One day, two games, both wearing masks - 2020 is weird!
After the morning's game vs Julian, Lee had very kindly asked me for a game too. Lee is a lovely chap (as 99.9999999999999999% of Meggers are), has been playing since the first trial games, and, more importantly, is a dashed good player! He has recently had a Takeda Samurai army painted by Nash's Painting Services, and was desperate to use it, so who was I to deny a chance of a civil war in a civil setting and a Senguko era war?
My list, same as it ever was.
Lee has obiously read my blog, as straight away he made sure we were not fighting in mountains, and we ended up in a normal plain with a coast line... So, no ambushes here!
Basically, I bodged my deployment, massively! I initialy deployed centred on the town, forgetting I had put my camp on the far right against the coast. This meant Fluffy's command was split, and my goose was cooked! Lee consolidated his forces on his town, while I scrambled to dig myself out of a massive hole.
My left flank rushes in, while my cavalry redeploy to get involved. Lee has five foot units vs my three on the right, this is going to hurt! He also has three units of pirates,crunchy outer, soft inner, armadillo time!
That is a BEAUTIFUL army!
Fluffy send ashugaru forwards, as my allies try to bring them selves around Lee's left/ Mobility is the key to my army and getting myself out of this mess.
Oh flibberdygibberts! FLUFFY! not the time to pull three blacks when I need two cards for my Ashugaru to be effective!
Time for my Bushi to take action, powerbows on average (green) and superior troops (white +). Not too bad.
This is getting a little tight! I contacted his pirate allies (left), but was outclassed (right).
Manouver and attrition, my bows and cavalry come in from the top, my ally tries to deal with other pirates before Lee's Takeda lancers are unleashed from the backfield. 
Lee learns the new rule about step throughs, charges and entering someone's 'Zone of Control' as I get three wounds on the charge (white+ S count as wounds vs superiors) from my supporting powerbows, not enough to stop him as he buys through with a red card, but satisfying none the less.
GUYS COME ON! My bows get B/W, my cavalry decent, my ally not much, and Fluffy... gah! Talented should get more than that, honest!
Lee backs up his Samurai with Ashugaru, charging my Bushi line, this time our shooting should be greens and will cause untold damage... BUGGER!
Meanwhile, my Ashugaru manages to break through Lee's pirates (2-0) while his other pirates are embroiled with my superior spears who are dealing the damage, but not quickly enough and they fall before the pirate swords (2-2), and the rest of his force backs away from my approaching average spears and mounted samurai. My ashugaru who have broken through fail to get the cards they need, and will soon be sandwiched between Lee's red lancers and his archers.
The shear weight of numbers breaks my samurai Bushi, and Fluffy is knocked down to compitant from talented, then on the break Fluffy is wounded again taking him down to mediocre. My right hand ashugaru fights hard, trading blows against Lee's Samurai and ashuragu, while my samurai spears slowly whittles down his main Samurai block, but would it be enough? (2-4)
Stupidly, I bring my archers out of cover, only to be spifflicated by Lee's lancers (2-6). My cavalry charges his pirates and struggles with closing fire, but soon start causing damage. Below that, my average allies have had to turn to face the victorious a pirate unit (2-6).
However, my ashugaru have been well and truely stampeded by Lee's lancers and archers, and are utterly whipped out in the charge phase (2-8)
In the centre/right, Fluffy joins the superior samurai, and they break Lee's opposite number (4-8), but are then charged by Lee's reserve Ashugari and his other ashugari stand firm, while the unit that had taken my bows apart moves to envelop my spears! I break on 5 units, so this is now a matter of not if but when I will break!
A situation so bad, I had to show it twice!
My ashugaru find a nice, soft flank to charge. I suspect too little, too late as my cavalry join them frontally! This pirate scourge will no longer bother my lands (6-8)
Lee smashes into my superior speer's flank, and it is all over, Fluffy takes another wound and the army collapses (6-15)
Oh it went so wrong so quickly! I love my Samurai, but when you foul the deployment like I did, it will cost you the game against a bigger and equal class enemy (in my case, three expensive units). Pirates are still not on my to do list, I do not beleive they work, and are too brittle, if I had charged them earlier with my cavalry, I could have got a much better score, maybe even breaking into the backfield and then hunting lancers? Oh the what ifs of history! Not a good day for Fluffy...
Great game, Lee is a real gentleman to play, and I look forwards to another game soon.
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