Round 5: G26 THE RAVINE NEAR SAIGADAKE 1572 AD
John (Red/Tokugawa) 3 banners won, 13 blocks lost
JR (Blue/Takeda) 4 banners won, 18 blocks lost (plus one seppuku)
This was a tight little asymmetric knife fight. As Takeda, I struggled to get across the ravine with any strength given my three-card hand; my issues were compounded when John annihilated a Samurai Spearman cav unit in the ravine, forcing Yamagata Masakage to commit seppuku due to lack of honor. However, the Tokugawa position is vulnerable to flank attack if the Takeda clan can work their way around either flank, and sure enough, my left-flank cav emerged from behind the hills to hit John's bowmen and arquebusiers on that side. That plus an eliminated unit gave me two banners to John's three.
The next several turns were a high-wire act for both sides. John needed only one banner, but I was close to getting another unit across the ravine. John missed several high-probability shots, but scored three flags on a Samurai Bow cav unit, earning me my first-ever Lack of Honor roll! The unit was down to one block but I didn't roll any red, and ended up only losing a single step on six dice - very fortunate. John unleashed a storm of firepower on the unit but it was able to scamper out of range without further loss. I was then finally to push a formation of Ashigaru spearmen across the ravine on the right for a prospective third banner if I lived that long.
John now had a dilemma - he had two low-strength units, one with a single block, adjacent to my Samurai Spearmen cav - could he drive them back? He played Red Dragon but failed to roll any red. I burned the last of my honor playing Followers of Bishamon - it was now or never, as John went in for close combat. His inspired bowmen whiffed, but my cavalry did not on the battle back. That scored a banner, which, along with the banner I got at the beginning of my next turn for the Ashigaru, put me over the victory threshold for a very close win.
This was a much more interesting battle than I expected when I saw its size and asymmetry. I can see why the Takeda hand size is limited - otherwise they are likely to get too many flank moves and will end up enveloping the Tokugawa line. It is a fun little race, and well worth another few plays to explore options for each side.
