Battle for Yuki - AAR part 1

  During the 14th century, coinciding with the eruption of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, Japan saw the rise of the Ashikaga shogunate. Despite its establishment, the shogunate grappled with subduing the entirety of the land, facing a series of uprisings. Approaching the mid-15th century, approximately ten years prior to the fall of Constantinople, the Yuki clan staged a rebellion in the Kanto region, encompassing what is now Tokyo. Responding swiftly, the shogunate mobilized a formidable punitive force, but the resilient rebel faction, entrenched within the unyielding walls of Yuki castle, valiantly withstood the assaults. The rebellion met its end only upon the eventual downfall of the impregnable castle after a prolonged and gruelling conflict. This protracted yearlong clash is known as 結城合戦 Yuki Kassen. 

 

 The game Battle for Yuki simulates this conflict between Bakufu (the shogunate) and Yuki clan. It is featured in Issue 2 of the magazine Bushi Life, offering simple rules for quick and easy play, basically utilizing IGO UGO system. 

 Bakufu appears to have the upper hand. It boasts of a numerical superiority with 27 units, 6 of which have an offence and/or defence DRM. In contrast, Yuki commands only 18 units, and just 3 of them have DRM. 

 Furthermore, Bakufu has a large ability to recover losses of units. In this game, in the Rallying Phase at the beginning of each turn, each player can restore his disordered units to the normal status. The number of recovering units is based on dice rolls. Bakufu can roll two dice while Yuki is limited to one, essentially doubling Bakufu's recuperative ability.

 However, Yuki is not in a hopeless situation. It holds 4 castles in addition to its impregnable main stronghold, which consists of 6 hexes with four areas outside the castle. Each castle hex offers a defence DRM of 2 to 3, akin to the effect of bolstering the defender's force with 2 or 3 additional units.

 In this game, the morale of Bakufu plays an important part. Not only it depends on the morale which side wins at the end of the game, but also if Yuki can keep the enemy's morale below 1, it can retain the initiative during the game; Yuki player can decide whether he plays first or second in a turn. Morale is directly affected by Control Points (CP).

 Bakufu begins with a morale of 0, which is adjusted based on CPs at the end of each turn. A comparison between the CPs of both sides determines the morale's shift: if Bakufu secures more points, their morale increases by 1; conversely, if they secure fewer points, morale decreases by 1. Most areas offer a single CP value, while the three castles—Gion, Koga, and Sekiyado—hold a value of 2 each. Regarding Yuki's main castle, Yuki gains 2 CPs unless it's surrounded by Bakufu forces. In the event of encirclement, Bakufu receives 1 CP.

 Therefore, controlling areas is a key to win. If one side exclusively maintains unit(s) in normal status within an area, that side gains control of that region. Although Yuki possesses castles, seemingly securing control over areas, Bakufu can disrupt Yuki's hold on a castle area by placing its unit(s) there, even without capturing a Yuki castle. This strategic maneuver can prove vexing for Yuki, especially given their smaller unit count.

The primary objective of the Bakufu force is to seize the Yuki castle. However, even if it fails to do so, Bakufu can still secure a narrow victory by attaining a morale as high as 3 at the game's conclusion. The Yuki army's crucial goal is to defend its main castle while engaging in tactical harassment in other areas to keep the morale of the Bakufu army at a low level.

 During the initial deployment, the Yuki player is required to garrison units in all their castles, allocating a minimum of 6 units to the Yuki castle. The remaining Yuki units can be deployed according to the player's discretion. In contrast, only four of the Bakufu units are initially deployed, while a significant portion of the shogunate force enters the fray on the first turn.

 The Yuki player strategically positions 5 units in the area box of Gion castle, including one commander, Iwamatsu, possessing a defense DRM. Three units are placed in an area box outside the Yuki castle, aimed at impeding the Bakufu's attempts to encircle the castle.

Now the battle begins.