Tabletop_Gaming__April_2019

HAVE YOU PLAYED?

SEKIGAHARA:

S

ekigahara is a three-hour wargame

recreating a decisive seven-week

battle in 1600 between two Japanese

forces, led respectively by the

guardian of a seven-year-old heir

to the throne and the country’s most powerful

lord. It depicts a sweeping conict involving castle

sieges and highway skirmishes between tens of

thousands of troops where the shifting loyalty and

allegiance of units can quickly turn the outcome

of a crucial encounter. It comes with a dry, matter-

of-fact subtitle that belongs on the cover of a dusty

history book: e Unication of Japan. With this

intimidating description in mind, you nervously

lift the lid o its dense box to nd... some wooden

blocks and two decks of cards. at’s it.

Alright, we admit: we’re being a little reductive

there. After all, there’s also a beautiful map board,

a rulebook and a couple of player aids. Plus, rst

time around you’ll have a bunch of black and gold

stickers to carefully align on the dozens of wooden

blocks. e point stands: Sekigahara is an intense,

epic wargame with very little of the gameplay

convolution and minutiae often associated with the

simulationist tabletop genre. at doesn’t mean

it’s lacking strategic complexity and atmosphere,

however; what designer Matt Calkins has achieved

in this packed box is little short of genius.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Sekigahara is based on the 1600 battle of the same

name that would ultimately bring Japan together

for hundreds of years at the conclusion of seven

weeks of ghting for control of the nation.

Each player takes one side of the clash: Ishida

Mitsunari, who must defend the seven-year-old

son of the late warlord whose death triggered

the war, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the former

is elegant retelling of a

pivotal Japanese battle is

historical wargaming at

its nest, with none of the

eort and all of the action

Words by Matt Jarvis

28 April 2019

THE UNIFICATION

OF JAPAN