Samurai v French 100 Years War

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Paul K
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Samurai v French 100 Years War

Post by Paul K »

After the Samurai’s army defeat of the Ming Chinese in the previous game I thought it would be a good idea to pitch the same Samurai army against a different type of opposition. And so, a French 100 Years War army was chosen, again to the same points value, (250 points), and like the previous game, it would be the terrain which would be a key factor for and against both armies. The terrain layout was chosen before any players knew what armies were in the box! The dice gave Chris and Tony their victorious Samurai once again. Tim and James took generalship of the French and I became the none playing observer, which was fair in that I had composed both armies and 3 generals on any side is a squeeze on a 6 foot table.
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The terrain was very open in the centre with a road zig-zagging across the table from one edge to the other in the middle. There were a couple of low hills close to the cemtre line and few small 3 and 4 hex woods towards each table edge.
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With both armies deployed 4 hexes in from the table edge, first move went to the French who advanced their crossbow units forward in a line with their heavy cavalry following-up behind.
Chris and Tony deployed the same as the previous week with Chris taking the bulk of their ‘good’ infantry on the left while Tony shepherded the 7 units of peasants and 5 units of mounted Samurai on the right.
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Once the French had established a line across the battlefield between 2 small woods, their crossbow units deployed with their pavisses to the fore. Tim and James had chosen to stage a defensive battle and it was now up to the Samurai to go on the offence. The multitudes of Samurai peasants advanced towards Tim’s line its flank protected by 2 units of mounted sergeants. Chris’s foot Samurai and ashigaru started their attack on the woodland held by James’s French men-at-arms. For a change Chris’s shooting proved inconsistent and the French refused to give ground. But as more Samurai arrived ready for the assault James pulled 2 units of French heavy cavalry from the centre to support his hard pressed wing.
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The resulting weakened French centre should have been a prime target for Tony’s 5 units of mounted Samurai. However, there was a mass of disrupted and fleeing Samurai peasants in the way having received a severe beating at the hands of the French peasants and crossbow units who were beginning to find their targets rather successfully.
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This bought time for James and Tim to recognise the danger and in their next tactical move they concentrated all 5 of their French heavy cavalry back in the centre. The now very messy infantry battle in the centre created more problems for the Samurai heavy cavalry than the French, and so it was the French mounted men-at-arms that managed to charge 3 units into their Samurai counterparts. A fair degree of French luck was required in the ensuing hand-to-hand combat and the dice delivered! As expected, the Samurai cavalry launched a massed counter-attack in their next movement phase but they were severely hampered by the their own disrupted peasant hordes.
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In the meantime, the infantry battle for control of the woods between James and Chris which had been swing back and forth with mounting casualties on both sides, started to swing in favour of the French. But, more importantly, this side battle prevented the Samurai infantry from coming to support the Samurai cavalry in the centre.
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Through some rather fortuitous French combat results the Samurai lost 3 of their 5 cavalry units and 2 generals, mostly by having nowhere to recoil to. The game hinged on just a couple of dice rolls and again the dice favoured the French. After three very bruising rounds of hand-to-hand cavalry combat the 2 units of French mounted sergeants arrived to seal the fate of the last of the Samurai cavalry who were now pretty much surrounded. The Samurai infantry fought on but they to found themselves on the receiving end of some punishing dice rolls! The last roll of the dice for the Samurai was snake eyes, and this double 1 signalled the loss of their third general and the French still had 3 of their 4, and so it was really game over and Chris and Tony accepted defeat.

Game Analysis

It’s easy to spot opportunities and mistakes when watching the game from the sidelines. However, in this encounter both sides I feel played to the strengths and peculiarities of their particular armies really well. The key difference was that the French, even when they lost combats, they didn’t really suffer any major ramifications. The Samurai army, on the other hand, was presented with so many ‘get out of that’s’ and difficult positional challenges through some pretty tough dice rolls that half way through the game, when the cavalry were fully engaged, the Samurai simply ran out of tactical options. Oh, and Generals! Viva La France!
Kind regards
Paul

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