A Sampling of Samurai

A Headless Body Production

Venue: Wyndom Lancaster Resort nee Host
Event: HMGSs' Fall In(tm) Open 25mm tournament, Round 3
Players: Phil Gardocki running Timurid
               Jeff Black running Samurai
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 200 points per side.

Yesterday I was running Samurai for 3 games.  Hopefully I know how to beat them as well. We will see.

The Forces:

Samurai (list 221)
The Samurai are commanded by unnamed commanders.  Their qualities are Brilliant, Competent and Ordinary.
12    Samurai, Medium swordsmen, bow, most are elite   
3    Mounted Samurai, Heavy cavalry, bow, some elite
2    Scouts, Light cavalry, bow    
4    Levy           
Breakpoint of 21

The Timurids, list 273, are led by Lram, a Strategist, his brother Darian the Brilliant, and his other brother Darian, the Ordinary
4 Nobles, Heavy cavalry, impact, bow, elite    
3 Horse Archers, Medium cavalry bow    
4 Turkomans, Light cavalry, bow, elite    
2 Turkomans, Light cavalry, bow
2 Archers, Bowmen, Stakes
1 Afghan Archer, Light Infantry, bow
2 Persian Archers, Bowmen, Mediocre
2 Elephants, one with armor
1 Naffatun, Light Infantry, Incendiary
Break Point 21

Display Conventions: When you see a word bubble like "Ouch!" or "痛い!", this implies a disorder from missiles. Letters in parenthesis represent some value change for the specific unit. For commanders it is s for strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent and o for Ordinary, u for unreliable. 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, HKn Heavy Knight, HC Heavy Cavalry, Md Medium, Sgt Sergeants, LC Light Cavalry, Chr Chariot, Cat Cataphract, Pa Pavise, LI, Light Infantry, HG Hand Gun, FKn Foot Knight, Hvy Spear, Heavy Spearmen.

Commanders are rated s for Strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent, o for Ordinary and u for Unreliable

Inappropriately capitalized words are used to highlight terms that are specific to the game. For example Brilliant, Competent and Ordinary have specific game values for the commanders.

Any confusion between commanders names, or mislabeled units or conditions is to be considered part of the fun.

"XX" implies a unit killed in that location on that turn.

Deployment:

The Timurids win the initiative and elect to attack in the plains.

A new ground cloth has been acquired for the larger battles.

Jeff has told me this was the first run with this army.

All that is visible are 7 foot and 5 horse.  My list of the day before was 14 foot and 7 horse. So I am expecting a large flank march of about 4 HC

Darian takes the left with his force of elephants and bow.

While Lram takes the center with his Nobles

His flank is covered by elite Turkomans.

We are both running a flank march.  The "tide is in", so they are certainly on the same side.  And I know for certain which of the flank marches is smaller. 

Turn 1:

A roll for my unseen command is made.  A '6'.  So my command will flee onto the board at the top of turn 2, and his will follow on to the board at the bottom of the turn.

Ok, this has me very worried.  The only saving grace is that the Japanese flank march will have to traverse most of the board before it is effective.  The order is to rush across the board.

  Hopefully I can defeat his on board Samurai before they can intervene. 

The Turkomans advance on the outnumbered Japanese scouts.

Surprise!  4 Samurai charge out of the plantation.  The Persian bowman(Mediocre) withstand the charge with only minor disorder.  The elephant tramples their foe with ease.

It looks like we got the pursuit wrong there.  The elephant should not have pursued in the Samurai turn.

Samurai archery disorders the Afghan archers.

Mounted Samurai vector in on the Turkomans.

While that does not make sense tactically, it does make sense if they Samurai are linking up with a flank march.

Turn 2:

With more luck than I deserve, an elephant tramples another Samurai foot.  Trading a Persian archer for it.

The other elephant bears down on the line of Samurai foot.  The corner of the Samurai line is charged and flanked by Persian Nobles.

The remaining Samurai horse evade Lram's charge.

But Samurai warriors are legendary for a reason.  One archer is flanked, another is just cut down.  One troop of elephants is now steaks for the spits.

Another Samurai foot is defeated. 

The Samurai horsemen return to bow range and loose arrows.

The Japanese flank march arrives.  Wait, is that more Samurai?  Yari?  LEVY!  I was soiling my saddles when it came on.

I had a good laugh at that.  It was clever of Jeff.  The flank march cost him 12 points, and counts as 4 units.  Where as my two light horse counts as 1.  

This has been an intense battle so far. 

At the bottom of turn 2, the score is already 10 (not 9 as indicated) for Timurid out of 21, and 7 for the Samurai, also out of 21.

Turn 3:

Darrians remaining troop of elephants charge.  His command is reduced to just 2 lights and the troop, so he joins the battle. His bravery is rewarded, as his +1 led to a tie that round.

Lram Nobles are closing in

I think I owe Jeff an apology.  I am pretty sure we did not count the horsemen with copper armor as "panicked"

Lrams remaining Nobles charge again.  One Samurai horse stays and holds up the line.

 

Important note.  The edge of the board is not the end of the cloth, but around where the beige felt ends.

Turkomans charge Japanese scouts, who elect to stay at their peril.

In the middle of the 3rd, the score is tied, 11 all.

Samurai warriors charge in from the rear.  Trapping a Light.  But losing another Samurai unit to Lram's Noble horsemen

Again the Samurai horse return to trade arrows.

The Levy from the flank march approach the Persian battle line.

The score is now Timurid 14 to Samurai 13.

Win, lose or draw, this game is not going the distance.  Some photos from the other areas.

A Land Ironclad modified with an 8 inch cannon.

Some magnificent ships astride a Chinese junk.

In the dealers area.  Impressive.

Turn 4:

Back to the Game.

Another Samurai unit is destroyed, and another one is flanked.

One Samurai horse has evaded off board.  Another is routed.  Japanese scouts however are victorious over the Turkomans

Darrian, who led the flank march that fled on turn 2, finally has returned to the fight.

The score is 16 for the Timurids, and 18 for the Samurai.

Samurai charge the elephants flanks.  Nearly routing them and nearly killing Darian.  Upper right, Samurai push back a flank charging Noble.

Just one pip higher on the elephant, and that would have been the 5 points the Samurai needed to win.

Levy charge.  Most of those lines are evades by Turkomans.

The Levy flank march now is to fractured for an ordinary commander to deal with.

The score is almost tie, with the Timurids at 17, to the Samurai's 18.

Amazingly, Darian's elephant remains undefeated.  But a Samurai rout path disordered another Samurai for 2 needed of the 3 to demoralize the Japanese.

The last point was a defeated Samurai horse, with a +1 for a cohesion ht on a nearby Levy from  Turkoman bowfire.

Off the coast, a Japanese looking fort.

I don't know the game, but I actually have that dragon on my bureau at home.

A Hundredweight of Huns

A Headless Body Production

Venue: Wyndom Lancaster Resort nee Host
Event: HMGSs' Fall In(tm) Open 25mm tournament, Round 2
Players: Phil Gardocki running Timurid
               Carl Stefanelli running Huns
Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, 200 points per side.

The Forces:

The Hun (list 110)
The Hun are commanded by unnamed commanders.
3 Nobles, Heavy Cavalry, Bow, elite
6 or 7 Horsemen, Medium Cavalry, Bow, elite
8 Horsemen, Light Cavalry, Bow, mostly elite
2 Bowmen
Breakpoint of 19 or 20

The Timurids, list 273, are led by Lram, a Strategist, his brother Darian the Brilliant, and his other brother Darian, the Ordinary

4 Nobles, Heavy cavalry, impact, bow, elite
3 Horse Archers, Medium cavalry bow
4 Turkomans, Light cavalry, bow, elite
2 Turkomans, Light cavalry, bow
2 Archers, Bowmen, Stakes
1 Afghan Archer, Light Infantry, bow
2 Persian Archers, Bowmen, Mediocre
2 Elephants, one with armor
1 Naffatun, Light Infantry, Incendiary
Break Point 21

Display Conventions: When you see a word bubble like "Ouch!" or "痛い!", this implies a disorder from missiles. Letters in parenthesis represent some value change for the specific unit. For commanders it is s for strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent and o for Ordinary, u for unreliable. 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, HKn Heavy Knight, HC Heavy Cavalry, Md Medium, Sgt Sergeants, LC Light Cavalry, Chr Chariot, Cat Cataphract, Pa Pavise, LI, Light Infantry, HG Hand Gun, FKn Foot Knight, Hvy Spear, Heavy Spearmen.

Commanders are rated s for Strategist, b for Brilliant, c for Competent, o for Ordinary and u for Unreliable

Inappropriately capitalized words are used to highlight terms that are specific to the game. For example Brilliant, Competent and Ordinary have specific game values for the commanders.

Any confusion between commanders names, or mislabeled units or conditions is to be considered part of the fun.

"XX" implies a unit killed in that location on that turn.

Deployment:

The Timurids win the initiative and elect to attack in the steppes.

The Huns have only a light presence on their right side command.

The center has a strong force of horse

A nearly identical force takes their left.

Other Brother Darian and his micro command of two light horse hides behind the hill.

Brother Darian and his elephantry take the center.

Lram takes the right command

Turn 1:

Other Brother Darian continues to hide. Brother Darian advances with his elephantry

Lram advances to tactical range.

The Hun exposes a rather pathetic ambush

Their left flank advances. Providing a screen to reposition the center command.

The Hun strategy is clear. Using the road and their superior mobility, they will try to overwhelm Lrams command, while distracting the elephant command with their small command of 3 lights and a heavy.

Turn 2:

Brother Darian splits his command. One troop will try to get the Huns to evade off board.

The other force will support Lrams command

Lram cant's his line and engages with bowfire.

The first volleys of arrows are favoring the Timurids.

With all ambushes revealed, and the count is made. The Huns only have 19 units. Having 14 elites has it's price.

The Hun commander on their right is not going to wait to be charged off the board, nor is he going to exchange arrows with formed foot.

More archery exchanged. While in the favor of the Timurids, it is not much.

The Hun left command charges in mass, while their center command is ready to follow up.

Currently the score is 5 to 2 in favor of the Timurids. It may not seem like much, but with a break point of just 19, the Huns are a quarter of the way there.

Turn 3:

Other Brother Darian reveals him self. His light horse will be valuable in trapping the Hun right flank forces.

Brother Darian's elephants are covering Lram's flank, and lining up a camp kill. If only his archers were more effective.

Lram pushes forward just a bit. His archers also seem to be ineffective.

But his Turkomans return after their evade. More arrows are exchanged.

One Hun horse gets out of arc of fire from the foot bow.

The remainder run to defend the camp.

Playing cagey, only a single Hun heavy horse charges. The Timurid unit receiving the charge is only a medium, bow, evades.

The Hun left orders a charge of their mostly disordered forces. The Turkomans are ordered to stand. All in all, a bad decision there. I was relying on elite and more luck than I deserved.

This brings the score 9 of 19 for the Huns to 7 of 21 for the Timurids.

Turn 4:

Other Brother Darian surrounds the Huns on the hill.

While Brother Darian presses forward with his elephantry and bow

Lram orders a general charge

Another Hun is destroyed.

Surrounded but not defeated, the Huns charge down hill, but are rebuffed.

While their disordered lights go for the rear.

Lram's line loses a troop of Noble horse.

Lram himself is engaged 2-1 and is losing. He has friends that can help, if he can scrape together the command points to do so.

Turn 5:

The battle for the hill has concluded. But was it worth the forces involved?

One troop of Elephantry advance on the flank of a pair of disordered horse.

The Hun camp was just out of range of Timurid archers. Which would have put the Huns at 16 of 19 if taken just now.

Lram has just enough command points to order his Nobles to attack. But his flank is still exposed.

The Huns have finished cleaning up their left flank.

An "exit ZOC" move by Hun Light Horse. Which also counts as "exit bow reach"

Another Timurid Noble falls.

Along with the Great Lram. A routed included strategist is worth 6 points towards demoralization. Not many armies can take that kind of hit and not break.

I'm not sure what the final score was for the Hun. Scanning the pictures I see 15.

What went wrong?

First the design flaw in the army. I thought an included Strategist was "ok", because he would be in the center of 7 units, and once in combat, all those units would be fighting anyway. And he would always be able to command 1 extra unit, even in combat. But here, he needed to command 2 units minimum to save himself. And 4 to be effective.

This allowed Carl to eventually work a flank shot that killed Lram for 6 points.

Also a mistake of holding disordered lights to receive a charge. When they were gone, then they allowed free range of all those Hun units on the edge to turn on to the center.

Also, when it became clear I could take the camp, I should have focused on it. A slide left on turn 3, instead of a straight forward move would have put the archers 6 UD's away, setting up the camp to fall on turn 5. Which would have led to a mutual distraction instead of a loss.