Medieval Korean v Samurai

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Paul K
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Medieval Korean v Samurai

Post by Paul K »

This was the first outing for the freshly painted and based Korean army, The Samurai were the first choice of opponents as historically these two adversaries were pitted together in the Imjin War.
Right... let's get 'stuck in'!
Right... let's get 'stuck in'!
Samurai Ikko Ikki fanatics ready to rumble
Samurai Ikko Ikki fanatics ready to rumble
The dice decided choice of table edge and first deployment, which saw the Samurai deploy first. Tony, Chris and Gary (Samurai commanders) deployed centrally on their table edge with a good mix of troop types evenly spread throughout apart from on their left wing where the Ikko Ikki fanatics were massed together. Dave, Steve and I (Korean commanders) deployed our army with the four artillery units, two large field guns and two bombards positioned centrally. The three heavy cavalry units were on the left wing and the three light cavalry on the right facing the aforementioned Ikko Ikki fanatics. These guys were tough and numerous horde, organised into 6 stand units but were only accompanied by a single unit of archers which rendered them vulnerable to my Korean light cavalry.
Korean light cavalry ready to shoot away their opponents
Korean light cavalry ready to shoot away their opponents
First moves saw both sides close in on each other. Dave advanced the Korean artillery units forward to take up position as a deterrent to any frontal assault by the Samurai infantry. Steve started to move the Korean heavy cavalry behind our guns from our left flank to our right. Meanwhile, Gary advanced his Ikko Ikki fanatics towards my light cavalry only to be met by a hail of bow fire as these slippery suckers evaded hand-to-hand combat.
In the centre the Samurai foot advanced to take control of a wood to the right of our centre and were challenged by Korean hand gunners supported by spearmen. On the far left the infantry units from both sides eye each other cautiously, each shuffling position to try and find an advantage over the opposition.
IMG_5818.JPG
The Ikko Ikki sought the cover of the woodland as protection from the bows of the Korean light cavalry who were inflicting notable casualties on these tough B class opponents. However, support was on its way in the form of three mounted Samurai units brought across from the centre, and with Steve’s Korean heavy cavalry on its way to this part of the battlefield, the scene was set for a high impact showdown between the cream of both armies.
Mounted Samurai lurking behind Ashigaru Spearmenn
Mounted Samurai lurking behind Ashigaru Spearmenn
No holding back, let's throw everything in!
No holding back, let's throw everything in!
We wanted to bring the mounted samurai into this open part of the battlefield and so I mistakenly, as it turned out, left my Korean light cavalry to far forward and exposed. As a result they were caught by the mounted samurai and the hordes of Ikko Ikki out for revenge. If only the Koreans had shot straight things could have worked out fine, but the dice gods were against me and all opponents made contact with my now doomed light cavalry. Much to the chagrin of Dave and Steve, all three units of my light cavalry were demolished with only two stands escaping and fleeing to our table edge.

It was now time for Steve’s heavy cavalry to show their metal and vanquish these ‘lucky’ intruders. Unfortunately their constituent metal turned out to be copper and not steel as they also experienced quite a mauling. After a very iffy start Gary’s Ikko Ikki fanatics had really hit their form and the right hand side of our battle line was in tatters. The infantry battle for the central wood was finally won by the foot samurai as our Korean spearmen continued to under-perform.
The Korean heavy cavalry arrive
The Korean heavy cavalry arrive
IMG_5827.JPG
Our four units of artillery stood proudly in the centre of our line, or what was left of it, but we were now decidedly losing the infantry battle and they would soon prove to be an ineffective bastion against the advancing hordes sending us on the path to oblivion! A Korean Defeat, most certainly, but an honourable one!
The last unit of Korean heavies and their General about to die...
The last unit of Korean heavies and their General about to die...
We had high hopes for this very pretty and colourful Korean army an hour and a half earlier, but obviously because this was their first battle, and their inexperience could not be adequately compensated for by the unquestionable quality of their three commanders. In other words if things go pear shaped you can always blame the figures, oh, and the dice of course!

Game Analysis
On reflection, I think that the tactics of both sides were sound but the execution was far better on the Samurai side. The loss of the Korean light cavalry due the timely arrival of Chris’s mounted Samurai co-ordinated with the charge of the Ikko Ikki was entirely my fault. I felt that it would be a justifiable sacrifice in order to bring the Samurai cavalry to battle, but I was wrong, as they proceeded to take on and defeated Steve’s cavalry and a large section of our infantry. These defeats on our right-wing created a numerical imbalance that sealed our fait.
Kind regards
Paul

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Norm
Posts: 276
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:45 pm

Re: Medieval Korean v Samurai

Post by Norm »

Enjoyed seeing your figures on the table. The system brings around a decisive conclusion in a time frame that suit an evenings game session, which is nice to see.
Ratty
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:42 pm

Re: Medieval Korean v Samurai

Post by Ratty »

Another great report. Many thanks for a good read. I always like the number of players on each side. Do ypu allocate units to each player, and how much advice can you give to each other during play?
Best wishes
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Paul K
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Re: Medieval Korean v Samurai

Post by Paul K »

Great questions, and you certainly have me thinking about the fact that in truth, for evening games lasting a couple of hours with 4 or 6 players, the communication, blame, banter and general winding each other up makes for a good evenings entertainment. Sometimes in multi-player games specific units and generals are allocated to each player and in other games each player takes responsibility for their part of the battlefield closest to where they are seated. Units can then be passed from one player to another as dictated by events. For fun games there is always plenty of communication and co-operation between players, or lack of it! However, for historical re-fights we have and do limit communication to written messages, usually carried by mounted messenger figures. The Bosworth Field re-fight is a good example of this in which the slow and limited information between players certainly impacted tremendously on the outcome of the game.
Kind regards
Paul

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