Ronin - Mythical Creatures

The problem with modern technology is that I always want it to do more than it is actually set up to do, even though it's highly probable that what I want it to do is not only feasible, but probably very simple. It's just that it's not currently part of the features packaged with the programme you're using.

This round-about introduction is my whinging from the soap-box about what I assumed I would be able to do with Blogger, which I can't. I can embed a photo of a cat wearing a melon rind on it's head, but to embed a more useful word document is a no-no...

Anyway, due to popular demand, Craig Woodfield (him wot wrote Ronin) created some rules for a couple of Mythical Creatures from Japanese legend - namely the Oni and Tengu - and Osprey published them as a download on their site (http://www.ospreypublishing.com/articles/[blog]/osprey_wargames_resources/), listed as Creatures List.

I rambled on in a post on The Miniatures Pages, entitled 'Re-Purposing for Ronin' about how I'd rummaged through my lead mountain to find suitable figures to use for Ronin, as the other half is frowning on any 'geeky crap' expense. Craig himself popped in on this post and provided additional rules for Amanojaku, Jorogumo and Kappa, along with details of how you could now field an Oni Buntai. Apparently posted there, as Osprey had failed to pull their finger out.

Being anal and subject to OCD, I could not let the two disparate, but related, chunks of info sit in different places, so copied all the info, re-jigged it to make more sense, sightly re-formatted it and created a word document of it. The intention was to embed it on here, so others could make use of it. So much for good intentions...

Anyway, The info is presented below - do with it as you wish...

RONIN – MYTHICAL CREATURES

ONI

  Oni are demons or ogres, typically portrayed as massive humanoid creatures with horns and fangs. They often preyed on villagers or travellers in remote areas.

P Initiative Fight Shoot Armour Points

Type	Rank	CP	Initiative	Fight	Shoot	Armour	Points
Oni	3	4	2	3	0	Heavy	48
Weapon	No matter with what armour or weapons the Oni is equipped, its stats do not change
Attributes	Tough, Fearless, Extra-Powerful, Formidable, Hard-to-Kill and Terrifying
Options	·         None

SWORD-FOR-HIRE

  A Bandit, Bushi or Peasant Buntai may hire an Oni (although a Bushi Buntai will suffer a -3 VP penalty if it does so). Only one may be hired, and no other Swords-for-Hire can be fielded in the same Buntai.
 

AMANOJAKU

Amanojaku are a smaller type of oni, malicious demons that prey upon humans.

 

Type	Rank	CP	Initiative	Fight	Shoot	Armour	Points
Oni	2	2	2	2	0	Light	16
Weapon	Claws and teeth and occasionally weapons (no effect on stats)
Attributes	Tough, Fearless
Options	·         None

SWORD-FOR-HIRE

  Up to 3 Amanojaku can be hired by Peasants or Bandits. No other Swords-for-hire may be selected alongside Amanojaku.

ONI BUNTAI

  An Oni Buntai may contain up to 3 Oni and any number of Amanojaku. If at least 2 Oni are selected, one may upgraded to a Greater Oni for +10 points. Greater Oni have a Fight of 4 and Bujutsu.

 

TENGU

 Tengu are humanoid bird spirits found in the wilderness. Sometimes they are portrayed as bipedal birds, other times as essentially human figures with wings and long noses.

ank CP Initiative Fight Shoot Armour Points

Type	Rank	CP	Initiative	Fight	Shoot	Armour	Points
Tengu	3	3	4	3	0	Medium	30
Weapon	Katana
Attributes	Acrobatic, Fearless, Fly and may choose one additional Attribute for +3 points
Options	• May have yari or naginata for +3 points • May be fielded with no armour for -4 points

ions

SWORD-FOR-HIRE

 A Sohei, Ikko-Ikki, Peasant or Koryu Buntai may hire a Tengu. If one is hired by a Koryu Buntai, it must be armed with the same primary weapon as the rest of the Koryu. Only one may be hired, and no other Swords-for-Hire can be fielded in the same Buntai.

KAPPA

  Kappa are small, humanoid aquatic creatures with scaly skin. They have been known to drown humans by luring or dragging them into the water.

Type	Rank	CP	Initiative	Fight	Shoot	Armour	Points
Kappa	2	2	2	2	0	Medium	20
Weapon	Claws (no special rules)
Attributes	Tough, Fearless
Options	·         None

SPECIAL RULES

 Kappa suffer no penalty for moving through any sort of water. Any model that is wounded by a Kappa whilst in water must test against drowning as detailed on page 11 of the Ronin rulebook (other mythical creatures are immune to this).

 NOTES

   Kappa can be played as a Buntai of their own, or as an independent force in a multi-player game, either by a third player or by random movement. In the case of the latter, place an agreed number of Kappa in or adjacent to a water feature on the board. After all other models have been moved each turn, if there are no non-kappa models within 12" of each Kappa model, randomly determine a direction and then move each Kappa 9". If there is a non-kappa model within 12" of any Kappa model, the Kappa will move towards it and attempt to get into combat. When in combat, the Kappa is controlled by the opposing player.

 JOROGUMO

  This terrifying creature takes the guise of a giant spider or woman. It can hypnotise men and then bind them with silk for later consumption.

Type	Rank	CP	Initiative	Fight	Shoot	Armour	Points
Jorogumo	4	4	4	4	2	Medium	50
Weapon	Claws
Attributes	Fearless, Terrifying, Formidable, Hard-to-Kill, Tough
Options	·         None

 SPECIAL RULES

   Spider Silk – the Jorogumo can make a shooting attack at any model within 6". If successful, the target may not take any action or make any movement until it rolls less than or equal to its Rank in the End Phase. The Target receives no bonus for armour against such a shooting attack.

  A Jorogumo may be fielded with any number of models of Rank 2 or less from the Bushi, Koryu, Ikko-ikki or Peasant lists that it has entranced. These models are Fearless whilst the Jorogumo is in play but will rout automatically should it be killed. No more than 25% of these models may have missile weapons, and none may have teppo.

NEW ATTRIBUTES

  These abilities should, with the exception of Formidable, only be used for mythical creatures. The points value for each ability is included in the table below for players building their own creatures.

 

Extra-Powerful	This model adds +2 to Attack Rolls	6 points
Fly	This model moves as if it is mounted, and may make ride-by attacks. It can move over intervening models	6 points
Formidable	Any model wishing to move into combat with this model must roll equal to or less than its Rank+1. So, a Rank 2 model wishing to engage a Formidable model must roll 3 or less on a d6. If it fails, the model may move elsewhere. Formidable has no effect when a model with Formidable moves to engage an enemy model	3 points
Hard-to-Kill	This model only ever suffers Light Wounds, and may only suffer a Grievous or Critical Wound through accruing Light Wounds. Additionally, it can take 3 Light Wounds before it suffers a Grievous Wound. The first Light Wound is normal, the second has no additional affect, on the third it suffers a Grievous Wound, and on the fourth Light Wound, a Critical Wound. Stunned has the usual effect	12 points
Terrifying	Any Buntai that is fighting a model with Terrifying suffers a +1 penalty to all Morale checks	1 point