Introduction

Senjutsu is described as a game of “dynamic samurai combat”, and I jumped at the chance to review it. I’m something of an Asian history buff, and I wanted to see how a tactical game revolving around samurai combat might be structured. Abstractly, it turns out. “Senjutsu” means “tactics” in Japanese and Senjutsu the game is well named. Two players are pitted against each other in a simple but challenging game reminiscent of Stratego. Players start the game with an equal number of pieces and equipment, but opponents cannot see the other person’s units. The game is won based on how players employ their assets against one another.

The timeframe is the early 16th century and is based on a real historical conflict, the Onin Wars. The Onin Wars lasted 31 years and were fought between two brothers struggling for the title of Kanrei, or vice-shogun. The plot works well to segue into the boardgame which is Japanese themed. The game itself is fast paced and once the pieces are put together games can be played quickly, which makes it ideal for two people taking a break from more complex games. It also makes for a solid game to introduce promising new gamers to a broader diet than that found in the toy section the local Target store.

Installation and Technical Issues

Setting up the game for the first time requires a one-time investment in snapping the heads onto the bases for the 20 samurai warrior pieces and then placing a single sticker on the 60 item pieces. Care must be taken when placing the stickers as there must be only one sticker on each piece and the sticker should be placed so that the other player cannot see it. Items represent armor, weapons, counter-attacks to hand-to-hand combat, a ninja, or a scroll. Capture of the scroll means the end of the game.

Assembling the game isn’t an act of rocket science, but the documentation does an excellent job of illustrating exactly how it is supposed to be done. The documentation booklet itself is printed in large font and runs eight pages with numerous illustrations. It is well written and filled with examples that make the game easy to learn. The only question my playing partner and I had was whether the bow and arrow could only shoot orthogonally and diagonally, or whether it could shoot any piece on the board (provided proper line of sight). The strength of boardgames, though, is that players can mutually agree to an interpretation of the rules and then get on with the game.

The map is hard mounted, printed in full color, and while it is abstract, it works well. The obstacles on the map, which consist of trees and a castle, break up enough of the board that it doesn’t look like a chessboard but still facilitates the simplicity of the game’s mechanics. The castle operates as a barrier, and units cannot move or see through it. Forests block line of sight but do not hinder movement, though a unit in a forest may not employ weapons.

The playing units themselves are silhouettes of samurai with faces outlined within the silhouette. The plastic is of good quality and the stickers have an added detail: half of them are printed with a small dot in the lower right corner to aid in quickly sorting one side’s pieces from the other (since they are generically grey and identically split between both players).