Ieyasu's Great Ride!

...or Mikata Ga Hara Game #4. 

Back to the 1572 Battle of Mikata Ga Hara once again!  In today's installment, we see elements of Postie's Rejects take to the field in a remote battle of wills.  Richard (Shingen in Center) and Ray (both Wings) take command of the Takeda Army while Lee (Ieyasu in Center) and Steve (both Wings) steer the Tokugawa Army hopefully to victory.  A new member of The Rejects, Colin, stepped in to relieve Richard of dice rolling duties in an effort to turn around Richard's propensity to throw the wrong number at the right time.  Did it help?  Please read on!  Player commentary embedded within the narrative.

Tokugawa poised for battle.

As a reminder, the battlefield and army deployments are as shown in the table photo below: 

Battlefield and Army Deployments

View before Tokugawa (mostly red) Army begins. 

When the battle begins, the Tokugawa Army enjoys the potential for two uninterrupted turns of maneuvering to set up the ambush.  The decision whether to hold back or strike early is in the hands of the Tokugawa players.

[Lee] Steve and I teamed up to play the ambushing army and somewhat foolishly, Steve let me take command of the Centre units and Tokugawa Ieyasu. We didn't have time to discuss a plan but based on the pre-game briefing notes I thought that boldness would serve us well. 

Takeda oblivious to the danger ahead.

Tokugawa uses Turn 1 to advance upon the unsuspecting Takeda Army's Center and Left while positioning for outflanking attacks against the enemy's Right.  The army moves forward without raising any alarm in the enemy camps.  

[Lee] We advanced cautiously in the first few turns, taking care not to spook the enemy commands into action before we were ready. We got into what felt like a strong position and poised to attack. 

[Richard] Lee and Steve's positioning in those opening turns really worried me.  They were redeploying to be aggressive and to strike along the whole line.  I had premonitions of them wiping out and breaking through the front units in quick time. 

Tokugawa advances without raising alarm.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Ieyasu Tokugawa strikes!  Galloping out of the center, Ieyasu leads his heavy cavalry forward and straight into a body of foot Samurai that find itself somewhat isolated from the main battle line.  Shocked by the sudden appearance of heavy cavalry bearing down upon them, Takeda's Samurai put up some resistance before turning to flee.  These Samurai stream toward the rear! 

Ieyasu charges out driving back the enemy!

With Samurai scattering before them, Ieyasu pursues!  Rather than pursuing the dispersed Samurai, Ieyasu sets his sight on a body of archers to his right.  Fortune is with the longbowmen on this day.  Rather than being overrun and ground into dust, the rock-solid archers hold their ground.  Ieyasu and his disordered cavalry are driven off under a hail of arrows.  Hoorah!  

The enemy scatters and Ieyasu pursues!

Not only unlucky once but Ieyasu is unlucky twice!  Emerging from the Takeda battle line is a body of heavy Samurai cavalry and they are closing fast!  Despite being struck in flank, Ieyasu manages to turn his horsemen about to face the enemy.  Miraculously, Ieyasu forces Takeda's cavalry to pull away from combat.  As Takeda's Samurai horse falls back, Ieyasu presses on into the gap now opening in the Takeda battle line.  The enemy center is pierced!  (NB: this may be where Richard turns over his dice rolling duties to Colin!). 

[Lee] Then I "went for it" in the centre and immediately got carried away! I recklessly charged forward with Ieyasu and the Mounted Samurai. Winning the first melee went to my head because I decided to pursue and before I knew it Ieyasu was halfway across the table and deep inside the enemy army.

[Richard] I thought that Lee had over played his hand with Ieyasu and his cavalry.  With a flank attack, I had all the advantages... and then I rolled the dice! Well, Colin was there to spectate but now it was time he took part and rolled the dice for me.  I was happy to do so, this was Colin's first experience of a remote game and he had developed a taste for it by the end. 

[Ray] Richard is usually calm and collected, but I'm sure I saw his eye twitching (like Herbert Lom in the Pink Panther) Rather than throwing his rattle out of the pram, which would have been ungentlemanly conduct, he asked Colin to throw his dice for him. And I gotta admit, it was the right thing to do, Richard's dice rolling are appalling!!!

Repulsed by archers, Ieyasu finds himself a target
as he heads back to his lines.

Turning to face the enemy, Ieyasu fights hard!

Surprisingly, the enemy retreats!
Ieyasu pursues!

Having cleaved the enemy battle line, Ieyasu and his Samurai now find themselves like a cat among the pigeons.  This time, however, the pigeons can fight back!  Subjected to a hailstorm of arrows from enemies left and right, Tokugawa Samurai drop like leaves in a storm.  To compound the danger, a body of enemy horse archers attack firing arrows as they come in.  Already wavering, what remains of Ieyasu's cavalry breaks.  Ieyasu goes down in the confusion.  Not only are the heavy cavalry lost but Ieyasu is dead on the field! Ieyasu's Great Ride is over!  The gap in Takeda's battle line has been plugged.

[Lee] I had an opportunity to attack the Takeda camp, but my blood lust was up and instead, I kept trying to charge foot units, missing probably the best opportunity to deal a knockout blow to the enemy. When the Samurai were eventually overrun, Ieyasu was also killed. 

[Richard] This time Ieyasu really had overplayed his hand.  The cavalry was effectively surrounded by units that could do damage.  My moving and Colin's dice roll did the trick.  The crisis in the centre was averted.  With what Ray would do on the flanks, we were able to develop a coherent line to face the enemy. 

[Ray] I did feel sorry for Lee when Ieyasu fell.....for about 5 seconds anyway. 

Suffering from a storm of arrows...

Ieyasu and his Samurai are dispatched.

For the Takeda Army, order is restored.

While the battle rages in the center, the wings have not been idle.  A bit more subdued and restrained, perhaps, but not idle.  Both armies push forward on the wings with missile fire softening up any planned attacks.  In a more workmanlike manner, the wings clash, fall back, regroup, and advance into contact again.  As the momentum sways back and forth on the wings, casualties mount.  The Takeda Right is holding its own against repeated and determined attacks.  On the Takeda Left, success is seen as a body of Takeda foot Samurai break through a wall of enemy Ashigaru.  Enemy Ashigaru spearmen scatter before the mighty Samurai.  The enemy right looks broken!   

[Ray] I was a bit worried here, a few dodgy dice could and should have opened up our right flank.

Hard fighting on the Takeda Right...

and Left.

Takeda Right holds!

Facing a wall of Ashigaru spear...

Takeda Samurai break through.
Tokugawa Right looks broken!

With reports from the Right that it is under heavy pressure, the Tokugawa Army moves forward in the center in an attempt to tip the balance back to avenge Ieyasu's loss.  Spurred on by cries of "Ieyasu!", a body of Ashigaru spear crash into the enemy line.  Both enemy archers and cavalry fall back before their spears as a body of Takeda longbowmen perish.  Tokugawa spearmen continue pressing on.  Again, the enemy collapses before them!  The enemy is seen streaming for the rear.  Now, the Takeda Center is completely open to exploitation.  The problem for the Tokugawa Army is that the Ashigaru spearmen are spent and there are no reserves nearby to exploit this sudden advantage.  

[Ray] Dice rolling, definitely went our way, on our left. I was a bit unsure how to attack or defend this side, as the hill was in a very awkward angle. A win could have left the flank vulnerable to attack the next turn.

Attack in the center!

Success...

and pursuit!

With both armies teetering on collapse, one good shove anywhere by anyone may push the enemy over the edge.  Continuing to press its advantage on the Tokugawa Right, Samurai push on!  With Ashigaru streaming toward the rear only one body of teppo remains to hold the wing.  Unfortunately, the teppo is no match for the Samurai and they are dispatched with seeming ease.  

[Richard] With matters so close, it was at this point that we really needed the initiative to push forward to assault the more exposed Tokugawa units in the centre and left flank.  Thankfully, Ieyasu's death now gave us a plus 2 over the enemy for initiative rolls.  This, and then a lucky and immediate activation straight after, firmly provided Colin, Ray and me the opportunity to deal out despair before it could be dealt out to us.  Fate fell kindly for us at the most critical of moments. 

[Ray] Colin's dice were on fire, he hit and saved with nearly every dice he threw!! Thanks gawd, Richard passed the dice over to Colin! 

Still, Samurai press on!

Tokugawa Army breaks!

The Tokugawa Army breaks and this battle is over.

Battle is over!

Before Takeda's Samurai scattered the last unit on Tokagawa's Right, the Army Breakpoint Clocks showed 3-1 for Takeda.  The destruction of Tokugawa's teppo brought the clock down to zero, ending the battle.  With Ieyasu dead on the field and his army in tatters, retiring to save what remains is the only option.  Still, Takeda was only three points away from breaking himself.  Close game.  Very close! 

[Lee] With hindsight, it was a spectacular charge (one for the history books) but ultimately very foolhardy indeed and almost certainly cost us the game. When the curtain came down we were just a few points apart. A great game but if we had a chance to play it again, I'd be much more cautious. 

[Richard] An incredible game.  Superb ebb and flow.  Every decision mattered and every activation raised and posed problems to be solved.  This is the type of wargame I love.  Thankfully Colin came through on the dice rolling.  A wonderfully conceived and balanced scenario.  Anyone could've won.   

[Colin] Superb game, thanks for the invite, a close-run thing. 

[Ray] It was a very close game, I was still quite shocked to see our count down clocks both had only 3 pips left each at this point. So it was all down to who won the initiative the next turn. Luckily for us, we did. 

Cast of characters.

Congratulations to the Takeda Army led by Richard, Ray, and Colin.  Well done guys!  My condolences to Lee and Steve in fighting a hard and spirited battle.  As in the prior three games, outcome hung in the balance until the end.  Losing Ieyasu and his heavy cavalry early on was a blow, no doubt.  An equally harmful blow was with Ieyasu's loss, initiative tended to shift to the Takeda Army.

As always, great fun and a very entertaining battle.

Thanks, Rejects!