Historical Background
Alliance's right flank in the southern sector of the Shitaragahara battlefield at Shourakuji was relatively weakly defended compared to the rest of the battle line. Yamagata Masakage quickly identified this as a weak spot for a possible breakthrough. He initiated the charge with his elite Akazonae troops and made first contact with the enemy. The Ookubo brothers from the Tokugawa clan, Tadayo and Tadasuke, were in charge of defending Shourakuji. They set up formation in front of the first layer of palisades behind the Rengogawa River, attempting to stop Yamagata from crossing.
A ferocious fight ensued. Despite their great effort, they could not defeat the Yamagata Akazonae at the river and were forced to retreat back to the palisades for protection. The Akazonae's momentum was stalled at the palisades and the fight became a stalemate. After reassessing the situation, Yamagata Masakage decided to approach the battle from a different angle.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. Can you change history?
Optional Campaign Rules:
If Torii Suneemon escaped in scenario 01, Takeda player starts the game with -1 command card.
If both forts were majority-occupied by Oda-Tokugawa at the end of scenario 02, Tokugawa player starts with +3 H&F tokens.
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| 3 | 5 | 11 | 5 |
Takeda Army
6 Command Cards
2 Dragon Cards
4 H&F Tokens
Move First
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| 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Tokugawa Army
4 Command Cards
1 Dragon Cards
1 H&F Tokens
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| 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Victory
6 Banners
• Takeda unit reaching any of Tokugawa's baseline hex gains Takeda player a permanent Victory Banner. Only one Banner can be gained this way.
Special Rules
• Takeda's Cavalry units are Akazonae.
Special ability: Shock attack -After close combat rolls, any sword rolled may be converted to a flag. This action cannot be performed in battling back.
• For Yamagata Masakage, leader casualty check is only performed for the last unit block loss and for when he is attacked as a lone leader. Ninja Assassin dragon card cannot be used against him.
• Rengogawa River is fordable.
Yuki's Post-Battle Notes and Trivia
• The Akazonae (/,11U._), literally "red gear" , refers to various elite military organizations in the Sengoku period. These troops wore vermillion-colored helmets and armors. The vermillion dye was valuable at the time and the color scheme was meant to both threaten the enemies and function as a status symbol.
• The first to popularize the Akazonae was Obu Toramasa (PRVM), a samurai of the Takeda clan. Known as the "Ferocious Tiger of Kai" (ENWAIA), he played a central role in numerous Takeda military operations. In his later years, Toramasa was roped into Takeda' s internal political strife and ended up committing suicide after a failed coup.
• After Toramasa's death, his younger brother Obu Masakage inherited his Akazonae troops. Masakage was later given the family name "Yamagata" ( IUA), both to symbolically commemorate the Yamagata family that once served the Takeda years ago and possibly to avoid political trouble that his old family name would bring.
• Yamagata Masakage (I1-Orligik) further consolidated the image of the Akazonae as fearsome warriors with an impressive record of military achievements. Even when facing against overwhelming odds at Nagashino, the Yamagata Akazonae fought courageously, giving everything they had to complete their mission.
• After the demise of the Takeda Clan, the remaining veterans of the Yamagata Akazonae were reorganized under Tokugawa' s young general Ii Naomasa (40-a ), who became the spiritual successor of Yamagata Masakage. He led the new iteration of Akazonae to new frontiers of glory in many of the later Tokugawa victories, earning him the nickname "Ii the Red Devil" (40-MM).
• The final major appearance of Sengoku era Akazonae was at the Siege of Osaka, where Sanada Yukimura(AWW) famously organized a squadron of red riders that charged against Tokugawa Ieyasu' s main camp. This Akazonae also had a symbolic significance as the Sanada family had a long history with the Takeda (some of Yukimura' s older relatives fought in Nagashino and will appear in the following scenarios).
• In fact, most of popular media' s depictions of Takeda troops come from the characteristic appearances of the Akazonae riders. The Takeda army in TV shows and novels are often portrayed as a pure cavalry army. However, because the Kai Province (Takeda' s homeland) was extremely mountainous, the production and usage of horses were few and far between. Only a small elite fraction of the Takeda army was historically composed of cavalries, and this certainly was the case at Nagashino. The "arquebus vs cavalry" trope about the Battle of Nagashino has long been debunked by most historians.