Ikusa-by any name

[Old Dwarf]

Ok this is for all you Nippon history junkies out there
in TZG land.Ikusa is a reprint of the old Shogun/
Samurai Swords Game that's been kicking around for 20
some years.

It's a game on the Unification of Japan in the 16th Century.
(exciting stuff I know) It's sort of an Axis & Allies 400
years earlier.It scales from 2-5 players & has a mega
ton of not bad plastic figs that represent some 6
types of military units.

It you like Axis & Allies it plays similar (both were originally
Milton Bradley Games).The mechanics are streamlined but
still give a feel for the period .

The Problem is in 3 printings going back a quarter
of a century no one ever really looked into history.
The Clans (each player has 3 clans as an alliance)
given as Alliances in some cases were bitter enemies
& some weren't around during the period.The Leaders
are Generic & your starting territory is chosen by a
random draw .

This is something like having an America Civil War Game
with Generic generals & selecting Confederate
& Union States by randomly dealing State Cards
to each side.I guess they got away with it as
the US game consumer is not to up on Japanese
history.

The Game flows smoothly & if you don't know the
actual history of the period it seems historical.
In any case it's a great Beer & Pretzel Game.

I bring this up only because I've spent the last week
pimping this Game with the actual Clans involved,
starting in their own territories with the real Leaders.
Oda nobunaga lives!


OD