Samurai

The first things to appear here will be reminiscences about the famously acrimonious Samurai League. This was a series of games with our 16th century samurai, using Song of Blades & Heroes rules. During and after the games there was as much fighting around the table as on it.

The set-up of the league was simple. There were four participants. Each game had two players a side. Each player had each player as his partner in turn, so that one 'round' was three games after whch each player had had each other as his partner. After a game the losers got zero points each and the winners three points between them. One of the winners got two points, the other one point. The two points were awarded to whoever had contributed most to the victory, as determined by a discussion between the players. The whole league season consisted of two rounds.

On one occasion a player, Mr C- H-, appeared with an all cavalry force. He used it with such devastating effect that his opponents threw a massive strop and threatened to withdraw from the league if cavalry appeared again.

In another game the objective was a store-house, which one side had to destroy, the other preserve. The attackers shot fire arrows onto the roof, and an argument immediately ensued about whether it was thatched, as the model house depicted, or wooden shingles, which someone claimed (with no evidence) was more accurate. In the meantime the defender used his best troops, two foot samurai, as firefighters, running about on the roof stamping out fires, and belatedly sent other troops to deal with archers. Just before the last archer was finished off the building collapsed and the game was over.

On another occasion one side brought along a peasant with a mattock, who was there only to make up the numbers as a last few points were unspent. However he managed to kill a couple of ashigaru with some help and single-handedly offed a samurai.

The pink samurai incident. A samurai, who was mercilessly taunted throughout the game for his pink flower-patterned trousers, occupied a walled enclosure and held it alone against much greater numbers for most of the game, coming close to winning it for his player.

The ignominious defeat where I had thought I was really smart using a large force of unarmoured ashigaru spearmen and archers. These advanced fine, archers to the fore. However before contact I saw some unarmoured ronin belonging to the cautious Mr A- H- a safe distance away across a river and decided to change formation to spearmen at the front, archers behind. As the ashigaru milled about in confusion the ronin charged pell-mell and without preparation across a bridge and into them. The samurai in charge of the ashigaru attempted to restore order by wafting them with his fan, was decapitated, and the ashigaru fled.