When Terry issued an Internet appeal via the GoreMWOneList for opinions on what battles to include in an MW scenario handbook, a few of the participants to the ensuing discussion, including myself, expressed the hope that a few "Eastern" battles would be added to leaven the traditional emphasis on Western Europe in medieval wargaming. However, when some of the proponents of "Eastern" battles started talking about some military engagements of the early Poles, it occurred to me that my perception of just what constituted "Eastern" might differ from others. In fact, it seemed that, once again, I could feel the ubiquitous influence of our high school history teachers, who molded our once-young minds to see the world through Eurocentric eyes.
Digging around in my own reference material, I came up with a truly "Eastern" battle, i.e., the Battle of Si Shui (621 C.E.) – a Chinese battle. Now that's "Eastern!"
During the civil wars resulting in the founding of the Tang Dynasty (618-906) of China, Li Shih-min, a great commander, had to deal with several rival claimants to the defunct Sui Dynasty (589-618) throne all at once. At one point, he threw a siege force around a walled city in central China to contain one such rival king, and then marched rapidly eastwards with a small but elite body of horse troops to stop a major invading army led by another rival king.
Reaching a shallow tributary of the Yellow River, called Si Shui, he met this much larger force on terrain well suited to a primarily cavalry battle. With a touch of subterfuge, and a great deal of daring, the Tang forces took on an army of much larger size. Catching the latter in a state of disorder, the Tang army achieved a smashing victory of durable significance.
Because we have a fairly detailed account of this battle, the participants and the terrain in the published histories, it seemed that this event was an ideal candidate for Terry's planned MW scenario handbook. Unfortunately, when I checked out the MW army lists, I found no Tang army (!). In fact, the only authentically Chinese O.B. presented there is for the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Period-wise, the Ming qualifies technically as medieval, but it does have both hand gunners and cannon, which seems a bit beyond the pale to me. Also, none of its historical enemies are included with the army lists, making it a fairly unattractive candidate for wargaming. Even worse, this force's two most noteworthy historical achievements were to (1) not prevent the sea raiders from Ashikaga Japan from ravaging the Chinese coast – from Shandong to Guangdong, and (2) lose the empire to the Manchus after the latter found a way to break through the Great Wall.
In sum, I would be profoundly surprised to discover even one wargamer who would spend the time and money to create a miniature Ming army. (And, this would include Bruce Meyer, of Seattle and environs, who has painted up at least two gazillion ancient and medieval armies!)
Another good reason for adding Tang Chinese to our lists is that some of their historical and near-historical enemies are already listed. These include the Tibetans, Khmer, Burmese, and, with some small modifications, the Koreans, Khitan Liao, Ghuzz (who can double for Uighurs or other Eastern Turks), and Ghaznavid (who can serve as Islamic Persians). Even my Khazars could serve as Eastern Turks by dropping the bolt shooters and downgrading and/or eliminating some of their infantry.
I pointed all this out to Terry, whose only response was to say, "Okay, so write up a Tang Chinese O.B. for our lists." (Aggravatin', ain't he.)
What follows is my attempt to do just that. However, please note my caveat: I am not an expert on Chinese armies, and offer this with the plea that those who have any expertise here please review this draft O.B. carefully, and provide all of us with the benefit of their knowledge through appropriate revisions. Nevertheless, I do believe that the Tang fielded a tough army. It effectively expanded the Chinese Empire westwards as far as Central Asia, stopping the Islamic Empire's eastwards expansion.
For those who like to know something about the historical context of an army before considering whether or not to build one, I have appended a list of the references I used in this exercise, along with some annotations.
| Tang Dynasty Chinese Army (618-906 C.E.) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stands Allowed | Troop Type | Armour | Morale | Training | Weaponry | Figures/ Stand | Point Value |
| 1 | CiC (Li Shih-min) | FMC | Elite | Trained | L/B/Sh | 3 | 59 |
| 0-2 | Generals | HC | Veteran | Trained | L/B/Sh | 3 | 39 |
| 0-1 | Allied General | HC | Veteran | Irregular | L/B/Sh | 3 | 38 | Guard Cavalry | FMC | Elite | Trained | L/Sh | 3 | 17 |
| 4-8 | Nobles | FMC | Veteran | Trained | L/Sh | 3 | 17 |
| 8-16 | Heavy Cavalry | HC | Warrior | Irregular | L/B/Sh | 3 | 11 |
| 0-8 | Upgrade Heavy Cavalry to Veteran: +2/stand | ||||||
| 0-8 | Upgrade Heavy Cavalry to Trained: +1/stand | ||||||
| 0-20 | Light Cavalry | SC | Warrior | Irregular | B/Sh | 3 | 4 |
| 0-12 | Light Cavalry | SC | Warrior | Irregular | Jav/Sh | 3 | 4 |
| 0-16 | Upgrade Light Cavalry to Trained: +1/stand | ||||||
| 8-24 | Guard Infantry | HI | Elite | Trained | Halberd or Long Spear | 4 | 9 |
| 16-72 | Militia | UI | Poor | Irregular | Long Spear/Sh
or B/Sh | 4 | 3 |
| 16-72 | Militia | UI | Poor | Irregular | B or CB | 4 | 2 |
| Any | Upgrade Militia to Warrior: +1/stand | ||||||
| Any | Upgrade Militia to Trained: +1/stand | ||||||
| 0-8 | Tu-jue (Turks) | HC | Warrior | Irregular | L/B/Sh | 3 | 11 |
| 0-24 | Tu-jue (Turks) | SC | Warrior | Irregular | B/Sh | 3 | 4 |
| 0-4 | Bolt Shooters | Art'y | Warrior | Irregular | - | 3 | 10 |
| 0-2 | Catapults | Art'y | Warrior | Irregular | - | 3 | 10 |
| 0-8 | Camel Supply Train: 1st Train: +15/Unit and 2nd Train: +10/Unit | ||||||
Notes:
Any/all Militia may be mixed units with ½ Long Spears and ½ B or CB. Allied General required if any Tu-jue (Turkish tribe) are mobilized. This O.B. is designed primarily as Li Shih-min's army, covering the period 618-750 C.E. Ranitzsch (see reference below, p. 15) states that this army had over one million men-at-arms, including all palace guards, regional armies, special strike forces and garrison troops. After 750, the Tang army included many more allied troops, such as Tibetans, Uighurs (Turkish tribal group), Sha-t'o (Turkish tribal group) and Nan-chao (Miao tribal kingdom in southern China).
References:
1. Barker, Phil (Ed.). WRG Army Lists: Book Two – 55 BC to 1000 AD. Wargames Research Group, 1982. See Tang & Five Dynasties Chinese list #95, p. 30.
2. Beckwith, C.I. The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993. Describes an exotic, completely different arena for wargaming, with great potential for new terrain, new scenarios & new campaigns, as well as very colorful armies.
3. Bussey, M. & I.S. Beck. Army Lists for the 'Shock of Impact' Rules. Tabletop Games, 1981. See Tang army list #73, p. 40.
4. Eberhard, W. Conquerors and Rulers: Social Forces in Medieval China. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1965.
5. Fitzgerald, C.P. Son of Heaven: A Biography of Li Shih-Min, founder of the T'ang Dynasty. Oxford: Cambridge University Press, 1933; reprinted by Ch'eng Wen Publishing Co., Taipei, 1970. A veritable saga of internal and external battles.
6. Frankel, H.H. (Comp.). Catalogue of Translations from the Chinese Dynastic Histories for the Period 220-960. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957. Excellent source for tracking down primary resource materials for research work.
7. Froud, Colin. The Fourth Book of Hosts: Dark Age Warfare Army Lists (475 AD to 1000 AD). Reading, U.K.: Colin Froud, 1998. See Early T'ang Chinese (620-750) & Later T'ang Chinese (751-906) lists. (No pagination provided in text.) The O.B.s are presented in WRG 6th edition format. This text offers the most extensive listing of "Eastern" medieval armies I have yet seen.
8. Frye, R.N. The Heritage of Central Asia: From Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998.
9. Han Yu. The Veritable Record of the T'ang Emperor Shun-Tsung. Translated by B. S. Solomon. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1955. An example of an 'official' Chinese history; a short story of a short reign.
10. Hildinger, E. Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to 1700 A.D. New York: Sarpedon, 1997.
11. Legg, S. The Barbarians of Asia: The Peoples of the Steppes from 1600 B.C. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1995.
12. Ranitzsch, H.K. The Army of Tang China. Stockport, U.K.: Montvert Publications, 1995. A wargamers manual to the Tang, enhanced with the artistry of Angus McBride.
13. Wang Gungwu. The Structure of Power in North China during the Five Dynasties (907-960). Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963
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