Yokshie Tokubetsu Goes to Midgard

Weirdy-Beardy's Warrior Monks engaging Yokshie Tokubetsu's center

We got our Samurai out this weekend to try and see if Midgard would work for them. Finding a semi-biggish battle set of rules has been a problem. Ok, ok, I really haven't done much with my Samurai in a long  while, since this game of Seven Spears. Of course I haven't done anything with my Samurai, except buy (and then promptly put into storage) 6 boxes of Perry figures, since November of 2023. There were all those Quar grabbing my attention. 

Rebels on the left. The legitimate Lord, Yokshie Tokubetsu, on the right.

So Saturday afternoon I hastily scribbled out some lists for Yokshie Tokubetsu, the Lord of Tea, and the Ikko-ikki who are contesting his control of the region with their nonsensical complaints about oppressive taxes and how to properly perform the Tea Ceremony.

Yokshie Tokubetsu's sonae advancing. Formed units of 6. Skirmishers 3 to a base.

Samurai are Warriors with upgrade to Armour 4 and Spears as Tribute plus Steadfast.

Ashigaru with Yari are Warriors with Pikes.

Ashigaru with teppo are Massed shooters with Armour 3, Marksmen, Longbow and Hell's Breath 

Ashigaru with yumi (bows) are skirmishers with Longbows and Marksmen

The Mounted Samurai I made Heavy Riders (Knights)

The Hatamoto with yumi and naginata got Armour 4, Spears as Tribute, Pikes, Steadfast and Fearsome.

Hatamoto shooters got Marksmen and Hell's Breath.

Yokshie Tokubetsu himself is a Level 3, Mounted, with Battlesmiter and Today We Fight to Win.

He was assisted by five Taisho (Captains) who were all Level 2 with Battlesmiter.

This came to 362 points and 43 Reputation.

Ikko-ikki.

The Ikko-ikki are much more of a mixed bag, with everything from fierce ronin and monks swinging naginata (Brutal trait) to peasants clutching sharpened bamboo poles (Warrior Horde). As a force, they generally aren't as well equipped so the samurai were armour 3 and everyone was Reluctant. Some units were even downgraded to Armour 2. The bandit cavalry armed with bows were treated as Heavy Riders with Elf Bows, so not as shock charging as the Lord of Tea's cavalry, but the shooting helped them. They certainly held their own against Yokshie Tokubetsu's cavalry. The Bandit Chief was very tooled up; level 4, a legendary weapon and Today We Fight to Win. Their force came to 39 Reputation.

Bow armed Skirmishers foreground. Peasants beside them. 

After this game, when there was confusion over unit compositions and who was with which group, I had asked Don to print me some movement trays holding 6x 1" round bases. Some were neatly lined up 2x3, and others were more wiggly for orcs or skirmishers or peasants with bamboo spears. This naturally meant I had to quickly cut new measuring sticks for the different base width.

Yokshie Tokubetsu's Samurai doing surprisingly well against the Monks

Yokshie Tokubetsu (in yellow coat and helnet) rides to his doom. He is killed by an arrow leading his Hatamoto forward against the Monks with yumi.

The game went very well I thought. Lots of pushing to and fro. Things were looking very bleak on Yokshie's right as his cavalry fared poorly against the ronin. But in the final combat the bandit chief had his buntai of Mounted ronin destroyed around him, costing him an extra Reputation.

When the dust settled, the Ikko-ikki were at -1, and Yokshie Tokubetsu's heir was at 0. So a very tight game indeed. Although I made some errors with Reputation Tokens at the start, so this might not have been correct.

I messed up a few things as usual. I'm pretty sure I buggered up some Reputation. And I forgot that every hero had Battlesmiter and Yokshie Tokubetsu had Today We Fight to Win, which might have helped kill those monks.

I need to think about a trait for Hatamoto though. They should be harder to shift and fight to the death if their lord is killed. 

But results were very exciting and I'm now looking at those 6 boxes of Perry figures and planning what to paint next. Of course I'd been thinking about Sharp Katanas or Seven Spears when I made the order, so I've got a box of teppo and yumi commanders which will mess up unit numbers.

But, if organized into units of 3 and 6, I should, hopefully, be able to field an in house opponent for Yokshie Tokubetsu.