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Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Tokugawa's Wild Ride!

Yes, Game #5 in the series refighting the 1572 Battle of Mikata Ga Hara proved an exciting battle.  The result left no doubt that an inferior army can defeat a larger one.  Convincingly too.  Unfortunately, I was on the losing end of this contest and took a sound drubbing.
Initial battle deployments
With Game #4 seeing an equally convincing victory for Takeda (Pascal) over Tokugawa (me), I figured I had a chance at victory when we swapped sides and played again.  Wrong!  Wrong, indeed!  The battle went so terribly wrong for the Takeda almost from the start.

How did an inferior army handily defeat a superior one?  Please read on to see.

As seen from the initial battle deployments, the Takeda army is caught by surprise with elements of the army somewhat isolated from the bulk of the army.  Having the advantage of ambush, Tokugawa forces have as many as two turns to maneuver as long as the Tokugawa do not trigger any response from the Takeda by attacking or entering an enemy ZOC.   
Takeda longbowmen isolated and facing the enemy alone. 
After closing the distance between the two armies, Tokugawa attacks!  Leading with Samurai spear, these infantry charge into the Takeda longbowmen.  The longbow gets off a volley of missile fire before the Samurai can close.  The incoming arrows disorder the Samurai.  Still, the Samurai carry on and cut down many bowmen before the bowmen retreat. 
Tokugawa attacks!
With the lead longbow unit retiring, the pursuing Samurai plow into the adjacent unit of longbowmen.  Having no time to get off an effective shot before contact, these bowmen break and run for the rear.  Casualties are heavy.  Facing fresh Takeda Samurai cavalry if they continue, Tokugawa Samurai foot stop to reorganize.   
Takeda archers are put to flight!
In a one-two punch following up on the success of the foot Samurai, Tokugawa Samurai cavalry charges forward to hit the retiring bowmen.  Already wavering these archers scatter and run.  The charging cavalry carries on into the waiting Takeda cavalry.  In a brief but sharp clash, the Takeda cavalry is driven back.  Reining left, Tokugawa Samurai cavalry catches the retreating longbowmen in the rear.  They are cut down where they stand.  A path to the Takeda command tent is open and, perhaps, ripe for the picking.
Destruction of the Takeda center
Seeing the entire center of the Takeda line either destroyed or in disarray, these hard charging cavalry veer off to the left.  Wheeling about, they bring a new, unsuspecting target into their sights.  That target?  Takeda Samurai horse archers caught from behind!  

Caught in the rear and no place to run, the Takeda horse archers scatter.  Still, the Samurai cavalry comes on.  Charging up the hill, these horsmen contact a unit of Ashigaru spearmen. 
Samurai horse on a rampage!
Tokugawa commander pleased with his efforts!
After a long melee, the horsemen are victorious but exhausted.  They have done all of the damage they can do this turn.  The damage inflicted was astounding.  In these devastating attacks, Takeda Army Breakpoint dropped from 22 to 10.    
Rampaging Samurai cavalry finally halt.
Tokugawa commander still smiling
 as the Takeda Army Clock drops. 
While the battle continued until the Takeda Army Breakpoint clock tolled zero, I end the battle narrative here.  The remainder of the battle waged for several more turns in jockeying for positions, mopping up exercises, and isolated attacks.  Still, for the Takeda to mount a serious counterattack with its right obliterated and its center heavily damaged was unlikely.
Watching the series of Tokugawa charges and subsequent pursuits unfold was awesome even though I was on the receiving end.  Takeda never had a chance to recover from those early attacks.  Those early, knock-out punches stunned the Takeda army from which it never recovered.
Game #5 produced an exciting battle with drama and tension on every move and every roll of the dice.  Especially in defeat, I admire the skill used to gain positional advantage.

Well played, Pascal!  Thank you for a very enjoyable game.

For now, the battlefield of Mikata Ga Hara has been cleared from the table.  A new battle is set out in its place.  A battle for a different period, a different set of rules, and a group of different players.      

42 comments:

  1. Another tough looking encounter Jon, you have certainly got your value from the battle setup ๐Ÿ‘

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    1. Certainly a tough encounter for me. On paper, it looks like Takeda should be victorious. In practice, no! This is why we play the game. Yeah, I got five games out of this battle. Time to move on to something different.

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  2. You got roughly handled there. Better on the game table than in real life. ๐Ÿ˜€

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    1. Correct on both counts! Even in abject failure, the game was great fun and I would endure it again.

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  3. Wow that was pretty devastating Jon! In our " house rules" (written by Mark S) units can only do me break rough, so, this sort of a page isn't possible, the best you can hope for is, win one melee, break through on to a second unit, win the second melee, then that's it. I think it may be more realistic, but your way sounds more dramatic (and more fun, as long as you are on the winning side !)
    I can tell you are playing far too many games at the moment....five times you have had this on the table, and we only get one AAR...?? ๐Ÿ˜€

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    1. The carnage was unbelievable. Typically a unit pursuing tends to burn itself out after one or maybe two pursuits or fails to continue the pursuit. In this situation, each retreat was followed by a successful pursuit. Each successful pursuit managed to catch a defender in flank/rear so that destruction was complete.

      Yes, I am very far behind on battle reports. I am lucky to write up one in four. I am closing in on a dozen games in January alone. Four games this week. I will try to get in at least one more Mikata Ga Hara report before it all fades from memory.

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  4. A win to each army in games 4 and 5 does show that the situation is balanced and that there is hope for each player. I like repeat plays, they bring out a lot in a game …. But 5 games is impressive. Your Impetvs hex conversion seems to be working really well.

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    1. Balanced or I am simply not a very good opponent?

      Seeing a win for each army in the last two games is encouraging on the balance front, for sure.

      For me, the game is working well. Hopefully, it is running effortlessly for the players too.

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  5. Wow that was a devastating assault Jonathan, but nice to see a game where the smaller force wins the day.

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    1. It sure was! Positioning was key to this long run of charges. I set it up perfectly...for my opponent!

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  6. What a splendid game it had a very Akira Kurosawa feel to it.

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    1. The game unfolded in a very dramatic and Kurosawa way.

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    1. Thank, Michal! I see that you are painting Samurai. They look great!

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  8. ใใ‚Œใฏ็ด ๆ™ดใ‚‰ใ—ใ„ใงใ™!

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    1. ็งใฎๅ‹ไบบใซๆ„Ÿ่ฌใ—ใพใ™

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  9. It must have been both interesting and deflating to watch the charge.

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    1. Interesting, for sure. Deflating, not so much. Shocked is a better descriptor for my state of mind. I enjoyed seeing the success of the Tokugawa cavalry.

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  10. Well that was a rather decisive charge to say the least. As mentioned before good to have seen it all coming down to battle 5 to see which side woudl be victorious.

    As per Keith's point above, I think all the rules I play only allow for one follow on charge when breaking an enemy, to I think try and represent horse being blown etc and needing time to recover before entering the fray again.

    However this charge was certainly cinematic in feel and scope!

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    1. "Rather decisive" is an understatement.

      You do not often see such wanton destruction in a charge or series of charges. Usually, the combat value of the attacker erodes with each charge too. Hitting flanks/rears allows for great destruction when the defender is forced to retreat. If forced to retreat, it is destroyed.

      The game certainly had a cinematic feel.

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  11. Wow, what a contest. Beautiful set-up even if getting pummeled.

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  12. Battlefield observers might say, that my new dreaded red dice did all the work while I simply held on to the reigns in as much terror as my enemy.
    This, however, is certainly not the way I will write it in my telling of the story :)
    Such a great pair of games Jon, many thanks for hosting.

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    1. My battle account sees no mention of dice at all. Yes, your cavalry were charging on, Hell Bent for Leather. Hard-charging is how we envision Samurai dealing with the enemy, right?

      Very enjoyable pair of games played with panache. Thank you!

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  13. Love the whole panoply of these battles.Great stuff.

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  14. As ignorant as I am of Samurai games (set in this era), I very much appreciate the spectacle of them. Is cavalry in this genre as destructive as it tends to be in similar Euro settings (I'm thinking of TYW cuirassiers and such), or was this Samurai Cavalry deathride something of an anomaly?

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    1. Ed, thanks for your comments and questions!

      First, I reckon most pre-modern bodies of men caught in the rear or flank by cavalry (especially by murderous armored ones) would scatter to the winds. In your example of cuirassiers in the TYW, remember that this period (and battle) is only about fifty years earlier than your example.

      In game terms, pursuing cavalry has a 1/3 chance of not pursuing following each enemy retreat. Typically, one would not expect to see three successive cavalry pursuits in one phase. In this instance, the Tokugawa cavalry actually saw five successful pursuits. So, was this an anomaly? Yes, this series of destructive pursuits was above the expected number of pursuits.

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  15. Gosh, that was dramatic and devastating. The rolls for the cavalry must have bucked the averages. Like other comments, rules I use tend to use leave either horses blown or the unit disorganised or degraded in some fashion after pursuit.
    Excellent report Jon.

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    1. Yes, the action was both dramatic and devastating. Typically, cavalry are degraded with each clash but my poor defenders failed to score hits against these relentless Samurai. Any hit would have contributed to degradation. With no hits scored, no degradation as these madmen rolled into my flanks and rear.

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  16. That did seem like and exceptional and unfortunate chain which is not likely to reoccur. There are not many rules where units caught in the rear will survive, unless they themselves are extremely lucky. I'm sure Pascal will remember that charge and pursuit for years to come.

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    1. Lawrence, I do not think this chain of events could be repeated if we tried!

      I wager Pascal and I both remember this battle for a very long time. Most memorable. For me, all for the wrong reasons!

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  17. Wow, great battle. That rampaging Tokugawa cavalry wreaked some devastation

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    1. These horsemen were similar to a tornado leaving a number of destroyed units in their wake.

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  18. What a great looking game, so much action going on throughout the battle. Well done to Pascal and his cavalry!

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    1. Much appreciated, Ray! This iteration of the battle produced a lot of action, for sure. Unfortunately for me, most of the action was spent destroying my army.

      Pascal is a hard-driving adversary.

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  19. Lovely game Jon. That cavalry charge was amazing but credit must also go to the foot samurai whose initial charge triggered off the calamitous events!

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    1. Thanks! It certainly was an amazingly devastating attack.

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  20. Very Nice! How do you establish which unit is support and which is the main attacker according to the rules? Being based on 2 hexes surely they must always be offset exactly at the middle.

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    1. Thanks, Mike! While each unit is based on two smaller hexes, the the are as one BMU. The double hex basing is an artifact when I played on a two inch hex grid. Noe I play on a four inch grid.

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  21. Comment mistakingly deleted…

    Tony Emery has left a new comment on your post "Tokugawa's Wild Ride!":

    Nice few samurai battle reports Johnathan, lovely spectacle and fascinating era. Love the aesthetics of feudal Japan however I struggle painting black so often put off painting my 1/72 stuff (although I think I may have a better recipe for black now)

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    1. Thanks, Tony! I find the black easy especially since it is lacquered. Give it another go.

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