In 1584, Date Terumune turned control of the clan over to his son Masamune. Later in 1585, Date was betrayed by his vassal Ouchi Sadatsuna, so Masamune began a campaign of annihilation of his household. In August 1585, Masamune laid siege to Sadatsuna's fortress off Otemori-no quarter was given.

The conquest of Otemori heated tensions between lord Hatakeyama and Masamune. Hatakeyama requested peace talks but Masamune would always reject. Finally he approached Terumune and asked for his assistance. On 7 October, Masamune and Hatakeyama finally met in person; both shared a wonderful feast together and talked about their further alliance.

The next day Hatakeyama went to visit Terumune and express his gratitude, however, he kidnapped Terumune at knife point and rode off with him. Masamune, who was out practicing falconry, immediately went in pursuit when he returned and found his father missing. He caught up with them near the Abukuma River, which bordered Hatakeyama's province. Terumune cried out for them to "shoot us, do not hesitate," but Masamune would not fire for fear of hitting his father. Finally, Hatakeyama was surrounded, and knowing he was doomed, killed Terumune. Masamune instantly retaliated, putting him and his followers to the sword.

All out war was soon waging between the two families. Hatakeyama son, Kunioh-maru, soon received aid from Satake, Ashina, Iwaki, Ishikawa, Nikaido, Soma and Shirakawa. They gathered together at the River Suka and headed north to defeat Masamune. By 16 November they were in the field just south of Masamune's castle at Maedazawa. When Masamune heard about this he gathered his forces, but he was at a distinct numerical disadvantage as he only had 7,000 men to use against 30,000 of the enemy.

Motomiya was a key castle of Date's and its fall would signal the downfall of the clan. It was defended by a network of fortresses, Takakura, Tamanoi, Maedazawa, and Setogawa Mansion. The nearby Abukuma River, with its strong current, made a good defensive obstacle.

Prepared Defenses

Masamune prepared his defenses placing Shiroishi Munezane in Tamanoi Castle; Takakura Oumi, Ito Shigenobu, Koori Munenaga, and Tomizuka Oumi in Takakura Castle; Senoe Kageyasu, Nakajima Sokyu, Sakurada Motochika, and Hamada Kagetaka in Motomiya Castle. Masamune's uncle, Shigezane, was positioned in Nukasawa field. Izumita and Nanamiya took up position just south of Hitodori Bridge. Masamune, Watari Motomune, Moniwa Yoshinao, Rusu Masakage, Kokubun Masashige, Harada Munetoki, and Katakura Kagetsuna remained near Kannondoyama with the main body of 4,000.

On the morning of the 17th Masamune advanced his main force and repositioned Shigezane in Setogawa Mansion, and Yoshinao, Munezane, Izu, and Iki Takano between the town of Arai and the Seto River. Meanwhile, the allies began moving to attack Date. On the right moving towards Takakura Castle were Shirakawa Yoshichika, Ishikawa Akimitsu, Nikaido, and Iwaki Tsunetaka. In the middle and heading towards Arai were Ashina Kamewakamaru and Soma Yoshitani. In the rear, traveling up the Aizu Road was the main body of Satake Yoshishige along with Kunioh.

Luck was certainly not on the side of Date that day; Aizu and Takakura Castle were overrun and Nanamiya and Izumita were forced to retreat back to the main body. The Date forces moved to intercept the allies at Hitodori Bridge but they were pushed back by the sheer mass of enemy troops. At Setogawa Mansion, Shigezane just managed to escape capture as the defenses were breached. Moniwa Yoshinao was slain by Kobata in a duel. With the Date now in full retreat, and victory certain, the allies pressed across the Seto River and moved towards Motomiya.

The allies planned to renew the battle the next morning, however, Satake received news that during his absence Satomi Yoshinori had invaded his lands, so Yoshishige was forced to abandon the allies and head back to defend his territory, taking the bulk of the allied army with him. with little strength left to take Motomiya the allies withdrew. Masamune had avoided his Armageddon.

DATE

ON BOARD:

* Date Masamune - 2,000 (+3)
Takakura Oumi - 1,000 (+1)
Rusu Masakage* - 500 (+1)
Katakura Kagetsuna* - 500 (+3)
Moniwa Yoshinao* - 1,000 (+1)
Shiroishi Munezane - 500 (+1)
Senoe Kageyasu - 500 (+0)
Date Shigezane - 1,000 (+2)

* Fought in Date's Corps

TROOPS AVAILABLE:

600 MTD SAM w/CLNC
30 MTD SAM w/BOW
675 FT SAM w/LNC
455 FT SAM w/LS
200 FT SAM w/BOW
1595 ASH w/ARQ
560 ASH w/BOW
1100 ASH w/LNC
735 ASH w/LS
1050 ASH w/OTHER
4 x UNATTACHED LDR

Allies

ON BOARD:

*Kunioh-maru Hatakeyama - 2,000 (+2)
Ashina Kamewakamaru - 10,000 (+1)
Soma Yoshitane - 2,000 (+1)
Satake Yoshishige - 10,000 (+2)
Shirokawa Yoshichika - 2,000 (+0)
Ishikawa Akimitsu - 2,000 (+1)
Iwaki Tsunetaka -2,000 (+1)

TROOPS AVAILABLE:

2565 MTD SAM w/CLNC
135 MTD SAM w/BOW
2910 FT SAM w/LNC
1935 FT SAM w/LS
855 FT SAM w/BOW
6840 ASH w/ARQ
2565 ASH w/BOW
4615 ASH w/LNC
3080 ASH w/LS
4500 ASH w/OTHER
15 x UNATTACHED LDR

GAME LENGTH:

The battle begins approximately 9 a.m. and continues to about 5 p.m. (32 turns)

SPECIAL RULES:

*Date's forces are set up first, followed by the allies.
* All Date's men have "Bullet Tested" armor.
* Optional Rule 16.1 is in play. Command range for Date and Kunioh is 30" and all other is 15".
* Optional rule 16.8 is in play for both sides.
* Optional rule 16.9 is in play for both sides except that the death of Kunioh will not cause the allies to retreat. Each clan will only retreat when their own leader (ie. Satake, Ishikawa, Ashina) is killed.
* Mount Daimyoukura, the two-level hill nearby, the hill Satake is on, and the hill Takakura Castle is on are covered in dense thicket. This is treated like heavy woods except lancers may enter and visibility is not restricted.
* Mount Daimyoukura, the two-level hill nearby, and the hill Takakura Castle is on are steep; therefore, all cavalry must dismount to negotiate this terrain.
* All rivers, except the Abukuma, may be forded along their length.
* All woods are light.
* Ponds may not be entered.
* Beginning turn 3 the Date player should roll for the arrival of Senoe's forces. Roll a D6; if a 6 is rolled they may enter through B. If they do not arrive roll again the following turn, subtracting one from the die roll (and each attempt thereafter). * Kunioh enters through A on the first turn.
* There are two fortification areas on the map. These are enclosed by walls and have a entry gate. Each gate is 1 1/2" in width--enough for one base to enter. A unit may only enter through the gate, or by climbing the wall. Walls act like palisades. A unit must first stop at the wall and expend four cards to climb the wall, and while doing so they may be fired upon. Upon play of the fourth card the attacker may put one rank worth of figures over the wall and another rank for every card thereafter. For example, a unit of 16 figures in two ranks would need two cards to cross the wall.

Combat effects of walls:
A) Only the ranks of a unit that are over the wall at the time of a melee may be counted in a melee.
B) If the climbers are engaged while climbing the wall only half of the eligible men may defend.
C) No arquebus units may fire at units behind a wall. Archers units, however, may fire over walls. The target is considered in heavy cover. Missile units may freely fire from inside the walls, however, to shoot at a climbing target they must be at the base of the wall (so that they appear to be shooting through loopholes).
D) No personal challenges may be issued to leaders behind a wall from leaders outside the wall and vice versa.
E) The main gate may be forced in by attacking troops. To do this the person forcing in the door rolls 1D6 and modifies the roll +1 for each figure used to force in the gate, the defender likewise rolls 1D6 and adds +1 for each defending figure used to push back against the gate (only the figures which touch the gate and those that follow behind in the second and third ranks may be used). The gate is forced in if the attacker's roll is 5 greater than the defenders.
F) If a unit successfully climbs a wall they may move to the gate and open it, expending a card to do so.

VICTORY CONDITIONS:

This is a battle to the death, therefore, casualties don't matter! Victory is given to the side that has the most victory points at the end of the game. A tied score brings Date victory. Points are as follows:

TERRAIN

Control of Takakura Castle 2 VP
Control of Mt Kannondo 3 VP
Control of Setogawa Mansion 2 VP
Town of Arai 1 VP
Hitodori Bridge 2 VP

OTHER:

The following leaders are available for use as unit leaders. None may be used as unattached.

DATE

Fought in Masamune's Corps
Watari Motomune +2
Watari Shigemune +2 (son of Motomune)
Harada Munetoki +2
Kokubun Masashige +0

Fought in Yoshinao's Corps

Moniwa Nobumoto +1 (son of Yoshinao)

Detached from Masamune's Corps*

Izumita ?? +0
. Nanamiya ?? +0

* Troops are assigned from Masamune's main body.

Fought in Takakura's Corps

Ito Shigenobu +1
Koori Munenaga +0
Tomizuka Oumi +1

Fought in Shiroishi's Corps

Takanao Iki +1

Fought in Senoe's Corps

Hamada Kagetaka +1
Tsuda Kageyasu +1
Nakajima Sokyo +0
Sakurada Motochika +1

ALLIES

Unknown Corps
Kubota Jyuro +2

Fought in Shirokawa's, Iwaki's, or Ishikawa's Corps*

Iwase ?? +1
Nikaido ?? +1

* I am not sure, but one of these three

NOTES:

The information for this battle came from Rekishi Gunzo #19. The map had some terrain details on it, but nothing like trees, so I took this from a painting. Satake and Ashina had 10,000 men apiece, the others did not have any, so the remaining amount was divided equally between the other five Daimyos commanders. For the Date OoB there were many names crowded into the same commands. Rusu and Katakura are Corps commanders but do not have any strength, so I took some from Date Masamune, whose command they served in.

What time the battle was fought and concluded was a problem because there was not any information. All it said was "in the morning of the 17th Date advanced…," and "the next day they planned to finish the battle." My times are approximate.

This scenario allowed me to write some new rules I have for castles, though they are not all of them. I chose to keep the scenario simple and not include towers and Keeps. Please give me you input on them.

I have only tried some of this battle, so I would like your comments about it.

Large Hitodori Bridge Map (slow: 110K)

Jumbo Hitodori Bridge Map (extremely slow: 409K)

Related

Date Masamune's Retainers
Date Rulers (Daimyos)