A Swarm of Samurai

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:
Featuring my brand spanking new army, Koryo Koreans.  Freshly delivered last week.  Verses my "Paint-is-still-unchipped" Samurai, painted last fall by Fernando in Sri Lanka.  For more on that process, click here.

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

Last weeks battle went poorly for the Samurai, but I think that had a lot to do with how poorly they were handled.  So, same field, similar lineup, and Lay-On!

The two Samurai foot commands are deployed a bit tighter together.

The horse Samurai are pretty much deployed the same.

No difference with the Korean left.  War wagons and rocket launchers.

Korean Spearmen ready to ascend the hill.

Korean lancers ready to charge.

Turn 1:
In this game, the two Samurai foot commands will be advancing hub to hub.  There is little gain engaging the Korean left flank, so defeating it is not a priority.

All Samurai foot troops do a double march.

Ending just out of shooting range.

Samurai cavalry advance just one bound.  They are out numbered and need to be cautious.

But double marching has it's penalties.  The Samurai are in range of the Hwacha rockets.

At the bottom of the turn, the Hwacha's fire again, disordering another Samurai unit.

Korean Spearmen advance to the top of the hill.  Missiles fly, with the Korean Spearmen taking two hits.

Korean Cavalry advances to outside of effective bow range.  They have the advantage and know it, and so are willing to be cautious.

Turn 2:

Darryl-San has a dearth of command points.  He spends one to threaten the Korean Lights in the field.

Darryl-San also has a shortage of command points.  But he is happy with his position. 

Larry-San's Cavalry moves to within ZOC.  This prevents any creative sliding attacks by Korean lancers.  Arrows reach out and disorder two troops of Koreans.

Korean Light Infantry is recalled.  War Wagons are in range.

The Hwacha fires again, causing another hit.  Elite Korean Cataphracts charge Mediocre Bowmen.  Even though the bowmen have support on both sides, the fight is in favor of the Cataphracts.  But the dice declare it was a stupid move anyway.  The missile exchanges on the hill have been decisively in the Samurai's favor.

The marksmenship of the Samurai is a marvel to behold.  5 of 6 Korean lancers are disordered.

The score is 9-4 in favor of the Samurai.

Turn 3:

Darryl-San holds back and attempts to rally his disordered forces. 

Ditto for Darryl-San

Larry-San will have none of it.  With 5 out of 6 Korean lancers disordered, it is time to charge.

The view at the Tree of Woe.  The score is 12-9, in favor of the Samurai.

Hwacha's score again.

Cataphracts do a break off move.

Both sides lose a cavalry unit.

The score is now 14-11.  Both sides have a break point of 21

Turn 4:

Yari on the flank.  But sometimes, this is just not enough as the dice roll 1 to a 5 in favor of the Koreans.

The end result of the dice is 2-3, and another Samurai horsemen is destroyed.

The score is climbing fast, 17-13

The Hwacha rocket launchers are credited to it's first unassisted kill

Almost every missile unit is disordered.  But the Samurai shooters are all elite, so this is to their advantage.

The Korean Cavalry, so proud on parade, is being torn to shreds by their Samurai counterparts.

Taking the score to 19-15

Turn 5:

The Hwacha destroys another unit.

But so too a Samurai archer destroys a Korean Spearmen.

The last Korean Heavy Cavalry falls. Kim-Lar-Re is nearly captured in the process.

It was enough, with the final score 21-15.  A Samurai win!

So what went right with the Samurai this time.

First, the foot archers were committed to just shooting. 5 of them are elite, and so the exchange rate was much in their favor.

The Samurai horsemen were also committed to shooting and covering their flanks.  They had a favorable set of shots initially on the Korean lancers, prompting the Koreans to delay and rally.  And that worked, but then 4 more hits were applied on that turn, negating the Impact advantage.  So the Samurai charged, and the rest is history.