SBVT07 Oda Nobunaga

Round 3: G29 NAGASHINO 1575 AD (Takeda Centre Attack)

goshublue (Oda/Red)  Banners 7 Blocks lost 20
JR (Takeda/Blue) Banners 3 Blocks lost 21

Another Nagashino scenario, so was going to go all one way.....this time to the Oda. Two leader kills and an Order One SSR banner added to the imbalance. Four Takeda cavalry did make it across the river but depleted and three succumbed to ranged fire and mopping up by Ieyasu (once the enemy cavalry were weakened....brave man). One Takeda mounted unit did break through relatively unscathed on their right, causing casualties among the Oda ashigaru and making Mototada seppuku, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. Appropriately the battle ended with an Oda Outflanked / Fire by Rank combo that killed the full strength Takeda samurai footbowmen unit with multiple swords and a reroll. It was closer than the banner count suggests, as the block count shows and the Oda were hanging on with a couple of one block units. Thanks for a very enjoyable game JR.

Brent.

 

Round 2: G24 ANEGAWA 1570 AD (Oda against Asai)

goshublue (Red - Asai) 2 Banners, Blocks Lost 21
gotigerssc (Blue - Oda) 5 Banners, Blocks Lost 17

The Asai ranged attack proved deadly in the early goings of the battle as they quickly claimed a light bow unit and left my troops in a very odd bowl shape. I then took a couple of turns to pull back and regroup to form a more stout line and we took several turns each battling in ranged combat with another of my units falling (Asai up 2-1). I then got lucky as I had two infantry onslaught cards in hand that I used to bring forward two SSp and two ASp to slam into his lines - the first play of it claimed Nagamasa and his SBC and greatly weakened other units around him. The second play of it on the next turn had me pursue the weakened units who had retreated for the win. Really lucky card draw or otherwise the outcome could have been different. Brent played really well and I look forward to playing him again in the future.

 

Round 3: G29 NAGASHINO 1575 AD (Takeda Centre Attack)

DanieleC (Oda/Red)  4 Banners, 26 Blocks lost 
gotigerssc (Takeda/Blue) 7 Banners, 20 Blocks lost 

I was hoping to draw at least one cavalry charge but it never came out. My concentration during the battle was heavily on the center with my cavalry and then there was a lot of luck in my favor. I lost count of the number of dice rolled against the cavalry units that I sent across the water only to keep surviving - very frustrating for the Oda army. Fate smiled on me again as I was able to claim three Oda leaders and send another off the board with a Personal Challenge.....that Oda played. The only leader that left the board for me was Takeda who committed sepukku after getting too far behind the enemy lines. Daniele is an excellent opponent and without the leaders falling we would have been tied in the match. 

 

boredbeyondbelief (Oda Tokugawa - RED) 7 Banners won 27 Blocks lost (30 blocks lost with seppuku)
rjvonlne (Takeda - BLUE) 6 Banners won 20 Blocks lost (22 blocks lost with seppuku)

This battle should have been a rout by one of the sides. Which one? Well, whomever got the rolls of the dice. Instead, dice were cold for both sides and the game turned into a heated slog where not a single leader fell except by their own sword. In the end 5 leaders took their own lives to avoid dishonor.

Things started off well for Oda-Tokugawa (Red) as they started moving some of their reward troops forward and taking a pot-shot with their arquebusiers; one hit scored against Baba Nobufusa’s (blue) troops. But Baba withstood the leader check. Takeda immediately started following the historical precedent and moved his right flank into the river, hoping to quickly gain the far bank, but red’s flank held strong and worked on repositioning troops. By blue’s second turn, a cavalry unit was across the river and 3 more were fording across. With red’s left flank suffering two quick losses, it looked like the rout had begun. Blue had successfully crossed the Rengongawa. The fighting went a few rounds with each side dealing losses, but the dice were fairly cold; no units retreating and very few hits. Tsuchiya Masatsugu (blue) was brave and took his last soldier straight into the depths of Oda-Tokugawa’s lines and was handsomely rewarded by wiping out a full Ashigaru infantry spearmen unit on one roll and then following this up with damaging Hishiba Hideyoshi’s (red) unit and forcing them to retreat – the first retreat of the battle! The cavalry charge continued and Mizuno Nobotomo’s (red) unit was routed then destroyed. This should have been the end for Oda-Tokugawa, but final hits could not be rolled! The fighting continued 3 more rounds until an arquebusier unit took down the last of Takeda’s cavalry on a two-hit roll for the victory. Tokugawa suffered greater losses, and 3 generals took their own lives, but the day mimicked history; “unable to break the Oda defenses by mid-afternoon, the Takeda were forced to retire and the siege lifted.”

Renaud was extremely unlucky this game. He rolled 15 single-die leader-checks (and a ninja assassin!) but could never get a leader to fall. (I was slightly less unlucky going 0 for 11 in leader-checks). I love how the dice sometimes dictate strategy, and this was true to form in the battle. It made for a great afternoon. (The chances of getting zero successes in 27 leader checks is less than 1% - so I’m unlikely to see that again!)

logfile:

Boredbeyondbelief (Oda Tokugawa – RED) 7 Banners won 19 units lostPCScipio42 (Takada – BLUE) 5 Banners won 18 units lostLots of units on the battlefield, which makes sense given this is the center attack of a larger battle. Funnily enough, there were very few casualties. Partly this was due to Red getting four of their points through “order one unit” cards. It was also caused by red’s leader’s being notably fragile.The first three rounds saw little combat as both sides repositioned their lines. Eventually, Takeda (blue) approached the stream and crossed it with cavalry on their right flank. This would be the scene of all melee combat for the entire battle. Tokugawa never pressed hard out of their palisades and the fortifications, as well as the forests, kept Takeda’s cavalry from running rampant over the field. Still, I must credit Forrest for almost snatching a victory – I was ahead 6-2 until an Ambush took out one of my leaders. This was then followed by a hold and shoot accompanied by a fire arrows. After the skies cleared, it was 6-5. Two rounds later, Tokugawa finally went on the offensive, the final blow was delivered, and Takeda was forced to retire.

Round 1: G23 ANEGAWA 1570 AD (Tokugawa against Asakura)

DanieleC (Red - Asakura) Banners 4 Blocks 11
PCScipio42 (Blue - Tokugawa) Banners 1 Blocks 19

It starts with some exchange of ranged fire from the Asakura right and left answered by Tokugawa right where the blue army has a scary two Arquebusiers unit together with Samurai Bowmen. The main achievement of the fire exchange is an Asakura bowmen unit killed and the Tokugawa left flank Samurai infantry reduced to one block, that will be killed later by the Asakura Samurai Cavalry forcing Tadakatsu to retreat to the bowmen unit. After a couple of Serpent move by the Asakura the close combat starts with the Tokugawa pushing in the center and the Asakura maneuvering on their right to avoid the fire of the Arquebusiers, and while the Asakura centre was holding Kagetake drove his cavalry, assisted by a Panic Dragon card, against Tadakatsu and his Bowmen forcing them to retreat and killing the leader, gaining the last two banners needed.

Round 2 – G24 Anegawa 1570 AD

Boredbeyondbelief (Asai) 5 Banners 20 Blocks lost
Mark McG (Oda) 4 Banners 24 Blocks lost

With the two fairly even lines initially lined up, Asai started by weakening Oda’s line with some artillery, hoping for a quick score or the potential early fall of a leader. Oda, realizing that the best approach may have been getting their superior reinforcements involved, retreated their entire line, baiting Asai into playing the aggressor. After both sides bringing reinforcements forward and extending their lines, the battle began in earnest with Asai working their troops toward Oda’s line, now flanked by samurai cavalry. Oda’s right flank was the first to make melee contact, but Asai’s archers stood strong through the initial charge. But a quick follow-up attack by Asai proved foolish as Hideoshi and his mounted spearmen eliminated the samurai archers with a strong battle back. Hideoshi continued to press the right flank, causing terror and breaking up the line. However, Nagamasa galloped across the battlefield to meet Hideoshi, eliminating his unit and forcing him to retreat over the open fields. Hideoshi joined Oda’s samurai archers and continued the attack on the right flank. Losses occurred on both sides, but this time Hideoshi did not survive the loss of his unit and fell on the battlefield. With units on Odi’s right flank depleted, the battle turned to the center and left flank, with both armies clashing along the fronts of their lines. Here, Asai drew first blood and was at the point of forcing Oda to retire from the field of battle. But Oda pressed the attack and in heavy combat, with both sides suffering losses, Oda evened the score – with both sides on the tipping point of victory! However, a final push by Asai’s rallied troops were enough to score the finishing blow; Oda retired from the field and Asai held on for the win.This was an extremely close game and could have gone either way, with both sides having rolls for potential victory. I feel that I had the better of the dice rolls against Mark – including rolling 4 swords on a battle back to bring a Samurai Cavalry unit to the brink of extinction. It was a fun match to play – and one where H&F levels were well managed and didn’t come into play.

Round 4: G30 NAGASHINO 1575 AD (Takeda Right Attack)

DanieleC     (Red - Oda) 7 Banners, 17 Blocks lost 
JR             (Blue - Takeda) 3 Banners, 21 Blocks lost

As already said by other players in this battle either the Takeda Cavalry is able to cross the river and do a slaughter or the Oda Arquebusiers are able to stop them and save the day. Today the winners were the Oda’s. A timely Hold & Shoot right after the first advance of Takeda’s cavalry proved effective reducing three unit out of four to just one block. The weakened cavalry has then been decimated by another volley of arquebus and finally been preyed upon by the Oda’s samurai. The last fell under a Fire by Rank from three arquebusier’s units. In a nutshell, fire, fire, fire, with little close combat here and there. This is the story. 

Whilst I encourage the final heat matches to be played, the Semi-Final positions are now determined.
G22 ANEGAWA 1570 AD (Battle Overview)
Boredbeyondbelief vs goshublue 
gotigerssc vs Mark McG

Scenario 24
 
Blue (Forrest) 5 banners 16 blocks lost
Red (Cavie) 3 banners 23 blocks lost

Cavie came out firing missiles but without much success but garnering a lot of Honor tokens. Blue survived a charge on it's weak right flank and turned the tide when it killed a red leader not long after that. Blue goes ahead 3-2 and red pulls back and with some nifty play of dragon cards makes blue wrok really hard for the win, the final count was 5-3.

Fun game and lasted longer than regular game of this. Cavie is a fun and gracious opponent.