Cool Mini or Not - New Rising Sun Preview

Cool Mini or Not published a new article about the game mechanics of Rising Sun:

A game of Rising Sun is played over the course of four seasons. The first step of each season is the Tea Ceremony. This is where a lot of the social element of the game is played out. During the Tea Ceremony, players are able to form alliances for the upcoming season. There are advantages to teaming up, but you can’t attack someone you have an alliance with. So players must be careful not to ally with someone going after the same territories.
As polite and civilized as Rising Sun is, there will inevitably be battles. Lang has developed a combat system that is almost as political as the rest of the game. Because war is expensive, players have to save money. Before a battle takes place, players secretly invest their money. There are four different options, and players can try to win as many or few as they want. Once the bids are made, they are revealed and resolved. The forces at the start of the battle may change dramatically as players remove figures through seppuku, take hostages, or hire Ronin to join their army. After all of the bids have been resolved, the player with the most forces wipes everyone else off the board, and then it’s on to the next battle.

Link: Cool Mini or NOt