Wouter & Ymke 
Small Samurai Empires is a game that we played for the first time last year and liked so much that it’s still regularly on the table. The game is very accessible with simple rules and combines area control with action programming in an excellent way. The fact that it comes in a small box and plays very fast is a nice extra.
👥 1-5 players, ages 13+
⌛ Playing time: 45-90 minutes
📝 Design & artwork: Milan Tasevski
🏢 Publisher: Archona Games
Check my impression of the base game of Small Samurai Empires here
Rise of Tokugawa was originally launched through Kickstarter.
This new expansion adds:
🔴 Components for a 5th player and a new region where players can compete for influence – You can also add the new region when playing at lower player count for more ‘open’ and less confrontational games.
🔴 A gorgeous looking playmat – For me personally this really adds to the experience, and it also makes setting up the game go faster.
🔴 A new solo mode with an AI
🔴 And last but definitely not least and my favourite part of this expansion: the Training Grounds. Each player now receives a personal board on which they can pay resources to train their regular Samurai to elite Samurai, Archers and Generals. Your Archer will be more powerful than Samurai when besieging an opponents’ castle, and this module also adds asymmetrical player powers as each player their elite Samurai and General has a different power when it comes into play. This gives you extra things to think about and to keep in mind and certainly adds an extra layer of decision-making to the game.
If you love playing Small Samurai Empires and are looking for even more replayability, I can highly recommend this expansion!
