Sengoku: the Project that Wasn't.

A 30YW action with Revell figures.

Way back in January 2021 I bought a copy of Bob Cordery (and Co) book The Portable Pike & Shot Wargame (2020). My primary interest in purchasing this little volume, of course, lay in the title. I had a pair of 30YW armies sitting idle: Imperialist/ Austeria and Swedish/ Severia. Incentive to do something with them.

Guess what.

Once past Bob's introductory chapter we run into this: 'The Portable Wargame: A Sengoku Variant' by one Antoine Bourguilleau - historian, journalist, translator and, it seems, a teacher at the University of Pantheon-Sorbonne.  That was serendipity if you like. Interest piqued, methought to embark upon this newfound topic of interest. But I didn't want to commit to a whole new project for which I didn't have the space to accommodate.

Shogun board set up for action. Some readjustments have
already been made.  The Orange faction looks too scattered...

Casting my mind to the playing pieces for the boardgame I knew as Shogun, but which has been renamed over the years as Samurai Swords, and later as Ikusa, methought: plenty there: 5 factions with 9 figures each of Samurai archers and swordsmen, and Ashigaru arquebusiers; and 36 figures of Ashigaru spearmen. Plus 3 Diamyo, though on foot, representing the small cavalry elements, plus 3 flag bearers identifying the 3 armies available to each faction.

The first Sengoku action: the defence of a castle against 
Ikko-Ikki attack.  Clan Oda, Red; Ikko-Ikki, every
colour but Red.

So I had the foot: what was wanting was the cavalry arm. OK, that keeps things within bounds: I bought 3 boxes of Zvezda mounted Samurai.  And a command box as well. Enough for 3x 3-figure units for each army, plus mounted commands for three more.

I got quite a lot of mileage out of those armies...

Early action: Clan Oda attempts to recover a castle 
lost to the Ikko-Ikki

More action among the warring clans

So I had all I wanted from this project and more. 

And then some Vogon places 3 boxes of Zvezda Foot Samurai for sale at $5 the box at last year's Bring-and-Buy. Resistance was, obviously, impossible, especially given the high quality of the Zvezda figures. 44 Figures the box, I reckoned on allocating them among the 5 factions. That has proved rather intractable, so I bought a fourth box (Mini-Kiwiland online retailer) at the usual retail price - nearly half as much again as the three B&B boxes.  I am now on the lookout for a fifth.

Yellow (Orange) and Dark Blue (Purple) armies. Some surplus 
Ashigaru Yari from the Shogun game have been recruited 
into both armies

These I have subjected to my own minimalist paint work: black undercoat, white drybrush, single main colour. I have, however, gone a little further, placing a simple uniform pattern on the nobari flags, metal weapon blades, and the odd extra detail. Added to these armies are a number of spare Ashigaru Yari figures from the Shogun game - enough for eight stands altogether.

Red Army

The figures are no longer deployed individually, but mounted on stands. I began by having as many figures as the strength points for each element. This really didn't work for these figures, so I have gone for stands of threes and twos. To some extent, the number has been dictated by the figures available. There being three standing Samurai arquebusiers per box, it seemed reasonable to place them all on a stand. Their Strength Point (SP) value will be according.

Green Army. I might have to do something about the colour
of the stands.

Now, having played through the original Antoine Bourguilleau rule set, though impressed by some aspects of the way it played (e.g. that a defeated army could successfully disengage in a plausible manner - not something many rule sets achieve), on the whole I found the activation system, especially with a single general, just a little too ... bitty. I was a little dissatisfied with the resulting game. Whilst there is some indication that historical Samurai Army commanders found their followers a little 'sticky', I wanted a little more action. Although not exactly contrary to the Bourguilleau rule set, I have adopted a convention of assigning, apart for the Army Commander,  one 'general' per 6 units, or stands.

Fortified castle. The buildings are detachable...

A point worth observing, too, is that I consider the expression 'rounding down' to mean 'rounding to the nearest integer, with exact halves being rounded to the nearest integer below'. Context of these rules indicates that the author really means truncating, that is to say, dropping the remainder of any division. To illustrate the difference:

Suppose you have 11 units, with 1 general: 
'Rounding Down' as I interpret it:
11/6 => 2 + 1 General, gives 3 activation dice. We roll (2+3+6)/2 => 6 units activated
'Truncating'
11/6 => 1 + 1 General, gives 2 activation dice. We roll (3+4)/2 => 3 units activated.
The difference of 2 out of 11 available units seems to me significant.

... and the detached buildings form a village or town

Very well, but on the whole I have preferred to stay with the 'truncating' the division of the number of units by 6, but adding for more than one general. Here's why.

The Sengoku Wars seem to have been well chronicled, and are replete with outstanding personalities. I notice that this is reflected in the Richard Borg game system in Samurai Battles. (See link for an account). Lots of generals/ personalities. I probably wouldn't be quite so generous. The conventions I came up with for my games are:
1. 1 activation die for each whole multiple of 6 units (divide by 6 and truncate the quotient);
2. 1 activation die for the Army Commander;
3A. 1 sub-general for each whole multiple of 6 units;  
3B. 1 activation die for each sub-general.

The effect of this is a fair measure of control in the early stages - enough for brisk action yet retaining some chance effects - but gradually degrading as losses mount. Attached 'permanently' to particular units, these commanders share the fate of their units. The loss of a general's unit might well cost an army two activation dice come their next turn.

Command tent, marquee or pavilion.  I tend to think
of it as a pavilion.

Going back to our 11-unit army, we would be allowed 
1 activation die for the 11 units (just one 'whole multiple' of 6);
1 activation die for the Army commander;
1 activation die for the one sub-general permitted.

The above picture is of a small command pavilion/ tent/ marquee, which seems to have been a feature of many Samurai army high command. I'll probably make one more, but more oblong and more open in front. These will count as static units, unable to initiate combat, but able to defend themselves.  I suggest it be given 1 SP only, but elite status. The 'General with' addition to the combat dice will ensure it dies hard...

As the Zvezda figures offer a greater variety of figures, the Bourguilleau simplified TO&E will have to be amended - for my games at any rate.

Notes:

• E = Elite
• A = Average
  
• P = Poor
• Artillery ranges are short (1 grid area) and long (2-3 grid areas).
• Pavises count as cover for incoming shot or bow fire.
• Command pavilion (tent, marquee) can not move, nor shoot nor initiate combat. However, in combat it counts as an elite unit.
  

Here seems a good place to pause.  To come: Siege of Osaka: Battle among the Tombs, 1615

Siege of Osaka: the Heights of Komatsuyama