Round 1 009 First Battle of Azuki-Zaka (1542)
Imagawa Samurai Army (Red/Cavie): 1 Banner won, 19 figures lost
Oda Samurai Army (Yellow/toddrew): 5 Banners won, 11 figures lost
Both sides very tentative to start. If Oda had read the Dragon Cards more carefully, likely would have been more aggressive. Usually having lots of experience with other C&C games is an advantage, but in this case, the card titled "Move as the Wind" in BattleLore allows only one unit to be targeted, so after reading the title of the dc "Move as the Wind", assumed it also would only order one unit. So Oda moved backward to attempt to form a large Serpent Command rather than forward. Imagawa responded in kind, after taking a hit from a snipe of the Oda Arquebus unit.
Ranged attacks and positioning adjustments occurred for the next couple of turns. One way that the tactics of the two sides did differ was Oda drawing heavily from the Dragon Card deck, while Imagawa mostly took honor and fortune. Add to that, an early Tea Ceremony play by Imagawa netted 5 hf. However, it was the Oda low risk gamble that paid greater dividends. First blood was a Ninja Assassin that succeeded in removing Yuhra, the lone Mounted Leader for Imagawa.
Perhaps a little prematurely, but not wanting to get sniped over and over again by the Oda Arquebus unit, Imagawa made the first strong move with Infantry Onslaught to close in on the weak and weakened (2 figure spearmen on the hills) Oda right flank. Imagawa spearmen hit the Oda arquebuses, but didn't, whiffing on 3d, though bb also had no effect. However, positioning was bad for the Oda Counter Attack. A nervous turn, as Imagawa had plenty of hf and a few dragon cards, but Oda went all out to try to gain two banners, surrounding the Imagawa spearmen and threatening their Naginata as well. After a weak first 4d only got one hit, the next 4d finished the trapped Imagawa spearmen (three of the four hits were from flags), and then came the next big decision - to attack the 3 figured Imagawa Naginata, or just keep the superior positioning. Throwing caution to the wind, the Foot Leader attached Oda Spearmen took ground and attacked the Naginata, scoring a hit, and only suffering one hit on the battle back (an honor result on the leader check, which would be the first of three straight such results). The first big moment had arrived, Naginata on Naginata, 5d from the Oda unit, no dragon card play still by the Imagawa side. 2 hits and game is severely in jeopardy for Imagawa. Only one hit. Battle back and turn coming up. The now 1 figure Imagawa Naginata is perfectly set up for a Desperate Charge, and the Oda side is slapped with 6d. Expecting the worst, only a distressing result of two hits, and an honor result on the leader check.
Down two banners, but looking to break the game back to their side, Imagawa prepares to unleash the mounted tank with a Cavalry Charge. However, the dc drawing pays off for Oda, and the leader attached to the Mounted reds quickly turns from advantage to weakness as Insult is played, negating the entire turn. The Oda side is then able to overpower the 1 figure Naginata and weaken the Imagawa archers - but not push them from the hills and gain important position for the Oda's own weakened Naginata unit, remaining within reach of the Imagawa mounted unit. With no Insults left to spit
So they come. The Imagawa horses run at the 2 figured Oda Naginata. No Insult, but after fighting the irrationality of trying to know what the dice will do, rather than hoping for a single hit or whiff on the 5d, Oda Ambushes with 6d, and is able to score two hits before being run over by the mounted unit, leading to Nobuyamu's Seppuku, as the Oda hf had gotten down to two tokens. The follow on combat against the Arquebus unit in the hills is also successful, scoring a hit and moving them back on the hills.
Here is where the Oda commander realizes that Move as the Wind allows all ordered infantry to move an additional hex, leading to a sub-optimal play, but one that Oda takes, wanting to finish off the Imagawa single figure archers while they are still within reach. However, the three tokens spent to pull of the inspired 3d are all for naught as no hit and no flag is rolled. Nobumitsu is now hung out to dry, setting up the next critical moment of the game: the single die from the fleeing archers misses, but the advantage is still with Imagawa as the two-figure Yari faced Oda's three-figure spearmen. Bravery is played to brace for the roll - more to save expending hf on a potential multiple flag roll rather than do much on the battle back. This turns out to be a waste of hf as only one flag is rolled along with a single hit and survival of the leader check. The decision is made to inspire the battle back, and it turns out to be a wise decision, as two reds are rolled among the 4d, leading to a fourth banner and Seppuku for the unnamed foot leader.
One more dramatic moment would come, as Oda chased down the single-figure Imagawa archers for the last banner. Should have seen it coming when Ninja Thief was used to grab Desperate Charge, but still was a long shot when Noumitsu and his two-figure spearmen used Spirit of Haya-Ji (the "real" Move as the Wind
) to corner the archers against the baseline. First Strike and Desperate Charge were the play, but the 4d were the wrong color, three reds and a flag. The inspired 4d from the Oda spearmen were enough, and the game ended 5-1.
This was clearly the right thing to do but I have to admit that, at that time, I did not even contemplate it. So we can safely conclude that, at least in this case, the victory went to the better player. However, thanks for pointing it out. I appreciate it. I will take notice for future games 
