Sengoku Jidai: a DBA campaign at NWA
Neil Hughes and a number of NWA members have started their wargaming year with a DBA(R) campaign being run monthly. This campaign, using elements of roleplaying, history and miniatures rules recreates the Sengoku Jidai period in Japan of 1467-1568 CE. This was a period when the well-established shugo-daimyo had nearly all been killed through fighting each other, and the regional daimyo, whom had held lesser roles when the shugo-daimyo had ruled, now rose and fought for their predecessors’ power and land (Turnbull, 1982: pp73-4). The campaign puts its players in the role of those regional daimyo.
Through movement on a map, diplomacy between players both at meetings and online, playing of cards that cause various effects outside and during battles and through the battles themselves, there has been a great deal of action occurring and hard-fought fights.
The Clans represented in the campaign are the Imagawa, Hojo, Uesugi, Mori, Takeda, Shimazu and with non-player controlled armies that could eventuate, being Ikko Ikki and Gekukujo as events occur. The below is a description of the opening round of the campaign with a recounting of the two battles fought by the Mori Clan (Nick) against the Shimazu (Julian), whom had left their southern islands and were attempting to establish a claw hold on the main island of Japan (Honshu).
The Shimazu, going first, landed two armies on Mori Clan lands. The Hojo invaded two provinces of the Uesugi. The Takeda invaded the Hojo and also marched into an empty province of the Imagawa. In response, the Mori stood to fight the Shimizu and reinforced their easily-threatened fortress. The Uesugi moved an army into Hojo lands as revenge and laid siege to the Hojo fortress. The Imagawa defended and also chose to march an army against the Mori. Had there been any diplomacy beforehand, or had long-held enmities finally bubbled over into total civil war without any side allying with another? It was too early to tell.
The siege at the Hojo fortress failed, with the Hojo standing firm and the Uesugi losing a good part of their army.
At the first Shimazu landing, the Mori faced their aggressors on grasslands. On each side of the battlefield lay a hill, with a forest to the far left flank of the Mori. The Mori Knights and Blade lined up on the plain between the hills while their Bows and Fast Blade lined up on the hill to their right flank, Bows hoping to keep the Shimazu pinned while the Fast Blade wiped out their flank.
The Shimazu Daimyo sent his Fast Blade to deal with the Mori Bow and indeed the Mori Bow were slaughtered to a man, even though the Mori Daimyo had decided to take the initiative, leave his secure position and attack the Shimazu. The Shimazu suffered a loss of one unit of Fast Blade, however their Arquebusiers fired a tremendous volley which slew the Mori Knight General and signalled the end of the Mori effort. Indeed, the Mori lost five units in total.
At the other landing, the Mori and Shimazu faced each other across a provincial highway. The Mori lined up with Broken Ground behind them, the Shimazu lining up behind a Swamp. Again the Shimazu adopted a defensive stance as the Mori advanced, determined to repel all invaders from their ancestors’ lands. The Shimazu lines then straightened as their opponents halted and the Mori Knights rode forward.
The Mori Shot then advanced and fired a volley. In the exchange, troops of both sides fell back and some fell to the earth, never to rise again. Smoke billowed across the battlefield, heating the blood of the Blades on both sides.
In bitter fighting, Mori Blade fell as the Shimazu held firm and fought like men possessed, seeing the Mori off a second time. With two Mori armies now on the run to safer lands and their boundaries shrinking, their yet-untested army in the Clan fortress prayed for victory.
Article written by Nick Pavlovski.
Reference: Turnbull, S. (1982) The book of the Samurai: the warrior class of Japan, London: Bison Books.