I want L5R to have a miniatures game that is compatable with Rune wars. And here is what I want from it.

Core set has every clan!

L5R armies could share basic units. The core set need only include a hero or leader from each clan to make it into a playable army. It’s not uncommon in medieval Japanese war games for various factions to be sold this way.

Each clan can further differentiate with its own unique units or infantry command expansions that may include special parts to customize the look of the generic units.

Thats all I can think of for now.

What would you want to see from an L5R Rune Wars game?

Would it make much sense for Crane or Scorpion to have their own armies when they are so political? The Song of Fire and Ice tried to incorporate political intrigue, and to be fair, I think they did an okay job, but it just leaves you wondering why you are playing a miniatures wargame when a boardgame would be better suited to incorporating both politics and military. I think L5R would do better with a dedicated board game on the scale of Twilight Imperium or Runewars.

They made battle for rokugon already. Do crane and scorpion have armies in that?

I really fail to see how this could capture what makes l5r interesting. Completely different animals.

Yeah, this is a wild fan idea that makes no business or gameplay sense, to me.

3 hours ago, TylerTT said:

They made battle for rokugon already. Do crane and scorpion have armies in that?

Is that the token-placing boardgame? I'm pretty sure they are in there. But I haven't looked recently.

Indeed I must be a crazed fan boi to believe L5R would work as a rank n file miniatures war game.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13584/clan-war/images

Just because Rune Wars happens to be set in a vaguely European fantasy medieval era does not mean it’s systems would work well for a vaguely Asian fantasy medieval era in witch very similar technologies and tactics are employed!

Its not like you could take our five Rune tokens and just make them into the five rings!

its impossible!

/sarcasm.

battle for rokugon is a conquest board game set in L5R much like the game of thrones board game made by FFG. So it’s in the same catagory as deplomacy or risk.

There has already been a L5R miniature game. Clan Wars. It was an AEG system using 10 sided dice. The models were pretty solid. While activation of the units was interesting, the rule set tended to be much too complex. Even for some long time miniature gamers.

It wouldn't surprise me to see FFG use RuneWars as a base for a Clan Wars type game. There will be some people interested in it. And let's be honest, it's not like RuneWars is flying off the shelves. I like the game, but it's really come up short compared to their other releases. Maybe it was a bad release plan. Maybe it's the obscure IP, but if FFG wants a successful regimental movement miniature game, then they need some serious help with RuneWars or find something with a more recognizable IP.

Why not just introduce an Asian-style faction to Runewars? They could have traveled from across the western sea. Take heavy inspiration form L5R for the aesthetics, and I'd bet it would be a huge boon to this game. I know I was eyeing the Asian faction closely when considering buying in to Malifaux. Ten Thunders I think was the name.

Anyway, these Samurai-esque people could arrive to aid the Daqan in their desperate plight against evil, but secretly they desire the Rune shards which they could take back to their homeland and use that power to fight against the dragonlords which have begun to invade their land. And now the stage is set for he Makhim to enter the Runewars.

I want this for various reasons.

I love the art of FFG L5R but I’m not into deep heavy card games.

Having a second compatable game out there would give the Rune Wars player base a desperately needed boost. The relationship would be symbiotic.

Some generic units with faction specific upgrades would allow them to get out a bunch of different factions and it would still fit the theme.

9 hours ago, TylerTT said:

Indeed I must be a crazed fan boi to believe L5R would work as a rank n file miniatures war game.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13584/clan-war/images

Just because Rune Wars happens to be set in a vaguely European fantasy medieval era does not mean it’s systems would work well for a vaguely Asian fantasy medieval era in witch very similar technologies and tactics are employed!

Its not like you could take our five Rune tokens and just make them into the five rings!

its impossible!

/sarcasm.

battle for rokugon is a conquest board game set in L5R much like the game of thrones board game made by FFG. So it’s in the same catagory as deplomacy or risk.

There are only 3 runes, the issue is more the characters slugging it out isn't even close to the interesting part of L5R. The back and forth, dichotomy of conflict, and tug of war nature would not be captured here. Needless to say you would be stripping it down, and by doing so would undo a lot of what is really working in L5R, which is extremely distinct clan identity for each of the 7 we have already. The open framework of cards is helping a tonne there. Not to mention it is one of the heaviest dueling style card games in the market, to translate that adequately would be a heck of a bloated mess of a game. ASL anyone?

The three runes could be re branded any number of ways. Order, chaos, balance, or Attack, defense, feint, they could even keep them the same stable, unstable, and natural.

Political intrigue historically played out on the battlefield in Japan and I think the Rune wars systems could do this pretty well.

But L5R is heavily influenced by honorable duels at court, which is exactly what rank-and-file battles are not, as well as armies on the battlefield. Not to mention, trying to translate less martial manipulators and characters and philosophies into the game would be an enormous mess. To paste the license onto the mechanics would be so transparently crass; I can't imagine fans of the license would accept it as a product that takes them and their fandom seriously. Even worse an insult would be to pitch it as a compatible game system in the vein of Warmachine and Hordes. The last thing L5R players want to do is take one of their very characterful, lore-steeped Japanese-inspired clans and face it off against elves or undead. It would be a thematic clash that completely ignores and trivializes L5R's own universe. It wouldn't grow the game system, and it might create a backlash against Rune Wars among players that might have been interested in playing an L5R game and RWM on their own, separately.

I think Parakitor has the right idea for making an appealing entry point for L5R fans -- create a faction within Terrinoth that draws on similar cultural inspirations in the areas that make sense for a rank-and-file wargame, and introduce it into the game. This gives the opportunity to utilize the Eastern-inspired arms, armor, and warrior traditions to create models and art that draws on similar appeals to L5R without having to try to do mental gymnastics to explain away the features of the L5R property that don't translate to Rune Wars Miniatures or a RWM-system game, diluting both licenses in the process.

Also, I continue to fail to see why there's this rush to declare RWM a failure in need of outlandish and drastic measures to "salvage" the system by scrapping the product and design we already have in favor of something new.

A dueling component was part of Clan Wars. You had characters and cards that could iniiate a duel. Even WHFB had a dueling system built in with challenges. So you could easily implement that into a game.

I also don't think that an L5R miniature game needs to be compatible with RuneWars. I've always thought that they should take what they have learned doing RuneWars and develop a game for L5R.

As far as calling the game a failure, I don't go that far but if you can't see an issue with the popularity of the game then you're not being honest with yourself. World Championships, 13 people. When all of the other systems either sell out or come close. GenCon, probably no more than 15 people played in any of the events from what I could see. In Atlanta, there are 2 stores holding SC kits, but no discussion of when they will be. I would love the game to succeed, but they do need to do something to promote the game.

2 hours ago, DarkTemplars said:

A dueling component was part of Clan Wars. You had characters and cards that could iniiate a duel. Even WHFB had a dueling system built in with challenges. So you could easily implement that into a game.

Yes, but why would you want to?

Runewars is, at its heart, a game about maneuvering. Adding duels would be fluff for the sake of having fluff, not something that makes the game better. Also, there's been an effort to keep the rules relatively clean and simple: the unique abilities of the units is reflected on their command tools and cards, rather than scattered through a book (or frequently, several books). The rules and abilities additions have fit smoothly into the existing rule structure. Keep it that way. Duels wouldn't add anything to the game.

I'm sick of all the doom and gloom speech. Runewars doesn't need L5R to save it and I don't believe the two belong together. If you want to discuss an L5R miniatures game. The Runewars Miniatures Game forums are not the place to do it. Try this forum instead: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/forum/112-the-crystal-ball-and-the-wishing-well/

(On a seperate note, it is worth noting that FFG released L5R Diskwars some time during the life of Diskwars and I believe they were compatible to some extent, so there is precedent for Mennara and Rokugan to meet on the battlefield. I wouldn't mix them, though. I play for theme and if you could mix them at events, I'd stop going to events.)

7 minutes ago, Xelto said:

Yes, but why would you want to?

Runewars is, at its heart, a game about maneuvering. Adding duels would be fluff for the sake of having fluff, not something that makes the game better. Also, there's been an effort to keep the rules relatively clean and simple: the unique abilities of the units is reflected on their command tools and cards, rather than scattered through a book (or frequently, several books). The rules and abilities additions have fit smoothly into the existing rule structure. Keep it that way. Duels wouldn't add anything to the game.

I'm not saying implement challenges/duels in RuneWars. The thread is about a possible L5R RuneWars. Considering the prevalence of duels in that setting, you would want that in a miniature game. As I stated, Clan Wars had ways for heroes to duel.

I also have said that if they do a relaunch of Clan Wars, that they will very likely use what they have learned from RuneWars to developed the system. Not make a compatible system similar to WARMACHINE AND Hordes.

Alternatively, you could just play Bushido. Which is a miniatures game set in not!Japan where the factions are warring clans.