Legend of the Five Rings ( Clanwars ) with Brink of Battle/Epic Heroes

[seldon]

Yesterday... just before going to see Episode VII, we decided to do another game of Brink of Battle with the Epic Heroes expansion using the Clanwars miniatures from the Legends of the five rings setting..  the warbands were the same we used in previous games http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=76241.msg934323#msg934323

As usual we had a great gaming evening allowing us to do the same scenario switching sides in about 4 hours.

The scenario is the recon scenario were you try to break your opponent by killing troops and getting your guys to his deployment zone.

In the first game the Samurai decided to rush to the center of the board using their superior archers to try to get early wins against the fast moving hog mounted goblins.

Although the brave Akodo Kitaka effectively dealt with the enemy goblins the archers were ineffective and soon the valiant Samurai was facing a difficult scenario as the forces of evil superior in numbers were closing in.

The evil guys lead by the great centaur Doji Kyojin had also noticed a sneaky ashigaru trying to move unnoticed to the flank to get some recon points but with swift speed the faster goblins and centaur closed the gap.

The Samurai were forced to commit more warriors to the left flank to prevent being overrun and even the great Akodo Kin pushed his steed into action charging the mounted goblins while Ikoma Kosaku joined the ashigaru against the Centaur.

Things took a turn for the better for the Samurai when the master Samurai Archer Akodo Ikawa  was able to shock the terrible ogre Daigotsu Rafu and prevent him from joining the rapidly evolving melee among the trees.

On the right flank the shadowlands ratmen were quickly moving to gain the flank and the the ashigaru were desperately trying to prevent it but without much success.

Akodo Kin had failed to defeat the first mounted goblin but through the use of the break Ikoma Fujimaro was able to jump into action and save his lord before the second mounted goblin could finish him off.. Finally the master samurai managed to land a critical arrow on the ogre and soon the samurai were taking the upper hand.

At this point all was not lost for the Shadowland forces, the ratment were reaching the recon conditions of the scenario and all the hopes rested on the great power of Doji Kyojinto even the odds.. But fate would not have it that way who was defeated in combat by Ikoma Kosaku sealing the fate of the shadowland warband that decided to flee the area !

Pics from the first game











The green tokens indicates models that are yet to activate this turn

[seldon]

Now onto the second game of the evening.

The second game usually helps us to take advantage of the learnings from the first game, the warbands are hard to master as you need to find the best use for each model, kind of like a game of chess better yet bloodblow since dice are involved

On the second game the shadowlands forces decided that they would concentrate on getting their faster troops on the left flank and rush the recon points in the back while the skeleton samurai would try to pick off the enemy ashigaru.. The enemy Samurai had proven very tough in combat and it would be better to avoid them if possible.

Of course no plan survives contact with the enemy... The Samurai were careful to use their ashigaru protecting the center and quickly aimed to engage the shadowland forces with their strong high born samurai.  The shadowland forces had however managed to make progress in the flank after a mistake by the leading mounted goblin was avoided by mere luck ( and long distance ).

The second mounted goblin overestimated his combat ability and charged an enemy ashigaru but fail to defeat him and was in turn finished off by a veteran arhigaru with naginata.

The ogre rushed into combat against Ikoma Fujimaro sure that he would be able to take him down and if not at least he would be able to hold his own against the ashigaru that would probably engage to help the samurai. Well it didn't turn out ok, while fighting against Ikoma San , Satsune the ashigaru charged the rear of the Ogre and and ended his life with his yari !!!

The shadowland forces were in trouble, the foot goblin were no match for the samurai in the center, they did have the recon points but this was not eough to break the enemy and the samurai were now moving to close the deal. However by now the slower skeleton samurai were in a good defensive position, the archer protected by the katana wielding skeletons. 
Akodo Kin understanding that he needed to break the shadowland forces before the recon objective could be accomplished charged towards the skeleton samurai confident that his blessed katana would easily cut through bone and armor.. But, although in Brink of Battle extreme results are very uncommon due to the multiple opposed D10 mechanics that provide nice balance, they are not however absent. The skeleton samurai being active was able to take advantage of the riposte trait of the katana and surprised the charging lord and in unbelievable blow chopped his head off !!!

At that point Doji declared the recon objective accomplished and the shadowland warband finsihed their raid in victory ...  another fantastic game

pictures:
























cheers
Francisco