Innit funny how Shogun works? You play games that last 10 or 15 minutes on average, 20 to 30 at most, but you feel like you've been playing all day and your body's completely drained. The tougher the battle, the more drained you feel. The more fulfilled (even if you lost) you feel, too.
I just ran a marathon in 19 minutes. And it was low-koku, too!
I don't play online much, but it's events like the game I just played that make me hang around this game and this forum, anyway. I'm gonna go ahead and use names here, 'cause I have nothing but good to say about the other players, whom I think are both top blokes and worth challenging if you're ever hanging about and in need of a game.
So, there we were. The honourable Takeda cavalry allied with a well-armed local militia to face down Mori's fanatical monks on the rolling hills and beaches of Wakasa on a gloomy summer day. The clouds hung low in the sky as the forces met. The Mori's force, under the command of the honourable Iriki-in CeltiberoSkullXIII, took up a strong defensive position among a thick stand of trees. Anticipating this, the Takeda commander, Naito BakaGaijin, and his Rebel ally, Sakai Toro, planned a ruse to draw the Mad Monks out into the open plains, where the Takeda cavalry and Rebel muskets would show them the fear of God.
The devious Mori, though, had other plans. Seeing through the plot and spotting Takeda's cavalry hiding a short distance from the main Rebel body, he resisted the temptation to charge the Rebel position and instead shifted his forces to tempt Takeda into a disastrous cavalry charge through the trees. Playing to his opponent's plan and knowing that his swift horses would be more than capable of escaping the trap if they were alert, Takeda decided to accept the challenge and approach the forest from a hill on Mori's left flank. As predicted, the forest came alive at his approach, and enemy Yari burst forth to counter the dreaded Takeda cavalry. As hoped, the horses were swift enough to carry their riders away to safety behind the Rebel lines, but Mori was too wise to be fooled into following, and a standoff ensued.
Neither side wanted to make the first move, for fear of playing into the enemy's hands. The Rebel leader then decided to abandon his position for a more favourable one on Mori's right flank, overlooking the enemy from a greater height and giving him less depth of forest in which to hide.
Mori spotted a great opportunity. The Rebels were in disarray because of their movement, and the Takeda cavalry were split to guard the flanks of the Rebels. Mori, ever devious, tempted Takeda's cavalry by charging down with Nodachi, who would have been easy prey for the powerful horsemen. The easy targets, however, concealed a more dangerous foe... Mori's own cavalry force, 60 strong and armed with Naginata! Following close behind these were Mori's intrepid spearmen, waiting to skewer the Takeda. Sensing this trap, Takeda pulled back his horsemen after lending brief assistance to his ally and moved into a stronger uphill position. Mori then made his first mistake by attempting to fall upon the flank of the Takeda cavalry with his own. The tables were turned, however, when two units of Takeda Naginata Cavalry converged to beat off and decimate the unit of Mori's horsemen.
Meanwhile, the Rebels were engaged in fierce combat with Mori's infantry, Yari, Nodachi, and the feared Mori monks, assisted by a third unit of Takeda cavalry. Soon, the threat of the Mori cavalry was vanquished... but the Rebel lines were under heavy attack by the fanatical Monks and starting to falter! Immediately, one unit of Takeda cavalry rushed to the aid of his ally and fell on the Monks from behind! With this help, the Rebels were able to beat them off definitively.
However, this was not the end of Mori's craftiness. He tempted Takeda by moving his Taisho from the trees into a position where he could be attacked by two units of cavalry at once. Takeda, flush with victory and overconfident, charged into the honourable Monks on their front and side. They were collecting any heads, but suddenly Mori's Yari Samurai, who had been routing, but who were rallied by the threat to their Taisho, fell upon the Takeda cavalry from the rear! Takeda attempted to bring his third unit of cavalry to assist the other two, but it was to no avail. The Takeda Taisho fought to the bitter end, and his head was collected by the enemy after a hard-fought battle for it. Demoralised by the lost of their wise, charismatic, and extremely handsome (hey, artistic licence!
Things were looking bad for the Takeda-Rebel coalition, but the intrepid rebels were able to weather the loss of their ally and exploit the tired, disorganised status of the once-formidable Mori army and carry through to victory, chasing their worthy opponents from the field!
And thus concludes the tragedy of BakaGaijin and the honourable CeltiberoSkullXIII and the glorious triumph of Toro.
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Disappear into the Darkness!!
[This message has been edited by BakaGaijin (edited 12-18-2001).]
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