Slitherine

Samurai battle – Sengoku period – Takeda vs Ii

Once again I was back visiting Buenos Aires and I managed to encourage my gaming group to try some new experiments with FOG.

For a while we had been collecting Samurai armies for the Sengoku period but we had never taken the final step to playtest them. Taking advantage of the fact that FOG actually provides the points system for the generic troops, trying Samurai warfare would simply require selecting the FOG troop types to characterize the Sengoku tactical doctrines.

This is a report covering our first samurai test battle. It is not a representation of a particular historical battle but a simple encounter between the two samurai armies that our gaming group has produced

Representing Samurai Warfare in FOG

CAVEAT: First of all let me be clear about how we approached this subject. Our intention was not to guess what the FOG team will come up with for Samurai lists. We understand that the FOG team will have to consider how the Samurai list interacts with other list, we didn’t have this concern. There was no need to worry about this; we simply had to worry about how samurai armies would interact with each other. There was no need for us to consider if it was fair to represent Samurai warriors as skilled swordsmen or simple swordsmen in light of how they would match against other armies. All of our troop selections were based on how we wanted the interaction ashigaru-foot samurai-mtd samurai to be.

Now that I’ve clarified this point let me describe the choices of troops that we selected.

All troops were classified as drilled. We did this not to make a point about professional vs unprofessional armies but to give mobility to the armies. When you combine “drilled” with having small size for battle groups ( 4 – 6 bases ), then troops are very mobile, encouraging the armies to do lots of maneuvers, something that appears very characteristic of samurai warfare with their extensive maneuvering and redeployment.

Yari Ashigaru – heavy foot, protected, average, offensive spear
We chose heavy foot because in our research of historical battles we found most closed formations to favor open terrain and so by making them heavy we pushed them to fight in open terrain. Protected, to represent one level of armor above peasant levy but one less than samurai. Offensive spear was chosen to encourage two or three rank units as opposed to deeper pike type of units and to give foot samurai the edge over foot ashigaru.

Teppo Ashigaru – medium foot, protected, average, x-bow
Yes x-bow !! We had a big problems with Teppo. Much literature appears to give the use of teppos great preponderance in Sengoku period warfare. Of course it is difficult to extrapolate how much is exaggeration but we felt that treating teppos as hand gunners would result in a very limited missile range and they were supposed to have longer range than bows. We didn’t want to tamper with the rules so by representing them as x-bows we thought we would achieve a good compromise representing longer range than the hand gun while having slower rate of fire than bows. We didn’t make them skirmishers to discourage their use as screens aimed at triggering charges so that they wouldn’t end up being used as velites or similar. Also the sengoku period appears to fall a bit past the range of FOG so we thought that maybe the teppo might not really be what the authors had in mind with hand guns.

Bow Ashigaru – light foot, protected, average, long bow
We chose to make the bow ashigaru skirmishers based on the literature that we found regarding the role of these troops once the Teppo became available.
We chose long bow not to make a point in comparison to English longbowmen but because we thought that this would help the interaction of missile vs japanese armor without us having to downgrade all troops to protected unprotected.

Foot Samurai w/naginata – heavy foot, armored, superior, heavy weapon
Our foot samurai are armed with naginata. Selecting heavy weapon to represent the naginata provides a good interaction where armored superior troops ( foot samurai ) have the edge against foot ashigaru to create good tactical options.

Mtd Samurai – cavalry lancers, armored, superior, swordsman
This selection for the mtd samurai makes it a good weapon against foot samurai while still not optimal against yari ashigaru thus completing our nice selection of troops to create a good rock-paper-scissors interaction.

Mtd Samurai bowmen – cavalry, armored, superior, bow
We had some of these small units acting as mobile reserves

Mtd Hatamoto – cavalry lancers, armored, elite, swordsman
Small two base units of elite hatamoto provided additional interesting tactical options to be used as special break through units. A role that according to some authors was actually served by hatamoto units from time to time.

Peasant levy – average unprotected
One side had two small units of these levy to represent ashigaru hastily summoned. Same training but poorly equipped. ( we added them just for the sake of some color )

Commanders
Regarding commanders we decided on the following. We established that no side would have inspired commanders, not due to a judgment on the Daimyo’s strategy skills but to represent the Daimyo as staying in a command position in the back ( our camps represented the Daimyos with their support staff, drums bells etc..)
We wanted to build divisions representing the clan armies and have the commanders have line of command for their divisions only (like allied commanders) but to do that we have to work a bit more in completing our armies to have meaningful divisions.

We understand that these selections might not agree with everyone’s interpretation of how samurai armies would qualify under FOG, but if you consider the selection to achieve just the interaction between samurai armies described above I think it is not a bad representation.
Our samurai armies tend to be very maneuverable; yari ashigaru are a good weapon against mtd samurai, mtd samurai a good weapon against foot samurai, and foot samurai a good weapon against yari ashigaru. Troops prefer to fight in open terrain. Skirmish screens are uncommon, teppos are used in concentrated fire while bows are used for skirmishing in specialized roles.

With this troop selection the composition of our opposing armies was as follows:

The opposing armies

Initial Deployment

The Takeda clan won the pre-battle initiative. Both sides tried to keep the center of the battlefield fairly open. This is one thing we wanted to achieve with our troop type selection since looking at samurai battles we can see that open grounds where chose over and over again to the point where some battlegrounds were the scene for repeated battles ( Kawanakajima ? ).

The Ii clan deployed on the northern side of the field, probably meaning that that castle that you see on the background belongs to Ii . Seeing due to order of march that Takeda was deploying concentrated teppos on the east flank Ii chose to refuse that flank and not expose their cavalry. Two units of yari ashigaru with teppos support should do the trick of delaying Takeda’s flanking maneuvers long enough.
Towards the center foot samurai and yari ashigaru would hold the center of gravity, their center-west flank would be covered by a combination of mobile units, mtd samurai, bow ashigaru, mtd hatamoto and mtd archers and some teppos.
Finally on the extreme west flank the levy was deployed followed by the second mtd hatamoto and some more missile troops.



Takeda on the other side chose to anchor its army on the east. The east most wing was conformed by yari ashigaru, two teppo units and one mtd samurai unit. The original purpose of this wing was to hold and expected cavalry attack from Ii ( that of course once the deployment was evident would not materialize ). The reason for this is that Takeda had greater amounts of cavalry but they speculated ( actually I did ) that a straight cavalry vs cavalry fight would take to long to resolve and the infantry line would fall against the combine missile and infantry from the Ii clan. With this in mind Takeda wanted to surprise the enemy with an unconventional cavalry charge towards the enemies center of gravity were a breakthrough would be more devastating than on the flank.
Following that strategy the center of the Takeda army was composed of mtd samurai and hatamoto flanked by foot samurai. Careful maneuvering would allow the army to have optimal rock-paper-scissors clash by having mtd samurai vs foot samurati and foot samurai vs yari ashigaru.
Finally the west flank had to be refused, expecting that the terrain would prevent big flanking maneuvers one large unit of yari ashigaru was deployed to hold any attacks and delay the enemy.





Ii deployment




The Ii Samurai


Takeda deployment


close up





The Battle

Both armies started maneuvering according to plan.

Takeda used his generals to push the main spearhead forward in the center trying to get his cavalry to engage the enemy line as soon as possible. The east flank also surged forward, a little slower since the cavalry was doing some wheels to move around the teppo units, and on the west flank the ashigaru and samurai stood still while a bow unit moved forward to target some go the small two base units of enemy cavalry that had moved up.

The red devils kept their center still and started moving the some teppos to close the east flank. Towards the center-west they pushed forward with their skirmishers and cavalry to try to threaten the widening gap in Takeda’s formation. All the way to the west flank the small cavalry units, two hatamotos and one mtd archer, rushed forward followed by missile tropps and levy.












Takeda's center


The east flank


The west flank







Now the armies were closing and Takeda’s plan was facing some shortcomings. As the cavalry advanced towards the enemy one of its flanks was now exposed to enemy skirmishers and a teppo unit. Takeda should have held this cavalry unit in echelon covering the flank of the other cavalry unit that was now about to clash with the foot samurai, but this was overlooked.

The Ii center cavalry force was pushing forward towards the relegated Takeda foot samurai.

On the east side things looked dire for Ii. One unit of teppo was facing a powerful unit of mtd samurai while the eastmost ashigaru were being shot to death by bow and teppo.

The west flank saw many Ii missile units advancing mixed with the hatamoto units but they were not as affectively coordinated as Takeda’s east flank. Sizing the opportunity the defending yari ashigaru unit pushed forward to complicate Ii’s maneuvering.





view from the east








Ii Teppo ready to resist? the charge


And so the armies engaged in close combat.

In the center the Takeda plan was stalled. The cavalry was not having tremendous success against the enemy, mainly because on of the units was fighting enemies in two directions. However their east flank was outperforming expectations, the Ii ashigaru broke as a result of missile and combat and the teppo unit would not last long against the cavalry.

Back to the center west the Ii cavalry charged the foot samurai and Takeda used their hatamoto to charge the enemy missile troops to provide some assistance to the big cavalry units in the fron. Ii decided to try to stay against the Hatamoto charge with their bow ashigaru. They were hopeful that this would buy them some time, but it was clear that this meant sacrificing two valuable attrition points.

On the west things were starting to favor Ii despite the slow evolution. The Takeda ashigaru had no support and where being surrounded by the Ii units. I will never forgive myself for not forming Orb !! It was my one chance to do it in a game where it would make sense and I completely forgot



Looking at the center








Looking at the center from behind Takeda lines




close up of center scrum


Takeda's east flanking maneuver starts to pay off


Some of the combats started to get resolved. On the east after the first ashigaru unit fell the second unit was now facing tough odds fighting foot samurai and getting flanked. The Tekeda mtd samurai after destroying the teppo unit were now murdering a small unit of reserve foot samurai and were threatening the Ii’s rear.







The cavalry units from both armies that were facing foot samurai where not very successful and had to break off, but while the Takeda cavalry charged forward again, Ii had their cavalry turn around to try to react to the hatamoto that had now pursued the fleeing bow ashigaru and where reaching for the camp !!

On the west the Takeda ashigaru finally perished but Ii was still not able to exploit the advantage as the persistent Takeda bow ashigaru were not willing to concede any goround. One of the two hatamoto units on this flank was sent back to also try to contain the Takeda cavalry units that where now roaming free on Ii’s rear.



The west flank seen from Ii's side when the Takeda ashigaru have already perished



And so the battle reached a final stage. On the east the Ii flank fell to pieces, although the foot samurai managed to kill the last mtd samurai that they were fighting they had lost cohesion and when the samurai in their rear and the ashigaru to their side routed they broke too. The Takeda cavalry unit that had been facing tough odds against enemies in two directions managed to roll some amazing dice and forced the teppo unit on their flank to rout !! And so when the Takeda Hatamoto reached the enemy camp the Ii army broke.



Ii's east flank starts to fall apart


Just when Ii's center had a good turn after finally defeating one of Takeda's cavalry units the whole center line falls apart





Ii cavalry tries to react to Takeda's hatamoto atack on their camp






The Ii Daimyo ( on the left ) and the game master ( on the right ) overlook the final result of the game




When Takeda's hatamoto reached Ii's camp the Red Devils finally broke





Some conclusions.



The game was lots of fun. The units behaved as we wanted. Lots of small drilled units meant that we had A LOT OF MANEUVERING. This is what we wanted, we did not want to have the feeling that we were playing a traditional ancients game with samurai armies. We wanted the whirlwind of maneuvering and counter maneuvering that we’ve read time and time again about the Sengoku period.

Takeda’s plan did not work as expected, the center spearhead was not able to succeed mainly due to the mistake on not getting the cavalry echelon, however the east wing managed to produce a very successful and organized flanking action. In contrast the Ii flanking attempt got stuck and was not as effective.

At the final stage of the battle most Ii units collapsed but if they had held on a little longer maybe Takeda’s west flank would have fallen.

An interesting comment deserves Ii’s delay attempt when having his bow ashigaru stay against the mtd hatamoto. Some players don’t like that foot skirmishers are allowed to stay against heavy troop in FOG ( even if they have to pass a test ). I don’t have a problem with that since I know it is a desperate tactic, it usually means you give away two attrition points and this is painful and can cost you the battle. I think that the fact that you can have them stay plus the fact that they give you full two points means that commanders have to be more thoughtful on how they use their light troops vs what I’ve see in other rules.

Overall a great game, with an excellent Samurai Warfare feeling , and a happy victory for Takeda ( me ).

Samurai battles always look fantastic. Yours was no exception.

Hep

Another excellent battle report. Many thanks, for sharing, Seldon!

Editor - any chance of moving this, together with the equally inspiring Magnesia report, over to the Historical scenarios list?

Cheers,
Scott

a great " BRAVO !!!! " in French , excellent report , beautiful figs and pics , Imust go there to play with them ;

best regerds
thefrenchjester " no Habla espagnol but FOG on Tour around the world "

Excellent report.....GREAT photos. I will revisit the photos here as I have the other report from your group.

Again......good work.

Magnífico chicos, es un gustazo ver vuestras partidas


David

Gracias Mr The Bruce ... !!!

If anyone is ever in Buenos Aires don't hesitate to drop me a line, we'll arrange something

Thats the first samurai batle report i have seen and it looks fantastic!!!!
great job

Awesome!!

My favourite period of history. I once had the pleasure of dressing up as a Samurai when working in Japan once.

I am looking forward to getting my Samurai out on the table soon.

Si

I heard it was a Geisha Simone.

I am currently working on the report for our first Sengoku Historical refight. Mikatagahara

It will be posted soon