Samurai v Chinese

Post your Battle Reports here
Post Reply
User avatar
Paul K
Posts: 405
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:34 am
Contact:

Samurai v Chinese

Post by Paul K »

Tim and Chris pitted a 250 point Samurai army against my Chinese army of the same points value. The army compositions were very different in that the Samurai army had 10 units of expensive Samurai; 6 units of mounted, and 4 dismounted, with the rest of the 21 unit army made up of much cheaper units of ashigaru and peasant hordes to raise the total number of units to 21 to qualify for the 4 generals using the standard 5:1 ratio. In contrast, the Chinese had 26 units of ‘regular’ units which gave the army a sizeable advantage in numbers plus an extra general, 5 in total. The Chinese also had 8 units of cavalry. 3 medium, 2 horse archers and 2 heavy. However, the Chinese only had 5 units of armoured infantry and cavalry in total and so the vast number of Chinese halberdiers and crossbows would need to ‘swamp’ their very tough Samurai opponents to win. And that was my plan!.
IMG_1664s.JPG
IMG_1664s.JPG (73.72 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
IMG_1667s.JPG
IMG_1667s.JPG (73.43 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
The Terrain selection gave both sides control of some useful areas of woodland and there were a few small hills and escarpments located around and towards the table edges. My Chinese deployed first and moved second. Tim and Chris deployed 5 of their 6 mounted Samurai units in the centre of their line with the 6 peasant hordes located on their left wing facing an area of woodland separating the two forces. Chris commanded a large flanking force of Samurai infantry on their left which in the opening moves started a slow steady advance against my right flank.
IMG_1669s.JPG
IMG_1669s.JPG (73.31 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
To counter this advance I moved my 3 units of Chinese horse archers to the right and advanced my line of crossbows equipped with pavisses along side them, linking to my armoured units in the centre. Tim advance all his peasant hordes into the woodland on the other flank and I advanced my Chinese halberdiers to meet them amongst the trees! He kept his foot Samurai units in a line 3 hexes behind and positioned 2 units of ashigaru hand gunners on a 3 hex escarpment to protect the extreme right flank against my Chinese medium cavalry.
IMG_1670s.JPG
IMG_1670s.JPG (73.72 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
I had positioned the 3 units of Chinese cavalry including a general on my extreme left as part of a plan to attack the Samurai frontally with my halberdiers, while at the same time charging the cavalry into their flank. However, the fight for the woodland proved much tougher than I had anticipated as the peasants put up one hell of a fight. With Chris’s flanking Samurai infantry still a long way back he suddenly charged 5 of his 6 Samurai cavalry directly into my line of Chinese crossbows in the centre. This very unexpected move demolished my crossbow units but left the Samurai cavalry exposed to attack from the side and rear to a counter-attack by my Chinese armoured cavalry and infantry in my following tactical movement phase.
IMG_1671s.JPG
IMG_1671s.JPG (74.97 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
My counter-attack went in, and 4 of the 5 resulting hand-to-hand combats proved quite devastating resulting in the loss of 2 Samurai units, recoiling one and another sent fleeing losing a stand. However, against the combat factors the last unit of mounted Samurai held its ground, surrounded but defiant. I had to decide whether to abandon my planned attack on Tim’s wing and bring my Chinese cavalry and general back around to support this unexpected success in the centre. I dithered, in the belief that my armoured units could finish off the trapped Samurai without additional support. I was wrong!
IMG_1674s.JPG
IMG_1674s.JPG (73.18 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
IMG_1676s.JPG
IMG_1676s.JPG (70.53 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
Chris’s infantry plus the one unit of bow armed mounted Samurai, just managed to reach the central combat in sufficient numbers to enable the already engaged Samurai units to hold for another combat phase. With my halberdiers still taking their time to demolish the peasant hordes in the woods, I had no choice but to finally pull my cavalry back towards the centre. This was one tactical move too late! The Samurai cavalry unit sent fleeing had now rallied and returned to the fight. My Chinese were now severely outnumbered on my right as Chris’s flanking infantry started to demolish what was left of my infantry on the right.
IMG_1680s.JPG
IMG_1680s.JPG (65.15 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
IMG_1686s.JPG
IMG_1686s.JPG (73.24 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
Tim’s central foot Samurai and ashigaru were now able to advance against my Chinese halberdiers now that the threat of the Chinese medium cavalry attacking their flank and rear had been removed. After another punishing round of hand-to-hand combat in which my Chinese lost a unit of armoured cavalry as well as a unit of armoured infantry, my medium cavalry and their general finally arrived to reinforce my struggling centre. These addition units made the numbers look more equal, however, the far tougher Samurai units and ashigaru armed with yari would soon make short work of their lighter armed Chinese opponents. After the resulting and final punishing round of hand-to-hand combat I had little option but to concede the game to the victorious Samurai.
IMG_1687s.JPG
IMG_1687s.JPG (72.74 KiB) Viewed 2393 times
Game Analysis
Tim enjoyed a strong tactical position which prevented my Chinese from enacting my plan to out-flank his right wing with my medium cavalry. Even when Chris launched his mass cavalry charge, I stubbornly believed I could stick to my original battle plan which proved to be my undoing. If I had pulled my Chinese cavalry to the centre a couple of moves earlier, the exposed mounted Samurai should have, and probably would have been defeated, thus turning the game decidedly in favour of the Chinese. But Tim’s good tactical positioning and Chris’s do or die cavalry charge up-ended my battle plan and delivered a decisive Samurai victory!
Kind regards
Paul

Image
http://www.kallistra.co.uk
Post Reply