Ronin – The Tabletop Times Review

Ronin: Skirmish Wargames in the Age of the Samurai🟡
Ronin is a skirmish war game set in 16th century feudal Japan. The game is designed for 2 players, but each session can easily scale to include more players. Ronin generally requires between 5 and 20 models per player (or something to represent the fighters), a handful of six-sided dice, a variety of tokens, a measuring tool, and something to use as terrain. For tokens, players will specifically need multiple tokens in two distinctive colors to use for some of the combat sequence. Ronin is part of the Osprey Games war games line, and it was published in 2013. The book contains rules for building a team (a buntai), multiple factions and scenarios, and even a few rules to facilitate mini-campaign play, continuous buntai progression, and tournament play.
🟢🟢🟢 Overview 🟢🟢🟢
In most aspects, Ronin is a skirmish war game with familiar rules and a familiar structure. Players will build a buntai within a faction using a point system, then they will select a scenario, setup the battlefield, and begin play. A game round consists of several phases, and within each phase, players will alternate activating models until both players have finished activations for that phase. A game of Ronin will have a turn limit anywhere from 7 to 12 rounds, determined before starting the battle. However, the battle can end earlier if victory conditions are met, or if there are no fighters left on the battlefield. The phases are as follows:
🔵 Priority
This phase is used to establish ‘first player’ for the round. If a morale check needs to be made for a buntai, it’s done now. The morale system is fairly straightforward: your buntai is either Steady, Wavering, or Routing. I won’t go into details here, but I’m satisfied with the inclusion of a simple morale system.
🔵 Move
Players take turns moving models. All models have the same movement speeds (6″ normal move, 9″ sprint, reduced movement under certain conditions). This is also the first of two opportunities for models with ranged weapons to fire them (the second opportunity being in the Action phase).
🔵 Combat
All model groups in base-to-base contact resolve melee combat. Each group is resolved entirely before moving onto the next group. This is where the game introduces its most unique and interesting mechanics, so I’ll go into it more below.
🔵 Action
After combat, players take turns performing actions with their models. These range from scenario-specific actions to simply resting or reloading.
🔵 End
Clean-up phase and check to remove stun counters from models.
🟠🟠 Combat 🟠🟠
In Ronin, every model has a Combat Pool attribute. When a group of models end up in base-to-base contact during the combat phase, each player will tally up the total Combat Pool value for all of their models in this combat. They will then secretly select a number of attack and/or defense tokens equal to their total Combat Pool, and once both players are ready, they will reveal their choices. These Combat Pool tokens are all a player can use for the entire combat, and once both players are out of tokens (or both decide to stop taking combat actions), the combat will end. These tokens can be used for any of the player’s models in the combat – they do not belong to models that they ‘came from’. These tokens are used to enhance initiative, attack rolls, and defense rolls.
After declaring their Combat Pools, players will roll a d6 for each of their models in the combat (or 2d6 and discard 1 if enhanced by spending an attack token), then modify the result according to each model’s stats and other modifiers. The final value is the initiative for that model, and this determines the activation order for the combat as a whole. Models are then split into one-on-one battles logically based on their positioning. This gives every model a single enemy they are allowed to attack, with only ever one combat possibly having a model ganged up on.
Starting with the first model in initiative order, the controlling player can declare an attack on their target. If they do, they must spend one attack token from their combat pool. Their opponent will always make a defense roll, but here they may first declare if they want to enhance their defense by spending a defense token. After that, the attacking player can declare they want to enhance their attack by spending an additional attack token. Next, the attacking player rolls 2d6 (3d6 and discard 1 if enhanced), and adjusts the result according to their model’s stats and modifiers. Then, the defending player rolls 1d6 (or 2d6 if enhanced), and adjusts the result according to their model’s stats and modifiers. The difference in the results is compared to a wounds table and the effects are applied. Generally, a difference of 1 stuns a model, 2-5 wounds a model to varying degrees, and 6+ kills a model.
All models have the same ‘health’, which is equivalent to 3 light wounds. As a model becomes more severely wounded, it suffers negative modifiers to different stats. When a model is killed, the controlling player immediately removes as many tokens from their remaining Combat Pool equal to that model’s Combat Pool stat. Also note that a model can only use as many combat pool tokens up to its individual combat pool stat, so you cannot have your strongest model in a combat take all attack actions while passing with all of your other models.
After all models have activated in initiative order, the first model in initiative order has the chance to activate again as long as there are still combat pool tokens available to spend. This continues until neither player can or wants to take attack actions with a model in combat. After this, the next combat group is resolved fully, and so on, until all combat groups have resolved.
This can lead to interesting situations where you will try to manage your combat pool resources wisely while considering turn order, the likelihood that certain models will survive before their turn, and so on. Perhaps your model in combat is carrying a banner that is keeping your buntai’s morale high, and its capture would earn your enemy a large number of victory points. You might forego declaring any attack tokens just to keep your model alive another round. In another case, maybe you have a model with high initiative and strong combat ability, but weak defense – you may opt to declare more attack tokens than defense, knowing that this model may only get in one good swing before it’s slain.
🟢🟢🟢 Thoughts 🟢🟢🟢
⚫️ I like the varied nature of factions and units, including variable methods of scoring points. Many factions include special rules for scoring victory points in addition to those provided by the scenario. This gives each faction a distinct personality and play style that can keep the game fresh as you try new factions with different buntai compositions, and pit them against still more factions in different scenarios.
⚫️ I like the variety of scenarios and scales of play, even though there are really only a couple that I would play regularly. The main scenario, skirmish, also includes a randomized table that assigns each player a secondary objective to pursue. Most scenarios also incorporate a weather and time of day table to add more uniqueness to each battle.
⚫️ I like the inclusion of buntai progression, as I enjoy tracking wounds and experience for my warband in games like this. If you have a regular play group that enjoys Ronin, this can give each game more meaning, and could even affect your decisions in-game (“I have a better chance of hitting with unit X, but unit Y could really use the experience points. Besides, unit X is too valuable to put into a risky situation where it might die”).
⚫️ I like the extra content available on the Osprey website and in the book, such as a reference sheet, errata, and additional rules and stats for new units or different time periods. Even a points calculator to help homebrew your own factions or units! Some of the additional rules include tracking fatigue as your fighters grow exhausted from combat or allowing high rank models to challenge each other to a duel in the middle of a scenario.
⚪️ In my eyes, the combat pool mechanic is what makes this game shine. Unfortunately, this shine is dulled by unclear explanations of how group combat works (How are models split up? Is there a ‘cap’ to how many attacks a model may make or how many tokens it can spend?). There are also other rules ambiguities, like when cover counts for a model (Does the model need to be adjacent? Within 1″? What if the attacking model is adjacent to cover, does the target gain bonuses to cover? Etc). These ambiguities can be cleared up by intuition and agreeing on the details with your opponent before starting, but it’s still unfortunate that there’s vagueness in the rules. From my understanding, the game “En Garde!” by Osprey Games uses the exact same ruleset, but with clearer rules.
⚪️ While the miniature-agnostic nature of the game is a big bonus for me and should lower the barrier for entry in organized play, I could also see cases where the disparity in models could create issues (e.g., models of different scale, base size, and/or equipment could cause confusion among players). This shouldn’t be a problem with a casual group of players that don’t mind a little wiggle room to let people play with their favorite models. And remember, games like this can easily be played with other objects to signify fighters. If everyone agrees, players could just use standees with katanas or yumi drawn on them to show the weapon wielded by the unit, and toy blocks and soda cans can be used as terrain. A war game doesn’t need to look perfect to enjoy the act of play! You can see this yourself in the included pictures. Mice, lizardfolk, and demons do battle across an unpainted gothic sci-fi landscape!
⚪️ Combat can feel “slow,” likely on purpose. Many melee and ranged attacks will end in misses or stuns. The game attempts to simulate combats where fighters trade blows and wear each other down until one gains the upper hand and makes a devastating final blow. It’s not uncommon for a fight to go a few rounds of blocks and stuns, just for one fighter to make an enhanced attack against a worn out and defenseless enemy, felling them in one mighty swing.
⚪️ Some people are not fans of ‘phase games’, and I understand that. It’s an old design element from old war games, but I have no problems with its implementation here since each player alternates unit activations within each phase. Not to mention the game is 10 years old at this point! In addition to this, Ronin relies heavily on modifying opposed dice rolls with values from different sources (e.g., an attack roll will add the unit’s Fight value, but subtract some value if the unit is wounded, but maybe also add a value if the unit is using a certain weapon. Then the defense roll will add the unit’s Fight value, and then add the unit’s armor value, but then maybe subtract if the unit is wounded, etc). Keeping a reference sheet handy can smooth this process along, and after playing a few times, the math will become intuitive. However, this type of mechanic isn’t enjoyed by everyone, so keep this in mind if you have a preference.
⚪️ While the rule book does not explicitly include rules for solo/co-op/AI play, there is nothing stopping you from homebrewing something. It could be as simple as playing an opposing buntai ‘smartly’ against yourself, or something more involved like streamlining the rules for the AI but giving them a higher point limit.
⚪️ The tournament rules are a nice inclusion, but the ambiguities in the rules means that a tournament organizer would need to be clear with all players on how these issues are resolved. I think this could make a nice game for organized play, but ensuring that everyone is on the same page could be a hassle. I feel that the game is better suited to smaller gaming groups with a more casual environment.
⚪️ I did not like the way priority was determined randomly every round. I would personally house rule this such that priority is determined randomly for the first round, and then alternates players every round thereafter. Going first during the movement and action phases can be powerful, and one player potentially going first for most of the game seems like an unnecessary swing of randomness in a game that has many otherwise strategic elements. There are other games (like Games Workshop’s Warcry) that do have random priority determination every round, but they usually offset this by giving the second player some sort of bonus as compensation.
🟢🟢🟢 Final Verdict 🟢🟢🟢
🟤 The Osprey Wargame series is interesting in that it offers a great variety of rulesets and settings from different authors, but all of the books have consistent layouts, low page counts, and low price points. These games tend to be accessible and great for trying something new without dropping $200 on new books and an entire line of specific models. Ronin has some rough edges in its writing, but overall the system has good bones and a nice strategic twist on classic war game rules. I definitely plan to keep this one in rotation, and I’m hoping to iron out some simple solo rules for myself for continuous campaign play.
🟤 If Ronin interests you but you want to look at other, similar options, I recommend looking at either “En Garde!” by Osprey Games or “Bushido” by GCT Studios. “En Garde!” uses the same ruleset as Ronin but focuses on the 16th-18th century period in primarily European regions. “Bushido” predates Ronin and En Garde by several years, and it contains a very similar attack/defense dedication mechanic for combat. I have not played Bushido, but a glance at the rules implies that it has much more complexity and depth than what’s found in Ronin. However, Bushido has its own model line, so in order to field any units, you would need to purchase specific unit expansions to get their rules and models. The Bushido rulebook is available as a free download on the GCT Studios website if you want to get a feel for it.

Written by Devin Skelton, writers from The Tabletop Times