Dōmyōji, Can Osaka Beat the Odds?

Following my success in our last encounter playing the Tokugawa army, it would have been churlish to refuse Jonathan's invitation for a rematch with a switch of sides.  For Jonathan's background to the battle and an account of our first game see here.  My account of that first clash is here.

Photograph from the game, courtesy of J. Freitag.

For this iteration, Jonathan commanded the Tokugawa army.  I led the Osaka defence.

Anyway, enough blah blah and onto the battle!

The initial deployment.  My left wing with archers in the woods next to the tomb, and two spears including one samurai.   The right wing with a spear behind the tomb, then a teppo unit and spear on the right.  The central command consisting of a teppo unit ahead of the main line, spears behind and samurai cavalry bringing up the rear right of the centre.

As the Tokugawa troops move into position and prepare to strike, the Osaka teppo in the centre retires and the left wing pull back to create a better defensive line.  The samurai cavalry turn to the centre and swing into the main battle line.

At this point, I should lay out battle plan.  It struck me that my most potent striking force is the samurai cavalry.  Previous encounters saw them caught standing.  I figured that if I could get them into action, I might be able to disrupt the enemy and slow down their advance.  At the same time withdraw my line back.  The hope being that I can survive long enough to be able to retreat some units off the table and avoid a crushing defeat.  So... let's see how that works out!

Fortune smiled on the Osaka army!  With the initiative, the samurai cavalry charge into the Tokugawa line recently disordered by teppo shooting.

Despite Tokugawa spears blunting the samurai's impetus, the defenders were thrown back.

The samurai pursuit was brutal; making sure that no arquebus firing teppo survived.  

However, Tokugawa samurai cavalry launch a counter attack.

The enemy horse is thrown back and the, now depleted, Osaka samurai pursue.

Now facing the Tokugawa cavalry and supporting spears, the samurai's falter.  However, their leader commits Seppuku giving the horsemen the drive for one last charge.  Alas, whilst their bravery will be recounted in song, their bodies will moulder in the ground.

Whilst destroyed, the samurai cavalry threw back the Tokugawa centre and inflicted great losses.  Their job done!  Can the rest of the army play their part?

As the Tokugawa centre licks its wounds, their left seeks to break the Osaka right.  Samurai cavalry charged into and threw back an ashigaru spear unit.  Fortunately for the defenders, they were unwilling to pursue.  Meanwhile, Tokugawa spear hurl themselves at the teppo unit.

But with the defending teppo supported by a spear unit, the attacker ashigaru are put to rout.

Nonetheless, the Tokugawa are determined to crack the Osaka right.  Samurai spear fall upon the defending teppo and ashigaru spear...

... only to be met by determined and savage resistance.  Unthinkably, the Tokugawa samurai rout!

On the right, the Tokugawa troops, having suffered from galling archery fire, decide to advance out of range.
Meanwhile, on the right, the Tokugawa cavalry ride down the teppo but again fail to pursue.
On the far right, Osaka spears fall on the damaged enemy samurai foot...

At this point, I faced a difficult decision.  Either stick entirely to my plan and remain cautious by retiring the army a little closer to the base line, or strike at the two more isolated Tokugawa units in the centre and possibly commit myself more than I originally planned.  After a short paralysis in my decision making, I opted for the latter.

... the samurai on the right are annihilated!  Now the Osaka troops seem unwilling to pursue.
Seeing opportunities to disrupt the Tokugawa advance, a central foot unit charge and rout a teppo unit.

Continuing to take advantage of isolated Tokugawa units, Osaka foot charge a spear unit and drive it back but fail to pursue.

And, on the left, two charging Osaka foot units wipe out a defending unit.  Neither show a willingness to pursue!

With Osaka units now within charge range, Tokugawa units seek to punch through the centre.  First, they cause a spear unit to rout but fail to make good the advantage with a pursuit.

Then another charges the teppo unit sheltering in the woods.

However, the teppo stand with grim determination and repulse the Tokugawa assault.
Meanwhile, on the right, the Osaka ashigaru spear crash into their counterparts.

Unable to stand the attack, the Tokugawa unit is forced to retire.  The ashigaru offer a feeble pursuit before holding their position.

In the centre, the Tokugawa see that the defending spears are tiring and much depleted.  With some ferocity they charge and show no mercy.  However, their efforts exhaust them and they are unable to pursue.

With the opportunity to profoundly damage the enemy on the right, the Osaka ashigaru tear into the enemy.  Destroying one unit and setting the other to flight to the ford in rout.

The Tokugawa cavalry on the right returns the compliments and annihilates the stubborn teppo.
With time and space now available, the command goes out to the Osaka troops to withdraw towards the castle in an orderly fashion.

However, the Tokugawa have other plans!
First, their samurai cavalry charges the remnants of a spear unit only to be thrown back.

So, leave it to the poor bloody infantry to level their weapons and wipe out the Osaka troops.

Back to the right flank, the Osaka ashigaru fall on the routing troops at the ford.  The result is carnage as the river runs red with Tokugawa blood.
On the left, two spear and one teppo unit race for home.  However, the teppo see that they are likely to be caught and try to withdraw with haste.  Alas, as their formation breaks apart so does their morale and they rout and disperse.

Unable to stop their exit, the Tokugawa watch helplessly as two units make it back to Osaka Castle.

The Tokugawa troops now move to eliminate the archers protecting the leftmost tomb and the right most spear unit.

However, the Tokugawa recognises that victory is now impossible.

The army clock show the Osaka with 6 and Tokugawa with 3.  

A minor victory for the Osaka is declared.  At last the Tokugawa are frustrated in their designs!

Afterthoughts

That was a superb contest.  Great fun.  The battle was fraught with tension; packed with action; and demanding on the brain.  The sort of game that I love.

Whilst my battle plan ultimately worked, there were a number of factors to take into account:

• My dice rolling in melee was far above my usually very mediocre performance.
• The number of pursuits both sides were able to execute was much lower than usual.  This stopped any one melee being a catastrophe for one side or the other, especially for the Osaka army.  This let them survive intact longer, maintain a good line longer, and ultimately withdraw in good order.
• The ability to get the Osaka cavalry into position and charge was a fundamental and critical moment.  This disrupted the Tokugawa advance and won at least two turns for the Tokugawa - valuable time and space.  This result was worth their sacrifice.

Jonathan, as the Tokugawa, did not make it easy for me.  When he tried to crack my right, I was really worried.  Again, later in the game in the centre he was one pursuit away from being positioned to cut off my withdrawal when the time came.  In this game, fine decisions and fine moments of chance played their part.

A measure of the amount of action was that I took 57 screen shots.  Usually a remote game takes about 20!  For this report, I managed to reduce the number shown to 29 (I think).

I'll let Jonathan's report reveal the final butcher's bill.

This was an exhausting and incredibly entertaining encounter.  A superb challenge.  Great job with this scenario, Jonathan.