Tracked to their last Lair : a Ronin game

 A disconsolate band of bandits gathered around their camp fire to eat the last of their food.  Hopes had been high just a few days ago when they had headed out to take possession of the sacred scrolls of the Koryu.  Now their leader was dead while the scrolls remained in the hands of the Koryu whose fighters were now hunting down the hapless bandits.  An attempt to ambush groups of the enemy before they could unite had fallen short of expectations, the bandits having lost four of their number for only one enemy killed and a few wounded.  Now the battered remnant of the band were caught with their backs to a river and no place left to run.

This was the setting for the last battle in a campaign set up in the badlands of central Japan.  In the campaign, a powerful group of bandits set out to try to steal the sacred scrolls of a Koryu (martial arts school).  If successful, the Koryu and any allies they could gather would have to try to recover said scrolls or deliver condign punishment on the bandits for their effrontery.   Losses from one game would carry over to the next battle while reinforcements might appear from time to time for both sides.  The composition of the two sides was set by the faction rules in the 'Ronin' rules by Craig Woodfield but we were using the improved melée rules in 'En Garde' that has developed from the former ruleset.

Most of the earlier games had been fought between Jeremy leading the Bandits and Gareth with the Koryu  Tim had only previously taken part in the third game, a disaster for the bandits culminating in the death of their chief, while I had only led a group of bandits in one of the failed ambushes before the final showdown.  As the four of us gathered, fired up for the affray by some excellent Banh Mi supplied by Tim, it seemed that the Koryu were so far ahead on victory points already that only an utter disaster in which their own leader and most of his force were slain could allow the bandits to grasp a draw from the jaws of defeat closing in on them.

The bandits deployed first, close together in the centre of the 4 x 3 table, an impassable river at their backs and not knowing which of the other three sides the enemy would be coming from

Adopting a typical Ronin formation of a quincunx, the bandits deployed their meagre numbers of sword, spear and clubmen to the four corners, hoping to protect their central core of four musket men long enough for these to reduce enemy numbers and, if chance presented, shoot the enemy leader before he could get to grips with his terrible swift sword.  

The hunters chose to come in on the opposite short edges of the table.  To the left of the bandit position were three groups, two of five assorted swordsmen, one of four armoured ashigaru, one armed with a bow, another with a musket - the only missile weapons for the Koryu faction.  Several of this force carried wounds from the ambush - the bandits who were wounded in that fight had not survived their wounds for more than a moment before being given the coup de grace, leaving the survivors unscathed in body but deeply scarred in mind.

The Koryu left wing deploys, Ashigaru in the foreground, bands of Kouhai and initiate swordsmen, each led by a Senpai, aligned to advance either side of the house to their front.

The Koryu Sensei led the right wing from behind a screen of four expendable acolytes, supported by another group of five swordsmen

Gareth commanded the Koryu right, Tim the left.  They were confident in their superior numbers - 24 to 17 - and in the huge advantage they would enjoy in hand to hand fighting.  Could a lucky shot from the bandits tip the balance, or was their doom sealed?

Looking down on the starting positions, Bandits in the top centre, clustered around the fire, Koryu to left and right.  Would the widespread deployment of the Koryu give the Bandits a chance, or could they overwhelm the Bandits with the co-ordinated attacks that had worked for them in earlier battles?

Before they had a chance to move, the Koryu Sensei's group were hit by a volley of musket shots, the lead man taking a grievous wound.

As soon as they could move they went to cover behind the nearest hut.  Not all the bandits had fired and the Sensei did not want to risk his skin against these ungentlemanly weapons while he had minions who could deal with the riff-raff.

The other band of right wing swordsmen run forward to give more screening to their leader.

On the other wing, all run forwards as far as they can, one group getting into cover by the first house after one of their number took an arrow wound.  One of the middle group, carrying a bad wound from the last engagement, lags behind. 

The bandits hold to their positions.  They are not yet at risk of being charged by the enemy.  Three of the musket men have fired and will only be able to reload in the next turn.  One has not fired and is able to ready a prepared shot, increasing the chance of a hit next turn.

Turn two begins with a precipitate advance by the group of Koryu behind the house.  They are not able to charge into contact, nor are their companions in position to support them.  The bandits make good use of the opportunity presented, starting with the prepared musket man who does not miss the Senpai leading the group, gunning him down in front of his men

The bandits throw in everyone they can against the isolated and now leaderless group

In a wild flurry of combats, all the remainder of the group are cut down.  They are only able to inflict one light wound in return.  For the first time in the campaign it is the bandits who are doing the slaughtering!

All the Koryu  on the right wing are running forward, hoping to charge in the next turn, their Sensei leading bravely from the rear.  Most of the bandit musketeers have reloaded but will have to wait until the next turn before they can shoot again.

As their musket men are not close enough to be charged by the Koryu in the coming turn, the three bandits covering their flank see no need to stay in charge range of the enemy themselves and fall back.  The position is looking quite good for the bandits now.  The two remaining enemy groups on the left are behind the house and not in position to attack in the coming turn, while all of the bandits are free to act.

Turn three begins with four Koryu swordsmen, led by a well armoured Samurai, running forward but failing to reach the musket line.  In return, three bandits close in on their rear from their position by a fence on the centre right.

The Sensei's group is too far away to join the fight in the centre and is lured into making a vain attempt to charge the small flank guard by the river bank.

After the bandits have moved two spearmen from their centre to join the fight on the right, the Koryu group behind the house move out into the open to be able to attack next turn.  The bandit musket man at the end of the line has a clear shot on the leader of this group and needs only a 5 to hit.  He rolls a double 1 but can roll one of these dice again...and rolls another 1.  The archer has somewhat better success, but only stuns the group leader.

Firing at point blank range, the two bandit musketeers left in line lay low both their targets, leaving the Samurai and his one remaining companion nearly surrounded by enemies before melee begins.

In remaining movements before the melée, the Ashigaru also move out from the cover of the house but have no unobstructed targets that their archer or gunner can shoot at.  The bandits victorious in the last melee move out to fill the centre while the flank guard on the right again decides that discretion is the better part of valour and runs away from the Sensei and his men along the narrow path behind the central house to link up with the main body.

The melée by the camp fire pits a bandit swordsman and big hammer man against the Koryu senpai, while two spearmen and another swordsman take on a single Kouhai fighter.  The last living member of this Koryu group had lagged behind and failed to make it into the fight.  After much slashing around, not much happens.  The big hammer man takes a light wound and is stunned.  The Koryu Senpai also has a light wound while his Kouhai companion in untouched.

Further stages of the fight see numbers beginning to tell.  The Kouhai is cut down, not before wounding one of his opponents, and the Senpai is left grievously wounded but still standing.  Can his remaining friends reward his valour by coming to his aid?

The Senpei finally gets his men into the fight, catching in the rear the bandits attacking the rear of the isolated Senpai.  They are joined by the last of the Senpai's band, giving them the weight of numbers for the first time in the game.  To their left, the remaining Senpai on that side has led his acolytes into the fight, with two Ashigaru moving up to support them but not yet close enough to join in.  The Ashigaru archer and musket man have held back, looking for a shot that does not risk their own men.  A bandit musket man sees a chance to shoot the dreaded Sensei, takes careful aim and misses!  Fortunately he also failed to hit his fellow bandit engaged with the Sensei.  Meanwhile, the bandit archer has crept back round behind the central house to a position where he can shoot into the flank of the Sensei and his band!

Two bandit swordsmen go down before the Sensei and his men.  The big hammer man and the Koryu Senpai, fighting almost back to back against their different foes, somehow survive despite their wounds.  The bandit musketeers are beginning to be drawn into the fight as well.

On the left, another Koryu Senpai is cut down before the Ashigaru can come up to support him

A Koryu initiate beside the house follows his Senpai to the afterlife.

The death of the initiate gives the Ashigaru archer a clear shot against the Bandit sharpshooter, but he can only stun him

The big bandit hammer man is finally felled.  The Sensei can finally relieve the redoubtable Senpai who is still standing and has wounded one of his two assailants.

A bandit musketeer is cut down but his death is quickly avenged by his comrades

An initiate gallantly charged the bandit archer, only to be cut down by the plucky fellow!

And things have swung decisively away from the Koryu on the left, with three of their remaining men succumbing to blows from the rampaging bandits. leaving only the Ashigaru banner-bearer and a Kouhai, both wounded, to face the enemy.

Ashigaru marksmen look with horror at the carnage unfolding before them

The Koryu Sensei is feeling that things are not necessarily going his way.  He has only four other men now with him from the 10 who started on his wing, two of whom are badly wounded.  The bandits still have fresh men to commit to the fight and their archer is in position to shoot him in the flank.  Time to run?

Sadly the last page of the account of this wild affray has not survived the ravages of time.  With a 10 pm deadline upon us and three of our number having work facing them on the morrow, we pulled the shutters down on this bloody affair.  Despite their terrible losses in this game, the Koryu could still win the campaign if their Sensei did the sensible thing and ran, but would honour let him?  For their part, the bandits would snatch an incredible victory if they could kill him without losing a handful more men, but could they do so?  Reader, you will have to supply the ending yourself.

Will he run or will he fight?  The bandits look along the track made muddy with blood to the Sensei and his surviving companions.  

 The number of figures involved tested the ruleset and our powers of recall to the limit, especially in the climactic melée with keeping track of so many fighters.  Who was fighting whom and whose wound and stun markers were these?!  By and large, though, both rules and players coped.  The dice demons were decidedly on the side of the Bandits this time and although those overseeing musketry abandoned them mid game much damage had already been done.  However, it was the failure of the Koryu to get their act together in this game that was their undoing, allowing the bandits to concentrate force against small packets of attackers and handing them an unexpected and honourable end to the campaign.