Battle of Ichi no Tani - Tribal Gaming

Just wrapped up a four player Tribal game using the Battle of Ichi no Tani during the Gempei War as the scenario. The Taira clan who were in their beachside fortess were to repel the attacking Minamoto forces coming along the beachhead. The Taira had a secret victory condition which was to flee out to sea with the boats at the shoreline - if they couldn't destroy the Minamoto on land. They chose to remain in and around the fortress and battle it to the bitter end. The Minamoto had a hidden movement that started at the start of turn 3. Two mounted warrior units along with three mounted characters, the warlord, Minamoto Yoshistune, along with the monk hero Benkei and a banner man. They did some damage within the fortress but the Taira held their own. Both sides had units of foot and mounted samurai with Elite Marksmen skills in light armor and short weapons (katana). Both sides also had units of foot Warriors with long weapons (naginata). The Minamoto had several units of Warrior monks in light armor - two Elite Marksmen with short weapons and one with long weapons. At the end of turn 5, the Taira had more Honor points than the Minamoto and they were declared the victors. For the record, one of the players (on the Taira side) played the rules for the first time, and admitted that he didn't like card driven games, but he really enjoyed this one. Anyway, here are pictures from the game - I was able to take a few as I was umpiring the game

Daimyo in deep contemplation prior to the battle.

Minamoto standard bearer in combat with the Taira warlord inside the encampment.

Minamoto Yoshitsune about to take out remaining Taira bowmen - his loyal companion, the warrior monk Benkei closely behind him.

Taira foot and cavalry defending the breach.

Benkei in combat with Taira bowmen.

Minamoto cavalry wreaking havoc inside of the Taira encampment.

Taira bowmen manning a tower near the main gate.

Action with the Taira fortified encampment. The Minamoto cavalry having successfully descending unopposed down a cliff in the rear of the camp.

Minamoto and Taira forces clash at the palisades after a breach having been made.

Minamoto and Taira foot in woods surrounding the Taira camp.

Minamoto and Taira cavalry clash inside the Taira camp.

Minamoto samurai at the breach in the Taira encampment.

Minamoto Yoshitsune and picked cavalry descending from steep cliffs into the rear of the Taira encampment.

Battle on the flanks inside woods.

Minamoto samurai having successfully torn down a section of the Taira palisades.

View within the Taira camp from their left flank.

Sohei bowmen.

Minamoto samurai on their left flank.

Genre/period appropriate gaming aids and refreshment.

All in all a good game which worked well with the rules. As mentioned in the earlier post, I've played this same scenario with a modified version of WAB and also Lion Rampant. In those games, Taira units always made an attempt to reach the boats on shore, and in some cases successfully escaped to sea. In this game, the Taira players chose to stay in and around the encampment. Historically, the Taira managed to escape to sea for the most part. Only to be destroyed completed soon after at the naval Battle of Dan no Ura - but that is another story for another time.

Battle of Ichi no Tani (Gempei War) - Tribal Set-Up

Initial set-up for a Gempei War Tribal game I'm hosting this Friday. Still thinking of how to break down wall sections, and also to start fires to wooden structures, including boats. I made the terrain (except for the hootches and large ship) a long time ago, and was used with WAB and Lion Rampant. It'll be interesting to see how the scenario plays out with Tribal. The basic scenario is the Minamoto forces attacking the seaside fortress of the Taira. The Taira are to either destroy the attacking Minamoto or to escape to sea on the boats. A "surprise" attack by Minamoto cavalry coming from the rear of the camp after descending a steep/sheer cliff.

The little sake cups are containers for the Honor tokens. The honor tokens are nicely made (and inexpensive) Asian (Chinese?) coins. They look and feel really good.

In addition to the warlords, there are several heroes on each side - including some with banners for the Rally Around the Flag rule. The allows units with 2 long card lengths away from it to never lose a round of combat.

The retainer units have either naginata for the long weapon rule or bows. The samurai units will have light armor and be classed as Elite Bowmen so that the will also have their preferred hand weapon - swords. Monks will be either Elite Bowmen with swords or a unit with long weapons (naginata or tetsubo).

I have 4 players showing up with two having experience with the rules - one having played in today's Tribal game day.

Below is a grainy screenshot from a TV miniseries on the Gempei War showing the Taira camp at Ichi no Tani. I sort of based the look of the terrain from this.

Well, enough for now. Looking forward to the game and will try to remember to take photos during game play. I should be able to as I'll be GMing and not playing myself.

Tribal Refresher Game

Used some of my Late-Romans for a Tribal game day. I played against David Sullivan's (I Live With Cats blog) Picts. He eventually won, but my warband inflicted a number of casualties early on. Enough to give David a scare. Several others were also playing, including Kevin Smyth (A Gamer's Tales). I plan to host a Samurai Tribal game on Friday. More to follow. 

Will be sure to post pics from this coming Friday's Samurai Tribal game.

Tribal - Bronze Age - Hosted By "I Live With Cats"

Had another great Tribal game experience yesterday. It was hosted by David Sullivan of "I Live With Cats" blog. It was initially a 4-player game, but several others wanted in, and we were lucky to have one of the players bring his collection so there were enough figures. The 40mm figures Bronze Age are from Monolith Designs. In fact, the ones on the round bases are from the collection of the late Jim Bowen, who designed and sculpted the range.

This was my third time playing the rules, and also have the rule book, so was pretty comfortable with the rules. Only thing, I didn't focus on collecting Glory points and played it like a normal game. I ended up losing all of my Glory points and my warband being destroyed. I still had a Hero with all of his armor wounds intact, but alas no Glory, no more gaming.

It's a great set of rules for this kind of game, and it was nice to see it worked for so many players. In fact, instead of devolving into the usual separate duels between two players, we were fighting against varied players whoever came into range or combat. My warlord eneded up being killed after multiple attacks from units from two opposing players. A third opposing player used his missile troops against some of my units too.

My Warlord and Warrior unit on horseback did well in multiple rounds of combat, in large part to having a Hero with war banner in proximity to use his Rally Around the Flag. This ability has friendly units never losing combat and the enemy also having to retreat.

For a more detailed report and pictures of the game, please visit David's "I Live With Cats" blog.

I should be hosting my own Tribal game with early Samurai soon. Just want to finish up a few more figures. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.