The game board is a map of Japan and its surrounding seas (circa 1570) which has been divided into distinct 'territories' demarcated by black lines. There are three types of territories. 1/ Body of Water. Only fleets are permitted on a body of water. e.g. Kanto Bay, Suo Sea, Korea Strait, Toyama Bay, North Pacific Ocean. 2/ Coastal territory. Both fleets or armies are permitted to occupy a coastal territory. Coastal territories are always adjacent to a body of water. e.g. Izumo, Tango, Owari, Totomi, Mutsu, Hyuga, Tosa. 3/ Inland territory. Only armies are permitted on an inland territory. An inland territory will never exist adjacent to a body of water. e.g. Tamba, Mino, Kai

Supply Centers

Certain territories on the board are marked with coloured squares and these are designated as 'Supply Centers'. Supply Centers (or SC’s) possess sufficient wealth, industrial capacity and population to maintain an army or fleet. There are 37 Supply Centers on the map. 16 are occupied by the 8 clans at the start of the game - 2 per clan, and each clan therefore begins the game with 2 units. 7 Supply Centers (the white ones) begin the game as neutral supply centers and are occupied by a neutral garrison army. The other 14 Supply Centers (the black ones) are unoccupied.

The Eight Clans

Shimazu, Mori, Chosokabe, Asakura, Oda, Uesugi, Takeda, Hojo.

Object of the Game

As soon as one clan controls 25 Supply Centers or all the remaining clans concede defeat, it is said to have 'gained control of Japan’ and is the winner. There are no draws or shared victories allowed. If the players agree to a draw, the GM chooses a winner. There can only be one Shogun.

Starting Positions of Units

Shimazu -Light Green Colour- Army Satsuma, Fleet Osumi Mori - Light Blue Colour - Fleet Nagato, Army Iwami Chosokabe - Light Purple Colour - Fleet Iyo, Fleet Tosa Asakura - Orange Colour - Fleet Echizen, Army Omi Oda - Red Colour - Army Owari, Fleet Mikawa Uesugi - Dark Blue Colour - Fleet Echigo, Army Kozuke Takeda - Dark Green Colour - Army Kai, Army South Shinano Hojo - Dark Purple Colour - Army Sagami, Fleet Izu Neutral Occupied Supply Centers - White Colour Unoccupied Supply Centers - Black Colour

Orders, Dates, Format

Only one unit (army or fleet) may be in a territory at a time. On each turn, each clan may order all, some or none of its units. A unit may be ordered to do only one thing on each move. An army may be ordered to 1) move 2) support 3) hold. A fleet may be ordered to 1) move 2) support 3) hold 4) convoy. Each turn corresponds to a spring or fall season. (summer and winter seasons are ignored) Each player 'writes' down his orders and sends them to the Gamesmaster before scheduled deadlines (weekly before Tuesday 8:00pm EST). The game begins in the Spring of 1570. The first set of moves sent out by a player corresponds to this season. After the deadline, the Gamesmaster compiles all the submitted orders and analyses them simultaneously to determine the new positions of the armies and fleets. He then makes the revised map available to the players who have a week to contemplate the map before sending in the next set of orders which will correspond with the next season. The second turn of the game is therefore entitled 'Fall 1570'. This is followed by a Spring 1571 turn etc. Units are identified by the territory they currently occupy. Fleet Izu, if it is ordered in Spring 1570 to move to Suruga Bay and is successful in doing so, is then referred to as Fleet Suruga Bay for the Fall 1570 Season and until it moves to another territory. Order format follows basic grammar. i.e. subject verb object (and/or indirect object). A sample set of orders that clan Mori might send to the gamesmaster for the Spring 1570 turn is shown below: Mori Orders, Spring 1570 Fleet Nagato moves to South Sea of Japan Army Iwami moves to Aki An illegal order (such as ordering an army to move to a body of water) is not followed and that unit simply remains in position. A mistakenly written order, if legal, must be followed.

The Diplomatic Element in the Game

The days preceding a deadline are used to contemplate the map, bargain with others and conduct personal and joint military planning. They may also be used to exchange information, denounce, threaten and spread rumours. Public announcements may be made and documents written and made public or not, as the players see fit. The rules do not bind a player to anything he says; deciding whom to trust as situations arise is part of the game. No player will be certain what the other players have or will order their units to do. After each deadline, the collection of orders is revealed to all simultaneously along with the changes to the map.

Control of Supply Centers

A clan establishes control over a (territory with a) Supply Center when one of its units is located in that Supply Center AFTER a Fall Turn has been played, complete with retreats. Once control is established, the territory with the SC may be vacated and left vacant for as long as the player sees fit. The player may continue to maintain one unit on account of this SC so long as it is not occupied by a foreign army or fleet at the close of a Fall Turn. Note that control is established or relinquished ONLY after a Fall Turn; a foreign unit which moves into a SC in a Spring Turn and out of it in the Fall Turn of the same year does not affect the 'ownership' of the SC. All clans already have control over two Supply Centers at the start of the game Control over a Supply Center is indicated on the map through use of the clan colours infilling the square representing the Supply Center. e.g. Clan Asakura, whose clan colours are orange, begin the game in control of two SC’s - Echizen and Omi. They relinquish control over one of these only when a foreign unit has successfully occupied the territory following a Fall Turn. In this eventuality, the dot representing the SC would change its colour from orange to that of whichever clan assumed control.

Gaining and Losing Units - The Adjustments Phase

After the Fall Turn has been played, the orders resolved and retreats made (if any), each player's units must be adjusted to equal the number of Supply Centers his clan controls. If he has fewer centers than units, he must disband excess units by removing them from the board. The units removed may be any of his units he chooses. If he controls more SC's than units, he may build units by placing them in ANY vacant Supply Centers that he controls. A player may build either an army or a fleet on a Supply Center located on a coastal territory. e.g. Iwami, Nagato.

The Move Order

An army may be ordered to move to any neighboring inland or coastal territory. A fleet may be ordered to move to any neighboring body of water or coastal territory. A fleet which is positioned on a coastal territory is considered to exist at any point along that territory's coast and may move to an adjacent coastal territory as long as the two coastlines are adjacent. (e.g. a fleet may move from Hoki to Izumo because they are both considered to be coastal territories and their coastlines are adjacent. However, a fleet may not move from Hoki to Bizen because even though they are both coastal territories, they are not adjacent in the coastal sense, only in the inland sense.) A unit ordered to move is not necessarily successful: there may be potential conflicts with other units that are either currently occupying that space or also attempting to move into it. e.g. Takeda - Army Kai moves to Sagami Hojo - Army Sagami moves to Kasuzu Army Izu moves to Sagami Neither Army Kai nor Army Izu would be allowed to move into Sagami because it is one-against-one. Army Sagami would, however, be allowed to move to Kasuza leaving Sagami vacant.

The Hold Order

A unit NOT ordered to move (i.e. one that is ordered to hold, ordered to support, not ordered at all or ordered to convoy) is automatically considered to be holding (its position) and may receive support in holding.

The Support Order

The support order is issued to a unit so that it assists another unit in moving OR in holding. A unit ordered to support another unit in its movement into a space must be adjacent to that space which is being moved into, and it must be one to which the supporting unit could otherwise hypothetically move. e.g. Takeda clan may make a deal with Asakura clan to help it in an attack on Mino in Spring 1570. Asakura clan would write the order ‘Army Omi moves to Mino’ Takeda clan would write the order ‘Army South Shinano supports Army Omi moving to Mino’ Army S. Shinano is adjacent to Mino, so it can support a movement into Mino by one of its own, or an allies, units.When a unit supports another units move, it need only be adjacent to the destination of that move, not the original territory of the moving unit. In this example, Army S. Shinano and Army Omi are both adjacent to Mino and therefore Army S. Shinano is able to support a movement INTO that province. However, a Fleet in Owari would NOT be able to support a unit moving into Mino because a Fleet in Owari cannot itself move there (Mino is an inland territory) and therefore it has no ‘influence’ over this territory. Likewise, an Army stationed in Owari would not be able to support the movement of a Fleet in Mikawa into Atsumi Bay - because an Army may not move into a body of water, and Atsumi Bay is a body of water. This does not mean that a Fleet in Mikawa moving to Atsumi Bay would be necessary unsuccessful, only that an Army on an adjacent coastal territory has no influence there. A unit may be ordered to support another unit in holding. It must be adjacent to the territory containing that holding unit and this territory must be one to which the supporting unit could hypothetically move. e.g. Chosokabe might write the following orders: Fleet Iyo holds. Fleet Tosa supports Fleet Iyo. This is fine because Iyo and Tosa are adjacent coastally. Units may offer support to foreign units both in movement and in holding. As implied above, a fleet in a coastal territory may not give support to (an army in or one moving into) an inland territory, nor can an army in a coastal territory ever give support to (a fleet in or one moving into) a body of water. Support cannot be convoyed.

Effect of Support

A unit moves with the strength of itself (1) and all its valid supports (1 each). A unit holds with the strength of itself (1) and all its valid supports (1 each)

Cutting Support

If a unit that has been ordered to support (a unit in or one moving) into a given territory is attacked from a space different from the one into which it is giving support, or is dislodged by an attack from any space (including the one into which it is giving support) then its support is 'cut'. The unit that was to have received support then does not receive it. A player cannot, by an attack, cut support given by one of its own units. (see Chapter on Dislodgements for more)

Conflicts

A conflict occurs when a unit or units attempt to enter a territory that is occupied or that is unoccupied and has opposing units also attempting to enter it. In some cases these conflicts may involve a pair of units and one territory; in other cases many units from many nations are involved in a war over several related territories. Also seen is the case where a clan, intentionally or not, gives orders to his own units which force them to conflict with one another. Occasionally a purpose may be served by this.The rules that govern conflicts apply equally whether the units involved are armies or fleets. e.g. Chosokabe clan orders its Fleet Iyo to move to Suo. Mori clan orders its Army Iwami to move to Suo and it also orders its Fleet Nagato to support Army Iwami moving to Nagato. The Army Iwami would prevail and be allowed to move into Suo because it moves with the strength of itself (1) and also the support of the Fleet Nagato (1) which is (2) in total and beats the (1) of the Fleet Iyo. Fleet Iyo remains where it is.

Simple Standoffs

If two or more equally supported units are given the order to move to an empty space then none may move. If a unit is not ordered to move, or is prevented from moving, then any unsupported units ordered to move into its space are not allowed to do so. If two equally supported units are ordered, each to the territory the other occupies, neither may move.

Dislodgements

A unit that has not been ordered to move or cannot move may be dislodged from a territory if it is being attacked by a better supported unit. The defending unit holds with the strength of itself (1) and all the units supporting it in holding (1 each). The invading unit moves with the strength of itself (1) and all the units supporting its move order into the defenders space. A unit that was ordered to move against an enemy and cannot do so will still have the effect of cutting support stemming from that enemy unit even if the first unit is dislodged.

Self Dislodgment Prohibited

An order to move into a space occupied by another unit of the same country may not succeed if the second unit fails to leave that space, even if the first unit has more support. However, the attack by the better supported first unit on its own territory may serve to standoff an equally or less well supported attack on the space by the units of another country. The rules of self-dislodgement extend to the situation where a player supports another nations attack against one of his own units: His own unit cannot be dislodged as a result of the extra support he has given. However, this manoevre would serve to standoff an equally or less supported attack on the space by the units of another country.

Beleaguered Garrison

If two equally well supported units attack the same space, thus standing eachother off, a unit already in that space is not dislodged.

Self Standoffs

While a country may not dislodge its own units, it may stand itself off by ordering two equally well supported attacks on the same territory. However, if one of the attacks has more support than the other, that attack will succeed, whether the support is from its own units or another players.

Retreats/Disbandments

After all moves have been made and conflicts resolved, any dislodged unit makes its retreat. It must move to a space to which it could ordinarily move; that is, to an adjacent space suitable to an army or fleet, as the case may be. The unit may not retreat to any occupied space, nor to the space its attacker came from, nor to a space that was left vacant due to a standoff on the move. If no space is available for retreat, the dislodged unit is disbanded; that is, its marker is removed from the board. If two or more nations units must retreat after a move, the retreats are written down and sent to the gamemaster who reveals them simultaneously. A player may choose to disband a unit rather than retreat it. If two or more units are ordered to retreat to the same space, they are disbanded. If a player fails to order a retreat when necessary, the unit is disbanded. Retreats may neither be convoyed nor supported.

Adjustments Phase - Placement/Removal of units due to change in Supply Centers Controlled or Units Disbanded

After each Fall Turn has been resolved and the results made available, there are three situations in which a player will find himself(the Gamesmaster will make these situations clear). 1) Eligible to place new unit(s) on any of vacant SC’s that he controls 2) Does not gain nor lose any units 3) Must lose unit(s) of his choice If 1) or 3), the player must write down the location and type of the unit to be added or removed and send this to the Gm by a deadline. The results are revealed simultaneously.

The Convoy Order

1.Convoying an army across a body of water: A fleet in a body of water may convoy an army from any territory on the coast of that body to an other territory on the coast of that body. To do this, the army must be given a move order to the intended province and the fleet must be be ordered to convoy it. The order to the fleet must include the word 'convoy' and give both the location and destination of the army being convoyed. The move order to the army must give the same location and destination or the army may not move. Foreign armies may be convoyed. 2. Convoying an army across several bodies of water: If two or more fleets control adjacent bodies of water, an army may be convoyed through all these bodies of water on one move. 3. Disrupting a convoy: If a fleet ordered to convoy is dislodged during the move, the army to be convoyed remains in its original province and has no effect on the province to which it was ordered. 4. More than One convoy route: If the orders as written permit more than one route by which the convoyed army could proceed from its source to its destination, the order is not void on account of this ambiguity; the army is not prevented from moving due to a dislodgement of fleets, unless all the routes are disrupted by a dislodgement. 5. Convoyed attack does not cut certain supports: If a convoyed army attacks a fleet (located in a coastal territory) which is supporting an action in a body of water, and that body of water contains a convoying fleet, that support is not cut.

Civil Disorder

If a a player fails to submit orders in a given spring or fall season, his units hold in position but do not support eachother. If they are dislodged, they are disbanded. Failure to submit details regarding the placement of new units means none get built that round. Failure to submit details concerning the removal of units results in the Gm removing them according to the following scheme: the unit farthest from home is removed first, fleet before army. Farthest means most distant from the nearest home SC as computed by the shortest available route, including convoys. If there are two units equally eligible for removal on this basis, priority is established by the names of the space in which they are located, the earliest in alphabetical order coming off first.

Special Territories

Bitchu and Sanuki are considered land contiguous, as are Echigo and Sado, Nagato and Chikuzen, Mikawa and Iga, and Iyo and Suo, though they all appear separated by water on the map. Both Armies and Fleets may cross from one of these territories directly to the other. Movement by fleets through the surrounding sea zones is unaffected. Dark arrows indicate these "bridges" on the map.

Commentary about Neutral and Initially Unoccupied SC’s

Each neutral (white) territory is occupied by a neutral army that never does anything but hold. These armies may be supported by other players. They are disbanded immediately if dislodged, but rebuilt at the end of the year if the territory is not successfully occupied. Once occupied, the territory becomes a standard SC, and never reverts to a neutral again. Black SCs are not neutrals, they function as normal unoccupied SCs.