Second Battle of Azukizaka

With the Samurai armies deployed for battle and a framework in place to play Basic Impetvs 2.0 (BI2.0) on a hex grid, Peter and I sat down across the remote gaming table.  Peter's seat was in Australia.  My seat was situated in my game room in Washington State 8,400 miles away.

The battle up for a refight was the Second Battle of Azukizaka in 1548.  The force composition and initial deployments came from the Commands & Colors, Samurai Battles website at,

Second Battle of Azukizaka

with initial tabletop deployments as,

Initial deployments

A brief background on the battle comes from the link above.  It states,

In 1548 Oda Nobuhide led an army into Mikawa, his objective being the Matsudaira’s capital city of Okazaki. Matudaira’s young lord, Hirotada, turned to Imagawa for assistance and agreed to provide his only son as a hostage in return for help, but the child was abducted by the Oda in route. Imagawa Yashimoto still fulfilled the bargain and called on his uncle, monk-general Taigen Sessai, to march out to meet Nobuhide. Sessai set up an ambush of sorts and although the fighting was desperate, Nobuhide was defeated and thus avenged the earlier loss at the same sight some six years previously (Mark McG).

Peter chose to take command of the Oda Clan leaving me in ambush with the Imagawa Clan.  In the game photos, red dice denote current VBU for Imagawa units.  Blue dice denote current VBU for Oda units.  The small green die shows a unit's current Impetvs.

Let's see how the battle developed.

The two armies are arrayed for battle.

View from Oda left.

View from Oda right.

Sessai wastes no time in advancing toward Oda Nobuhide.
Oda advances on left while holding in the center and right.

Seeing an opening in the Imagawa line,
Nobuhide launches a cavalry charge into Imagawa Teppo.
Teppo fire as the horsemen approach but the cavalry come on.

Teppo rout in the face of the charge
as the Oda spear engage the Imagawa first line.

In the center, Imagawa foot are driven back after
 furious close combat with Oda Samurai.

On the Imagawa right, Sessai brings up Ashigaru spear
 to prevent an Oda flank attack.

Oda cavalry drive deep behind Imagawa lines in pursuit.
In the center, Oda spear see heavy
losses in counterattacks and are driven back.

Watching his right give away,
Sessai orders an advance in the center and left.

Imagawa strength on the left looms large against the Oda right.
Oda foot turn to face this new threat.

With pressure mounting against the Oda right,
the center wavers while repositioning to face this increasing threat.
Oda Ashigaru spear are falling back in disorder.  

Sessai sends his two Samurai cavalry
 crashing into the Oda right.

Oda spear in the center hold
while Oda Samurai repulse the Imagawa attack.
For now, the Oda line holds.
Casualties climb for both combatants.

While the Oda cavalry regroup,
the Ashigaru attack.
The Imagawa right and center collapses. 

While the Imagawa right and center disintegrate,
The Imagawa left, presses on.

With the Oda right in shambles,
 Sessai turns his attention to defeating the enemy army.
Sweeping around the enemy rear,
 Sessai attacks in great force.

After passing completely around the Oda rear,
 Sessai's Samurai cavalry lead the way in scattering
the Oda foot.

Imagawa cavalry catches the enemy in the rear.

With Imagawa cavalry in pursuit,
the clock runs out for Oda Nobuhide.
Oda Nobuhide concedes the field.

After almost three hours of play, the clock ran out for Oda Nobuhide.  The battle was closely contested throughout play and the outcome was in doubt until the final turn.  With Imagawa Sessai gaining the initiative on Turn 9, he could choose where to attack in order to push Oda Nobuhide over his army's breakpoint.  Had Nobuhide gained initiative on turn 9, the outcome may have been different and the tables turned.

Thanks to Peter for a very enjoyable gaming session.  Peter is a savvy player and picked up the rules quickly.  The initial run-out of the rules worked well even though I made mistakes in some adjudications.  At least these misadjudications were applied evenly to both.  After the game, I re-read the BI2.0 rules and jotted down a few more notes and amended my QRS.

While it has been a very long time since either my Japanese armies or BI have been out for a spin, it was an enjoyable ride.  Great fun, actually.  Round 2 of the Second Battle of Azukizaka is up on the slate for the Tuesday group game.  With rules refreshed in my mind, my adjudications should be less pitted with missteps.

After a second game, I will have a clearer picture of the success of my work on converting Basic Impetvs to a grid.

Expect to see more of these armies in 2022.  Well, at least as long as I can find willing opponents!