Historical Background
After the Battle of Norada in 1560, Azai Nagamasa definitively defeated Rokkaku Yoshikata and successfully established Azai’s independence from Rokkaku. Dodo Morizane, the owner of Sawayama Castle participated in the battle, switching his alliance from Rokkaku to Azai, which greatly angered Rokkaku Yoshikata. When war broke out between the Azai and the Saitou of Mino, Rokkaku Yoshikata saw it as an opportunity to exact his vengeance on Dodo. In order to penetrate the strong defenses at the castle, Yoshikata employed the famous Iga ninja, Iganosaki Doujun.
Doujun brought his group of ninja mercenaries and devised a plan to disable the castle’s defenses. Doujun cleverly utilized explosives to drive out entrenched enemies and infiltrated the castle itself, using bombs and smoke to disrupt commands and communications. The Dodo army fell into complete chaos and Sawayama Castle fell to the Rokkaku.
Dodo Morizane was killed in action and the strained relationship between Rokkaku and Azai continued.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. Can you change history?
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| 1 | 3 | 13 | 8 |
Dodo Army
4 Command Cards
2 Dragon Cards
2 H&F Tokens
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| 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Rokkaku Army
5 Command Cards
2 Dragon Cards
4 H&F Tokens
Move First
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| 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Victory
7 Banners
Special Rules
►Blue Ashigaru spear units (labeled “Ninja Troopers”) are Ninja Trooper units and they start with 3 blocks. See below for unit rules.
►Fence hexes are palisades.
Ninja Trooper units:
Historical ninjas often participated in sieges and fought alongside regular troops. They used their specialized expertise to defeat enemies in various defensive positions.
Class: Medium Foot (therefore medium armor).
Movement: 1 hex and may battle or 2 hexes and not battle.
Close combat: 3 dice.
Range combat: none.
Start with 3 blocks instead of 4
Ninja Trooper special unit rules:
1. May retreat 1-3 hexes per flag rolled against it. Only loses 1 token per flag regardless of the number of hexes retreated.
2. Adjacent enemy units lose all terrain protection (terrain they are on no longer restrict combat dice from attackers or provide any other benefit such as ignoring flags).
3. When inspired, in addition to +1 close combat die, any flag rolled in this combat cannot be ignored.
Cards and effects that refer to "ashigaru" don't apply to Ninjas. Cards that refer to "medium" (blue triangle) do.
Source:
https://sengokubattles.blogspot.com/2021/08/battle-of-sawayama-1560-with-ninja-units.html
Yuki's Post-Battle Notes and Trivia
• Contrary to popular depictions, the work of a ninja in Sengoku era was not all that glorious or flashy.
• Most of the time, ninjas worked on gathering intelligence and spreading disinformation. These tasks rarely involved flying on rooftops. Many wore disguises and blended into the general population to the best of their abilities so that no one could actually tell that they were ninjas.
• Assassinations were performed by ninjas occasionally, but assassins have existed throughout history in many parts of the world and they were by no means the exclusive role of ninjas.
• The most direct combat-related roles ninjas played were akin to those of modern-day combat engineers. Ninjas had specialized knowledge regarding explosives and disabling enemy defenses or destroying other objectives. They often fought alongside regular soldiers, but as a mercenary group in fewer numbers.
• The ninja leader featured in this scenario was Iganosaki Doujun (OVOCEIR). It is very hard to find specific depictions of ninjas in historical documents, most likely because of the anonymous nature of their work. Iganosaki Doujun' s tales were some of the few that were recorded. It was known that his group used fire and explosives to cause disruption of enemy communication and caused confusion, leading to the downfall of the Dodo defenders at Sawayama Castle.
• It was recorded that Iganosaki Doujun also attempted an assassination of Oda Nobunaga, but it ended in a failure as his shot landed on the person next to Nobunaga.
• The Iga ninjas were a robust group of specialized mercenaries that served central Japan. In the time of this scenario, they were mostly employed by the Rokkaku.
Modern depiction of Iganosaki Doujun, with a more appropriate 'tough combatant leader" look instead of a fictional night-stalking assassin appearance.
As the Rokkaku declined they served other lords as well.
• The most famous Iga ninja is probably Hattori Hanzou Onli**), the iconic ninja who served Tokugawa Ieyasu and regularly appears in countless video games and TV shows. It was believed that Iganosaki Doujun later served the Tokugawa as well.
• Overall, the mainstay of a ninja' s work involved psychological warfare, informational manipulation and specialized combat assistance. Personal heroism and legendary martial arts along with the ability to fly probably could have helped with these goals, but were by no means characteristic of a historical ninja.