Battle Report 4

Crane vs. Crab: 1000 koku

In the foothills of the mountains that divide Yasuki Yashiki and Shinden Asahina, two small, elite forces meet and battle is joined.

Crane Army: 1000 koku:
DHG - 12 Doji House Guard led by Doji Yosai, equipped with a Yumi (+1 ATT)
EG - 19 Empress' Guard led by Doji Kuwanan, equipped with a No-Dachi (+1 DAM)

Tactical Deck: All or Nothing, An Unguarded Moment, Charge, 2 Counter-Charge, 2 Defensive Position, 3 Focus, 2 Iaijutsu Duel, Indirect Fire, 2 Know the Terrain, Martyr, 2 One-Strike Duel, 2 Parade Ground Practice, 2 Strength of Purity, 2 Superior Tactics, 2 Arrow Knows the Way, To do as I Must, 2 Turtle Shell

Crab Army: 1009 koku:
HHG - 12 Hida House Guard led by Hida Sukune, equipped with Gunsen of Water
CHE - 13 Crab Heavy Elite led by Hida Tampako

Tactical Deck: Advantage of Cover, An Unguarded Moment, 3 Another Time, 2 Bad Kharma, Burst of Speed, Defend Your Honor, Defensive Position, Counter-Charge, 3 Frenzy, 2 Grim Determination, Heavy Load, 2 Kharmic Strike, Martyr, 2 Stout Heart, Student of Warfare, Superior Tactics, 2 Test of Might, The Waves Break, Times of Desperation, Turtle Shell

Setup:
The rules for setup were as follows: Each player rolls 1d and adds General's Battle. Winner chooses who sets up first terrain piece. Player to set up first terrain would also set up first unit. Each player must set up one terrain piece, but after that they may pass, at which point their opponent has the opportunity to set up one more terrain piece and then terrain setup is finished.
Three hills and two woods pieces were placed. The hills were 'steep hills' which could not be traversed by units, and blocked LOS.

Here is a map showing the basic layout and starting setup. Light green areas are woods, grey areas are hills. See the army list above for key to units.

Optional Rules: Optional honor rules in place

Turn 1 of 8

Hand of Fate: Crane

Primary Movement:
DHG moves forward, wheeling slightly to align with CHE.
CHE advances towards DHG
EG advance towards edge of hill
HHG advance forward in a half-move towards DHG.

Ranged Attacks:
DHG fire at CHE, scoring 0 hits

Reserve Movement
DHG advance towards CHE
CHE advance towards DHG
HHG advance towards EG
EG left face, advance towards hill line, and then right face

End Phase:
Hand of Fate passes to Crab.
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 7/0
Crane Honor/VP: 11/0

Hida Tampako and Doji Yosai moved their forces toward each other. Arrows flew from the Crane's bows, but were unable to penetrate the thick armor of the Crabs. Meanwhile, Sukune attempted to lure Kuwanan around to the other side of the ridge and seperate him from Yosai and the Doji House Guard, but Kuwanan did not take the bait...

Turn 2 of 8

Crab have the Hand of Fate

Primary Movement:

DHG assume Archer's Row
CHE continue to advance towards DHG
HHG continue their advance along edge of hill towards EG, now moving at full speed.
EG wheel right to align with with edge of hill line

Ranged Attack:

DHG fire at CHE, scoring 4 hits for 25 damage. 1 HHG dies.

Reserve Movement:

CHE advance
HHG advance
EG hold position

End Phase:

Hand of Fate passes to Crane
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 7/0
Crane Honor/VP: 11/0

As Tampako continued his advance, Yosai ordered his unit to halt and adjust their ranks so that they could all bring their arrows to bear on the Crab. This time, the Crane attack felled one of the mighty Crabs, but still they marched onward. On the other side of the hill, Sukune moved his unit towards the Empress' Guard. Kuwanan braced his unit for the coming assault as Yosai prepared for another volley...

Turn 3 of 8

Hand of Fate: Crane

Primary Movement Phase:

CHE continue advance towards DHG
HHG continue advance towards EG
EG Back Away, towards DHG and away from CHE
DHG hold their ground

Ranged Attack Phase:

DHG fire at CHE, scoring 4 hits for 20 damage. Another CHE is removed

Reserve Movement: None

End Phase:

Hand of Fate passes to Crab
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 7/0
Crane Honor/VP: 11/0

Tampako ordered his unit to continue their advance towards Yosai, ignoring the small amounts of damage the cranes were inflicting. Sukune continued his advance as well, though Kuwanan backed away, in an attempt to draw Sukune into range of the Crane archers...

Turn 4 of 8

Crab hold Hand of Fate

Primary Movement:

DHG hold their ground
CHE advance to within one inch of DHG
HHG continue advance towards EG, wheeling around the hill
EG Back Away again

Ranged Attack:

DHG fire at CHE scoring 5 hits for 40 damage, 2 CHE die, Crane gain 1 honor, and a Morale test is made.
Tampako plays Grim Determination, automatically passing Morale test.

End Phase:

Hand of Fate passes to Crane
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 7/0
Crane Honor/VP: 12/0

As Kuwanen drew Sukune's unit into the range of Yosai's archers, Tampako brought his unit close enough to Yosai that the Cranes could nearly smell the Crab soldiers' breath. An engagement was unavoidable...

Turn 5 of 8

Crane hold Hand of Fate

Primary Movement:
CHE advance, engaging DHG
DHG assume standard formation and make a Counter Charge
EG hold ground
HHG advance towards EG

Close Combat:
Yosai plays Iaijutsu Duel on Tampako
Tampako plays Another Time
Yosai plays Strength of Purity
DHG scores 4 hits against CHE for 30 damage, killing one and wounding one
CHE hit DHG 4 times for 34 damage, killing one and wounding one

End Phase:
Hand of Fate passes to Crab
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 7/0
Crane Honor/VP: 12/0

Yosai's unit put aside their bows and unsheathed their katanas, bracing themselves for the oncoming assault of Tampako and his Heavy Elite. As the forces met, Yosai called out Tampako for a duel. As Tampako laughed off the challenge, Yosai was filled with righteous anger and cut furiously into the Crab soldiers who stood between himself and his enemy. Meanwhile, Kuwanen readied his unit for the coming engagement.

Turn 6 of 8

Crab hold Hand of Fate

Primary Movement:
HHG engage EG
EG Stand Firm

Close Combat:
Yosai plays another Iaijutsu Duel on Tampako; both duellists inflict 2 wounds on the other
Yosai spends 2 void to heal 1 wound
Crab play Bad Kharma on Yosai, forcing him to spend 2 more void.
Tampako spends 2 void to heal 1 wound
DHG score 1 hit against CHE, inflicting no wounds
CHE score 1 hit against DHG, doing 13 damage and killing the wounded Crane

Sukune spends 2 void for an additional Damage die
EG play Defensive Position
Kuwanen plays Strength of Purity
HHG score 2 hits against EG for 22 damage, killing 2 EG
EG score 5 hits against HHG for 54 damage, killing 2 HHG and wounding 1

End Phase:
Hand of Fate passes to Crane
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 7/0
Crane Honor/VP: 12/0

Having fought his way to Tampako's position, Yosai re-issued his challenge to the crab, who could not refuse again without losing face in front of his troops. Yosai's Katana drew blood as it cut across Tampako's leg, and Tampako's tetsubo delivered a crushing blow to Yosai's torso. Both called upon the Void to numb themselves against the pain, but Yosai's inner strength was stretched to its limit as he recovered from the great blow. Yosai's unit faltered for a moment as they watched their leader reel from the blow. Tampako's unit fared somewhat better, as they continued their relentless attack against their Crane foes. Meanwhile, Kuwanan turned the tactics he learned at the Hida school against the Crab, taking up a defensive position against Sukune's Hida House Guard as they engaged him. The Empress' Guard' fought furiously, but the heavily armored Crabs proved difficult to fell.

Turn 7 of 8

Crane hold Hand of Fate

Close Combat:

Yosai inflicts 39 damage in duel, causing Tampako to take 3 wounds
Tampako inflicts no wounds against Yosai
Tampako spends 2 void to heal 1 wound (which is later retconned, since Tampako only has 2 void)
DHG score 4 hits for 30 damage on CHE, killing 2
CHE score 2 hits for 10 damage on DHG, wounding 1

EG score 5 hits for 52 damage on HHG, killing 3
HHG score 5 hits for 52 damage on EG, killing 5
HHG fail morale test, becoming Broken
EG pass morale test

End Phase:
Hand of Fate passes to Crab
Crab draw 1 tactical card
Crane draw 3 tactical cards

Crab Honor/VP: 8/0
Crane Honor/VP: 14/1

Yosai's second strike against Tampako hit home, wounding him severely and stopping Tampako's swing of the tetsubo. His unit, encouraged by the successful strike of their duellist, cut into the Crabs with new fury, and it was all the Crabs could do to withstand the assault. Meanwhile, Kuwanan and Sukune's units continued to clash visciously. Much blood was spilled on both sides. Although the sight of that much blood was not enough to bother the battle-hardened crabs, the unexpected fury of these death-seeking Cranes was enough to shake the Crab morale.

Turn 8 of 8

Primary Movement:

HHG Break Away, EG do not contest

Close Combat:

Tampako and Yosai inflict 2 wounds on each other, Tampako Dies

Time runs out, and players skip to End Phase

End Phase:

Crab Honor/VP: 8/0
Crane Honor/VP: 18/3

Crane win.

Shaken by the fearlessness of Kuwanan's Empress' Guard, Sukune broke his unit away from the engagement to reevaluate the attack. Meanwhile, ss Tampako brought Yosai to his knees with one last crushing strike, Yosai's katana found its home in Tampako's heart. With their leader dead and their numbers cut nearly in half, the Crab Heavy Elite were no match for the emboldened Doji House Guard. As for Sukune, he shouted one final insult at Kuwanan as he led his unit off the field. The Crane had won this day, but soon there would be another.

Evaluation and Commentary

First, my apologies for lack of more maps. This is my first detailed battle report, and graphics are not my main area of strength, so I've been having difficulty with the maps. The battle was straightforward enough, though. With the exception of a little maneuvering to delay the engagement between the Empress Guard and the Hida House Guard, all maneuvers were basically just a straight line advance towards the enemy.

In retrospect, I think that using the Honor rules may have been a mistake. I felt it would be a good idea at the time, since they are supposed to be official rules for Tournament play. But in a Crane versus Crab game, the Honor rules unbalanced the game a little, I think. With the Honor advantage, and a Tactician on the field, I was drawing three times as many tactical cards as my Crab opponent, and ultimately, I think it was my tactical cards which won the game for me. If I hadn't had that extra duel, the game might have gone quite differently. If my opponent had played Frenzy, I think the game would certainly have gone much differently.

Lessons learned:

Fate (AKA Luck) can help or hurt you a great deal in this game.
A lot depends on how you play your cards (and build your deck). Remember that your opponent can put as many Another Times (or Kharmic Strikes!) in their deck as you can put Iaijutsu Duels.
If you are drawing 3 tactical cards a turn, a lot less is left up to fate.
Discarding fate cards to increase damage can make the difference of a wound sometimes. Another advantage to drawing 3/turn.
For every action there is a possible counter. I like spending Void. My opponent likes playing Bad Kharma.
Special Items are cool, but not in a 1000 point army. I think my opponent would have been better off with a couple more troops than his Gunsen of Water.
If you're going to send a unit with 1 wound/model against a unit with 2 wounds/model, make sure that they have high enough numbers and good enough morale and leadership to handle the losses.
Marching across open terrain to engage an Archer unit is a bad idea, unless you're a Crab. And even then, it's not a great idea. Unless you have a time limit.

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