Nippon2

WHY COLLECT NIPPON?

The Empire of Nippon demands much of its samurai: service to one’s lord, service to one’s Clan, and service to one’s Emperor. Bushido’s staunch and unyielding code of conduct binds samurai to duty, strengthening their character and defining their choices.

A Nipponese army is a magnificent sight, filled with colour and variety. Samurai form the main battle line, supported by the lowly Ashigaru and brave Warrior Monks. Sumo Warriors march with them, as do the Clans’s greatest warriors and the mysterious Kabuki Dolls. Daemonic Oni summoned by the Shugenja accompany them, followed by deadly Ninja. The armies of Nippon are lead by the Daimyo and the Taisho, the clan leaders, all sworn to the sovereignty of the Shogun.

HOW THIS BOOK WORKS

Warhammer army books are split into sections, each of which deals with different aspects of the titular army.

Warhammer: Nippon contains:

•The Land of the Rising Sun. This section introduces the Nipponese and their part in the Warhammer world. It includes their society and

history. You will also find information on the land of Nippon, the Emerald Empire of the east.

•Warriors of Nippon. Each and every troop type in the Nippon army is examined here. You will find a full description of the unit, alongside the complete rules for any special abilities or options they possess. This section also includes the Vessels of the Kami – magical artefacts that are unique to the army

– along with rules to use them in your games.

•Nippon Army List. The army list takes all of the characters, warriors, monsters and war machines from the Warriors of Nippon section and arranges them so that you can choose an army for your games. Units are classed as characters (Lords or Heroes), Core, Special or Rare, and can be taken in different quantities depending on the size of the game you are playing.

FIND OUT MORE

While Warhammer: Nippon contains everything you need to play the game with your army, there are other books and updates to be found. For the other books in the series and the latest rules updates, visit:

www.warhammerarmiesproject.blogspot.com

Like many peoples, the Nipponese see themselves as the children of the gods. Nippon came into being when the gods Zanagi and Zanami stood on the bridge of heaven and stirred the waters of the Earth with a spear. The drops of water that fell from the spear tip gathered together to become the islands of Nippon. The pair then descended and raised the spear as the centre pole of their house. Nippon had been created.

Zanagi and Zanami had many children, which would be known and worshipped as the Kami. Amateratsu, the Sun Goddess was the first-born of these.

Amateratsu inherited the earth and would rule Nippon and guide its people through her palace in the sky. Even so, the land was far from unified, with many different clans vying for power and fighting against each other for thousands of years.

THE FOUNDING OF NIPPON

Around -13 I.C., Emperor Yamayakyuki was the agent of an important change in Nipponese history. Nippon at this time was composed of many clans, of which the strongest was the Imperial Yamayakyuki family. The Yamayakyuki were one clan amongst many — but they claimed the right to rule because they were descended directly from the Sun Goddess, Amateratsu.

When Yamyakyuki was finally declared ruler of Osaka he was already an imposing man of some thirty years. The story goes that on more than one occasion his opponents surrendered before a sword was drawn due to his defeating charisma and leadership alone. But already as a young man Yamyakyuki proved himself a man second to none. Before his twentieth year he

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ventured alone into the Kanto-Yoshida Mountains to the east, where he returned sixty days later carrying the Ryatso Katana and flying on one of the legendary Kirin. This wondrous magical mount stayed with him until the day he died.

The Jinto priests took these events as proof of Yamyakyuki's ancestry that he was indeed of Amateratsu’s blood. The Ryatso Katana, a sword of true craftsmanship lost in the wars against the Korgians, was to become the staff of office for all future Emperors of Nippon and Yamyakyuki was worshipped as the divine descendant of Amateratsu. He declared that he had a vision from Amateratsu: he must gather all of Nippon into a single empire, to bring peace and harmony back to all of the Sun Goddess’ people or die in the attempt.

Yamyakyuki mustered a mighty army and finally conquered all of Nippon, though the campaign took a full twelve years to achieve. The defeated armies were given the choice of submitting to the rule of Yamyakyuki or die; only in two cases did an enemy choose the latter. These were the warlords of the Ichymoni and Koijo clans respectively, whose warriors, cousins and their families were decapitated in days; it was a blood bath.

By -1 I.C. resistance had been broken and in the same year representatives of all the clans of Nippon gathered at a coronation feast at Mount Fuji where Yamyakyuki was proclaimed the First Emperor of all Nippon. On the first day of the coronation Yamyakyuki entered the cave in Mount Fuji. When Yamyakyuki emerged from

the cave it is said that the sun shone so brightly that the gathered masses turned their eyes lest they be blinded.

During the early period of Yamayakyuki’s rule the influence of the mainland began to be felt in Nipponese culture. Cathay had already advanced to a comparatively high level of civilisation, and thanks to the relative ease of travel and trade from Cathay, iron, writing, literature and philosophy came to Nippon.

Nippon was divided in ten regions which were further divided in a total of 66 provinces. Yamyakyuki ruled Osaka, while the rule of the other nine regions were given to the most capable and loyal of the Kamato clan leaders, who had fought as generals in Yamyakuyuki’s army. The individual provinces remained under the rule of the local clans who had accepted Yamyakyuki as their liege lord, though one province was given to each of the nine region rulers.

Yamyakyuki retained a firm and just rule of Nippon until his death in -12 I.C. His oldest son, also named Yamyakyuki, ascended the Imperial throne as Yamyakyuki II. Unfortunately, he had not inherited his father’s leadership skills. The Daimyo saw the opportunity to increase their own power within their provinces. The strongest Daimyo, lead by Mitsusaki Onokate, pressed the weak emperor to grant them tax liberation of their personal lands. Others seeking tax evasion became vassals of these governors and thus avoided tax payments to the Imperial coffers.

As the years passed, the loss of tax revenues and the increasing strength of governors undermined the central Imperial authority. Already during the reign of Yamyakyuki’s grandson, Yamyakyuki III, the emperor, though still the formal ruler of all Nippon, only

effectively controlled the Imperial Province, home of the capital Edo. Nippon had dissolved into feuding chiefdoms lead by ambitious clan leaders.

By the 9th century the Emperors were actually pulling back from the day-to-day business of ruling a country. They were becoming symbols of power rather than the wielders of power. As the Emperors retired from government, control passed to the court officials. The Emperors continued to reign, but they no longer ruled the country.

This period was a time when Nipponese culture came into its own, leaving its Cathayan-dominated roots behind. At the same time, this changed the way that Nippon was governed. The central government became corrupt and weak. Land ownership started shifting to great estates. The nobles who held government offices were given tax-free hereditary estates as payments. Many peasants and lesser landholders were only too happy to hand over their property to these estates to escape from the heavy taxes levied on them!

THE RISE OF THE SAMURAI

At around the same time, the samurai were coming to prominence as more than just another group of fighting men. Like the knights of the Old World, the samurai were the leaders of common foot soldiers. Like the knights it was possible to win promotion to the ranks of the samurai. And like the knights, to be samurai also implied a degree of service to a superior. In the case of the samurai, this service was to the Emperor, a noble or a warlord.

The Imperial government found the samurai incredibly useful in putting down rebellions, but with the shift in power to mighty land-owners, the loyalties of the

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samurai also shifted. The samurai came to serve and protect the great lords, fighting against other great landlords, bandits and rebellious locals. Although some of these samurai were from humble families, the clans that prospered and attracted allies could trace their ancestors back for centuries, often to some (minor) Imperial relative banished from Court to seek his fortune elsewhere. Among these clans of aristocratic samurai were the Mirumoto in the east and the Otomo in the south west of Nippon. No longer content to merely serve, the samurai began to interfere in government politics.

THE IMPERIAL WAR

In 1155 there was a crisis in the Imperial succession, when the current Emperor was found poisoned without a clear heir. This led to heavy arguments of whom would take the trone, with the Emperor’s uncle GoHirakawa and cousin Jozun being the most suitable candidates. The Mirumoto supported the cousin and the Otomo the uncle, each of which were positively inclined to either clan respectively. That meant that whoever would have their candidate become Emperor would have a great boon at having their will go through at the Imperial Court. Naturally, there would not be a peaceful solution to the matter.

The Mirumoto and Otomo were now in open war with each other. At the Battle of Hogo, the Mirumoto samurai were defeated, with the majority of them being executed for their defiance by order of the would-be Emperor Go-Hirakawa. Among these were the old Emperor’s cousin Jozun and many of the chief members of the Mirumoto clan. However, rather than allowing their enemies to execute them, they cut their

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own stomach with their swords in the first seen display of seppuku.

This victory allowed helped the Otomo clan to rise rapidly to power in the Imperial Court, and GoHirakawa declared himself Emperor. The Mirumoto, though beaten, were not defeated, and longed for revenge.

CIVIL WAR

This time, the civil war that followed was a straightforward fight between the Otomo and the Mirumoto. Although the war seemed to go well initially for the Mirumoto, events soon turned against them. The Otomo attacked the Mirumoto headquarters, and then lured them into a counter-attack that failed when Mirumoto Yorimasa refused to join in because he could not violate his duty to the Emperor. The surviving Mirumoto were pursued and slaughtered without mercy.

Mirumoto Yoshitomo fled with three of his sons one of whom, was so badly wounded that he begged his father to kill him so that the others could flee with more speed. Yoshimoto did this, but to no avail. He was caught and murdered in his bath, taken when he thought he had outrun his pursuers. Otomo Kiyomori then beheaded the Mirumoto clan – literally.

Otomo Kiyomori was seemingly unassailable. He had beaten his samurai rivals and was now the most powerful Daimyo in Nippon. However, he had not quite killed all the Mirumoto and in twenty years the survivors had become strong enough to challenge him once again.

The Imperial War would last for another five years. Once again, the Mirumoto opposed the Otomo, but this time they were supported by the sohei, warrior monks from the temples of Kumano. However, the Otomo were initially successful again, defeating the Mirumoto army at the battle of Mount Fuji.

In 1183 the course of the war began to turn for the Mirumoto clan under the leadership of Daimyo Mirumoto Nobunaga. They won a series of brilliant victories, culminating in 1185 with the Battle of SanoIru. Both the Otomo and Mirumoto clans aboard fleets of warships and headed into the straits north of Osaka. In the middle of the Otomo fleet was the newly crowned, Emperor Ontaku. He was still very young and the symbol of Otomo and Imperial legitimacy, and thus an important element of the Otomo claim to rule Nippon. What happened at the Battle of Sano-Iru was virtually a land battle fought from ship to ship. The sea is supposed to have run red with blood during the battle as the Mirumoto smashed the Otomo army. The unfortunate Emperor Ontaku was drowned.

His military victory secured, Mirumoto Nobunaga did not bother with any of the political manoeuvring at Court that the Otomo had used. His power was based on his armies, not on any Imperial family connections. The Emperor was forced into retirement, becoming a mere symbol. Nobunaga took the title and office of Shogun, becoming the true leader of Nippon’s power.

Nobunaga also moved the centre of power from Osaka to Kyoto. The old Imperial Court was ignored and became largely irrelevant to the running of the country. The Mirumoto clan would hold Nippon in an iron grip for many centuries to come.

HOBGOBLIN INVASION

In 1745, Jublai Khan, the ruler of the Hobgoblins, amassed a great horde and assailed the Empire of Cathay. After managing to break through the Great Bastion and run rampart throughout the land, Jublai set his eyes upon Nippon. Wanting to conquer all the kingdoms of the east, he ordered his army to construct a great fleet of many thousand ships to sail to conquer the islands.

Nippon at this time was still strong under Mirumoto control, but severely outnumbered by the Hobgoblins. The Shogun of the time, a rash man who attacked first and thought later, ordered the entirety of the Nipponese fleet to meet the Hobgoblins head on. Only a dozen ships returned, and the Shogun, shamed by the defeat of his mighty fleet, performed seppuku.

However, not all was lost. The Empress Jungi, though but a symbol like the Emperors before her had been for many centuries, was an extremely powerful Shugenja. With the Shogun gone, she rallied her people and took to the battlefield herself. Stunned by this expected show of courage, the Nipponese followed her. She took the Imperial Ship with her closest bodyguard to protect

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