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Bundori

[edit]
Bundori
AuthorLaura Joh Rowland
LanguageEnglish
SeriesSano Ichirō
GenreHistorical mystery
PublisherHarperTorch
Publication date
1996
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN978-0679434238
Preceded byShinjū 
Followed byThe Way of the Traitor 

Bundori is the second novel by American writer Laura Joh Rowland, a historical mystery set in 1689 Genroku-era Japan featuring the samurai investigator Sano Ichirō. It is a sequel to Rowland's debut novel Shinjū. It was published by HarperTorch in 1996.

Plot

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Sano Ichirō, who saved the life of the shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, in the previous novel, Shinjū, has been appointed to be the shogun's Investigator of Events, Situations and People, allowing the shogun to send Sano to investigate anything that takes the shogun's fancy. When two people in the city are murdered, and their heads affixed to plaques like bundori (war trophies), Sano is sent to apprehend the murderer.[1]

Sano has run afoul of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, the shogun's chamberlain and the real power behind the throne, and Yanagisawa vowsw to prevent Sano from solving the crime. This would be seen as failing to fulfill the shogun's wishes, for which death was the penalty.[1]

Sano consults with Aoi, a palace servant and priestess of a shrine, who uses her powers to communicate with the murder victims. Sano also uses his resources in the Imperial archives, and soon realizes that the murders are the continuation of a century-old blood feud for which there are only four suspects: a rich merchant, the Captain of the Palace Guard, a concubine, and Chamberlain Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. Arresting the chamberlain would undoutedly result in Sano's death, and he again is cast into the divide between his duty and his need to find the truth.

Although Sano and Aoi become lovers, Sano eventually deduces that she is feeding him false information, and she reveals she is a ninja who is being forced to work for the chamberlain, who holds the lives of her family in his hand.[1]

Despite this, Aoi cannot resist helping Sano, and discovers information about a witness, allowing Sano to set a trap for the killer. He is able to bring the murderer to custody, but Aoi, knowing her life is now forfeit, slips away in an attempt to reach her family and take them into hiding before the chamberlain can wreak his revenge upon her.[1]

Publication history

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After the success of her debut novel Shinjū in 1994, Laura Joh Rowland wrote a sequel, Bundori, which was published by HarperTorch in 1996. Rowland would go on to write 14 more titles in the Sano Ichiro series.

Reception

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Kirkus Reviews found this "Not as rich and resourceful as Sano's striking debut — the demands of bushido are asked to carry too much of the interest — but Rowland still masterfully evokes the subtleties and contradictions of 17th-century Japan."[2]

Publishers Weekly noted that "Sano's allegiance to bushido makes him an unexpectedly passive hero, undermining the author's apparent attempt to wed Japanese philosophy to Western mystery-thriller conventions." However, the review concluded on a positive note, saying, "But the novel reads smoothly and positively smokes with historical atmospherics."[3]

Dennis Drabelle, writing for The Washington Post, called the author, "a sure-footed storyteller with a flair for moving mutually inimical characters into charged confrontations." Drabelle called the battle of wits between Sano and Chamberlain Yanagisawa "the best parts of the novel ... Often the shogun is present at these verbal jousts, pulled one way by Sano's potent sincerity, then yanked back the other way by Yanagisawa's crafty rhetoric." Drabelle found Rowland's writing, "gives the reader a solid grounding in the period's architecture, mores and ethics. From the shogun's castle to a whorehouse called Great Joy, she evokes the period without condescending to it." However, Drabelle disliked the ancient blood feud as a plot device, calling it "a bust." Drabelle concluded on a positive note, writing, "Bundori is one of those mysteries in which the itch to find out whodunit recedes before the pleasures of prowling through a different world, soaking up the sights, learning the customs and sympathizing with the dilemmas into which characters of that era are likely to be driven."[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Drabelle, Dennis (1996-03-03). "Bundori:Going Great Shoguns". The Washington Post.
  2. ^ "Bundori". Kirkus Reviews. 2010-05-19. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  3. ^ "Bundori:A Novel of Japan". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-12-05.



















Pearl Harbor

[edit]
Pearl Harbor
DesignersJohn Prados
IllustratorsRich Banner, Richard Hentz, Rodger B. MacGowan
PublishersSimulations Publications Inc.
Publication1977
GenresWorld War II

Pearl Harbor, subtitled "The War Against Japan, 1941–1945" is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1977. Despite the title, the game simulates the entire Pacific Campaign of World War II, not just the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Description

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Pearl Harbor is a strategic-level board wargame for between two and seven players in which one side controls American (air, ground, and naval units), and the other side controls Japanese forces. With 840 counters, a large map and over 20 pages of rules, the game has been characterized as complex.[1]

=Gameplay

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Each side's turn is divided into five segments:[1]

  • Decision: how to spend Economic Resource Points
  • Movement by active player
  • Reaction movement by non-active player
  • Combat by both sides
  • Return to base, reorganization and expenditure of Economic Resource Points to build new units

However the addition of optional rules can add as many as 34 separate functions to one side's turn.[2] When both sides have completed their turn, this represents three months of game time.

Movement

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Naval units may only travel via water; air units can fly a given distance while on combat missions, but may extend that range if transferring between bases. Most land units must be transported from island to island by naval units, but marine units can "island hop" amphibiously by themselves.[2]

Combat

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Each nationality in the game may make up to six attacks per turn of any kind. The exceptions are the navies and armies of Japan and the United States, which each may make six attacks per turn.[2]

Supply

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Units must be able to trace an unhindered line back to a base, and from there back to the unit's national capital. If a nation's capital city is captured, that nation's units are removed from the game. Critic Eric Goldberg thought this was a flawed rule that might lead to a non-historical strategy where "one side may extend itself to capture another's home base, crippling the latter's efforts when successful."[2]

Economic system

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To bring a new unit onto the the board, it must be "built" using " "Economic Resource Points" (ERPs). Each side receives a pool of ERPs each turn by controlling cities that have an ERP value. For example, Canton has an ERP value of 5 while Manila is only worth 1 ERP. Land and air units that have been destroyed and naval units that have been damaged but are still afloat can be returned to the player's counter reserve pool for repair and reassignment, but naval units that have been sunk are lost.[2]

Players can also use ERPs for other functions in the game such as buying more attacks per turn, and turning some of their units into reaction forces capable of counter-attacking during the other player's turn.[2]

Optional rules

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There are a large number of optional rules, including Chinese guerrillas, who steal ERPs from the Japanese; "Banzai!", which allows the Japanese player to change a "no effect" result to an exchange of casualties; "The War in Europe", which gives German units to the Japanese player; use of the atomic bomb by the American player; and "Asia for the Asians", which allows the Japanese player to recruit extra units from other parts of Europe.[1]

Scenarios

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The game comes with two scenarios:

  • December 1941 to November 1941
  • December 1943 to August 1945

There is also a campaign game that covers the entire war from December 1941 to August 1945.[2]

Publication history

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In 1974, John Prados designed the board wargame Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, which was published by Avalon Hill and became very popular. Prados returned to Avalon Hill with a similar game set in the Pacific, but the game company turned him down. Prados subsequently sold Pearl Harbor to GDW.[2] However, during game development, GDW changed many of Prados's original rules, and the result, published in 1977 as a ziplock bag game with cover art by Rodger B. MacGowan, was noted for being almost unplayable. Eric Goldberg called the rules "an unfathomable mess".[2] GDW rushed out a set of errata to try and fix some of the problems, but also assigned Marc Miller to redevelop the rules. The resultant second edition, released as a boxed set in 1979 with cover art by Richard Hentz, was praised as a much improved product.[2][1]

Reception

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In Issue 37 of Dragon, Bryan Beecher didn't like the map setup, which featured several tables and charts, as well as holding areas for each player's ERPs and force pools. Beecher poionted out that "Players cannot sit by their respective countries and still reach their force pools without getting up and moving. GDW should have either made a separate ERP and force pool card for each player, similar to Avalon Hill's Third Reich, or put the force pool adjacent to or near its respective country." Beecher also warned, "The game is complex and can be slow-moving," but called the multi-player rules "very good." Beecher thought the optional rules were the best part of the game, and recommended several. Beecher concluded, "Pearl Harbor is a quality game and I highly recommend it."[1]

In Issue 50 of Moves, Eric Goldberg outlined the history of the 1st edition and 2nd editions of the game, analyzed the rules and concluded, "The second edition of Pearl Harbor is what the first edition should have been. As a gam, it is eminently playable, and good fun when several players divide the nationalities. As a simulation, it is a new look at an important war and an imaginative combination of old and new mechanics."[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Beecher, Bryan (May 1980). "Game Review: Pearl Harbor". Dragon. No. 37. p. 44.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Goldberg, Eric (April–May 1980). "Forward Observer". Moves. No. 50. pp. 31–33.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)























Hastings, 1066

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Hastings, 1066 is a board wargame published by TSR in 1987 that simulates the Battle of Hastings. The major part of the game was developed by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in the late 1970s, but was not published before the company was suddenly taken over by TSR in 1982.

Background

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Following the death of the childless English king Edward the Confessor in 1066, a several powerful men vied for the throne. Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwinson was crowned king, but had to defeat a Danish army at the Battle of Stamford Bridge before hurrying south to cade William of Normandy at Hastings.

Description

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Hastings, 1066 is a two-player board wargame in which one player controls the Anglo-Saxons and the other the Normans.

The game is relatively simple, with only 200 die-cut counters, a 17" x 22" hex grid map and only ten pages of rules.[1] The turn sequence is an alternating "I Go, You Go" system. Each turn is divided into two phases:

  • Order Phase: Each army is divided into three parts. Each player secretly chooses a strategy for each part of their army, and rolls two dice to determine the Battle Plan
  • Battle Phase: Composed of six segments, with Norman player active:[1]
  1. Active player: Rally
  2. Active player: Missile fire
  3. Active player: Movement
  4. Non-active player: Reactive movement
  5. Non-active player: Missile fire
  6. Active player: Melee combat between adjacent units

The Anglo-Saxon player then has the same opportunities, which completes one game turn. The battle lasts for two days (8 turns each).[1]

Players also track unit morale and fatigue, which are influenced by the battle strategies used by each part of their armies.[1]

Victory conditions

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Victory points are gained by eliminating enemy units and leaders. The Normans win by having more victory points than the Saxons, as well as either clearing the road to London or eliminating all the Saxon house carls. The Anglo-Saxons win by preventing the Normans' victory conditions.[1]

Publication history

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In the March–April 1978 issue of the SPI house magazine Strategy & Tactics, game designer Richard Berg announced he would be developing a series of six easy-to-play wargames called "Great Battles of History." One of these would simulate the Battle of Hastings.[2] Throughout the remainder of 1978 and most of 1979, Berg kept S&T readers up-to-date on how he was developing and testing these games. However, game development was suddenly halted in late 1979, and none of Berg's six games were published by SPI.[2] Instead SPI was taken over by TSR in 1982. Five years after the takeover, Berg's game about the Battle of Hastings, with some rule modifications, was published as a pull-out game in Issue 110 of Strategy & Tactics."

Reception

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In Issue 6 of Battleplan, Keith Martens was enthusiastic about the game, especially by the Order Phase, noting that "the player can influence the final Battle Order by picking a strategy which will maximize the chances of rolling that Order, but does not have the absolute command control found in many games." Martens also thought the tracking of morale and fatigue was "Brilliantly linked with the Battle Order determination." He concluded, "All in all it is the moes realistic tactical ancients game I have seen. If you are interested in the period, try a game."[1]

Other reviews and commentary

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Martens, Keith (June–July 1988). "Hastings: The Battle of Senlac Hill". Battleplan. No. 6. pp. 5–7.
  2. ^ a b Gifford, Russ (2021), 1066: The Battle of Hastings (PDF)





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