Conquest of Japan

Last updated: January 11, 2026

Overview

Conquest of Japan is a military-historical strategy game developed and published by Impressions Games in 1992, set during the tumultuous Sengoku period of 16th-century Japan.¹ The game places players in the role of a Daimyo (feudal lord) seeking to unify the island of Honshu by conquering rival territories through strategic army management and tactical combat.² Also released under the alternate title “Samurai: The Way of the Warrior” in some markets, the game combines a high-level strategic layer with detailed tactical battles using Impressions’ proprietary “Micro Miniatures” combat system.³

The game offers an unusual approach to Japanese strategy gaming for its era, predating more celebrated titles like Shogun: Total War by nearly a decade.⁴ While it earned praise for its exotic subject matter and elegant strategic mechanics, contemporary and modern reviews have consistently criticized its cumbersome user interface and awkward control scheme.⁵ The pacing is deliberate, with turns representing seasons, and the difficulty stems from unpredictable AI behavior and limited intelligence about enemy movements.⁶

Conquest of Japan was later bundled in Strategic Simulations, Inc.’s compilation releases, including “The Definitive Wargame Collection” in 1995, helping to preserve and distribute the title to new audiences.⁷ Despite its flaws, the game represents an ambitious attempt to bring feudal Japanese warfare to the PC strategy genre during an era when such settings were rarely explored.

Game Info

Developer: Impressions Games¹ Designer: Ed Grabowski Publisher: Impressions Games (original), SSI (compilations)⁸ Engine: Micro Miniatures³ Platforms: DOS, Amiga, Atari ST¹ Release Year: 1992 Series: N/A Protagonist: Player-controlled Daimyo Sierra Lineage: SSI Distribution

Story Summary

Conquest of Japan is set in 16th-century Japan during the Sengoku period, a time when the nation was effectively fragmented into numerous small states, each ruled by a Daimyo.⁹ Because these states were constantly fighting each other, the period became known as “Sengoku”—meaning “a country at war with itself.”⁹ The game opens with evocative narrative text: “At last, the Daimyo stood, and faced his amassed warriors. The time had come. He would reconquer the lands stolen all those years ago. Vengeance would be his!”

Players can choose between two rival Daimyo: Usaka San, who controls the northern territories, or Obinaka, who rules the southern regions.¹⁰ Each Daimyo begins with five cities on the island of Honshu, with victory requiring the complete conquest of all ten cities to unify Japan under one banner.² The game presents this conflict as a personal vendetta and a quest for national dominance, though it lacks a deep narrative beyond the initial premise.

The historical context provides flavor without strict adherence to actual events, making this a pseudo-historical experience rather than a simulation of specific historical campaigns.⁵ The struggle represents the broader theme of Japan’s unification wars, which would eventually lead to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in reality—though the game allows players to write their own alternate history through strategic and tactical prowess.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Conquest of Japan utilizes both mouse and keyboard controls, though reviews consistently note that the interface is cumbersome and unintuitive.⁵ Even simple commands such as moving troops require a multi-step process that detracts from the gameplay experience. The troop movement routines are notably slow, with the program’s execution of keyboard or mouse commands being sluggish and awkward at times.³ Multiple reviewers have noted that mastering the interface takes considerable patience, as the controls and pictograms used for certain troops are not well-designed.¹¹

Structure and Progression

The game operates on two distinct levels: a strategic map and tactical battle screens.¹² On the strategic level, players manage their territories across the island of Honshu, using koku (Japanese currency) to build armies in each city.¹³ Cities’ starting positions are randomized for each new game, providing variety across playthroughs.⁵ The turns represent seasons, creating a deliberate pace that requires long-term planning.⁶

• Strategic Phase: Players manage resources, recruit armies, and plan movements across the Honshu map
• Movement Phase: Armies traverse terrain including rivers, hills, roads, coastlines, and lakes¹⁰
• Tactical Battle Phase: When armies meet, combat resolves on a detailed battlefield map

A unique strategic mechanic distinguishes Conquest of Japan: when a player seizes an enemy city, the invading army automatically disbands.¹⁴ This creates opportunities to dismantle potentially overwhelming enemy forces by targeting their home cities before their armies can reach their objectives.² As the manual advises: “remember that you can lose a battle but win the war.”⁹

Puzzles and Mechanics

The game features seven distinct unit types that players must effectively combine to achieve victory: Leader, Signalman, Mounted Samurai, Samurai, Arquebusier, Bowmen, and Spearmen.¹⁰ Each unit type has different combat capabilities, and proper formation management is crucial during tactical battles.

When armies battle, the game switches from the strategic map to a tactical battlefield where formations, unit orders, and morale become determining factors.¹² The “Micro Miniatures” system governs these encounters, though reviews suggest that despite formation choices and unit orders, tactical battles tend to favor the larger army regardless of tactical finesse. Your best chance to succeed often comes through evasion and sly positioning of armies on the main map rather than brilliant tactical maneuvering.

The economics system binds both strategic and tactical layers together, with koku serving as the universal currency for army recruitment and city development.¹³ Random events such as ninja attacks can disrupt supply lines, adding unpredictability to long-term planning.¹⁵ Temporary alliances can be forged but may be broken at any moment, reflecting the treacherous politics of the era.¹⁵

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Contemporary reception of Conquest of Japan was mixed, with critics acknowledging the game’s ambitious subject matter while lamenting its interface problems. The game received a critics aggregate score of 52% according to MobyGames.¹ Home of the Underdogs offered a particularly critical assessment, stating that “although the exotic subject matter is commendable, Conquest of Japan unfortunately suffers from a very cumbersome user interface that makes even simple commands such as moving your troops a multi-step process.”⁵

Old-games.com’s review provided a memorable summary: “Graphics: From afar they look great, up close they don’t rate. Sound: Nothing spiffy, somewhat iffy.”³ The review further criticized that “the game reminds you more of a complex type of tug ‘o war than the intended struggle for land supremacy.”³ Critics consistently recommended alternatives, with Home of the Underdogs noting that “anyone looking for an authentic historical Japanese game would do well to play Sword of The Samurai or even Electronic Arts’ recent Shogun: Total War instead.”⁵

Modern Assessment

Modern retrospectives have been somewhat kinder to the game’s strategic depth while acknowledging its interface limitations. Retro Replay awarded the game 6/10, praising its unique mechanics while noting that “the lack of a deep narrative or cutting-edge graphics may deter players seeking cinematic flair.”¹⁴ The site concluded it is a “must-try for strategy aficionados looking for a refined, old-school wargame experience set against the rich tapestry of feudal Japan.”¹⁴

Abandonware DOS users have given the game a 4.13/5.00 rating based on 16 votes⁴, while MyAbandonware shows a user rating of 4.17/5 from 6 votes.¹⁶ User DaWade on MobyGames offered a nuanced assessment: “Conquest of Japan is an unusual little strategy game with some real appeal… A fun beer-and-pretzels strategy game of early feudal Japan, a period not really done much in early strategy games. Not too complex, and not too hard, but worth a few hours now and then.”

User Salim Farhat provided an enthusiastic counterpoint, calling it “One of the best Samurai games ever!”⁶ Squakenet.com offered the assessment that “It’s a pretty cumbersome experience through and through, and that takes away a lot of the fun.”¹¹

Aggregate Scores:

• MobyGames: 52% (Critics aggregate)¹
• Abandonware DOS: 4.13/5 (16 votes)⁴
• MyAbandonware: 4.17/5 (6 votes)¹⁶
• Retro Replay: 6/10¹⁴
• BoardGameGeek: Not yet rated (0 ratings)⁹

Development

Origins

Conquest of Japan was developed by Impressions Games, a British studio known for their historical strategy titles.¹ The game was designed by Ed Grabowski, who sought to bring the Sengoku period of Japanese history to PC gaming audiences. The development team at Edcom handled the Amiga version of the game.¹⁷ The title represented Impressions’ continued exploration of historical military settings, utilizing their established “Micro Miniatures” tactical combat system that had been refined through previous releases.³

Production

The development team enhanced the Micro Miniatures system considerably over preceding releases, though execution issues remained in the final product.³ The graphics team received particular praise from some reviewers, with units described as being drawn “very clearly” as “very ‘real’ samurai” rather than generic figures.¹⁸ However, technical limitations meant that close-up views revealed blocky figures, and full screens of combatants resulted in slow, jerky animation.³

Developer Phil Steinmeyer, associated with Impressions Games’ catalog, later reflected on the era, noting that “Clinching that deal was my most ‘awesome’ single moment during the development of the game” regarding various publishing arrangements—though the specific context related to Conquest of Japan remains unclear.⁶

Development Credits:

• Designer: Ed Grabowski

Technical Achievements

The game featured a dual-layer strategic and tactical system that was ambitious for its time.¹² The strategic map offered an isometric, top-down perspective of the island of Honshu, while tactical battles employed the Micro Miniatures engine for detailed unit combat.¹ The randomization of city positions for each new game added replayability, and the innovative mechanic of disbanding armies upon city capture provided unique strategic considerations.¹⁴

The graphics were praised when viewed at strategic distances but criticized upon closer examination.³ One reviewer from Online Classic Games noted that “Graphics, by the way, really great even in strategic mode and tactical – even more so. Units drawn very clearly, and it’s not just ‘figures’, and very ‘real’ samurai. The artists have worked on glory.”¹⁸

Technical Specifications

DOS Version:¹

• Perspective: Top-down, Isometric²
• Media: 3.5” Floppy Disk, 5.25” Floppy Disk¹
• File Size: Approximately 450 KB³
• Input: Mouse, Keyboard¹⁰
• DOSBox Support: Supported on version 0.60¹⁹

Amiga Version:¹⁷

• Hardware: OCS/ECS compatible
• Media: 2 disks
• File Size: Approximately 1 MB¹⁶
• Language: English

Atari ST Version:¹

• File Size: Approximately 1 MB¹⁶

Technical Issues

The game suffered from several notable technical issues. The troop movement routines were slow, with awkward execution of keyboard and mouse commands.³ Close-up graphics appeared blocky, and animation became slow and jerky when the screen was filled with combatants.³ The interfaces, controls, and pictograms for certain troops were poorly designed according to multiple reviewers.¹¹ One MobyGames user noted that “the tactical battles when armies meet are, despite formation choices, and unit orders, pretty much affairs of size-vs-size. The larger army will generally win, regardless of how well the smaller army is tactically played.”

Easter Eggs and Trivia

• The game’s alternate title “Samurai: The Way of the Warrior” was used primarily in European markets.²⁰
• Unlike many strategy games of the era, randomness in Conquest of Japan is optional, making it a resource-oriented strategy game rather than a Risk-based one.⁶
• The currency system uses koku, an actual Japanese unit of measurement historically used to assess the productive capacity of agricultural land.¹³
• Players begin with exactly five cities each, with ten cities total on the map of Honshu.²

Version History

Version	Date	Platform	Notes
1.0	1992	DOS	Initial release1
1.0	1992	Amiga	Developed by Edcom17
1.0	1992	Atari ST	Initial release1
Collection	1995	DOS	Included in The Definitive Wargame Collection7
Collection	1995	DOS	Included in Twenty Wargame Classics9

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

Specific sales figures for Conquest of Japan have not been documented in available sources. The game achieved enough success to warrant inclusion in multiple compilation releases, suggesting reasonable commercial performance for a niche strategy title of its era.⁷ The eBay listing indicates the game was manufactured in the USA and distributed by Strategic Simulations, Inc.¹⁰

Collections

Conquest of Japan was bundled in several compilation releases that extended its commercial life:

• The Definitive Wargame Collection (1995) - A compilation of eleven SSI strategy titles on CD-ROM, published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.⁷
• Twenty Wargame Classics - Another collection featuring wargames from the late 1980s and early 1990s.⁹

These compilations, described as “A collection of wargames mainly from the late eighties and early nineties,” helped preserve the game and introduce it to new audiences.⁶

Related Publications

• Game Manual – Included with original release, contains historical background on the Sengoku period and gameplay instructions⁹

Critical Perspective

Conquest of Japan occupies an interesting position in strategy gaming history as one of the few Western-developed games to tackle feudal Japanese warfare before the genre’s explosion in the late 1990s and 2000s. Retro Replay assessed that “Conquest of Japan stands out as a focused, elegantly designed strategy game that tests both your grand-strategy planning and real-time tactical savvy.”¹⁴

However, the game’s legacy is overshadowed by titles that followed. Critics consistently recommended alternatives, with Home of the Underdogs comparing it unfavorably to MicroProse’s Sword of the Samurai (1989) and Electronic Arts’ Shogun: Total War (2000).⁵ As one Abandonware DOS review humorously noted: “Think of it as Shogun: Total War’s less-polished, DOS-based uncle who still has a few tricks up his sleeve.”⁴

The game represents Impressions Games’ continued experimentation with historical settings and their Micro Miniatures combat system. While not a breakthrough title, it demonstrated that there was audience interest in Japanese historical strategy—interest that would later be more successfully tapped by the Total War series. For strategy aficionados and retro gaming enthusiasts, it remains a curiosity worth exploring, particularly for its unique city-capture mechanics that allow strategic dismantling of enemy forces.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores:

• Not currently available for digital purchase

Download / Preservation

• Internet Archive - DOS version playable in browser
• MyAbandonware - DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST versions
• ClassicReload - Browser-playable version

Manuals & Extras

• BoardGameGeek - Manual excerpts and game information

References

Footnotes

1. MobyGames – Conquest of Japan – release dates, platforms, developer, publisher, critics score, technical specs ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. Internet Archive – Conquest of Japan – gameplay description, platforms, perspective ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Old-Games.com – Conquest of Japan – Micro Miniatures engine, technical issues, review quotes ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

4. Abandonware DOS – Conquest of Japan – user rating, platforms, Shogun comparison quote ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Golden Age of Games – Home of the Underdogs – designer credit, interface criticism, game recommendations ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

6. Consolidated research data – pacing, currency, developer quote, randomness note ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. MobyGames – The Definitive Wargame Collection – compilation contents, publisher, release date ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

8. Metacritic – Conquest of Japan – SSI publisher credit ↩

9. BoardGameGeek – Conquest of Japan – manual quotes, Sengoku period description, collections ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

10. eBay – Conquest of Japan – Daimyo names, unit types, terrain features ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

11. Squakenet – Conquest of Japan – interface criticism, gameplay features ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. ClassicReload – Conquest of Japan – strategic/tactical map description ↩ ↩² ↩³

13. Product descriptions – koku currency system ↩ ↩² ↩³

14. Retro Replay – Conquest of Japan – score, city capture mechanic, review quotes ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

15. Classic Games – Conquest of Japan – ninja attacks, alliance mechanics ↩ ↩²

16. MyAbandonware – Conquest of Japan – user rating, file sizes, alternate title ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

17. Lemon Amiga – Conquest of Japan – Edcom developer, Amiga specs ↩ ↩² ↩³

18. Online Classic Games – Conquest of Japan – graphics praise quote ↩ ↩²

19. MyAbandonware – Play Online – DOSBox compatibility ↩

20. MobyGames Search Results – alternate title confirmation ↩