For the last few months our local group in Fond du Lac, Wis. has been involved in an interesting campaign. We like the DBR rules a lot even though we're not sure we're doing them exactly right when it comes to formation changes/facings etc. An older Wargames Illustrated magazine had a great article on the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1598. The ferocious samurai smashed the Korean armies but the Korean navy surprised the invaders by defeating Japanese supply convoys and fleets time and time again. The war then stalemated completely when the Chinese entered Korea to rescue the Koreans and brought with them the usual massive Chinese forces. Throughout Korea, the common people rose in a bitter guerilla war. I thought it would make a fun campaign balanced overall even if the Japanese had land superiority and the Koreans sea domination.
The map is only of the peninsula of Korea and is a box to box type such as the old GDW game of the Civil War. We use the DBR rules for land battles and a set of naval tactical rules for just this war which we found in a Miniature Wargames magazine that has everything needed for ship stats and then a player drew up paper models of the ships as seen from above sort of like the old Iron Men and Wooden Ships. We have in our collections plenty of Japanese 15mm samurai and I have about 1,200 Chinese ancients many which double as Koreans for our purposes. So it just took a little session to put together a simple set of strategic map rules to connect the thing all together and we were in business.
When I asked about sides I wanted to be Korean and figured that most of our guys would jump at being the vaunted Samurai - wrong! First night, every guy there said Korean-Chinese, I was now going to have to be Japanese. Fortunately a couple of guys not there that night expressed a desire to be the Japanese too. So we had our teams.
The way we work it is if we are going to play it our wargame night then we can if even 1 or 2 guys are there for both sides. Much easier than when each guy runs his own country/faction. What paperwork there is (and it isn't a lot compared to some of our campaigns) is all kept down with the troops in my gaming basement so the stuff is always there even if a player is not --- no one takes it home with them.
On to the campaign itself. We set up the Koreans scattered in garrisons all over their kingdom and then had the Japanese land unopposed at Pusan just like in real history so we could start the campaign off with a bang, The Korean navy was in several squadrons in west coast ports and would need to be activated by dice roll before reacting to the Japanese invasion. (Wouldn't be much of a campaign if the alert Korean fleet utterly smashed the Japanese invasion before it hit the shore).
The Japanese had 1,000 APs (army points you buy figs with) landed at Pusan, a 150 AP garrison. Wisely the Koreans did not come out but manned the walled defenses of the city. The Japanese divided into four commands and decided to hit the city in three different directions to spread the defenses and then hopefully pour thru and open the gates. The fourth command had a long way to march to get to their attack point so two commands slowed to wait. But one Japanese commander launched an immediate attack on his side - moving up his archers to take on the Korean bowmen upon the battlements. Seeing that, another commander lurched forward - oh well, typical samurai enthusiasm - let's rush in for glory!
The Korean fire gave the initial Japanese attack quite a bloody nose and the samurai archer fire did little to the defenders. The Japanese player said he didn't think that would happen - he thought that the Japanese bows would be superior to the Korean. Well. Historically, the real Japanese were stunned to find out that the Korean archery was superior to theirs too plus this time the Koreans had stone cover! (I actually was quite pleased at the result from my reading of the history involved - this was repeating it.)
The rest of us grimly said that it would be different when we broke into the city and over the walls! Then we'd chop them to pieces. Again easier said than done. Our first two waves got onto the walls only to get thrown off again by Korean counterattacks in bloody melees. (Another thing I love about the DBR rules in that they do better than almost any rules in simulating the ebb and flow of combat, the taking and retaking of positions you so often read about in history but seldom see in miniatures games.)
Finally our fourth column hurled itself at the third wall which was sparsely held. They were up and over without losses. The Korean commander on that side seemed to be indecisive on what to do with his outnumbered reserves. But the Japanese were in and pouring thru the streets and toward the citadel. Meanwhile my column had on its third assault secured a wall and was pouring down near the gatehouse. The Koreans were being forced back relentlessly.
Our first Japanese command though had been reduced by 1/3 casualties and thus was demoralized - it would play no real further role in the fight. Yet we were confident now - there were too many Japanese troops inside the city for the small garrison to have any chance now. It soon was over - the Korean commands both hit 113 losses and broke. There is a pursuit chart in the DBR rule book for campaigns so we just rolled on that to see how many Koreans were killed in the rout pursuit. However it has no modifier for being caught inside a city and they perhaps got off too easily. Another factor was one of our luckiest die rolling players over all these years handled the Korean rolls and was his usual lucky self.
End losses were 88 APs for Japan and 63 AP for the Koreans - actually a good Korean performance in a gallant stand.
Next turn the Japanese moved deeper into the interior of Korea and landed another 1,000 AP wave. We fooled the Koreans this turn - they had a small fort at Tongnai just north of Pusan and fully expected another storming battle (they even mentioned getting the table ready for another siege battle). Well, instead we just surrounded the fort with a force of APs and put them under siege without storming. The main samurai army moved on past.
Next turn found the Koreans trying to delay the main Japanese army moving toward the passes needed to get thru to Seoul, the major Japanese objective. Their plan was to only man one side of the table width and hopefully the Japanese would spread out and they could badly hurt one wing before the rest of the superior samurai numbers could hit them.
Almost worked but the samurai player who found them instead delayed his attack until the rest of the forces could approach the Korean flank. Much of the Korean resistance was centered on a village lined with archers. However as combat commenced one Korean commander unwisely left the village and attacked out at the Japanese, in effect screening his own comrades archer fire. The samurai moved in on the flank with their Arquebusiers and blasted into the depth of the Korean defense. The counterattacking Korean general was killed almost immediately costing them a die roll of command Pips and the entire Korean force came apart quickly. This time the pursuit was more devastating as the Japanese had cavalry on the field in immediate reserve.
Final losses were Japan 8 APs and Koreans 10 1 APs.
Chastened by that experience the Koreans fell back everywhere to Japanese spearheads next turn so no action. The siege of Tongnai attrition started and the Koreans lost 12 APs to 7 Japanese APs. By now the Korean navy has been activated but still it does nothing to stop the turn by turn convoys coming into Pusan from Japan. The one Korean player probably in charge of the navy is a very cautious naval player - it has always been said about him is that he will not fight a naval battle unless he has superiority. Most of the time that is sound strategy but not always! I definitely felt the Koreans should have attacked immediately at the Pusan convoys because just maybe they could sink some supply ships. But it appears he is waiting for all his turtle ships (the best Korean weapon by far)to be massed together. While it should be most impressive - the Japanese were meanwhile getting a convoy over each turn without even having to fight thru. All the Japanese players think that is a big mistake on their part.
Next turn again finds no Korean naval action simply maneuvering of squadrons and no doubt combining forces. On the land however it is quite different! In three different places the Koreans stay to fight. One is the major city of Chinju, the biggest city in the southern part of Korea and second only to the capital of Seoul. Here a Japapese column has moved up and is planning to storm the place.
The other two battles are in the passes leading deeper into Korea. The first battle is in east and is very even in APs 204 Korean to 200 Japanese. The samurai must force their way thru the narrow valley pass and in typical samurai style it is decided to go storming up the middle in two aggressive columns.
This time the Koreans fight much better and the Japanese begin to suffer considerable losses, especially when their expensive samurai cavalry (only a small unit of them allowed) begin to be overwhelmed. For the first time Korean armored cavalry come into play and launch a successful charge on Arquebusiers who are without melee troop support. The Japanese Arquebusiers are butchered in a shocking success for the Koreans. The Japanese commanders grow worried - the army commands are close to breaking. But finally the Koreans snap first and the battle becomes a narrow Japanese win with pyrrhic losses.
The Korean players decide to fall back at the other pass due to being heavily outnumbered and we Japanese call off the assault on the city of Chinju to settle for a siege - we don't think we can storm it without too heavy a loss for us to afford. And soon we expect the vaunted Korean navy to come out and fight us on the seas - where we also fully expect to get pounded!
That's where the campaign is now. Maybe I'll write some more after we finish a few more turns.
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© Copyright 1997 Hal Thinglum
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