Historical Background
After Oda Nobunaga’s death and Akechi Mitsuhide’s defeat at Yamazaki, Hashiba Hideyoshi attempted to assume the position of the de facto successor of the Oda regime. To establish legitimacy, he proposed that the Oda leadership be passed onto Nobunaga’s three-year-old grandson Sanboushi. Shibata Katsuie, one of Nobunaga’s most senior generals, interpreted this as Hideyoshi’s obvious ploy to easily control the young lord and exert indirect power. However, Hideyoshi’s victory at Yamazaki brought a lot of leverage to the debate and at the Kiyosu Conference, things were mostly decided according to Hideyoshi’s wishes. Katsuie and Hideyoshi’s disagreement regarding Oda successorship was not over, however, as the relationship between the two factions quickly deteriorated. This eventually led to Katsuie’s invasion of Oumi and a confrontation at Shizugatake.
Sakuma Morimasa, Katsuie’s famous nephew, proposed a surprise attack against the enemy forces after noting Hideyoshi’s brief absence. He and his brother Shibata Katsumasa (Katsuie’s adopted son) traveled around Lake Yogo and attacked the Hideyoshi forces at Mt. Ooiwayama and Mt. Iwasakiyama from behind. The defenders led by Nakagawa Kiyohide and Takayama Ukon were caught off guard and prompted defeated, with Nakagawa losing his life defending the position. Hideyoshi was made aware of the defeat and immediately mobilized a relief force that traveled at unprecedented speed, covering more than 50 km in less than 5 hours. This would soon put a stop to Morimasa’s advance.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. Can you change history?
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| 15 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
Shibata Army
5 Command Cards
2 Dragon Cards
2 H&F Tokens
Move First
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| 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Hashiba Army
5 Command Cards
2 Dragon Cards
2 H&F Tokens
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| 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Victory
7 Banners
Special Rules
►Oni-Genba’s Rampage: When a unit attached to Sakuma Morimasa does close combat, tokens are not gained from token dice results. Instead, for each token symbol rolled, apply a flag to each adjacent enemy unit (not just the unit being attacked). Enemy player may choose the flag/retreat application order. This special action is not performed in battle backs by Sakuma’s attached unit.
►Lake Yogo is impassible (river hexes mark the boundaries).
►Reminder: Units retreat towards their own faction’s baselines regardless of their starting positions or assumed facing.
Source:
https://sengokubattles.blogspot.com/2021/06/battle-of-shizugatake-1583-part-1.html
Yuki's Post-Battle Notes and Trivia
• Nakagawa Kiyohide (E)IIMA-) was at the height of career after the battle of Yamazaki, but as you learned from this scenario he unfortunately lost his life at the Battle of Shizugatake.
• Born in the province of Settsu, he and his cousin Takayama Ukon (oiLutai, the other leader unit next to him in the scenario) were sucked into the chaotic local politics of the region. Eventually they joined Oda Nobunaga along with fellow up-and-comer Araki Murashige (X*4''M) as Nobunaga consolidated power in the region.
• When Araki Murashige (arguably inexplicably) revolted against Nobunaga in 1578, Kiyohide joined Murashige in defense in the Siege of Arioka Castle. However, he was later convinced by his brother-in-law to re-join Nobunaga. He then proceeded to aid in the destruction of Araki Murashige.
• He seemed to have a very close relationship with Hideyoshi. A preserved document dated 1580 states that he and Hideyoshi were sworn brothers. This could explain the numerous responsibilities Hideyoshi assigned to him in Yamazaki and Shizugatake.
• Very little is known about the motives for Kiyohide' s various decisions in his life. But it can be concluded that he was a prime candidate to serve for the upcoming Hideyoshi regime after his achievements in Yamazaki. Unfortunately he died to Sakuma Morimasa' s spear and we could only wonder what could have become of him. Of note, Araki Murashige was still alive at the time of Kiyohide' s death. Although he was living in disgrace after the Siege of Arioka Castle, he likely had the final laugh regarding Kiyohide.
• His final resting place is in the location depicted in this scenario, Mt. Ooiwayama()C4M), where he lost his life defending this strategic location. A tomb was built for him and it is located in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture. Be sure to pay it a visit when you' re making the Shizugatake tour in the area.
*I was going to find a more traditional track like I did for most scenarios for Sakuma Morimasa' s charging theme but I ended up using a rock track instead because his personality can' t be contained by lighter songse.