Battle 6: Lion
vs. Crane: 2000 Koku
This was the largest battle I'd played yet. Several factors, including
the size of the armies, the amount of terrain on the table, and the fact
that we were experimenting with some new rules, conspired to make this
game quite a marathon. When we finally gave up due to exhaustion,
the Crab had 11 VP and the Crane had 9.
Crane Forces (2000 koku) consisted of:
Lion Forces (2001 Koku) consisted of:
This was a fascinating, if exhausting battle. The command group and
the shugenja were both valuable assets to the Crane army, but ultimately
not enough to save it. The battle started very slowly. There
was one early initial engagement where the Doji's Fan engaged the Akodo
Death Seekers, and inflicted minor casualties while being decimated themselves.
As an odd stroke of luck, the Crane cavalry made their morale check, and
the Death Seekers botched theirs and became broken. At the same time,
the wardens nearly engaged the Daidoji (regular) Spearmen, but the Elite
Archers were able to butcher Agetoki's unit in spite of his ability, and
he turned his troops around at the last minute. The next several
turns went very slowly, as the Crane maneuvered to brace for the Lion assault,
and the Lions maneuvered around and through terrain to try to get the Crane's
flank, and, more importantly, keep out of range and LOS of the crane Archers.
By the time the Lions made it through the woods, the crane pikemen were
ready. But the ferocious lions were more than a match for the defensive
cranes. After the Daidoji Iron Warriors and their yari killed off
the Death Seekers, Matsu Gohei personally slew the rest of the Iron Warriors,
while the Wardens slaughtered what was left of Doji's Fan and wheeled around
to Kuwanen's rear flank. The Daidoji spearmen were broken in combat
against the Matsu House Guard, but the Kenshinzen were able to flank the
house guards. What ensued was a gruelling bloodbath, and when it
was over most of the Crane personalities were dead, and the only unit with
any strength left were the Elite Archers. The lion units were reduced
to single personalities, and the crane to two or three models apiece (with
no commander).
Lessons Learned in this battle:
-
Yari are very effective against low TL units such as the Akodo Death Seekers,
but
only in the first round.
-
An army needs a good anchor unit, with at least 20 or so wounds worth of
models in it. The Crane were crushed because their line had no strong
point to absorb the lion assault.
-
Duels are very risky. Don't enter them unless you're certain you
can win. Doji Hoturi vs. Hida Tampako is a pretty certain win.
Doji Yosai versus Ikoma Ujiaki is not. (Even if Yosai is borrowing
Toshimoko's Iaijutsu: 7). And even if you have the advantage, you
must watch out for Kharmic Strike and even Another Time.
-
The command group was a mixed blessing. Borrowing skills was helpful,
though borrowing Iaijutsu was not as helpful as I had hoped. The
extra tactical card was nice, though I was out of cards by the end of the
game. The extra Free Mauever was very nice. The reroll
on a morale check was very nice (especially since Toshimoko has 7 void).
On the other hand, for the koku I sunk into the command group, I could
have bought another 8 Iron Warriors, which might have proved much more
useful.
Using Oath of Fealty to put Uona in command of my Archers was pretty
cool. 13 Elite archers firing at +2 ATT with a range of 20" was enough
to make the lion to decide to take the scenic route, which gave me the
time I needed to maneuver into position. The only problem is her
leadership score is low (which can make getting into and out of the Archer's
Row a little sticky). But if she can borrow the Generals, through
command group signalers, its not too much of a problem.
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