I’m relatively new to “real” hex-and-counter wargames like Ran. I’ve played plenty of Axis & Allies and Memoir ’44 in the past along with (of course) Risk variants. More recently I’ve begun to really enjoy games like Shogun and Twilight Struggle. After my buddy, ShaneB, purchased Ran, I was really excited to finally join the big leagues and play a complex wargame like Ran. This review is based on my 3 plays of Ran and is intended more for other newbie wargamers than for hard-core grognards. Nevertheless, I hope the hard-core grognards will find it helpful as well.

Brief Summary: I frickin love this game, although I found the rules tough going and wish the map was nicer.

The Game

Ran is a wargame based on the samurai warlord period of Japanese history. I don’t know much about the historical period, so can’t speak to the game’s historical accuracy, but playing this game has made me itch to purchase some books on the period. The game basically consists of a set of complex rules, a raft of counters, several battle-specific maps, and a scenario booklet allowing setting forth several historical battles for the players to reenact.

Ran is a hex-and-counter wargame that uses dice which are rolled and cross-referenced with tables to resolve combat. Complex rules govern the modifiers applicable to combat, movement and the issuing of orders to your units.

For example, to resolve combat, you figure out the strength of the attacking unit versus the specific defending unit (expressed as a numerical value which corresponds with the number of a column on the combat results table), add any modifiers to the strength of the attacking unit as appropriate, and then roll a single die. You look at the appropriate column, find the appropriate row for the value rolled, and that tells you how many hits you inflicted against the defender and how many hits the defender hits against you.

The Specifics:

Components:

I am probably showing my new wargamer tendencies, but probably the most disappointing thing about Ran is the maps. The maps are thick paper that need to be held down with plexiglass to the avoid frustration of trying to get your counters over a crease in the paper. Considering the sturdy, good-looking maps available in games such as Axis and Allies and Tide of Iron, it is hard to get pumped about a piece of paper. The artwork on the maps is functional and unobjectionable, but also doesn’t get me excited about the game.

The counters aren’t all that exciting compared to plastic minis, but I do feel like they are pretty cool-looking while still being very functional. And there are a crapload of counters in this game.

Rules:

The rules are extremely complex to my new wargamer sensibilities. The rule booklet is an intimidating piece of writing, organized very specifically but not necessarily very intuitively – at least for a non-grognard.

Nevertheless, I feel like the basic system is fairly elegant and not too hard to grasp. The hard part with this game is not the core rules, which make sense and work well, but is rather the many exceptions and modifiers that affect the core rules. The complexity added by these rules is both positive and negative – they add greatly to the theme of the game, but also increase the time you need to play, as you will constantly be looking up answers to rules questions.

To a grognard, these rules will probably be fairly easy to follow, but it is tough going for wannabe grogards like myself. After three plays, I finally feel comfortable with 90% of the rules.

Theme:

The theme of this game is great. The combat system really seems to capture the unique feel I associate with Japanese military culture. The above-mentioned rules complexity includes rules for when your busho (officer) loses face, rules for committing hara-kiri, and rules for battles between individual samurai, including severing the head of your opponent for honor and, more importantly, to help you win the game. Each combat unit has definite strengths and weaknesses, and you will find yourself debating over the best uses for each unit – is the Japanese cavalry’s norizikushi charge ability really powerful, or is it better to use the cavalry for flanking maneuvers? Where should you position your gun-armed troops?

The scenarios included with the game are interesting and have great variety. Each includes a historical description of the actual outcome of the battle, which has been surprisingly close to the actual game play in each scenario I’ve played.

Fun Factor:

For this aspiring grognard, Ran is great fun. I love the theme and, despite my trouble grasping all the nuances of the rules, I really like the depth and flavor the complex rules provide. I find myself constantly thinking about when I’ll next be able to fit a game into my schedule. Indeed, my biggest gripe about Ran is that I seldom have 4-6 hours (which is how long it has been taking us to play on average) to devote to a two-player game, which means I don’t get to play it often enough . I like Ran so much that I’ve taken the plunge and ordered Chandragupta , a forthcoming game from this GMT series, from the GMT P500. This will be my first complex wargame purchase and I am excited to get my hands on this one and punch out some counters. Any other aspiring grognards are highly encouraged to purchase give Ran a try.