From: "March, Robert" Subject: REPLAY: GMT's Samurai Yesterday, my friend, Bob, and I squared off for a no holds barred match of Samurai. The scenario was the Fourth Kawanakajima, Uesugi Kinshen v. Takeda Shingen. Apparently, there were five battles at this site, but only the fourth ended up in anything more than a staring match. Takeda was trying to trap Uesugi in a certain valley between his force, which was split into two approximately equal sections. Uesugi caught wind of this and placed a small (2000 man) contingent to hold off Takeda's reinforcements (12000 men) at a nearby ford. This allowed Uesugi (about 10000) to attack Takeda (about 8000) just as the morning fog was lifting, in a completly unaware state. A fierce battle ensued, but Takeda's good leadership enabled him to hold his troops together until the arrival of his reinforcements which sealed Uesugi's fate. Casualties were also uncharacteristically high, approximately 60% for Takeda and 70% for Uesugi. So there is the historical happening (vaguely...just as I remember it from the scenario book). What happened for us was far far different. I took on the role of Uesugi as I had the most experience with GBOH, although this was my first foray into Samurai. The formations were pretty cool too. Takeda set up in the Crane formation, which is basically a long front line with a shorter reserve behind it, centering around Takeda's elite troops (his largest contingent). Uesugi was in the Winding Wheel formation, which had all of his clans (7) in approximately a quarter circle with the lead formation pointed at the front of Takeda's right wing, with the rest arcing back so that the last formation was even with the center of Takeda's line, but travelling in a parallel direction (to Dave Townsend, this battle looks cool, I recommend you make it the next one you put on your website, if you are looking for suggestions). My plan was to try and completely turn Takeda's right flank, but poor command rolls in the first turn forced me to engage his right frontally, but with a great deal of depth. My only major mistake was not keeping the last clan in my formation closer to Uesugi (he has no honjin (HQ) in this scenario and has to keep his busho's (generals) in range in order to get them activated). Fierce fighting broke out with a few samurai being called up and several individual combats being fought between bushos. Takeda swung his forces up for immediate assaults on my troops and managed to force one clan to flee after the first turn. I was able to do likewise for him though. I had not yet brought all of my troops to bear, so I still had a great deal of strength to apply. I then was able to incorporate 2 more clans into the combat, using them to shore up my lines and relieve pressure by making some timely attacks on the exposed flanks of two of Takeda's clans. Even with these gains, the second turn saw little by way of clan flight. During turn 3, I spent time rallying some troops and attempting to get all of my clans back into command range. The rallying went reasonably well, but Takeda brought one clan around my flank and devastated my right, eliminating 2 units outright (this clan would end up fleeing-with my best samurai too!). He then managed to attack the unit with which Uesugi was stacked(!). Fortunately, Uesugi was able to kill the opposing busho in individual combat, and his unit survived, if battered. However, for all of this ill wind, one good thing happened, he attacked my out of command clan, automatically activating it. My clan held its own (he attacked my 4 units with his 3) and was able to completely rout his clan the next turn (not in any small part to my outstanding momentum rolls for a 3 intitiative busho - my best luck of the game, I think). In addition, during the next turn, I continued to rally my troops and prepare for a more organized linear assault. However, the routing that had occured previously proved enough to force two more of his clans to flight thus guaranteeing my victory. Overall, I collected 5 severed heads to his 4. I had very good luck with my samurai draws, getting two with skills of 7. However, my overall luck in combat was bad, as I lost every individual combat where the odds were fairly even. Still, by withdrawing and rallying, I was able to pull my troops together, preventing any more clan flights before his reinforcements had arrived, sealing my victory. The overall playing time was 4-1/2 hours. Well, obviously I am a GBOH fan, so it was a given that I would like the system for this. It has some great differences that make it very fresh though. Trumping has changed so that the so-taisho (c-in-c) always uses his ratings to trump, but he can use his trump to activate another busho. It made me not want to make continuation rolls because I knew he would be able to take the initiative away, thereby finishing (for the turn) the trumped busho. However, in this scenario, the burden of attack is on Uesugi, so he can't afford to pass the initiative, because Takeda will most likely also pass, thus ending the turn. This would bring Takeda's reinforcements all the closer. I was skeptical that this scenario would seem balanced, but now, I think that it has great play value, even if there is a point at which the scales tip irrevocably in Takeda's favor. The tension of a variable reinforcement schedule really puts the pressure on Uesugi. After this experience, I have a pretty strong desire to pick up some Japanese history to get some more detail. Any suggestions on some good introductory texts to the Japanese civil wars of the 16th century (or any pre-1850's Japanese history)? Rob March rmarch@nfesc.navy.mil P.S. It also helps to watch some Kirosawa before playing Samurai :). I watched Yojimbo last Friday...great flick!