Since our very first play through featured Rising Sun, allow me to share a few basic strategies for each clan with those of you who are playing this game for the first time.
Koi - This clan is all about getting a lot of ronins and/or coins then decimating the opponents during war using their wealth with a single bushi. Going for season cards that give coins is a priority, and make sure you have majority at provinces that give you money/ronin so you can reap the benefits during harvest. If you have extra money to take a few hostages in addition to hiring ronin, doing so will also help you gain coins at the beginning of the next season when everything resets.
Lotus - Everybody wants to be your friend, Lotus Clan! Why not get some VPs while you’re at it? Choose Loyalty, Honesty and Path of the Righteous and grab Form of the Kindred in Autumn. Because you can do whatever you want during the political phase, look for opportunities to demand coins or ronins in exchange for political favors. Right before the kami phase is a great time to recruit so save your Shintos for the gods. Also, consider getting Komainu as an extra force. Just make sure you put your interest first; don’t become a kingmaker. If you like playing dirty, the Path of Unrighteousness is a must. Your opponents will resent you but they can’t do anything about it
Turtle - All other clans in Rising Sun have 10 base forces - 1 daimyo, 3 shintos and 6 bushi. The Turtle clan, however; has 14 (each stronghold counts as 1 force). Needless to say, it’s tremendously beneficial if a player using this clan can put out all four of their strongholds. In addition to focusing on winning battles with these advantages, Turtles could rake in extra VPs by prepping themselves to obtain Form of the Kitsune. If you can acquire 2 copies of this Autumn season card with all four strongholds on the board, that’s a whopping 24 points bonus. Ally with those who are after regions you’ve already obtained; make sure to have coins ready for marshaling so you can put out a stronghold. Grab cards like Path of the Warlord or Path of the Serpent early to keep the coins coming.
Dragonfly and Bonsai - Dragonfly and Bonsai clans both could benefit from hiring oni in different ways. Dragonflies can spawn their monsters anywhere on the board so that’s a great advantage if they manage to get Oni of Spite and/or Oni of Hate. Getting Yurei and the damiyo upgrade is also a good move because Dragonflies might be fighting battles with a single force often so you want to make sure that unit can’t be betrayed or taken hostage.
Bonsais begin with the lowest honor so hanging out with the demons is a no brainer. After all, these guys will work for you for just one coin, maybe even for nothing! Betray and fight your way to victory and be sure to obtain the Form of the Beast or Demon Autumn season cards for bonus VPs. If the Bonsai Clan isn’t in play, the Dragonfly clan could try going full on unrighteous as well.
Fox (Kickstarter Exclusive) - If you backed the Rising Sun Kickstarter, you’d be happy to know that the exclusive FOX clan is the most powerful clan in my opinion. It should be banned lol. If you are lucky enough to play the 🦊 , you can win the game without winning the battles. Start by getting the Righteousness season card and bid on seppuku and imperial poet actions to rack up tons of VPs. You’ll get a steady stream of income because you’ll probably be participating in all the battles. Obtain the Respect season card as well; now you can mix things up and go for the win once or twice by taking multiple hostages. During Autumn, get the bushi upgrade and aim for the regions that others might have already obtained for the 10 or 20 point bonus. Your opponents are going to have a hard time guessing if you are going for seppuku or for the win. If you get to train again, consider Form of the Phoenix to boost your VPs even further.
By the way, if you’ve jumped on the Kickstarter wagon, you probably already have the Dynasty Invasion expansion. The Sun and Moon clans can only hire the seven lucky gods to help them out. These new monsters are really powerful and they aren’t available to other clans. This restriction/advantage changes everything so make sure to adjust your strategy according to which lucky god you ended up with. If you are new to Rising Sun, I’d recommend sticking with the other clans for your first few games before Sun and Moon.
Rising Sun is one of those games that is all about player interactions and can be very different every time you play. I hope my tips help jump start your first game! Have fun!
-Jackie
(About the author - Jacqueline Chao is the executive producer and main content contributor at Show Me How to Win. Follow her board game journey on instagram @boardgamesetc )
Rising Sun is designed by Eric Lang and published by CMON in USA.
