New English Rule Book for Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire

 Get the Rule Book on BoardGameGeek.com

Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire (Tsukuda Hobby, 1982)

Scott Muldoon and I have completed our English translation of the rules for Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire (スタートレック：クリンゴン帝国の侵略) and posted the new rule book on BoardGameGeek.com. The document also includes a translation of a later article about the game with variant rules for the Romulan Star Empire*.

Get it here (may require site registration): https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/291961/star-trek-the-invasion-of-klingon-empire-english-r

What is The Invasion of Klingon Empire?

"The Invasion of [the] Klingon Empire" appears to be taken from the Japanese title of the TOS episode "Errand of Mercy" (S1 E27). In that episode, the Enterprise defends the planet Organia from an invasion by Klingons, but the Organians don't need or want the Federation's help. By the end of the episode, the Federation and Klingon Empire are held to a peace treaty, brokered and enforced by the super-powerful Organians.

The Organian Peace Treaty is paramount to the game's backstory. The Klingon Empire breaks the treaty by invading Federation space, somehow evading the Organians' enforced peace (this is never explained in the game, but the Klingons disable the Organians by surrounding Organia with an energy shield**). The Romulan Star Empire takes the opportunity to also invade the Federation, breaking their treaty as well. The game is a galaxy-spanning war with a grand strategic scale. 

This is the first strategic-scale simulation game that incorporates production designed and published in Japan*.

Photo by Sigplayer (source)

The Federation and Klingon players strike out from their home regions, racing across the galaxy to capture and hold various star systems. Each faction constructs starbases, base stations, and factories at these systems to build and maintain its fleet of starships in an all-out war with the other faction. The Federation has lost survey data for many of the deep-space locations far from Earth and must map out known space with three explorer vessels: USS Lexington, USS Constitution, and USS Enterprise.

Additionally, Enterprise is also tasked with carrying out assorted missions throughout the game. The ship may have to pick up diplomats for a important meeting at Babel, deliver medicine to a plague-ravaged colony, or even visit Vulcan to deal with a Vulcan crew member's reproductive cycle. There are several scenarios included with the game and the Federation player must complete Enterprise missions as part of their victory conditions.

Battle board, Photo by Hayaru (source)

When friendly and enemy units move into the same hex at the same time, a battle occurs. The battling units all move to a separate battle board where they are lined up in different battle lanes, either in forward or rearward position. There is also a secondary line where defense satellites and starbases are played into battle. The battle board allows for tactical maneuvers, jockeying into a preferred weapon range, breaking through enemy defenses to attack the secondary line, or withdrawing from combat altogether.

Photo by Hayaru (source)

There are a lot of units in the game, which can become unwieldy as there is no stacking limit for a single hex (each hex is 10 parsecs, 32.6 light years, across - plenty of room!). The designers admit that this proliferation of counters actually impairs the game's playability*****. Ships in the game can move for nigh unlimited distances along green "warp routes" printed on the map, as long as the warp route has been secured by friendly forces. This keeps the vast distances in the game manageable in this war of attrition. Replacement forces can move to the front lines within one movement phase.

The game certainly has a grand strategic scale and I find the battle rules to be simple and clever. They are a far cry from the intensely detailed tactical combat of Star Fleet Battles, but they don't need to be. Calculating maintenance and production values of all the factories and space stations in your fleet can be daunting, but the game's log sheet does alleviate some of that pain. It is a typical simulation game of the era where a several-hour play time is expected. The counters are cleanly detailed, but many ship models appear to be repeated, so they are hard to differentiate at a glance. If there were any changes I'd make, it would start by simplifying the maintenance/production rules and redesign all of the counters to read better at a distance.

Who still plays this game?

I have found a few recent blog posts from gamers who played this game in recent years. I do not own an original copy of the game (this was a joint effort to translate) and have cited photos from these blogs for illustrative purposes only.

Sigplayer (a.k.a. Michael): https://slgplayer.exblog.jp/27265273/

Hayaru: https://hayaru01.hatenablog.com/entry/2021/04/03/214636

Who made this game?

Game design credit goes to Toru Nakajima (中島徹) and Tadatoshi Ishii (石井忠俊) of the Keio HQ Simulation Game Club of Keio University in Tokyo. They completed the game's design in October 1982*** and Tsukuda published it soon thereafter. The designers wanted to make sure that the game didn't look or play like a similar game in the USA***** (probably Star Fleet Battles). I don't know if these two designed any other published games.

When the simulation game boom started in Japan in the early 1980s, the most experienced wargame designers were amateur fans printing small runs of games in loose small press groups called dōjin circles. Several dōjin circles were formed in university game clubs, like Keio's HQ Club. 

Tsukuda (as Tsukuda Hobby) launched their line of bookcase style "hobby games" in 1982 and turned to these amateurs for creative work. THQ was the first group to work with Tsukuda, followed by Keio HQ in fall 1982****, mere months before this game was published. The dōjin circles acted as design studios for Tsukuda in what seems like a similar relationship between game studio and publisher in the modern video games industry.

A recent sign inviting new Keio University students to join the HQ Simulation Club (source)

The Keio HQ Simulation Game Club still exists today as the Head Quarter Simulation Club at Keio University in Tokyo. The club still designs games, often crediting the entire club rather than individual designers for the work. You can follow the club's activities on Twitter.

Yoshifumi "Lone Star" Sakatani of Star Fleet: Base Tokyo also served as advisor on the game. Instead of a game club, Base Tokyo was probably a chapter of the STARFLEET association of Star Trek fan clubs that was founded in 1974.

Tsukuda's other Star Trek Board Game

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Tsukuda Hobby, 1983)

Tsukuda Hobby developed another Star Trek simulation game at the same time: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Tsukuda Hobby, 1983) based on the 1982 movie of the same name (actually, the gameplay seems to be completely unrelated to the film). The designers of Invasion of Klingon Empire wanted to make it clear that they were not involved in the creation of the Star Trek II game***** (Star Trek II was designed by Kazutoyo Ishii (石井一豊)******, who could be a relative of Tadatoshi Ishii).

Unlike Invasion of Klingon Empire, this game simulates journeying through deep space to explore the unknown and engaging in tactical scale battles with one or a few ships on either side.

Tsukuda's Star Trek RPG: Enterprise

Enterprise (Tsukuda Hobby, 1983)

Tsukuda Hobby's main interest in the Keio HQ Simulation Club is to enlist the club's talents to create role-playing games****. Keio HQ member Yutaka Tama (多摩 豊) wrote the pioneering Enterprise: Role Play Game in Star Trek, published in a big box with a rule book, scenario book, dice, and full-color character cards. As far as I can tell, this was the first standalone role-playing game designed and published in Japan for a domestic audience*******. "Lone Star" Sakatani served as advisor on this game as well.

Fellow Japanese game translator Robert Saint John translated the Enterprise rules, available here: http://www.robertsaintjohn.com/groknard/JRPGEN_Enterprise.pdf

Enterprise did not have further material support after the first boxed set, but the core game system was re-used for Crusher Joe: Role Play Game in Crusher Joe (Tsukuda Hobby, 1984). 

Tama mentioned The Invasion of Klingon Empire as "Mr. Nakajima's Star Trek" in his "Designer's Notes" section of the Enterprise rule book. He laments that the game loses the charm of Star Trek as, being a strategy game, the focus is on the ships and the galaxy instead of the characters.You can read Robert Saint John's translation of the Tama's Designer's Notes here: https://groknard.blogspot.com/2009/02/enterprise-rpg-tama-yutakas-designers.html

Tsukuda's oversized miniatures

Star Trek Miniature Series 1: Dreadnought and Heavy Cruiser (Tsukuda Hobby, 1984)

Tsukuda was also a manufacturer of plastic model kits and they sold several sets of plastic gaming miniatures based on TOS ships, like the one seen above. Each model came with a clear plastic stand that would fit easily on a large game board. These may have been the same models that Lou Zocchi sourced and sold through GameScience, but I haven't confirmed that.

The miniatures are ostensibly made for The Invasion of Klingon Empire, but they are far too big to fit on the game's tiny hexes or to be used at a strategic scale. The miniatures wouldn't work with Star Trek II as they are from the wrong time period and Enterprise doesn't have any rules for starships. This is puzzling as Tsukuda produced smaller miniatures to work on their other board games, such as tiny plastic tank figures for use with Tiger I (Tsukuda Hobby, 1982). So, they produced these miniatures that do not work with any of Tsukuda Hobby's Star Trek games.

End notes:

* Published in Yoshifumi "Lone Star" Sakatani's article "Star Trek Designer's Comments," Tactics, No. 7, January 1983.

** As seen in the 1970 novel by James Blish, Spock Must Die!, Bantam Books.

*** As seen in the "Designers' Notes" chapter by Nakajima and Ishii in the Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire instruction manual.
**** As seen in "Interview: Tsukuda Hobby's Masaaki Suzuki," Simulator, No. 3, March 1983, 15-16.

***** As seen in "Cross Review," Simulator, No. 3, March 1983, 8.

****** I can't find designer credits in the Star Trek II game itself, but credits are in the article "Game Guide New Releases News," Tactics, No. 11, September-October 1983, 65.

******* One earlier Japanese RPG was published as a magazine article "Donkey Commando," Tactics, No. 3, May-June 1982, 28-38.

Introduction to The Fantasy Game, part 2

As I covered in my previous post, I've been working on a retro-clone of the original 1974/1975 era Dungeons & Dragons rules titled The Fantasy Game. That post describes the first book, the Basic Player Guide, which covers rules for character creation, combat, magic, and exploration, which is roughly equal to Men & Magic, volume 1 of the three LBBs (little brown books) in the original boxed D&D set.

All work shown here is considered work-in-progress and is not final.

The Fantasy Game: Expert Referee Guides

My next two books in The Fantasy Game series are designed for the referee, transforming and re-editing the information found in Monsters & Treasure, volume 2 of the LBBs of OD&D.

Monster Menagerie

Expert Referee Guide: Monster Menagerie

This guide collects information only for the creatures and monsters described in the original Monsters & Treasure book. The only monsters that were not included from that book are the poorly described "other" monsters, such as titans, cyclopses, juggernauts, living statues, robots, golems, and androids (listed as "self-explanatory"). However, I did include the briefly mentioned salamander monster.

Monster Menagerie excerpt: Guide to Monsters

I created a custom stat block for monster information that collects the important data found in disparate locations of the original rules, like the Monster Reference Table (Monsters & Treasure), the Character Alignment, Including Various Monsters & Creatures table (Men & Magic), extrapolated Morale quality values (Chainmail), and other information found in monster descriptions (Monsters & Treasure, Chainmail). The original game has scattered rules for certain "types" of monsters, such as undead, person, giant, and elemental, (especially with turning, charming, and controlling magics) so I explicitly specify if a monster fits a certain type in its stat block.

Now that I've posted the excerpt above, I've spotted a few spelling and formatting mistakes that I have already fixed.

Monster Menagerie excerpt: Griffon to Hobgoblin

Yes, a hobgoblin is a "person" (as clarified in the description of the charm person spell in Men & Magic) and a griffon and a hippogriff are both considered to be "chimeras" (as per description of CHIMEREA (s.p.) in Chainmail).

Trove of Treasures

Expert Referee Guide: Trove of Treasures

The first section of Trove of Treasures consists of random treasure tables for use in determining the belongings of any monsters described in Monster Menagerie. Each monster is given a treasure type code of a letter between A and I. Type A is for bands of humans (such as bandits, nomads, or pirates) and varies by where they live (land, desert, or water). The other letter codes are generally more valuable as they go up in the alphabet, with varying chances of coins, gems, jewelry, treasure maps, and magic items.

Trove of Treasures excerpt: first page of Magic Swords descriptions

The majority of the book is dedicated to the descriptions of various magic items that may be found. The largest section details the rules for magic swords, which runs 3 1/2 pages. Magic swords in the original rules are incredibly powerful in comparison to any other editions. Every magic sword, even a lowly +1 broadsword, has an alignment with some level of intelligence and a chance to get into an ego conflict with its wielder. About half of all magic swords can communicate in some way with its wielder and has mental powers (such as detect magic or fly). Other miscellaneous types of magic weapons, even the mighty +3 war hammer, do not have these special attributes.

Magic swords truly seem to be the balancing factor of power between the original three classes. Clerics and magic-users learn to cast more powerful spells as they increase in levels, but fighting-men (or the later standardized "fighters") are the only ones who can wield the full power of magic swords. That is, until the thief class was first published in summer of 1974, ruled as being "able to employ magic swords and daggers" (Gary Gygax, The Thief Addition, 1974).

Trove of Treasures excerpt: Artifacts

Later OD&D supplements (Eldritch Wizardry and Gods, Demi-gods, & Heroes) include rules for specific artifacts and relics that would become part of the D&D product identity or hail from literature and legend. The original LBB volumes briefly mention names for possible artifacts with no descriptions, such as teleportation machine and stone crystallization projector. In my version, I researched and collected a list of example artifacts found in legends and literature that have served or could serve as inspiration for items of powerful magic in a fantasy RPG campaign.

Introduction to The Fantasy Game, part 1

As I posted about briefly in my last post, I am currently co-teaching a History of Role-Playing Games course at Drexel University. The course is a mix of lectures about the history and evolution of RPGs, written reports about specific RPGs, and with in-class activities to create characters, monsters, campaign locations, and play through an adventure using the original 1974-1975 Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D) rules.

This brought something of a dilemma - how do I distribute copies of the game rules to my class? Most of the activities would be in class, but I also wanted them to have the rules to refer to outside of class. I could theoretically distribute PDFs of the rules, citing fair use, but I am wary of the appearance of copyright infringement. The original rules are available for purchase in pdf for the 1974 price of $9.99, but I prefer to offer my students an option that does not eat into their pizza funds. Besides, I didn't want to burden them with the task of understanding how to translate those original, unedited rules.

Retro-clones were the way to go, but which one? I offered Swords & Wizardry White Box, since the creators have graciously made the older versions of the rules free to use. Marcia B.'s critical and thorough Fantastic Medieval Campaigns is nearly ideal, and even includes Chainmail, though I found myself disagreeing with some of her interpretations of the rules (not to disparage her work, these are matters of personal opinion). After the course had already started, The Basic Expert release another OD&D retro-clone, Wight-Box.

These were all good options, and all essentially compatible with one another, but I knew I wouldn't be satisfied unless I crafted my own retro-clone for the class. This would also be an academic research project to finely analyze, comprehend, clarify, and disseminate the earliest of RPG rules.

The Fantasy Game: Basic Player Guide

I set to work rewriting those original 1974 role-playing game rules with a modern sensibility. I adapted the layout of another "fantasy heartbreaker" project of my own design that I'd been working on. For that project, I'd also collected a vast amount of public domain artwork from the classic era of book illustrations (in true retro-clone fashion) that work well for this implied fantasy world. Unlike most other retro-clones, each illustration is credited with the name of the artist (if known) and the publication it was printed in. Much like the 1974 rules, I created 3 rules booklets, though the contents of my books differ somewhat from the 3 LBBs.

I decided to incorporate a few rules that were added a short time after the original game's publication. I did not want to incorporate Greyhawk rules for ability score bonuses, hit point and damage adjustments, and other changes. However, I did adapt the "open doors" rule from Greyhawk (based on strength) into a general rule useful for "ability checks." The common ability check method (roll d20 under you ability score to succeed at a task) is somewhat maligned for being too easy to succeed at (average ability score has more than 50% chance to succeed) and not fitting with other OD&D resolution systems. The open doors check, however, gives an average character a 2-in-6 chance to succeed, and up to 5-in-6 chance to succeed for an 18 strength. I adapted that rule into a feat check to succeed at any test of strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, charisma, or constitution.

I also added the weapon effectiveness charts from Greyhawk (otherwise, there is almost no difference between weapons that all do 1d6 damage), the thief class rules from The Thief Addition (with a nod to fellow Californian Gary Switzer and his Aurania campaign group that came up with the idea),  The Strategic Review FAQ, some equipment weights in Warlock, clarifications on spells and combat from Swords & Spells, and the ability for 1st level magic-users to scribe scrolls from the original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set edited by Dr. J. Eric Holmes. Otherwise, the rules were as interpreted from the 1974 rules and from Chainmail.

Character Creation and Combat

Basic Player Guide: Character Creation and Combat

The character creation rules were the most critically important rules for my students as they would be rolling up new characters in the second week of the course. That includes how to roll up ability scores, species and class descriptions, alignment, money, equipment, and magic spells. I also wanted to include rules for exploration and combat, which consists of to-hit charts, saving throws, time and movement scales, order of combat, reaction rolls, and morale. The combat rules may end up in a separate booklet later, but for now, they are in with character creation.

I call this a "basic" player guide as the rules only cover characters up to 4th level of experience ("from zero to hero"). This saved me a lot of time in writing up spell descriptions.

Doing Things in the Game

Character Creation and Combat excerpt: Doing Things in the Game

The book needed to start with a guide to when you roll dice, what dice to roll, and why. Analyzing the OD&D rules, I determined there are several basic ways to "do things" that require a dice roll to determine if they happen or not.

Roll d20 and meet or exceed a target number: to-hit rolls and saving throws.

Roll 1d6 and roll low for a thing to happen: find secret doors, fall into a trap, get surprised, and the afore-mentioned "feat check."

Roll 2d6 and roll high to influence someone: reaction rolls, turn undead, and morale checks.

Roll d100 less than or equal to skill rating: most thief skills.

Roll several d6 and add them together, attempt to beat another character's roll: this covers the unusual grappling rules included in the Strategic Review FAQ, something I call a contest roll.

Other Changes

Character Creation and Combat excerpt: Character Classes

Fighting-man and magic-user changed to fighter and wizard.

Race changed to species. On that note, the term hobbit is replaced with halfling.

Order of combat is derived from Swords & Spells, clarifying who acts first in a mixed combat of missile weapons, magics, and melee attacks.

I derived the morale rules from Chainmail, just like the original rules recommend, but the question is: which morale rules? Chainmail has no less than three different morale systems: "post melee morale,"  a morale check for "instability due to excess casualties," and a morale check to "withstand a charge by mounted men." Chainmail's The Fantasy Supplement has specific Morale Ratings for different fantastic creatures in post melee morale, but that rule nigh unusable in an RPG combat. I adapted the "instability due to excess casualties" and had to extrapolate the melee values for various non-human combatants.

Coming soon, I'll write about the other books in this series.

Book update: Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons

I am happy to announce the upcoming publication of the book chapter "'Dr. Holmes, I Presume?' How a California Neurology Professor Penned the First Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set," co-authored with Zach "Zenopus" of Zenopus Archives. It will be published in Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons, scheduled for release on May 14, 2024.

This 392 page tome features 20 chapters by a variety of authors about the history, influence, and the future of Dungeons & Dragons, complete with black and white illustrations by C. Liersch. I am happy to be sharing contributor credits with the likes of Jon Peterson, Gary Alan Fine, Aaron Trammell, and Amanda Cote. The retail price of $35.00 is downright reasonable for an peer-reviewed work of this size. See the book now at the MIT Press website: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547604/fifty-years-of-idungeons-and-dragonsi/

Our chapter revolves around the life of Dr. J. Eric Holmes and the strange set of circumstances that led this unlikely medical professor from California who had never played a wargame to be the first to author a revision to the original D&D rules for TSR. This is also a history of role-playing games in California, especially the Los Angeles and San Francisco communities, which spawned many varied ways to play in the "California gaming" scene. These are the waters of creation from which rose Runequest, Arduin, Alarums & Excursions, The Manual of Aurania, Warlock, and more, not to mention terms like "dungeon master" and the dice notation system (d8, 2d6, d100, etc.) that we all take for granted.

Early California gaming is a subject that I've written about here on this blog:

California Gaming Part I - Steve Perrin

California Gaming Part II - Erol Otus

I am currently teaching a History of Role-Playing Games course at Drexel University and presented a special lecture based on our chapter.

Don't miss my co-author Zenopus and his take on our chapter at the Zenopus Archives blog:

https://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2024/04/50-years-of-d-forthcoming-book-from-mit.html

New English Scenario collection for Tsukuda Hobby's Jabro

 Get the Scenarios on BoardGameGeek.com

Shown above is Tactics magazine #1, Japanese source for the original article

I've completed my English translation of three scenarios for Tsukuda Hobby's Mobile Suit Gundam: Jabro (1981) game. These scenarios were first published in Tactics magazine, vol. 1, no. 1, Jan-Feb 1982, pg. 53.

First and foremost, here is the link to the download page hosted on BoardGameGeek.com. You need an account on the site in order to download the file, but if you are reading my blog, you probably already have one: 

TV Episode Scenarios

I originally wrote about Jabro when I translated the game's rules into English in 2022. The game is based on the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series that premiered in 1979. The nine scenarios in the game are based on the events of specific episodes from the TV show. This small collection of three scenarios continue that tradition.

Episode 6: Garma Strikes

A two-unit (MB and MT) "Magella Attack" tank with a couple of Zaku suits

The Gundam and Guntank must face off against 3 Zaku mobile suits and 4 Magella Attack tank units. Each Magella Attack can temporarily separate into two different units: the "Magella Top" turret with its 175mm cannon may fly separately from the "Magella Base" tank hull, which is armed with a triple machine gun.

This is a tough battle for the outnumbered Federation pilots in the Gundam and Guntank (Amuro, Kai, and Ryu). Since this is only episode 6, the young pilots are still inexperienced and their piloting and combat skills in this scenario reflect this.

Episode 15: Cucuruz Doan's Island

A rare Zaku vs. Zaku battle

This scenario is an interesting one-on-one battle between two Zaku mobile suits. Cucuruz Doan is a skilled veteran pilot, but his Zaku suit is only armed with a shield. He faces off against a Zaku armed with a Zaku machine gun and an average pilot. Doan's best bet is to use the hills and trees as cover while closing in on the enemy to engage in melee combat. The inexperienced pilot must try to keep Doan's Zaku at range for as long as possible.

Cucuruz Doan's long-snouted Zaku

In one moment, Doan's Zaku (in background) has a shield on its right arm...

... then it magically moves to the left arm!

Episode 15 has been little-known in the US as the episode was not included in American MS Gundam releases. It is presumed that this is because of the quality problems with the animation in this episode. There are a number of off-model images of the mobile suits, which may have resulted from hiring Anime Friend (a Tatsunoko spin-off studio, I believe) to work on this episode. You can see some of the errors in my screen shots here.

Doan's Zaku with long, skinny legs

A Gundam face that only a mother could love

Episode 27: A Spy on Board

Federation and Zeon forces in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland

In this scenario, powerful aquatic Z'gok and Gogg mobile suits approach White Base while it is docked in Belfast. In this battle, much of the right edge of the map is ocean (see the striped area in the inset illustration, above). The Gundam and Guncannon are the first lines of defense, with the Guntank joining them in round 4. The Federation pilots are much more experienced by this point in the story and their piloting and combat skills are much better than they were in episode 6.

New English Rule Book for Urusei Yatsura: Tomobiki-cho Kaigui Wars

Get the Rule Book on BoardGameGeek.com

The cover art has nothing to do with the game and would be better-suited as a city pop album cover

I've completed my English translation of the rules for Urusei Yatsura: Tomobiki-cho Kaigui Wars (Tsukuda Hobby, 1985) (うる星やつら 友引町買い食いウォーズ) and posted the rule book on BoardGameGeek.com.

Get it here (may require site registration): https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/265130/urusei-yatsura-tomobiki-cho-kaigui-wars-english-ru

What is Urusei Yatsura?

This game is based on the Japanese Urusei Yatsura (often translated as "Those Obnoxious Aliens") sci-fi high school slapstick romantic comedy manga series created by Rumiko Takahashi in 1978. It was also made into a successful anime TV series in 1981, with motion pictures, OVAs, and video games that followed. The TV series was recently rebooted in 2022.

Urusei Yatsura anime character line-up

The protagonist of the story (he's no "hero") is Ataru Moroboshi, a lazy, lecherous, unlucky teenage boy who finds himself at the center of many unusual events that happen in his hometown of Tomobiki (mythical creatures, evil spirits, a terrifying potato curse, etc.).

At the start of the series, Oni aliens threaten to invade the planet unless their champion, the beautiful superpowered alien Lum Invader, is defeated in a game of tag by one randomly-chosen Earth champion: Ataru. Ataru wins (by cheating), Earth is saved (for now), and Lum ends up falling in love with Ataru and enrolling in his same high school. Ataru and his friends, family, and teachers make up the main cast of characters.

What are the Kaigui Wars?

Kaigui Wars translated as "The Great Off-Campus Snack Battle" by Viz Comics

The Kaigui Wars refers to a week in which the Tomibiki High School faculty and staff work to "crack down" on the school rule that states students are not allowed to eat lunch off-campus. "Kaigui" translates to "buying and eating" and usually refers to when small children are allowed to buy snacks or treats with their own money. The students refuse to eat their packed lunches and revolt by sneaking through town to eat at various restaurants and food stalls. The school staff are in hiding throughout the town, waiting to catch a student in the act of eating forbidden food while in school uniform.

The school principal directs his units in the field by radio, tracking student and faculty movement in the town on a strategic map that looks a lot like this game's map board

The cat-and-mouse spy game of sneaking past disguised teachers eventually devolves into an all-out war as the lunch break come to an end. The students unite and strike back against their oppressors. The school staff mobilize by car and motorcycle to pursue delinquents. Fighting breaks out in the streets and everyone misses their afternoon classes.

This story happens to be one of my favorite UY stories. It is told in manga form in 買い食い大戦争 ("The Great Kaigui War" or "The Great Off-Campus Snack Battle," Viz Comics, vol. 6, ch. 4) and TV anime form in 買い食いするものよっといで！ ("Let's Go Buy and Eat!" or "Lunch is a Battlefield!," 1982, season 1, ep. 46). It was brought back again in the new TV series as 買い食い大戦争 ("The Great Kaigui War," 2022, ep. 13).

What is this game?

The game is a detailed "simulation game" (like a hex-and-counter wargame) that reproduces the chaotic, ridiculous events of the first afternoon of the Kaigui Wars. Players break up into a Student team and a Teacher team (including school faculty, staff, and the students in the "Student Behavior Task Force" who are helping to enforce the rules). Each Student team player controls 3 characters and each Teacher team character controls 4 characters. The game is ideally played by 4 players, 2 on each team.

Game board map of the town of Tomobiki. The large orange square is the school grounds of Tomobiki High School.

The Student team earns victory points by buying and eating food from food vendor spaces (red squares). The Teacher team pursues and captures students (by intimidating them into compliance or by force), escorting them back to school grounds. The students can't buy food in the presence of a teacher and teachers may start the game disguised, hiding at food vendors anywhere on the map.

Sample character card A: Ataru Moroboshi

Each character has detailed characteristics of Stamina (ST), Reflexes (REF), Fighting Strength, Money, and Friendship Levels. This information is tracked on a detailed log sheets that must be used for each character in the game.

Stamina (ST) is vital to this game and characters must spend Stamina to walk, run, drive, ride a bicycle or motorcycle, fight, capture, or escape. Stamina can also be lost in a fight, due to random events, or if one's alien girlfriend jealously zaps one with electricity after being caught ogling another girl. The Student team replenishes their Stamina by eating. The Teacher team automatically recovers Stamina each round. At zero Stamina, a character faints and can do nothing until they recover after spending three rounds unconscious. A fainted student can automatically be captured.

Reflexes (REF) is used when dodging out of the way of hazards, capturing or avoiding being captured, or when trying to escape after having been captured. The acting character subtracts the REF value of the challenge (hazard, other character, school walls they are climbing over) from their own REF, then rolls one die on a chart and cross-references their die roll with the REF difference to determine success.

A fight may break out while a teacher is trying to capture a student or if a student decides to pick a fight with a teacher. The two characters compare their Fighting Strength values and roll one die on the Fighting Table to determine the outcome. Either the Attacker or Defender may lose Stamina points or the Defender may faint outright. Each character in a fight has the option to draw a random Fighting Card for a chance at a ±1-3 bonus or penalty to their Fighting Strength by focusing their willpower or grabbing a nearby hammer or frying pan.

Money is spent to buy food or pay to ride a bus. Ataru starts with 60 money, just enough for a tempura donburi.

Friendship Levels are rated from 1 to 10 and show a character's feelings toward other characters. Friendship Levels are used when students ask favors of each other to borrow money or food or convince members of the Student Behavior Task Force to release captured students. Friendship Level is also used when a teacher is trying to coerce/intimidate a student into complying and returning to school. Ataru's Friendship Level with D: Lum is 10, he is devoted to her (though he would never admit it). His Friendship Level with his homeroom teacher H: Onsen-Mark and rival B: Mendō is 1, he thoroughly dislikes them. Note that he would also do anything for a pretty girl, as shown by an inflated Friendship Level of 9 with C: Sakura (the school nurse), E: Ran (Lum's childhood friend), F: Shinobu (ex-girlfriend), and N: Ryūnosuke (schoolgirl fighting to express her feminine identity after she was raised as a boy by her father). Those characters do not feel the same way about Ataru.

Sample event card Umeboshi (Dried Plum) IM

Event cards really bring the sense of chaos and random, unpredictable events from UY into the game. Each round, players secretly draw one event card for each character. Normal event cards may be equipment teachers can use when capturing (like a net or a lasso), a large temple bell that may fall on Mendō and incapacitate him, a pretty girl who passes by and distracts any male students, or may do nothing at all. These cards may be held by the character and used later as needed. When an Immediate Effect (IM) card is drawn, it is shown to all players and takes effect immediately. The above example is Umeboshi (Dried Plum), which affects Lum's alien physiology by making her drunk when she eats them. She is incapacitated for 2 rounds and any other character who happens to be in the same area as her during that time runs the risk of being zapped with her electric shock power and losing a devastating 8 points of Stamina.

Order of Operations

Each of the game's 30 game rounds is divided into a daunting and complex 14 different phases:

①  Stamina Recovery Phase

②  Bus Movement Phase

③  Teacher Movement Phase

④  Teacher Event Phase

⑤  Spotting Phase

⑥  Intimidation Phase

⑦  Capture Phase

⑧  Teacher Fighting Phase

⑨  Student Movement Phase

⑩  Student Event Phase

⑪  Escape Phase

⑫  Friendship Phase

⑬  Student Fighting Phase

⑭  Buying and Eating Phase

Note that this is supposed to be a fun and silly game about teachers chasing students around town as they try to eat snacks. This is far more detailed than other simulation games by Tsukuda Hobby that I've translated, including their Star Wars: Death Star, Hoth, and Endor games (6-8 phases each), Mobile Suit Gundam: Jabro (5 phases and based heavily on Squad Leader), and the Macross games City Fight (3 phases) and Dogfight (6 phases).

The game starts to bog down in the tedium of details. First, every Teacher team character must roll to determine how many Stamina points they recover. Then, each  bus vehicle must move along on of three different bus routes. The Teacher team moves their units and draws one event card for each character. Then, teachers must spot students in the same area before they can attempt to intimidate them into following the rules. If that doesn't work, they can physically try to capture the students, which may cause a fight to break out. Then, the Student team moves, draws event cards, tries to escape, asks favors from friends, and may opt to attack any Teacher team characters. Finally, the Student team may go shopping at food vendors, choosing options from a detailed menu for each different food vendor.

Results

The game does a very good job of simulating the Kaigui Wars events, as seen in both the manga and TV series. Unfortunately, the game drags on with bookkeeping, card drawing, vehicles, capturing and escaping, and stacking game effects. The randomness and overabundance of options make it difficult to determine a winning strategy. The map board is large and most characters typically move 2 areas per round, so it takes multiple rounds to move from one important location to another.

I like the events in general but many of the effects are too limited. For example, when the deranged monk Cherry shows up (a fairly important character in the TV series), everyone in the same area loses 8 points of Stamina. That's it. However, in the TV anime, Ataru was able to bribe him with food and he helped the kids escape from Sakura (the school nurse and Cherry's niece). That interaction is much more interesting than, "everybody in the same area gets hosed."

There are too many dull events that simply cause damage, incapacitate characters, or can only be used to counter other event cards. There are no events that cause a character to increase character movement, affect Friendship Levels directly, gain money, or as a bonus/penalty to Fighting Strength. This part of the game is ripe for expansion without adding further complexity.

The Japanese blog Their Finest Hour has a good review of the game that I agree with. One big problem is if there are too few characters in the game, then characters rarely interact with one another. If there are too many characters in the game, the game bogs down in detail and takes too long to play.

Final Thoughts

This is a game I've wanted to translate for a while and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, it is every bit as overdesigned as I hoped it wouldn't be. Tsukuda Hobby's own system ranks it complexity level III (3) on Tsukuda's 1-6 scale, comparable to some of their simulation games based on military anime. This game would've played a lot better with a lower complexity level (and I'd argue that it is closer to games with complexity level IV (4)).

The game rules include a "beginner" scenario designed to be played by 2 players. This removes many extraneous details (including the bus movement, spotting, intimidation, friendship, and student fighting phases). Instead of choosing food items from an extensive menu, Student team characters automatically restore all Stamina points and earn 3 VP for visiting a food vendor. This is a good step toward making this a playable game without losing too much of the game's flavor.

Ideally, I'd like to see this game redesigned from a modern point of view. Characters should move more than 2 spaces at a time. A fight should involve both players rolling lots of dice against each other, not looking up the outcome on a bland CRT. The nameless teachers should be replaced with recognizable characters. Vehicles should not be required to follow detailed traffic rules (that section of the rule book is like reading a DMV handbook). The game should play like a frantic and humorous episode of UY, not a detailed war simulation.