Sengoku Monster Hunter gets an expansion!

Back in late March 2018 a game called Sengoku Monster Hunter was released by Alternative Armies. I spent a while obsessing about it, and later on did a full review too. I've since both painted and ordered numerous miniatures, and gotten in some good hunts with friends. I tend to play the auxiliary Shaman, so that I can inform my co-players about what markers should best be left alone and which we can head towards. Sussing out uncertainty and keeping the nasties dormant. But now there's a whole heaping expansion out, roughly the same size as the original game. So of course I have to give that a review too.

So considering this is the same size of the core game, but doesn't have to spend space explaining core rules, you can be sure its crammed full of new things. But the big question is, do these actually improve upon the game and do they stick to the strengths while remedying some of the grievances I had. The short answer is: yeah pretty much. Review over I guess? But might as well take a closer look at its contents and give it a read together. Sprinkled throughout my paragraphs will be some of the lovely illustrations from the expansion.

And the very first section of the book actually addresses an issue I raised in my review of the core game. Namely that there are sculpts in the official range who didn't have rules in the game. But now many of the monsters are playable in the game such as the Rokurokubi, Nurikabe, and the Tuchinoko Flat Snake, who awkwardly is spelled differently in the shop than in the game. They have also created rules for a lot of non monsters who were previously just decorative models. Such as the Soba Shop, Woodcutter, Roadside Shrine, Carved Milestone, Komuso Monks and Policemen. We also get a few entirely new monsters such as the Kitsune who'll confound hunters with blessings or curses alike. There is also the Yokai who looks like a regular monster, but has a chance to show up when you kill a monster, so a dead goblin may turn out to be an angry spirit instead.

However this is where we move from the "nice!" monster additions to the "eh?" monster additions. First of all, as a sort of preview the Gashadokuro monster profile has been shown on their blog, this is a bog giant of skeletons angry with their deaths. The profile is available here and the miniature here. And as with any miniatures game it is always sweet to have some big chunky centerpieces, which is why I cant for the life of me figure out why this big lad wasn't actually included in the publication itself? And in I can only take to be an attempt to confuse me further, a now 5th kind of snake monster has been added - Snakemen. who are vicious humanoids who like the skeletons, Goblins and Tanuki comes with a variety of armaments but greater numbers than the big solitary snakes.

Also my giant thundering baby, the Nue, still haven't gotten a profile. Which I wouldn't be so miffed about if it wasn't for the very charismatic conversion I have made of one. But there are more monsters in here still, although they are familiar ones. Namely the Snake Demon, Demon Monk, Centipede Demon and Spider Demon. But these are optionally stronger versions of them that can be included in play or rolled for when a marker is revealed. They serve them up with beefier stat lines, bonus CP for killing them, but also gives them a new abilities. Something I think is a very cool potential way to make more dangerous expeditions areas feel more distinct. Lets take the Demon Monk, the regular old version uses unarmed combat and is less effective against armour, however their expert blocking technique gives them a 50% to survive killing blows. Now the tougher demon monk, gets an improved combat score and now have burning fists that create a damaging swirl of flames around them as they fight, as well as the regular abilities. And if we go all the way to the toughest of demon monks, they gain the ability to catch arrows in flight and chuck them back at their enemies.

And honestly I am all for more dangerous monsters all around and more options for play. But there is one big however, which is the same reason I am not 100% for the Gashadokuro, and that is the need to reference different materials during play. A lot of the monsters and tokens already have special rules that you'll likely need to read up on during play. So one thing is having to check out different monster rules in the same section of the core book often, but now if I want to use one of the bigger meaner demons I'll need to not only reference their core rules but also the additions they get in the expansion. Its a small issue, but its a delay in play that makes things less smooth and overall more time consuming.

Anyhow, that was just the first 14 pages and at this rate my thoughts will be a publication of their own too once I'm done. So lets pave on to another exciting segment: New Hunter Rules!

We've gotten a few new hunter profiles to dabble in, but before that, we should take a look at new general things that everyone can access. First of all is horses for hunters. They allow hunters to move further, charge into combat and have additional bow-range from horseback. However horses are skittish and can be unnerved by monsters and spirit guides in close proximity, so you'll likely want a trained hunter riding them, to keep them in check. Another fancy addition is the inclusion of the very dishonorable black powder. Hunters can now get black powder weapons like matchlock pistols, muskets, arquebuses and even more potent things like grenades or barrels used for demolition. Distinguishing for firearms compared to bows is that they need to be reloaded, penetrate part of enemy defenses and that they sadly can very much misfire and blow up. And this weaponry even extends to followers, as you can now hire followers armed with pistols or arquebuses. And speaking of followers you can also bring artists along you to record your heroics, serving as stat improvements as their brushwork becomes reality.

Hunter archetypes also expand quite a bit. Hunters can hail from the Water Shadow Clan, clandestine assassins that learn to use explosives, infiltration and deadly weaponry as they gain ranks. There is also the Shapeshifter which are an interesting take on the hunters of divine origin, they start with supernatural powers and can take on the guise of certain monsters but they are slowly fading away and start loosing abilities over time. Beyond that there is also the Legendary Hunters, these are five unique hunters with predetermined advancements. They are an easy place to start since they have less things to worry about like guild dues or what starting things to pick up, and they are each quite evocative.

Beyond all of the above, and its a fair bit. The expansion also introduces two new modes of play. Rampage, where you are beset by a larger horde of smaller monsters and Underground which adds dungeon tiles and new terrain effects to turn sengoku into a fully fledge dungeon crawler. I was initially gonna go more in depth with these but have had a slightly more pressing matter. Namely that some of the writing can feel word and not very to the point, which is kinda ironic because I can really drone on too, but from a gameplay perspective it can hinder play. While both being a rulebook, a lorebook and a half-way catalogue of what alternative armies have on their shelves it is also a reference book. There are quite a few monsters and different tokens available in Sengoku Monster Hunter, too many for me to remember them all at the top of my head. So during play I am very likely to look them up just be sure what exactly that oni shaman or wanyudo does. And I do at times find the writing a little more dense and convoluted than needed be. Any extra time I spend on deciphering is time I could've spent playing.

Its a really cool game, with a solid framework that makes home-brewing and adjusting the difficulty easy its scale and availability of models makes kitbashing things easy and a cheap affair to boot. Which is why I am cumbersome writing getting in the way of all that. However I truly do not want to give criticism if it isn't constructive or at least useful then what good is it? Ideally if I were lucky enough that Stephen Dane would glance through all this, he'd be able to walk away within something helpful going forward. I have midway through this interview begun making myself a play-aid for my most used monsters. Here is for example which I set up the Gashadokuro who otherwise have this page. 

I would've liked to show off how I set up other monsters especially like the new Centipede Demon, but I don't wanna undermine the publication by sharing things from it without premission. Its a bit of an odd note to end on, I realise. But I do think the expansion is worth getting for all the new options, monsters and other goodness, you will just need to reread a few sentences here and there.