A Samsara of Samurai

A Headless Body Production
Venue: An Undisclosed Basement
Event: Playing a game for the camera
Players: Phil Gardocki running Nikephorian Byzantine
              Tom Worden running Samurai
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 15mm, 200 points per side.

Samsara definition: the cycle of death and rebirth to which life in the material world is bound.  It seemed appropriate.

The Forces:
Samurai (list 210)
The Samurai are commanded by Larry-San, the Strategist, his brother Darryl-San the Ordinary and his other brother Darryl-San, also Ordinary.
9 Samurai, Medium Swordsmen, Bow, Elite
4 Yari, Medium Spearmen, Mediocre
4 Mounted Samurai, Heavy Cavalry, Bow, Elite
2 Followers with Bow, Bowmen, Mediocre
Breakpoint of 19

Nikephorian Byzantine(list 128)

Led by the Sneaker brothers, Nikephoros the younger and Brilliant, Pumaphoros, the Brilliant. Adidasphoros was on a walk about, and was replaced by Darrylinious of Rome. His manner was ordinary, but only spoke Latin, and so is considered unreliable, as his troops couldn't understand him.

4 Tagmata, Kataphractoi, Heavy Cavalry Bow, Impact, Elite

4 Prokoursatores, Light Cavalry, Bow

5 Varangians or Menavlatoi, Heavy Swordsmen 2HW

5 Skutatoi, ½ Heavy Spearmen ½ Bowmen

4 Psiloi, Light Infantry, Bows and Javelins

Breakpoint of 22

The Board:

The Nikephorians win the initiative and elect to attack in the plains. They select the road and a field, which didn't fit. The Samurai selected a fielded hill, which didn't fit, a coastal area, and another field.

The first command of Samurai, 6 units in all, to the left of the Kyoto-Constantinople highway

In front of the only rough area available to the Samurai, are the remaining foot troops.

The Samurai horse, with their Strategist commander, take the left.

Pumophoros's command, late for the battle, is still marching down the highway.

Darrylinious, recently pulled from the Roman box, deploys with 4 Skutatoi

Nikephoros takes the position of honor on the right with all his horse.

The view from afar. My plan is to pit 5 Varangians against 3 Samurai on the left, and overwhelm the cavalry on the right. In the center, I intend to just hold as long as possible.

A note on annotation. Letters in parenthesis represent some value change for the specific unit. For commanders it is b for Brilliant, c for Competent and o for Ordinary. For troops it is e for Elite, and m for Mediocre. Other abbreviations, Hvy Heavy, XB Crossbow, LB, Longbow, Jav Javelin, 2HW 2 Handed Weapons, B Bow, Kn Knight, HC Heavy Cavalry, Md Medium, Sgt Sergeants, LC Light Cavalry, Chr Chariot, Cat Cataphract, Pa Pavise

Turn 1:

Pumaphoros is flush with command points. He marches down the highway, then obliques left, finishing a triple march with a "Right face".

Darrylinious advances just a step or two, and is out of bow range.

Nikephoros missed the starting bell. His cavalry marches 4 UD, the Skutatoi consuming the rest of his command points to keep up.

In what is going to be a constant pattern, Samurai archery is going to be excellent. The Psiloi archers are disordered and destroyed before turn 2, disordering the Psiloi Javelinmen behind them.

OK, who knew that LI disorders LI with a rout move? Anyone? I certainly didn't. How long have I been playing this game?

Samurai foot advance and loose more arrows

Fortunately for the Byzantines, some of the archers doubled moved and precluded shooting.

Turn 2:

 Nothing like being down 3 nothing on turn 1.

The Varangians advance as quickly as they can, but are not in charge reach yet. The inscrutable Orientals have foiled their plan for a quick engagement by advancing not.one.step. It's going to be rough advancing under the rain of arrows.

Darrylinious orders his Psiloi to cover the Varangians.

Short on command points again, Nikephoros charges with all his horse. The Samurai heavies flee.

At the tree of woe the story is 5 (out of 22) to zero.

A bit of of luck as the Samurai restock their quivers with arrows, promising more rain to come.

But their main line is now all set, with targets aplenty.

Their horse commander turns on the chasing Byzantine lights.

The score is looking very bad. The Byzantines are down a third, and they have yet to make contact yet.

Turn 3:

The skies darken again, but the the arrows don't seem to have as much verve as they did.

What's that? A Samurai unit disordered? They must have tripped in a rabbit hole or something.

The field is only just over 4 UD's wide, so something has to hang out. The Tagmata charge again. And the Samurai foot hold their ground!

Arrows still fly, the Varangians luck out with only one more unit disordered.

The Skutatoi hold and just take their lumps.

With the Tagmata partially engaged, the Samurai horse advance to trade arrows.

The score is 13 (of 22) to 2 (of ... who cares, it's 2! That one of them is going to rally off soon.

Turn 4:

Pumaphoros has his position and charges! It's Axe on Katana, brute force against skill. The center Varangian is destroyed while the remaining Samurai hold their ground.

The center continues to take hits. (which was the plan after all)

Nikephoros orders his third charge of the day. The Samurai horsemen hold. Despite the advantage of Impact and support, the Tagmata lose 2 out of 3 fights

At the Tree of Woe, the score is now 16 to 5

The Samurai penetrate the Byzantine lines.

On the right, a Samurai is destroyed, but that Tagmata is flanked by another in the field

The last Samurai horse engages, its target light holds but is dispersed to the 4 winds. But Nikephoros proves victorious with his battle.

The score is 17 -7

 

Turn 5

Suddenly, the battle is not looking quite so grim for the Byzantines. The Samurai are half way to their demoralization point, and their camp is exposed to capture!

The Varangians have taken a shellacking, but continue to fight. A Samurai falls, another is flanked. But the third has a flank.

"Join the Skuts, they say, it will be fun, they say."

A Tagmata teams with a light and races to the camp. Another Tagmata acquires a flank position. The entire wings flank is now secured by the arriving Skutatoi.

A rally cancelled a destroyed unit, keeping the Byzantine score to 17. The Samurai lost 3 points for 10 (out of 19) and their camp is in charge range.

A successful charge and shooting by the Samurai puts the Varangians at a disadvantage.

A couple of Skutatoi are near collapse. Of to the right, a Samurai turns 180 degrees and destroys a Byzantine Light Horse.

The Samurai horse, though outnumbered and out positioned, fight on.

The Byzantines are nearing their demoralization point of at 20

Turn 6:

You know that Varangians is just another word for foreigners from the north. Norsemen. Piss them off, and they don't just die, they take you with them. One Samurai is destroyed on contact, the other is disordered.

Darrylinious's order is to survive. He orders a retreat.

The Japanese camp falls. And so to a horse Samurai.

With an off screen rally, and the score is 19 of 22 to 18 of 19 for the Samurai.

Only one, well disordered, Samurai left for Pumaphoros to deal with. Their commander joins the fray, and by is heroism, avoids total defeat.

In the center, the Samurai enter pursuit mode.

The last Samurai horse "exits the ZOC" in an attempt to avoid being surrounded.

The Japanese have a successful pair of rallies to one additional disorder, and the score is now 20-17. Both sides are 2 away from demoralization.

Turn 7:

Pumaphoros spends his minimal command points on a pair of rallies. The more important one succeeds. But the Samurai sword skills continue to frustrate the brute force of the Varangian Axes, and the battle continues.

Darrylinious continues to retreat, just out of charge reach of the pursuing Samurai.

Arrows loosed, but fall short.

Byzantine horsemenship proves superb, as they are surround the last Samurai horse with their lights, and then charge with lance.

The Samurai are once again one away from demoralization, while the Byzantines acquiring a bit of breathing space with three.

The Byzantines destroy another Samurai foot, putting the Japanese army in a demoralized state.

The Samurai need 3 points for mutual destruction. On Skut has shields up and avoids disorder. Another Skut is destroyed by arrows.

Two other shots, elite 0 to ordinary 1, fail to hit.

Off in the distance, the last Samurai horsemen falls, their leader is surrounded and offers to surrender.

Somewhere missed in the dialog, a missing point was uncovered, but with a recount, the final score was 21 (of 22) to 19 of 19, a barest minimum win for the Byzantines.

So what went wrong? I think after 6 or so games, I am getting the hang of how Tommy plays the Samurai. He never engages the mediocres, and so is fighting with 85% of his army. Then my Skutatoi command was occupying 5 of his Samurai foot with a missile exchange. The Skuts cannot win this exchange, but it does take time. This gives a relative difference of 20 more points in favor of the Byzantines on the flank battles.

And with all that advantage, to pull just a one point win is just embarrassing. With 5 Heavy Foot against 3 Medium Swordsmen, and trading 2 for 3? The Cavalry was a win, but it took seven turns.

If it wasn't for the camp, the Samurai would have had a substantial win here.

So what are the odds here?

Varangians vs Samurai foot.
Heavy Sword, 2HW vs Medium Sword, Missile Support, Elite
With no modifiers, Medium Sword wins 56% of the time in over 3 rounds.
If the Heavy sword comes in disordered, the Medium Sword wins 80% of the time in under 3 rounds.
If the Heavy sword has support, the Medium Sword wins 25% of the time in 4 rounds.
So my thought that heavy weapon would compensate against elite was inaccurate.

And how about the Samurai chasing down the Skutatoi?
Without any hits, the Samurai destroy the Skutatoi 81% of the time in 4.4 rounds.
If the Skutatoi have a hit before contact, the Samurai destroy the Skutatoi 97% of the time in 3 rounds.