Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima

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fitzpatv
Lance Corporal - SdKfz 222
Lance Corporal - SdKfz 222
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:54 pm

Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima

Post by fitzpatv »

Having just finished playing the 'historical' Sengoku Jidai scenarios at the third (Taisho) level, I thought I'd post some AARs on the series.

The opening engagement is the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima. A Uesugi clan army is caught between two halves of a larger (20,500 to 12,500) Takeda clan host. On the right, a 3-unit (max) holding force guards a ford against the late-arriving Eastern half of the enemy horde. Meanwhile on the left, the bulk of the Uesugi force (some 20 units) is strung-out crossing a smaller river in the face of the Western Takeda force (17 units plus Honjin camp), who are drawn-up, ready for battle. Another four Uesugi units arrive from the SW rather late in the game. The Uesugi main force has a melee value of 5,126 and a missile value of 183, while the Western Takeda group has 4,052 and 182 (by my count, anyway).

The Western battle zone features a pair of transverse streams on the left and a few patches of rough ground, offering little advantage to either side. The main river (passable only at the ford or via a second ford a long march behind the Western Takeda force) greatly hinders the chances of swift intervention by the Eastern Takeda army.

The Uesugi need to use their slender numerical advantage to offset an inferior initial tactical situation and beat the Western Takeda force. Given their greatly lesser numbers overall, they need to work very hard to defeat enough enemy units (40:15 or 60%) to win.

It's perfectly possible to do this, but you need to take care that you :
- deploy carefully before engaging the Western force
- avoid unfavourable match-ups whenever possible
- make use of both flanks (best to put the cavalry on the right)
- try not to be unlucky !!

You'll lose the fight at the ford, but Takeda reinforcements (and Uesugi ones) should arrive too late to matter.

My first attempt ended in a 40:8 defeat, my second (taking fuller account of the above) in a 42:8 win.
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