I was looking at the stories here, and I realised that there haven't been any STW AARs in a while. Since I had posted one at another forum a few months
ago, from an Imagawa game I played last February, I thought I'd post it here as well. It was the first AAR that I'd written, so I didn't bother
much with setting up characters and a story, but it should bring some nostalgic memories to old STW players, and make newer TW players realise how more
difficult, strategically, the older games were.
Back to basics, then. The game that started it all, still as enjoyable as it was 8 years ago!
Thinks started off dynamically, with an assault on the strategic province of Shinano, held by clan Uesugi. Controlling that province gave my capital in Totomi strategic depth, while checking the movements of troops in seven adjacent non-Imagawa provinces. With its metal sand deposits and highly skilled horsemen, Shinano would be developed into a military production center of my faction. Having established alliances with Hojo, Oda and Shimazu, I had the upper hand in dealing with Uesugi, and I had soon also taken Hida from them. But things would not run smoothly for long. Takeda, having nowhere else to expand in the north, declared war on me and attacked me in Suruga. In a series of desperate defense battles, Takeda's cavalry hordes were pushed back by my trusty yari troops, establishing a state where neither of us was powerful enough to invade the other's lands. And that was when Oda backstabbed me. His army invaded Mikawa, scarcely defended, and I had to pull back whatever troops I had to defend the capital at Totomi. At the same time, my daimyo (faction leader) led a diversionary attack against Mino. I had hoped that Oda would turn back towards Mino to liberate his lost province, rather than continue towards my capital, but that did not happen. The battle of Totomi was desperate but glorious. Oda's army was comprised mostly of yari ashigaru, so my fewer yari samurai, supported by samurai archers, managed to rout enough of their opponents to reach Oda himself, with his 10 heavy cavalry bodyguards. In a pitched battle, his bodyguards fell one by one, until Oda had to run away to save his life. That was to be his last act of cowardice. He was felled by a yari stroke and his whole army routed, being chased back to Mikawa by my victorious veterans. A couple of battles later Mikawa itself was liberated, and so by 1535 the borders looked like this.
Meanwhile, in the south, Shimazu was gathering forces. By using Higo as a staging ground, that could only mean one thing: an invasion was imminent. I gathered almost all my units in the area at Chikugo, to defend the river crossing and waited.
The invasion came, both in Chikugo and Chikuzen in the north, where my defenders were pushed back after some small skirmishes. In Chikugo Shimazu attacked with the full might of his army. Unfortunately for him, he got a little carried away and led a charge across the bridge, once his first waves of infantry had tired my own first units of defenders. He got stuck on the wrong side of the river once I sent a unit of yari samurai to block the bridge, and was eventually killed by my spearmen. His men made few more attempts to cross the bridge, ultimately deciding to retreat back to Higo. Shimazu had no adult heirs and his clan disintegrated after his death, leaving me to deal with only Ronin armies in what was left of his lands.
Back north, I pressed my advantage against Oda by conquering their capital in Owari, but at a cost of losing Hida to a resurgent Uesugi. With my young heir as taisho, I managed to conquer Echigo, a very rich river province that was of great strategic importance and over five times more profitable than Hida. It was a trade off I was happy with.
But trouble continued to stir. Hojo had an alliance with Uesugi, as well as myself, and Takeda built up his economy and armies to dangerous levels. By the spring of 1542 an ominous concentration of forces shadowed Shinano.
The worse happened. Both Takeda and Hojo invaded Shinano. My recently trained naginata troops held the high ground against the Takeda onslaught, while yari samurai repelled their cavalry and my own few yari cavalry chased routers, returning when they were harassed by Takeda horse archers. Hojo was camped on the opposite hills watching the battle. Seeing most of Takeda'a army retreat, he led some troops forward and they engaged the few regrouping Takeda in battle. I engaged them both with much caution, as Hojo was clearly making sure Takeda was weakened enough to become the next target for Hojo expansion. After some light fighting, Hojo'a army retreated, with few casualties, as I had assumed defensive positions on top of a hill again. He would come again next turn, and he would need fewer reserves to guard against Takeda movements against his lands.
In the following seasons I was on the defensive, trying to hold Shinano against Hojo attacks. But eventually, luck had it that both the Hojo daimyo and his heir were killed (I think his heir by someone else's ninja), and his clan collapsed into ronin provinces. I then took the initiative against Takeda, who had been building up his forces again. A daring offensive pushed him behind his castle walls in his capital at Kai. But, as I fought Hojo and Takeda, Uesugi became more powerful, bringing the Ronin provinces of Kaga, Noto and Echgigen under his control. In a surprise attack he overrun Mino, and pushed into Mikawa, the second time that an enemy army had taken it and threatened Totomi. So this is how the situation looked like in the spring of 1545, with my Daimyo leading an attack to retake Mino.
For the next eight years (32 turns) I waged wars against Uesugi and Takeda, finally kicking the Takeda off the north of Japan and putting an end to clan Uesugi. In the south I slowly defeated the formerly Shimazu Ronin armies, unifying the island and defending it against a Takeda invasion. Takeda's latest daimyo, a 22 year old with little experience, has taken over the family war against Mori, that has been raging for over ten years in the south. In the north, I've been also fighting the Ronin, whose armies are quite powerful and their provinces very rich. The stage is set now for an invasion of Shimosa, with its fortress and famous Buddhist monastery.
Meanwhile, in the center of Japan, Oda has been teching up, training new unit types with improved weapons and armour. I am getting ready for a massive invasion of Wakasa, Oda's easternmost province and main training center. If I am successful, I will have common borders with Mori's northern provinces, the only Daimyo not at war with me, and Oda will be at a severe disadvantage.
It's the spring of 1553, and it's going to be a hot summer.
Back to basics, then. The game that started it all, still as enjoyable as it was 8 years ago!
Thinks started off dynamically, with an assault on the strategic province of Shinano, held by clan Uesugi. Controlling that province gave my capital in Totomi strategic depth, while checking the movements of troops in seven adjacent non-Imagawa provinces. With its metal sand deposits and highly skilled horsemen, Shinano would be developed into a military production center of my faction. Having established alliances with Hojo, Oda and Shimazu, I had the upper hand in dealing with Uesugi, and I had soon also taken Hida from them. But things would not run smoothly for long. Takeda, having nowhere else to expand in the north, declared war on me and attacked me in Suruga. In a series of desperate defense battles, Takeda's cavalry hordes were pushed back by my trusty yari troops, establishing a state where neither of us was powerful enough to invade the other's lands. And that was when Oda backstabbed me. His army invaded Mikawa, scarcely defended, and I had to pull back whatever troops I had to defend the capital at Totomi. At the same time, my daimyo (faction leader) led a diversionary attack against Mino. I had hoped that Oda would turn back towards Mino to liberate his lost province, rather than continue towards my capital, but that did not happen. The battle of Totomi was desperate but glorious. Oda's army was comprised mostly of yari ashigaru, so my fewer yari samurai, supported by samurai archers, managed to rout enough of their opponents to reach Oda himself, with his 10 heavy cavalry bodyguards. In a pitched battle, his bodyguards fell one by one, until Oda had to run away to save his life. That was to be his last act of cowardice. He was felled by a yari stroke and his whole army routed, being chased back to Mikawa by my victorious veterans. A couple of battles later Mikawa itself was liberated, and so by 1535 the borders looked like this.
Meanwhile, in the south, Shimazu was gathering forces. By using Higo as a staging ground, that could only mean one thing: an invasion was imminent. I gathered almost all my units in the area at Chikugo, to defend the river crossing and waited.
The invasion came, both in Chikugo and Chikuzen in the north, where my defenders were pushed back after some small skirmishes. In Chikugo Shimazu attacked with the full might of his army. Unfortunately for him, he got a little carried away and led a charge across the bridge, once his first waves of infantry had tired my own first units of defenders. He got stuck on the wrong side of the river once I sent a unit of yari samurai to block the bridge, and was eventually killed by my spearmen. His men made few more attempts to cross the bridge, ultimately deciding to retreat back to Higo. Shimazu had no adult heirs and his clan disintegrated after his death, leaving me to deal with only Ronin armies in what was left of his lands.
Back north, I pressed my advantage against Oda by conquering their capital in Owari, but at a cost of losing Hida to a resurgent Uesugi. With my young heir as taisho, I managed to conquer Echigo, a very rich river province that was of great strategic importance and over five times more profitable than Hida. It was a trade off I was happy with.
But trouble continued to stir. Hojo had an alliance with Uesugi, as well as myself, and Takeda built up his economy and armies to dangerous levels. By the spring of 1542 an ominous concentration of forces shadowed Shinano.
The worse happened. Both Takeda and Hojo invaded Shinano. My recently trained naginata troops held the high ground against the Takeda onslaught, while yari samurai repelled their cavalry and my own few yari cavalry chased routers, returning when they were harassed by Takeda horse archers. Hojo was camped on the opposite hills watching the battle. Seeing most of Takeda'a army retreat, he led some troops forward and they engaged the few regrouping Takeda in battle. I engaged them both with much caution, as Hojo was clearly making sure Takeda was weakened enough to become the next target for Hojo expansion. After some light fighting, Hojo'a army retreated, with few casualties, as I had assumed defensive positions on top of a hill again. He would come again next turn, and he would need fewer reserves to guard against Takeda movements against his lands.
In the following seasons I was on the defensive, trying to hold Shinano against Hojo attacks. But eventually, luck had it that both the Hojo daimyo and his heir were killed (I think his heir by someone else's ninja), and his clan collapsed into ronin provinces. I then took the initiative against Takeda, who had been building up his forces again. A daring offensive pushed him behind his castle walls in his capital at Kai. But, as I fought Hojo and Takeda, Uesugi became more powerful, bringing the Ronin provinces of Kaga, Noto and Echgigen under his control. In a surprise attack he overrun Mino, and pushed into Mikawa, the second time that an enemy army had taken it and threatened Totomi. So this is how the situation looked like in the spring of 1545, with my Daimyo leading an attack to retake Mino.
For the next eight years (32 turns) I waged wars against Uesugi and Takeda, finally kicking the Takeda off the north of Japan and putting an end to clan Uesugi. In the south I slowly defeated the formerly Shimazu Ronin armies, unifying the island and defending it against a Takeda invasion. Takeda's latest daimyo, a 22 year old with little experience, has taken over the family war against Mori, that has been raging for over ten years in the south. In the north, I've been also fighting the Ronin, whose armies are quite powerful and their provinces very rich. The stage is set now for an invasion of Shimosa, with its fortress and famous Buddhist monastery.
Meanwhile, in the center of Japan, Oda has been teching up, training new unit types with improved weapons and armour. I am getting ready for a massive invasion of Wakasa, Oda's easternmost province and main training center. If I am successful, I will have common borders with Mori's northern provinces, the only Daimyo not at war with me, and Oda will be at a severe disadvantage.
It's the spring of 1553, and it's going to be a hot summer.
!
