SBVT08 Lesser played scenarios

toganalper wrote:

European Round 4
G25 MIKATA-GA-HARA 1572 AD

ToganAlper (Takeda) 7 banners won 18 blocks Lost
Riverwanderer  (Tokugawa) 4 Banners won 26 blocks lost

In the final momnets the flying geese made a big difference for Takeda to seal the win

 

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"Spirit of Kishijoten" was mis-played just near the end - the card is for re-rolling your own combat roll, not forcing your opponent to re-roll theirs. It pays to check your opponent's card text, that mistake lost me a banner. Hey ho.
 

American Draw: Round 4: G25 Mikata Ga Hara 1572 AD 

kwofford (Ken) (Red(Tokugawa)): 5 banners won, 35 blocks lost

boredbeyondbelief (Eric) (Blue(Takeda)): 7 banners won, 24 blocks lost

Like the historical battle, there was the sacrifice of many brave generals - 3 of the 12 banners (25%) were scored through leader elimination. After a few volleys of arrows, Takeda attempted to use the superior center forces to split Tokugawa's army. However, this was hindered from an inability to order troops in the middle throughout the game, Takeda had a difficult time with communications to his troops! Finally, a cavalry charge by Takeda brought the battle in earnest. Units battled it out in the middle while Takeda attempted to slowly weaken Tokugawa's right flank. The Tokugawa right flank would prove immensely strong, repelling multiple advances and forcing numerous retreats. When the sides did finally meet, Tokugawa's flank would not only hold, but eliminate Obata and his samurai spearmen! It was the last victory on the battlefield for Tokugawa who make a last ditch charge at Takeda line before falling to the counterattack. 

Ken played a great game and made this closer than it had any right to be (look at the figure count to see how wily Ken was at protecting wounded units!). It was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon for both of us.

Game file: 

Round 5: G26

Cavie (Takeda): 4 banners won, 16 blocks lost
azcat (Tokugawa): 1 banner won, 16 blocks lost

This game looked to be short at 4 banners but ended up almost 2 hours with the maneuvering around the ravine instead of too much battle within it.  Takeda took quite a few shots while trying to figure out a battle plan with 3 command cards.  Physician card helped a little but eventually the Ashigaru unit that started in the ravine was taken out.  The leader attached escaped the leader check and retreated to the the Samurai Cavalry which was a mistake we both missed.  This rule is one I have only referenced one other time a long time ago and feel bad that I forgot it.  I apologize again Greg, and thanks for being a forgiving opponent about it.  I will remember this one in the future for certain now!
Takeda cavalry continued to circle around the mountains and finally had enough orders to finish moving toward the Tokugawa center and effectively battle.  As much as I wanted to battle in the ravine and see if I could score banners by crossing, it didn't make sense with the amount of fire I expected and received in the beginning.

It was a great game with Greg who with (as he mentioned) only a little C&C experience is a very competitive and excellent opponent.  Hope we can play again sometime Greg, and thanks again for the understanding on the missed rule and keeping with the spirit of good sportsmanship in these tournaments!
 
 

Anyone hear from Gonzo?

G39 DOMYOJI 1615 AD (Heights of Komatsuyama)
Round 1 European Draw

Greg O (Tokugawa) 5 Banners Won 19 Blocks Lost
Mark B - RiverWanderer (Osaka) 2 Banners Won  21 Blocks Lost

The battle started with Tokugawa using it's ranged attacks to drive the Osaka right flank back off the hill and then moved to a extended battle for the left flank of the hill.   

American Draw: Round 2: G40 Domyoji 1615 AD (Battle Among the Tombs)

EZPickens (John) (Red(Osaka)): 1 banner won, 19 blocks lost

JimDauphinais (Jim) (Blue(Tokugawa)): 5 banners won, 12 blocks lost


Initially, both John and I focused on skirmishing with bowman and an arquebusiers in all three sections.  I eventually drove John back from the woods on his left and engaged one of my spearman in the cetner to tie down his missile unit there.  I also started bringing up my Samurai units on my left to get them into the fight.

John succeeded in driving my spearman in the center back, but I then hit him hard on his right with a Leadership card ordering a Samurai spearman cavalry unit with an attached leader as well as a supporting Ashigaau spearman unit.  I was also able to play Spirit of Kishijoten to reroll one of the resulting close combats.  The outcome was pretty devastating -- John lost one of his Samurai spearman units, a leader (to a leader casualty check) and two arquebusier blocks.

John then played a Cavalry Charge to try to drive back my attack on his right, but it had mixed results with us each losing three Samurai spearman cavalry blocks.

At this point, on the front line, John had a bowman unit on his left with just one block left and an arquebusier and Samurai spearman cavalry unit on his right each with one block left.  This set me up to play an Out Flanked card to try to pick off these weakened units.  His bowman unit on his right successfully retreated without loss.  However, on his right, John lost both the arquebusier unit and Samurai spearman cavalry unit.  In addition, the leader that was attached to his Samurai unit committed seppuku.  The banner score at this point was very one sided, 4 Tokugawa to 0 Osaka.

John was then able to score a banner on his right with an Infantry Onslaught card by taking out my Samurai spearman cavalry unit that had caused most of the grief on his right and was now down to just one block.  He did this despite me playing a First Strike card, which was ultimately ineffective.

I then played Shogun enhanced by a Fire by Rank Dragon card. I rolled very well gaining orders for two heavy units, one medium unit and one unit of my choice.  In the end, this allowed me take out his bowman unit that was down to one block on his left, scoring the fifth banner for Tokugawa.

I felt I had the right cards come at the right time and my Samurai spearman cavalry unit with an attached mounted leader on my left, which scored four of my five banners, was very lucky with the dice.  While I had certainly set myself up well to exploit the cards and dice that came to me, in general, the cards and dice did not seem to be in John's favor.

 

Note there is an error in the setup for Scenario 40 Domoyoji 1615 AD (Battle Among the Tombs) in Version 1.41 of the VASSAL Module.

Though it should only have a negligible impact in most games, the Red (Osaka) Ashigaru Arquebusier unit in the in center shown in the setup for the scenario in the module should be an Ashigaru Bowman unit, not an Ashigaru Arquebusier unit.

Also, the Blue (Tokugawa)  Samurai Spearman Cavalry unit with an attached Mounted Leader in the Center should start one hex to the left of where it is shown in the setup for the scenario in the module.  This should also only have a negligible impact in most games.

American Draw: Round 3: G34 Takakura Castle 1585 AD

kwofford (Ken) (Red(Date)): 5 banners won, 30 blocks lost

JimDauphinais (Jim) (Blue(Allies)): 9 banners won, 25 blocks lost


This is an interesting scenario (due to its 9 banner/5 Command Card per side length and the terrain), but also a very one-sided scenario (due to the three victory hexes only applying to the Allies and also being permanent victory banners immediately upon occupation).  This said, the scenario lends itself very well to Mark's tournament format in that in the tournament as the Date you are really playing for as many banners as possible (before your likely loss of the scenario) in order to give yourself the best chance of advancement in the tournament versus the other Red players in your draw.  In other words, the Date are effectively playing for the most honorable defeat unless they get very lucky relative to the Allies player.

As the Allies player, I planned to methodically take the three permanent victory banner hexes by: (i) positioning units for an eventual assault on the castle on the Date left (with a plan of waiting for the cards needed to crack that very strong position), (ii) positioning units in the center for an assault on the village in the center and (iii) bringing forward my powerful Samurai forces on my left (two spearman cavalry units, two spearmen units, one bowman unit and a mounted leader) to block Ken from reinforcing the village in the center while setting up for an eventual capture of the bridge in Ken's center backfield.

What subsequently ensued is one of the most epic playings of a Samurai Battles scenario that I have experienced.

I opened with an Advance Right to move my missile units near the castle to my right while bringing up my Ashigaru Spearman for an eventual assault on the Date Castle.

Ken countered with Flying Geese to:(i) bring forward his right and center units to the aid the defense of the village in the center and (ii) start bringing units on his left over the river.

I then played a "Heavies" Command Card to bring up my five Samurai units and make my first attack on the village.  The latter went well as his defending Samurai spearman unit lost two blocks, while I lost none. In addition, in the immediately following card draw I got very lucky drawing a Cavalry Charge card with two of my Samurai spearman cavalry units in a nearly perfect position to use it.

Ken then played a lucky card draw of his own, Hold and Shoot, with two of his arquebusier units within three hexes of my Samurai units.  With it, he scored the first banner of the game by eliminating one of my full-strength Samurai spearman cavalry units.  He also put a nice dent in my up to then strong Honor and Fortune lead by forcing me to retreat the mounted leader that was attached to the unit that was eliminated.  Date 1, Allies 0.

Despite this loss, I still went forward with my planned play of my Cavalry Charge card given I was able to retreat my leader to my other Samurai spearman cavalry on my left and I was also holding two useful Dragon Cards -- Head Collector (which I played with the Cavalry Charge Card) and Desperate Charge.  With the Cavalry Charge, I charged into one of Ken's arquebusier units (with Ken's other Arquebusier unit adjacent to it) and brought my center Samurai spearman cavalry unit over to my left to be ready to sustain it.  My attack was not very successful as I was only able to inflict two block losses on the arquebusier and took one block loss on my Samurai spearman cavalry unit.

Ken respond by playing a Serpent Command Card along with a Spirit of Haya-Ji Dragon Card.  With these plays, he encircled my exposed Samurai spearman cavalry unit.  His first attacks two that unit down to a single block.  As a result, I then played my Desperate Charge Dragon card in response for the battle back. It resulted in three flags being rolled, of which only two he could ignore (Samurai and attached mounted leader), causing his Honor and Fortune to drop to 1 while mine was at 11.  This said, his second attack took out my unit and left me with little alternative but to have my leader commit seppuku given I would have otherwise been required to retreat the leader through enemy units.  The score was now Date 2, Allies 0, but the Date now only had 3 Honor and Fortune versus the Allies now having 16 Honor and Fortune.

I came back with a Leadership Card that I played on my mounted leader (which I had earlier brought over from my back center with the Cavalry Charge) and my Samurai units on my left center that were now in striking range of both the village and the Date reinforcements near the village. My attacks were fairly effective. His Samurai bowman in the village dropped down to single block and he lost two blocks each on an arquebusier unit and a Samurai spearman cavalry unit, while I took no block losses or retreats from battle backs.

Ken countered with an Advance Center enhanced by the play of a Fire by Rank Dragon Card.  However, Ken was not aware I was now holding a Shot Proof Armor Dragon Card.  This turned out to be very frustrating for him as he rolled an amazing three swords result on his arquebusier shot against one of my Samurai bowman units, which I then proceeded to entirely block with the play of my Shot Proof Armor Dragon Card.  That armor was quite shot proof!  In total, Ken's attacks did not go well.  I lost a Samurai bowman block, but he lost a Samurai spearman cavalry block and a Samurai spearman unit block.  This left him with two units adjacent to me that were down to a single block (his Samurai spearman cavalry unit and the Samurai bowman in the village).  The score remained at Date 2, Allies 0, but the Honor and Fortune difference had now narrowed to 13 Allies versus 7 Date.

I came back with my own Advance Center play.  My attacks were highly effectively -- eliminating three of his units (a Samurai spearman cavalry unit, a Samurai bowman unit and a arquebusier unit) and capturing the village with no block losses to myself.  The banner score had now dramatically swung to 4 Allies, 2 Date, but the Honor and Fortune difference had further narrowed to 11 Allies, 7 Date.

In the subsequent back and forth card plays by Ken and myself, I was able to finish off the remnants of Ken's forces on his right center (a Samurai spearman and an arquebusier) and got within two hexes of the bridge in his center backfield.  The banner score was now 6 Allies, 2 Date, but Honor and Fortune was now nearly even at 9 Date and 8 Allies.

Ken then played a Flying Geese card enhanced with a Move as the Wind Dragon Card to move units from his left center to defend the bridge.  I was able to clip this move a bit by playing an Insult Dragon card on his Samurai spearman unit that had his last leader in his backfield attached to it.

I then played an Order Two Units Center card to commence my attack on the bridge.  I did not capture the bridge, but caused him to lose four blocks (three Ashigauru spearman and one Ashigaru bowman), while incurring no losses of my own.

Ken came back with his own Order Two Units Center card to replace the bridge defender and counterattack.  This did not go well with him take two block losses to none for me.  However, he was able to a Wise Advisor Dragon card at the end of his turn to pull any Command Card he wanted out of the discard pile rather than draw a Command Card.

I then played a Counterattack card in attempt to finish off Ken's defense of the bridge.  This did not go well for me in that, while I caused Ken to lose a couple of blocks, I lost a leader to a casualty check and a Samurai spearman cavalry block causing me to begin to lose steam in my attempt to capture the bridge.  The banner score was now 6 Allies, 3 Date with us both at an Honor and Fortune level of 7.

Ken was then able then to pull his severely depleted units back and insert a new defender for the bridge.

At this point, I had no cards to that would allow me to activate my center units near the bridge to continue my attempt to capture it.  However, over the course of the game, I had managed to draw a Panic Dragon Card (which cancels ignore flags for all units) -- a card that could be very helpful for an assault attempt on the castle on the Date left (flags that cannot be ignored in the castle hex are turned into block losses).  Therefore, I played a "Mediums" card along with my Panic Command Card.  This turned into a small fiasco for me as the play of the card lowered my Honor and Fortune going into the attacks to 4.  I only caused one hit on the defender of the castle, but lost three Ashigaru spearman blocks and Ken scored four flags on my Ashigaru Spearman with an attached leader with that unit only two hexes from the backfield.  I only had 3 Honor and Fortune left for the retreats as I had spent one on the attack.  As a result, I had a to make a Loss of Honor roll, which cost me three additional blocks.  In hindsight, I played this particular turn very badly as I should have never played the Panic Dragon Card with only 7 Honor and Fortune available to me (it costs 3 Honor and Fortune to play).

Ken then proceeded to finish off the remnants of my Ashigaru spearman unit that was still adjacent to the castle.  The banner score was now 6 Allies, 4 Date with Honor and Fortune now at 10 Date, 2 Allies.

I now had a Order One Unit Center card and played it to try to take the bridge, but without the help of inspiration since I no longer had an attached leader to call upon near the bridge. My attack failed with no losses to either side.

Ken then did something I did not expect.  He played an Infantry Onslaught Card on his defending unit in the castle in order to sortie and try to pick off a weakened Ashigaru Spearman on my baseline.  In addition, to take advantage of his lead in Honor and Fortune, he also played Personal Challenge. He failed to eliminate my unit, but he did kick my leader out of the game through the Personal Challenge causing me to drop to three Command Cards.

I then played an Order Two Units Right Card to: (i) move into the empty castle (immediately scoring me a banner and causing Ken's hand size to also drop to three Command Cards) and (ii) attacking his Samurai spearman cavalry unit that had sortied from the castle.  I did not eliminate the unit, but did cause enough losses for it to fall down to a single block.  The banner score was now 7 Allies, 4 Date with Honor and Fortune at 9 Date, 6 Allies.

Ken then played an Order Three Units Left Card enhanced by an Ninja Assassin Dragon Card play.  His Ninjas failed to eliminate my leader.   However, with his sortied unit, he did finally eliminate my weakened Ashigaru Spearman on my baseline.  The banner score was now 7 Allies, 5 Date with Honor and Fortune at 8 Date, 6 Allies.

In the immediately following exchange of card plays, I failed to eliminate his sortied unit with a Hold and Fire play (which Ken frustrated with a White Fox Spirit Dragon Card), but then Ken's follow up attack on one of my exposed Ashigari bowman units (that had no retreat path) failed and resulted in Ken losing his last block of the sortied unit.  Given the attached leader had no retreat path except through enemy units, Ken had the surviving leader commit seppuku.  The banner score was now 8 Allies, 5 Date with Honor and Fortune at 9 Date, 7 Allies.

I now played an Order Two Unit Center card to make yet another attempt to take the bridge in Ken's center backfield.  Ken attempted to block this by playing a First Strike Command Card in combination with a Revenge Dragon Card.  Unfortunately, he whiffed his dice roll and my close combat attack took out his attacking unit.  Game over.  Allies 9 banners, Date 5 banners.

I felt Ken and I were well matched in skill level.  Ken did a great job of getting as many banners as he could.  The only mistakes I think he made were in not buffing up his Honor and Fortune enough early in the game and then later in the game falling for the allure of the Infantry Onslaught/Personal Challenge combo, which was admittedly pretty cool and would have been pretty hard for me to resist as well.  On my end, I made a big mistake late in the game by playing the Panic Dragon Card with only 7 Honor and Fortune in hand and then complicating it further by spending another Honor and Fortune to inspire an attack.  I too had fallen too easily for the allure of a card play without considering its potential implications.  


 

Hi all;

Has anyone heard from Gonzo?  Sent a couple of messages without reply : (
 

Game G39 Europan Tournament

javelinthrower (red) :1 banner
toganalper (blue):  5 banner

my computer totally crushed I send the pc to repair hopefully will recover my filers. I do not remember the block count or ı do not have the file may be javelinthrower can help me with this If I maange to get into my computer then I. will post a report