Age of War: Demon Daimyo

This is a solo variant of the board game Age of War.

It was entered into the 2021 Solomode Contest on BoardGameGeek.com.

You are Oda Nobunaga, the Demon Daimyo. The first Great Unifier of Japan: brutal,
ruthless, and arrogant; innovative, powerful, and revered.

Japan during the Sengoku period was a time of chaos, with warring daimyos vying for power.
Most of these feudal lords recognised the benefits of a unified Japan, but Nobunaga was the
first for whom this goal might seem attainable.

In this game you are playing against an automaton which simulates multiple acts of
rebellion, dissent and rival daimyos. Your aim is to unify Japan - or as much of it as possible -
before the end of your era.

Requirements:
● 2 six-sided dice (2D6), of any colour and size,
● Roughly 20 tokens of any kind (unrest tokens),
● All contents from Age of War.

Design by David Atkinson.

Setup
Shuffle all 14 cards, and deal them all face-up in a central grid in front of you. The exact
arrangement is not important, as these are really in a line of 14; however, the pictured
arrangement may be useful because it may be easier to count along the cards during the
unrest phase. Place the unrest tokens in a central pool.

You may rearrange these throughout the game if convenient, as long as the cards keep their
order. For example, as any cards are removed throughout the game, you may shift them
along to close any gaps.

This game is played across several rounds: first is the automaton phase, then the player
phase (when you take a turn). Keep cycling through these turns until all of the cards in the
central grid are either flipped over (controlled by you) or are removed from the grid
(controlled by either you or the automaton).

During the game, castle cards may be placed in the central grid (where all cards are at the
start of the game), in front of you (meaning they are controlled by you), or in some other
location, perhaps further away from you than the grid (meaning they are controlled by the
automaton, the opposition player).
Automaton Phase
At the start of the game, and after each of your turns, various castles may suffer political
unrest and attacks from rival daimyos. Unrest tokens simulate a variety of such effects; they
do not necessarily represent a single opponent or effect, rather, the effect of various factors
working against you.

Unrest: Roll two standard six-sided dice. Count along the cards in the central grid, starting in
the top row, from left to right. The results of the dice show the two (or one) castles that are
safe this round; place an unrest token on all other castles (up to the sixth castle).

For example, Oda rolls two dice, which show a 2 and a 6. He places an unrest token on each
of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th cards from the left.

(Note that the tokens placed on the Azuchi castle represent an attack, explained next.)

If there are fewer than 6 cards remaining in the grid, then any extra tokens that would have
been placed have no effect. Dice showing values higher than the number of cards present
have no effect (meaning no castle is saved by that die from the unrest tokens).
Attack: without rerolling the two dice, add their results together. Now place N tokens on the
castle indicated by that number. In the example above, the dice add to 8, and Azuchi is the
8th castle in the grid.

N = difficulty
At the start of the game, choose a value of N: this allows you to change the difficulty of the
challenge you will face. If this is your first game it is recommended that N = 2, but
afterwards you will probably prefer a higher number for a greater challenge.

N Difficulty
1 Easy
2 Beginner
3 Normal
4 Hard

Assess control: after unrest tokens have been allocated, assess whether any castles have
changed hands. If any castle suffers enough unrest, it may fall out of your control, or into the
hands of another daimyo. In your quest to unify Japan, it is important to keep the peace in as
many territories as possible.

If any castle has four or more unrest tokens:

● Remove the tokens from that castle, returning them to the token pool.
● If the castle is currently face-down (owned by you), flip it over (rendering it neutral).
Alternatively, if the castle is currently face-up (neutral), remove it from the grid and
place it in front of the automaton player (it is now controlled by another daimyo).
Example
Another 8 has been rolled, and Azuchi
attacked, meaning there are now four unrest
tokens on that castle.
The unrest tokens are returned to the central
pool of tokens.
Then, that castle card is placed on the other
side of the central grid, to signify that it is now
controlled by the automaton.
Player phase
Your turn proceeds much as it would in a normal game of Age of War, with a few extra
caveats.

Tanegashima
Oda Nobunaga revolutionised war in feudal Japan, with at least two major innovations.
One was his use of firearms, introduced to Japan via the Portuguese Empire in 1543. These
allowed him to take positions swiftly and powerfully.
If your first roll produces all the symbols required to capture a specific castle, then you may
do so. This is unlike the rules of the original Age of War game, in which you may only fill one
battle line at a time.
This is only applicable on your first roll of the dice; after this, you may only fill one line at a
time.

Ashigaru
The other of Oda Nobunaga’s great military innovations, the ashigaru foot soldiers were
highly disciplined, and trained for mass movements against the enemy.
If, when you first place dice on a castle, you choose also to place an extra daimyo in the
special daimyo battle line, and you proceed to capture that castle, then you may have
another turn immediately after this one.
Important: this does not work in the same way as capturing another player’s castle in the
multiplayer game: you must make this decision after your first roll of the dice; and you must
at this point fill in the special daimyo battle line in addition to another battle line, rather
than as a battle line itself.
During this extra turn you may only attempt to capture a castle of the same colour/clan.
The initial castle must be from the central grid, but the second may be from either the
central grid or one controlled by the automaton.
This action may be chained together multiple times within the same turn, as long as you
keep attacking castles from the central grid. As soon as a castle is won from the automaton,
your turn ends.
Note that castles controlled by the automaton always require the extra daimyo, hence
they cannot trigger the Ashigaru rule.
Note, also, that the tanegashima rule may be combined with the ashigaru rule if you wish.
If you attack castles in the central grid, then just like in the normal game you must fill all the
standard battle lines. If you are successful, then flip over that card so that it is face-down (but
leave it in the same position within the grid). Return any unrest tokens that are on it to the
token pool.

If you attack castles that are controlled by the automaton player (ones that are not in the
central grid), then you must fill the special daimyo battle line in addition to the other
requirements, just as if you were attacking another player’s castle in the original multiplayer
game. If you are successful, then place this card in the final position of the central grid,
face-down. You now control this castle.

Completing clans
If, at any point during the game, you or the automaton control all of the castles belonging
to a particular clan (i.e. all of the cards of a particular colour), then turn all of those cards
face-down.
If you (the player) are the one gaining control of the clan, then remove all those cards from
the central grid and place them elsewhere (away from the automaton’s cards). Return any
tokens from those cards to the token pool.
Just as in the multiplayer game, completed clans may not be conquered by any means, by
either player.

Ending the game

If, at the end of either your turn or the automaton phase, all castle cards have been claimed
(meaning they are in front of you, or the automaton player, or face-down in the central grid),
then the game ends. Place any face-down cards from the central grid in front of you.

Add up your points, and the automaton’s points, in the same way as you would in a normal
game of Age of War. If you have more points than the automaton then you win; if you have
the same or fewer points, then you lose.