My interest in this period was rekindled by two items. First were the impressive samurai Castles produced by Village Green and second was the "Mix Pax" series of Samurai by 2 Dragon Productions. Although both the castles and figures were of high standards, in order to do them justice in a review I needed more knowledge of the period. A look into the Osprey Men-at-Arms series; no. 86 "Samurai Armies 1550-1615" helped. For enemies there are no. 105 "The Mongols" and no. 218 "Ancient Chinese Armies." There in the Elite Series was no. 35 "Early Samurai 200-1550." A further source of vital information was Christopher Duffy's "Siege Warfare 1494-1660" ISBN 071008871X and for the authentic feel of the period - James Clavell's book "Shogun" ISBN 0340209178, published by Coronet Books. There is also the excellent series of books by Stephen Turnbull on the Samurai period; Samurai Warriors ISBN 071371767X being my favorite.
When I first gazed with awe on the early 15mm Japanese model castle and was informed by Steve Weeks that the originals had been made from wood and mud, I was intrigued. I'd seen the "Seven Samurai" (Yul Bryner's version came years later) and knew that gunpowder was around at that time plus I remembered something about cannon in "Shogun", so I could not understand why the walls were not built to provide a defense against cannon. Research (a little talked about part of the hobby these days of Army Lists) took place. Prior to the arrival of a Portuguese ship in about 1542 with the first firearms, the main missile weapon had been the bow. However to counter the danger from fire, the wooden walls of the castles had been covered in layers of plaster with steep roofs of black tiles. This is the "Early Samurai Castle."
However limited was the use of cannon during this period, it would appear that it did change the design and materials of the fortifications. Huge moats were excavated and the spoil raised in ramparts 20 feet high (and in some cases 130 feet)! The earthen core was covered with a layer of stones and gravel and finally an outer layer of huge unmortared granite stones. These ramparts had a distinctive shape with a graceful concave slope at the corners. On the summit of these massive ramparts were erected the flimsy looking wooden walls as on the earlier castles. A more apt description would be "wooden corridors" both single and double story, with missile ports that were closed by shutters. The wooden structures were not bedded into the ramparts which allowed freedom of movement of both parts of the castle when it was struck by an earthquake.
In the center of the castle stood the keep, hirayama-jiro, or don-jon, which was a raised tower of many roofs where the commanders lived. In the early castle this stood on a low earthwork and in the later castle on a high one. The design of the castle was of a complex nature and relied on confusing an attacker by the maze of corridors and baileys, dead ends and secret passages rather than on a defense in depth. This was because most of the fighting was at close quarters in confined spaces, and for the wargamer brings in ideas on skirmishes or Role Play. Castle architects would appear to have had a high mortality rate in this period.
The European type of formal siege was unknown to the Japanese whose sequence was assault (usually costly and usually unsuccessful), then investment, followed by negotiations. The main problem the besieging general had was keeping his men from getting bored! Bring on the dancing girls - great idea for a scenario there. I intend to keep my forces down to the feudal retainers of a couple of local barons (daimyo) plus the odd bunch of bandits or ronin (masterless samurai), throw in a monastery manned by militant monks (sohei), plus a warlike set of villagers with the possibility of a ninja group then I foresee quite an enjoyable time ahead.
[ed. note: and continuing from LW 110.]
Assault on the Crane Gate From the map it can be seen that anyone approaching the Crane Gate could be subjected to considerable fire. The map in Lone Warrior 110 page 25 shows the extent of the walls. The ground in front of these fortifications presented a killing zone to any attacking force, should there be sufficient missile men in position. Ishido had held two units of missile men in reserve and did not have sufficient archers to cover all the walls.
I based Osaka's walls on those described in Stephen Turnbull's Battles of the Samurai being "made of a clay plaster on a reed background" and they can be demolished by axes and blades, being also very susceptible to fire! The roofs were covered with tiles. The samurai castles bore no resemblance to European castles of the period due to many factors involving climate, earthquakes, and the very rugged, heavily wooded nature of Japan at that time. Bearing in mind the construction of the walls, Toranaga could go over, through or under them. Mining was ruled out and his units were given their orders for the storming of the walls.
The attackers outnumbered the defenders considerably. For ease of reading I have not used the samurai commanders' names but called units by a colour and the type of weapon they used i.e. Black Katana (swordsmen) if attacking and just by weapon for defenders. All the attacking Yari (spearmen) and Bow units were Ashigaru and the remainder were Samurai. All the defenders were warrior monks, sohei, of the Onjo-ji.
Crane Tower and wall manned by archers supported by katana men. Attacked by three units, Black Bow at the Tower, Black Katana men over the wall, Black Naginata (glaive type weapon) through/over.
Crane Gate manned by archers supported by Naginata men. Attacked by covered ram commanded by White Naginata with White Yari unit in close reserve.
Heron Tower and Swan Tower manned by Yari (no missiles). Attacked by White Bow.
Reserve. Red Yari and Black Yari.
The Attack. Toranaga formed his men up just outside of archery range. Waving his war fan the Daimyo sent his hordes streaming forward towards the silent walls and towers. The covering fire against Crane and Swan towers was most effective but the attackers against the Crane wall and Gate soon felt the accuracy of the defenders' missiles but it did not stop their advance. The ram reached the gate and soon began to batter it, while along the wall samurai were busy throwing grapples and attacking the plaster walls with their blades under the close attention of the defenders.
The Black Katana unit soon scaled the walls and dropped down inside the castle only to be killed before they could organise (A). Meanwhile the Black Naginata unit was making heavy going of demolishing the walls but had managed to drive off the defenders from their loopholes and were not losing any more men. Realising there was no fire coming back from Heron and Swan Towers, the White Bowmen moved towards the Crane Gate and walls, but due to the press of troops contained there were unable to be useful to the attack. The "killing zone" was teeming with attackers but the defenders had very few missile men at the walls and the enemy fire was both accurate and heavy, so full advantage of the situation could not be taken. Urgent messengers were sent by the defenders asking for more missile men to be sent to the Gate area.
Giving up their chipping at the wall the Black Naginata men used their initiative and scaled the walls, dropping down inside. This split the defending monks who now had to fight the Katana warriors at (A) and the Naginata men at (B), which resulted in a small foothold being established. This soon expanded and the defenders were forced back to the river where on a signal they broke off combat and fled across the main and small bridges. The attackers were left milling around and soon had to seek shelter from the missiles rained on them by the archers positioned on the city side of the river.
Finally the ram broke through the main gate, but the attackers were greeted with a shower of boiling water poured through the holes in the floor of the Gate Tower, which dampened their martial ardour somewhat (C). In the confusion, the defenders quickly abandoned their positions and made an organised retreat over the main bridge only to collide with the column of mounted samurai who had been sent by Ishido to sortie out against the attackers. Cavalry move exceedingly slowly in narrow city streets and it had taken them a lot longer than Ishido had calculated to get from their stables to the gate.
This chaos on the bridge allowed the White Naginata men to regroup and attack the monks armed with the same weapon (E), while the cavalry were penned in and could neither move forward or back due to the press. The melee at the bridge attracted the attention of the monks armed with yari's stationed in the Heron and Swan Towers, who dashed to the aid of their hardpressed comrades. The White Naginata unit was now fighting on two fronts but more reinforcements coming through the wrecked gate took on the Yari monks who were slowly forced away from the bridge by the weight of numbers against them (D) and eventually broke off combat and crossed the river by the small foot bridge. Two monks formed an heroic rearguard while their comrades escaped.
An attack by the Black Katana on the western sluice gate managed to jam it closed, but not without loss. While the Black Naginata unit had unsuccessfully attempted to take the western foot bridge but had been beaten off by the combined efforts of the sohei katana men and the archers. The level in the river began to drop rapidly making the crossing somewhat easier, the attackers hoped.
Systems & Mechanics When an attacker dropped from the roof I used skirmish rules (The Water Margin + Siege). If he survived the initial round he stood a chance of beginning a bridgehead, when supported by other members of his unit. For the battering ram and scaling the walls I used "Siege" rules. For the "grapples" I used the siege ladders rules but threw 1D10 to see if the grapple caught, with a score of 9 or 10 meant it failed. Worked well.
Summary. New aspects to this type of warfare, new rules, figures and books have had me busy adding and deleting various parts of the siege as it progresses. The attackers have captured the walls and towers but are now faced with the river which has steep banks and is about 25 feet wide, crossed by the main bridge which can be held by 4 men and the two small foot bridges which can be held by one man (visions of the monk Jomyo at the Battle of Uji in 1180 or perhaps more well known the lone Viking at Stamford Bridge in 1066). The action next takes place at the Lake Gate where the fascine bridge had been laid incorrectly and missed the breach by some distance and the pontoon bridge was no sooner in position than the attackers launched a ferocious sortie! Until next time.
More Feudal Japan
Related
[editor's note: this material first appeared in LW 105.]
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