Quote Originally Posted by Forward Observer View Post
I'm really interested to see how a bridge battle in Shogun 2 plays out.
My first bridge battle went like this:

Strategically, my army was standing on the bridge in Bungo awaiting an attack that was sure to come from the latest peasant rebellion. (The first was Christian. This one was hungry. Umm, due to a slight oversight about the shiny new fortress taking 3 food when Bungo was producing 2...)

Setup.

The rebels had a big force, 18 units with a 3 star general. 1 lt cav, 2 bow ashigaru, 2 teppo ashigaru and the rest yari ashigaru.

I had a 1 star general, a lt cav, 2 katana samurai, 4 bow ashigaru and 5 yari ashigaru.

The battle loads and we have a rather flat open plain with a bridge and 2 fords, one on either side of the bridge itself and each a fair distance away from said bridge. It was also raining cats and dogs.

I think "Good. The teppo should be worthless." I covered the bridge with yari in spear wall and 3 of the archers. The ford to the right I covered with a yari and an archer. The cav, samurai and general were farther behind the bridge forces in reserve. The ford to my left was unguarded. I did this on purpose to see what the AI would do.

The fight.

My forces snuggled up to the bridge in the hopes the rebels would come over it directly. The rebel general promptly did just that. He charged across it into the spear wall and the fire of 460 archers. I can't say this was suicidal as he withdrew after losing half his hatamoto. I'd like to think that in fair weather he would not have survived.

After this dangerous "How to" lesson in making a Burnside frontal assault (bridges were a kind of specialty for Ambrose), the rest of the rebel army crowded unto the crossing like a massive herd of cattle. Well over a thousand men pressed into a tiny area on my side as the spear wall bent into a cresent that never broke. Arrows fell as hard as the rain, in torrents. One rebel yari ashigaru tried to cross the ford on my right, the one that was covered. It was easily sent packing by the archers there and was destroyed by my lt cav, for whom these fellows, as things would unfold, were just an appetizer.

Several minutes of grinding melee went on at the bridge until the rebel general returned, this time, I think, to do his duty in the only way left. When he fell, the rout commenced. In went my soaked but fresh katana samurai who did not fight at all but instead executed.

The lt cavalry slammed into the rear of this roiling butcher shop and wore themselves out ending this second and hopefully last revolt in Bungo.

I lost between 300 and 400 yari ashigaru. Somehow around 100 rebels got away, mostly lt cavalry and I suppose some teppo, who never did fire a shot and whom I never noticed at all. The rain confounded them as it should have. My archers had over 800 kills.

I think it's too early to pass judgement on the tactical AI yet. Despite out numbering me, the odds were not good for it here once it determined to attack in the first place.