Initiative on a 4+. If successful they may then make a 5cm Move afterwards.
• Models may use the Strengthen Order at add+1 to Combat and Shooting if declared at the same time.
• Units can be diagonal a Unit rather than in base contact to be in melee; this is called Supporting Combat.
• A Unit can form around an enemy Unit in melee, surrounding them. Models that do this count as Supporting Combat.
• When a player loses 75% of their starting points in models, the game automatically ends as their models go into full retreat. They can still win depending on scenario played and victory points attained however.

General Tactics

• Weapons have been altered.
  • Basic Weapons (Type 0): Farming Equipment, Bo, Jingama, and Tanto all reduce Damage rolls by 1.
  • Polearms (Type 1): Jumonji Yari, Omi Yari, Yari, and Lances all grant +1D6 to the Combat Roll VS Cavalry and +1D6 to the Combat Roll unless the enemy has a Type 1 or 2 weapon.
  • Bladed Polearms (Type 2): Mitsudogu and Naginata grant +1D6 to your Combat Roll if any of the models in the Unit are in melee with multiple units and grants +1D6 to the Combat Roll if targeted by a Charge unless the enemy has a Type 1, 2, or 6 weapon.
  • Katanas (Type 3): Katanas grant +1D6 to the Combat Roll VS Type 1 weapons when not charging, and add +1 to the Damage Roll.
  • 'Swords (Type 4): Shinobigatana and Wakizashi grant +1D6 to the Combat Roll VS Type 1 weapons when not charging.
  • Blunt Weapons (Type 5): Kanabo-tetsubo grant -1 to the Combat Roll and +1 to the Damage Roll.
  • Long Swords (Type 6): Dai Katana, Nagamaki, and No-Dachi grant +1D6 to the Combat Roll VS Type 3 and 4 weapons when not charging.
  • Short Weapons (Type 7): Jitte, Kama, and Sais grant -1 to the Combat Roll when charged by weapons other than Type 1 and 7, and +1 to the Combat Roll against Type 3 weapons when not charging.
• Ranged Weapons have been altered.
  • Short-range: Blowpipes, Shuriken, Grenades, and Ishitsubute have a maximum range of 20 cm.
  • Mid-range: Ozutsu, Bo-Hiya, and Arquebus have a maximum range of 40 cm.
  • Long-range: Teppo, Yumi, and Muskets have a maximum range of 40cm.
    • In addition Ozutsu, Teppo, Bo-Hiya, Arquebus, and Muskets are Firearms which add +1 to the Damage Roll and ignore Samurai Armor so they Wound on a 3+ regardless of all other modifiers, and must be reloaded.
• Armor has been altered. There is now only two types.
  • Samurai Armor: Grants -1 to enemy Damage Rolls.
  • Cavalry Armor: The same as Samurai Armor and is automatically granted to all mounted models. A model can have both Samurai Armor and Cavalry Armor, granting a -1 to enemy Damage Rolls.

Generic Options

War Machines

War Machines are deployed before the rest of the army, with one of the types of ammo allowed for that War Machine selected but hidden from the opponent until first fired and how many Powder Loads it is loaded with to a maximum of two, each of which add D6 to the Shoot roll. The War Machine only has three Powder Loads at the start of the game. The range is a 15 degree arc from the barrel of the War Machine extending a distance equal to the range of the type of War Machine. To fire a marker measuring 2.5x2.5cm is placed on the desired target which must be within Line Of Sight unless the War Machine has the Parabolic Shot rule, then a Shoot roll is performed which is modified by the current Powder Load and type of War Machine with a natural 1 resulting in a Jam and being unable to fire that turn. The result is the number of centimeters that the target marker is moved away (if positive) or closer to (if negative) the War Machine firing it along the firing line; if the target ends up outside the maximum range of the War Machine the shot does nothing. Then the Impact Roll is made which is based on the effects of the type of ammunition used. Finally the Damage Roll, which is based on the Power stat of the ammunition and the number of affected miniatures; any 4+ result is a Wound. After firing a shot the War Machine must spend a time being reloaded, and can be reloaded with any ammunition available to it, indicated by a marker next to it which is not revealed to your opponent until it is fired. War Machines by default have two crew members, and two additional ones can be added. An Engineer may be taken who's Initiative is used for the Order roll, counts as the Unit Leader, and after the Shoot roll enables his War Machine to ignore the result of one die or repeat one of the die rolls a second time. If the Crew has to Flee by reaction or failing an Honor roll the War Machine is destroyed. Crew is always in Cover when being shot. Only War Machines with the Mobile rule can move.

In addition, each Clan have special rules regarding War Machines.

• Kuge receive one Engineer for free per War Machine.
• Buke pay 10 more points per War Machine, but all Crew are Samurai wearing armor.
• Sohei can reroll one of the die on the Shooting Roll.
• Otokodate pay 10 less points per War Machine.
• Kuroi-te can use Infectious Ammunition in any War Machine.
• Hattori can deploy their War Machines at the end of the Deployment Phase.

Magic

All Creatures now have Terror Immunity passive ability. All Colossal models have the Terror passive ability.

• When deciding to play with Supernatural elements, you no longer need to actually field an Onmyouiji or Creatures (meaning you don't have to buy them). Komuso are a Buddhist middle finger to Shinto and represent a single man intending to shut down all of your opponent's monsters and magic (obligatory reference to an Inquisitor, the Inquisition, Witch Hunters, and so forth). When your opponent has invested a lot of money into some Creature models, or has a Kuroi-te army and wants to use their troops as Death Creatures in a different army, you can let your buddy use their tricks without having to dole out cash to match or be NOFUNALLOWED and save your wallet. Strategically Komuso are also a cost-effective way in Koku to match your opponent's magic without having to choose between a beastie or more Samurai. Komuso use the Order Exorcize to remove one Ki from any Onmyouiji within 40cm on a 4+, a natural 6 removing two Ki. Furthermore all Onmyouiji within 20cm require an additional +1 Ki to Invocate.

• Onmyouiji no longer cast spells, and they must take both Shikigami. Shikigami cost 5 points each and can no longer attack or use their own special abilities; they just absorb damage until dead, move with their master, and grant a bonus to Ki as long as at least one survives. Ki is stored and used to "Invoke", which is to summon a Creature or enable their special abilities. Onmyouiji can take a Wound to gain 1 Ki instantly or immediately die to gain 2 for one last Invoking. One Ki when an Absorb Ki Order is used, and on a natural 6 Order roll one of the abilities of a Creature may be used for free. Unfortunately all of this together means that there is no point to bringing an Onmyouiji by themselves, you now need to buy Creatures to summon.
• Creatures come in three categories. You may summon an infinite number of Inferior Creatures, up to three Major Creatures, and only one Colossal Creature, and only as many Creatures per turn as your Onmyouiji has gained Ki (so a maximum of two, four if suicidal, per turn).

• Colossal Creatures entirely block Line Of Sight for anything behind them other than other Colossals. As a result a secondary benefit to summoning any of them is to shield your troops from ranged attacks.

Komuso

• Komuso are a category of one with no alternative options. If you want to allow your opponent to use supernatural elements without having a disadvantage or buying around $60+ then get one Komuso and call it good. Unfortunately your Komuso must remain within 40 centimeters to be useful, 20 to be aggressive. This puts him in the line of fire which is especially dangerous against an opponent using both an Onmyouiji AND War Machine. Taking a Komuso as a result will require you to hide him in a Unit and aggressively push into your opponent's zone of control before they can store up enough Ki to bring in something nasty.

Celestial

All Celestial models have the Spiritual Fascination passive ability.

Infernal

All Infernal models have the Igneous passive ability.

Earthly

All Earthly models have the Fortitude passive ability.

Death

All Death models have the Putrefaction passive ability.