This year’s theme: Growing our player base and a new format!

In an attempt to increase participation, we are altering the tournament’s format to no longer be continuous Players who have a conflict with a Swiss Round may contact the GM through e-mail, at the Demo, or at the start of the first Swiss Round to play a single heat at an alternative time, prior to the start of the single elimination rounds

Players wishing to have a learning game with the GM or another veteran player may request to do so at any Swiss Round before playing additional Swiss Rounds in the normal style. We would like to invite new players into the Sekigahara community, and this is a great way to learn the game.

About the game:

Sekigahara is a diceless Euro-style wargame with a focus on hand-management. It is based on the campaign that founded Japan's Tokugawa shogunate. The game features several unique, elegant mechanisms that make it appealing to wargamers and euro gamers alike. Games commonly play in about 2-2.5 hrs, and while the rules are straight forward, the strategy is more intricate, involving bluffs, calculated risks, and hand management. Attending the demo is sufficient for learning the rules, although a few plays may be needed before you feel like you “get it." New players may play in any one Swiss Round as a learning game with an experienced player.

The game is played primarily with blocks and cards. Each of the two armies is composed of multiple factions (clans). Rectangular blocks represent your armies, displaying the insignia of the clan they belong to. Blocks marked with a banner indicate the leader (or daimyo) of that clan. Other blocks have cavalry or guns attached, which grant them additional features in combat.

During this time period, the loyalties of many clans were fluid. In Sekigahara, the cards that compose your hand represent this. To deploy a block into battle, a card with a matching insignia must be played. A select few cards can challenge this deployment. Thus, proper management of your hand is vital.

Throughout the campaign, each side will receive reinforcements, partially based on your current board position. Before the start of each week, you will receive additional combat units. At the same time, you will also need to discard part of your hand and then draw fresh cards, forcing you to reconsider which of your armies can most fully fight during the coming week.

Historical setting:

Did you see the new tv series, Shogun, which won like all of the Emmy’s in 2024? If you have, then you know the plot and background of Sekigahara. That show (and Clavell’s book) are based on the events in Japan at the end of the 16th century, which ultimately culminate in the battle of Sekigahara.

After a century of constant conflict (the Sengoku Jidai), Japan has almost become fully united. In Osaka, the forces loyal to the young Toyotomi heir have assembled around Ishida Mitsunari, the leader of the Western army. In Edo (now Tokyo), an Eastern army loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu has formed. In Sekigahara, you play as one of two warlords fighting for control of Japan during the samurai era. Your goal is to capture or kill the opposing leader. Barring this, your goal is to control more of the vital castles and resource points throughout Japan at the end of the 7-week campaign.

TOURNAMENT DETAILS:

During the initial Swiss Rounds, participants will be matched based on number of wins and will not play the same player twice unless there is no other option. This latter restriction will take precedence over the number of wins each player has.

Players may play in any number of Swiss Rounds and may request to play one round at an alternative time, before the final Swiss Round concludes. Please reach out to the GM via e-mail, at the demo, or at the early rounds to coordinate. At the conclusion of the Swiss Rounds, all players with 3 wins (4-0, 3-0, or 3-1) will advance to single elimination play. Additional players with 2 wins (2-0, 2-1, 2-2) will advance based on the number of entrants and on the desire to have 4, 6, or 8 players in the single elimination round. We are using HMW-points standard tiebreakers see below to determine advancement of 2 win players as necessary. A player who is 2-2 will have more points than a player who is 2-1 or a player who is 2-0. So, playing in more rounds is better, but not required! In recent years, at least one player with 2 wins has advanced into the Semifinal. The first GM tie-breaker is a player’s best loss, which we will detail below and during the Swiss Rounds.

In this tournament, we will use second edition rules, which have only one important difference from the first edition: the inclusion of two new Uesugi blocks on the board at the start of the game: Two units are added to the initial deployment. The blocks 3-Uesugi and 1-Uesugi-Gun get a circle deployment mark in the lower right corner, and two additional deployment circles appear in the Aizu location.

Bid for sides: Players will begin with a bid for sides. Randomly determine the first bidder. Bid in blocks (zero or higher), specifying the side. The winner gets their choice of side, and the loser gets the bid number of blocks added to their recruitment box at the start of the game.

Please see my Sekigahara online tournament home page for more information on past tournaments or useful links related to Sekigahara. There may be an updated tournament page in the future: https://sites.google.com/view/sekigahara/home.

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