Pyramid Review: Legend of the Five Rings Diskwars -- Imperial Edition

Pyramid Review

Legend of the Five Rings Diskwars -- Imperial Edition

Published by Alderac Entertainment Group

Designed by Raymond Lau

Boxed set with 8 sheets of disks and one rules sheet; $9.95

The world of Rokugan depicted in the various incarnations of Legend of the Five Rings is an interesting one that takes the tropes of western fantasy and applies them to a medieval Japan-like empire with some Chinese mythology and history thrown in for kicks. Originally a collectable card game, it has spread out into a miniatures game (Clan War), a roleplaying game, and now . . . Diskwars.

I liked the idea of Diskwars -- miniatures wargaming without needing my own weight in lead figures -- but the setting of the original set was too generic for my taste, so I passed on it. The addition of the well-developed setting of the Rokugani Empire made it look much more promising. The time of this game is about the same time as the CCG's Imperial Edition on the L5R timeline.

For your ten bucks, you get a set of cardboard sheets ("flats") and a rulesheet of unwieldy proportions. There are six different sets, one for each of the original six Great Clans of Rokugan. The two I happened to purchase were Phoenix, who are the masters of the five-element magic practiced in the Empire, and the Dragon, a clan of mystical tattooed warriors. One of the sheets in each box has your clan's Stronghold, which is a large disk used both as a staging area and as a goal in some scenarios, and . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: September 22, 2000

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