A Krush of Koreans

A Headless Body Production
Venue:   An Undisclosed Basement

Event:    First outing of a new army 
Players: Phil Gardocki running Samurai
                  Phil Gardocki running Koryo Korean
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15 mm, 200 points per side.
Theme: Pacific War

The Forces:
A brand spanking new army, Koryo Koreans.  Freshly delivered this week.  They were mounted a day later and I wanted to give them a spin as the flocking was drying.

Koryo Korean (list 212)

The Koreans are commanded by Kim-Lar-Re, the Competent, his brother Kim-Dar-El, the Competent, and his other brother Kim-Dar-El, also Competent.

2 Guardsmen, Heavy Cavalry Impact, Elite

2 Horsemen, Heavy Cavalry Impact, Ordinary

2 Militia Horsemen, Medium Cavalry Impact, Mediocre.

6 Spearmen, 1/2 Heavy Spearmen, 1/2 Crossbow
1 Cataphract, Elite
2 Light Cavalry, Bow
2 War Wagons, Crossbow
1 Light Infantry, Bow
1 Hwacha, Heavy Artillery.
1 Guardsmen, Crossbow, Pavise, Elite
Breakpoint of 21

The Samurai are commanded by Larry-San, the Competent, his brother Darryl-San the Brilliant and his other brother Darryl-San , the Ordinary and unreliable.

7 Samurai, Medium Swordsmen, Bow, 5 of which are Elite   
4 Yari, Medium Spearmen, Mediocre
6 Mounted Samurai, Heavy Cavalry, Bow, 2 of which are Elite   
4 Bowmen, Pavise, Mediocre

Breakpoint of 21

Presenting the home team for the today.

 The Hwacha artillery is a multiple barrel launcher, where each piece is a rocket propelled arrow, and some explosive material.  Up to 200 rockets could be fired in a few seconds.  Think of it as throwing 200 Rocket Propelled Grenades down range in about 10 seconds.    Mythbusters made and tested one on their show.  

I had this game out on the table.  Pondering playing it solitaire, now that I have the time.  But a 4x8 table isn't big enough for the maps.

I was tempted to have this be the title image presenting this AAR, generating that WTF moment.
It is almost accurate :)  It doesn't say who was struggling against Japan.

A region near Gyeongbokgung Palace

 

The Japanese right flank is full of Mediocre troops, but are well suited for the terrain in front of them.

The best troops will assault the hill.  5 Elite Samurai Bow/Sword, supported by a couple of Yari.

The left is a wide open space, suitable for the cavalry

The Koreans have a blocking force deployed on their left.

 The Koreans have no troops that can handle terrain, but are more than happy to shoot it out with Japanese that can.

On the hill, the main force of Spear/Crossbow armed troops.

In the open area, is the Korean Cavalry as well. 

So far, the match up looks good for the Koreans.  The War-Wagons should be able to shoot it out and survive contact with the Japanese facing it for some time before falling.  The Spearmen on the hill have the advantage of height, and density, somewhat countered by the Elite status of the Samurai.  The Cavalry on the right outnumbers the Samurai, and have impact vs bow.

Turn 1:

The Japanese right closes to bow range.

The Samurai stop just outside of crossbow range.

Samurai horse stops just outside of charge reach.

The War Wagons move at an angle

The main line of spear ascends the hill. 

 Japanese marksmanship proves excellent, disordering 3 out of 5.

Korean lancers stop outside of bow range.

 Turn 2:

The Japanese right advances.  Scoring a hit on the lead war-waagon.  The Hwacha reaches out and scatters the field with exploding rockets.

 I'll have to come up with an explosive hit marker.

With half the Korean line disordered, the Samurai decide to charge up the hill instead of shooting it out.  The results are mixed, as they win 2, lose 2 and tie 2.

In retrospect, this was a bad idea.  The Koreans have the hill, but also fight as Mediocre, so that is a bit of a wash. The Samurai are all elite, but only take 3 hits to the Koreans 4.

Samurai Cavalry approach to shooting range, with only minimal luck

The war wagon is rallied, and shoots effectively.  I found some cotton from my Martian front game, and will use it to denote hits from the Hwacha.

The hill battle rapidly is turning against the Samurai.  On the left, Cataphracts do what they do best, run over LMI!

Adroit horsemen ship traps a couple of Samurai horse.  But their swords prove sharp, and win both of their frays.

The Samurai have 10 points towards their breakpoint of 21
The Koreans have 5 points towards their breakpoint of 21

Turn 3:

Multiple strikes by the Hwacha, and Samurai are running!

The fight for the hill claims another Japanese unit.  But at the pinnacle of the hill, the Korean line is cracking.

Yari catch a Militia Horsemen in the rear.

 The fight on the Right has Kim-Dar-El busy.  He is now barely winning the fight.

The view from the tree of woe. The score is 17-7

Darrel-San ordered his bowmen to charge, but they pointed out Page 53, first bullet point, saying "Thou shalt not"  The Yari could charge, but would go in unsupported due to a lack of command points.

Sometimes rolling a 6-1 isn't enough.  Damaged (but supported) Mediocre Bowmen vs. Elite (and also supported) Cataphracts.

The code of Bushido is triumphant!  The Samurai break through the line.

And again, Samurai cavalry are trapped and charged.  But the Samurai still win 2 out of 3 fights.

But Kim-Dar-El pulls a win with the last rout needed to break the Samurai.

The final view of the Tree of Woe.

What went wrong for the Japanese?  Charging the hill on turn 2.  If they had just shot it out for a while, it would have been 5 elites shooting at 6 ordinaries.  It would have taken longer, but that is a winning proposition, as opposed to giving your opponent higher ground.  Then again, I played the Japanese Cavalry like an idiot.  I must have really wanted to win with the Koreans.