Crab Clan - Chris Payne
| PTS | QTY | COST | DESCRIPTION |
| 168 | 1 | 168 | Hi da Tsuru |
| 264 | 11 | 24 | Tsuru's Legion |
| 96 | 24 | 4 | Ratling Pack (p28, Crab book, nezumi 1 pt cheaper) |
| 84 | 1 | 84 | Yokatsu Noratsu |
| 72 | 18 | 4 | Ratling Pack (p28, Crab book, nezumi 1 pt cheaper) |
| 120 | 8 | 15 | Hiruma Scouts - skirmishers |
| 120 | 8 | 15 | Hiruma Scouts - skirmishers |
| 300 | 20 | 15 | 1-limma Archers |
| 20 | 1 | 20 | Hiruma Family Gunso |
| 276 | 12 | 23 | Hida House Guard |
| 210 | 1 | 210 | Hida Sukune (General) |
| 25 | 1 | 25 | Fan of Command |
| 45 | 1 | 45 | Morito Tokei |
| 15 | 1 | 15 | Wind Borne Speed |
| 10 | 1 | 10 | Biting Steel |
| 48 | 2 | 24 | Yojimbo |
| 45 | 1 | 45 | Morito Tokei |
| 18 | 1 | 18 | Essence of Earth |
| 15 | 1 | 15 | Fires of Purity |
| 48 | 2 | 24 | Yojimbo |
1999 TOTAL
TAC CARD DECK (3 each of following cards)
- Another Time
- Charge
- Co-ordinated Fire
- Defensive Position
- Focus
- Frenzy
- Grim Determination
- Parade Ground Practice
- Superior Tactics
- The Waves Break
The ratlings were in because everyone said they were a good idea. In combat however, they were to prove a disappointment. I like troops that can ignore terrain penalties, hence the scouts, although the skirmisher rules need re-reading. The cavalry were a nice unit, but terrain needs to be open for cavalry. In the event what I lacked were some items to beef up the melee capability of any of my troops, since we weren't inflicting enough arrow casualties on the way in.
Lion Clan - John Csonka
| PTS | QTY | COST | DESCRIPTION |
| 304 | 1 | 304 | Ikoma Ujikaki |
| 360 | 12 | 30 | House Guard |
| 230 | 1 | 230 | Matsu Gohei |
| 432 | 16 | 27 | Elite Heavy Infantry |
| 45 | 1 | 45 | Yari of Air |
| 105 | 1 | 105 | Ikoma Ryozo |
| 84 | 12 | 7 | Light Infantry with Yari |
| 95 | 1 | 95 | Moshi Wakiza |
| 72 | 3 | 24 | Yojimbo |
| 15 | 1 | 15 | Wind Borne Speed |
| 25 | 1 | 25 | Ebb and Flow of Battle |
| 18 | 1 | 18 | Essence of Earth |
| 144 | 12 | 12 | Medium Bowmen |
| 75 | 1 | 75 | Matsu Yojo |
2004 TOTAL
TAC CARD DECK (2 each of following cards)
- A Master of Tactics
- Another time
- Bad Kharma
- Beyond Your Mastery
- Charge
- Focus
- Frenzy
- Grim Determinination
- Parade Ground Practice
- Resist Magic
- Strength of Purity
- Superior Tactics
- Test of Might
- Turtle Shell
John has told me that his army included what troops he had and which were mostly painted. Choice tended not to come into it and my fears of warcats and cavalry were unfounded.
Post battle, John wishes that he had taken a larger archer unit, and put 3 copies of cards like charge, turtle shell and grim determination into his deck.
At the right is mid game mayhem, just before the lions close, when the crabs are still winning.
Do people find these battle reports interesting, since to do themproperly is going to take 3 or 4 pages?
Guess who forgot to pack his tripod when going to Bath???
Opening Positions
SC = Scouts, RAT = ratlings. HG= House guard, HA = hiruma archers, black dot in a square = mage. The brown squares are buildings.
John got the choice of side, and chose the open edge. I left my cavalry till last to place, and found it hard to find a suitable opening. The ratling (18) unit went down first, and was to prove fairly useless during the whole game.
The Hiruma archers proved very effective, the cavalry had distinct space problems moving. The scouts seemed of dubious combat value, but the skirmishing rules need re-reading again (all the various bits). Ratlings proved effective arrow catchers, poor in combat.
Final Positions
Casualties until the end were fairly evenly spread. However, the EHI was beginning to annihilate the Hida House guard, and if the Matsu House guard could contact the Hiruma archers, they were probably toast. The crab cavalry proved useless, confined by terrain (and poor leadership) from doing something useful. The lions waited for a few turns before getting stuck in? I suspect John next time out will pack a few wind borne speeds.