Click on the hyperlinked names for the EOG
Players
|
|
Name |
Nation |
Duration |
|
GM: |
|
Spring 1570-end |
|
|
Players: |
Michael Denna |
Uesugi Kenshin |
Spring 1570-Spring 1571 |
|
|
Takeda Shingen |
Spring 1570-Fall 1573 |
|
|
|
Asakura Yoshikage |
Spring 1570-Spring 1582 |
|
|
|
Hojo Ujimasu |
Spring 1570-end |
|
|
|
Ben Morris |
Oda Nobunaga |
Spring 1570-Winter 1572 |
|
|
Bill White |
Mori Motonari |
Spring 1570-end |
|
|
Mak Leto |
Shimazu Yoshihisa |
Spring 1570 |
|
|
J.T. Smyth |
Chosokabe Motochika |
Spring 1570-end |
Supply Centres
|
Year |
70 |
71 |
72 |
73 |
74 |
75 |
76 |
77 |
78 |
79 |
80 |
81 |
82 |
|
Uesugi Kenshin |
3 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Takeda Shingen |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Asakura Yoshikage |
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
|
Hojo Ujimasu |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
11 |
12 |
14 |
14 |
17 |
19 |
20 |
22 |
25 |
|
Oda Nobunaga |
3 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Mori Motonari |
4 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Shimazu Yoshihisa |
3 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
|
Chosokabe Motochika |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
History
|
1570 |
|
Gentlemen: Ben, I love this variant and will play it again any time. Thanks for a fine variant. |
|
Uesugi Kenshin sits quitely in his dojo awaiting the news from the front and contemplating how the cycle of life can turn so abruptly to one's favour or disadvantage. He should have seen it earlier, but his pride stood in the way just like his grandfather always said it would. He remembers the old man fondly and his words of wisdom ring truer today than they ever had before, 'Honour can be gained even when the battle is lost, as long as you stay true to the warrior's path'. A quite prayer spills into his thoughs as Kenshin asks his ancestors to forgive him. It is not that he has lost the war that eats at his soul, publically declaring his enemy ronin before presenting his case to the Emporer and asking for honour to be meet, there lies his downfall. His wakasashi glides smoothly into his hand as he hears the runner coming close to the screen, it has gone well or else the runner would not have made it by now. Mori has gained Noto and Oda South Shinano, even if only for a short time. A short smile creases his calm face momentarily, Bill of the Hojo will not have seen that move. As the door begins to slide open the first cut is already complete and before the runner realises what is happening, Kenshin is gone and Uesugi honour is preserved at least until the circle turns again. |
|
Well Hojo finally wins, after a ruthless performance. Sengoku is a variant that rewards efficient use of units and Bill demonstrated this the most impressively. I’ll limit my further comments mainly to the variant itself, and leave comments on the game to other players’ EOG statements. Successful features: 1. Garrison towns worked well, I thought, especially the stubborn resistance of Musashi. I would definitely consider using this feature in a new variant. 2. Land bridges did a decent job of expanding the area for armies. 3. Lack of draws is a good idea, I think. There is a danger that, in a stalemate situation, two allies could continually swap centres to avoid incurring the draw after three years with no SC changes. A closure of this loophole would be sensible. I’d suggest that the GM should be allowed to step in and declare a result at his disgression after a certain amount of years. Areas for improvement: 1. The rule that 25 centres must be reached to get the solo, instead of 19, only prolongs the game unnecessarily. 3 extra years had to be played in this game without any chance that Hojo wouldn’t get to 25 SC’s eventually. There are some situations where a player can get just over half the SC’s in a situation that isn’t really sustainable, so I can see the point of having to get a little more, but I suggest simply getting 20 centres would be more practical than 25. 2. The linear, island nature of Japan doesn’t naturally lend itself to Diplomacy. It was clear to me as soon as I saw the Sengoku map that one of Uesugi, Hojo and Shimazu was very likely to win, because they would be able to get control of an end of the island and drive their way along with no enemies behind their lines. All other players would have foreign powers all around them and would find it very difficult to detach themselves from small skirmishes to face new aggressors. Hojo’s win could be foreseen as early as Fall 1570, when both Uesugi and Shimazu made inefficient openings that passed up the opportunity to grow to 4 centres. Uesugi’s failure to take Mutsu gifted the end of the island to Hojo. 3. The relatively few sea spaces meant that it would be very hard to sneak fleets behind an organised line. It also made it easy for bigger nations to grow exponentially by getting their own fleets behind opponents’ line. I’d increase the number of sea spaces (and possibly land spaces to a smaller extent) to make it harder to build that unbroken line. 4. Just a tiny point – the colours on the map on the Sengoku website are a little confusing – not too much difference between a couple of the nations. |
|
As far as I can remember and when I look at the table of the events, I would say that the turning point was the year 1573. Once Takeda was eliminated, Uesugi and Asakura should have been able to stop Hojo. I still do not know why it didn't happen, because objectively Hojo was the one to defeat for Uesugi. Even if it was in favour of Asakura (me in other words), Uesugi would have been then in a position to find good allies in Oda and Mori. I would be happy to know why Uesugi chose to stand by Hojo until he was (naturally ...) betrayed, and why he didn't try to co-ordinate his moves with Oda and Asakura afterwards. As mentioned in other EOG, once Uesugi eliminated, Hojo was very difficult to stop should he play well (and unfortunately for us, he played well !) Only an alliance including all other players could have succeeded, if not to repel, at least to stop Hojo advance. But Mori, Chosokabe and Shimazu kept on fighting for some time, so the triumph of Hojo was certain. I must say that I didn't see Hojo as a real danger at the beginning. I thought that Takeda was the main threat. And I was too sure that Uesugi would betray Hojo once Takeda out (this overconfidence prevented me from sending enough mails to Uesugi). On the contrary, I didn't trust enough Oda at the beginning so we lost some time compared with the fulgurant Hojo's moves. So congratulations to Hojo for his brilliant victory, thanks to all players for this tough game and sorry to the one I definitely and completely betrayed (Takeda). |
|
I enjoyed this game. Of course it is more enjoyable when you win. The early key was playing Takeda and Uesugi against each other. The garrison army in Musashi was key to this as Uesugi and I agreed to leave it in place and we both supported at times as first Takeda and then Uesugi attempted it. Once I turned on Uesugi and got the four builds in 1574, I knew I could get to 24 centers, but 25 could be difficult if everyone banded against me effectively. The hard part would be the 25th center. When I got the fleet past the corner at Kii (the second time), I knew I would get it eventually, (there wern't enough oppostion fleets on the south side). Getting the Army on the small island was the end game. I was regreting my decision in 1575 to bring the fleet in Kii back as it allowed the line to form at the corner. Once I got to 11 units (back in Feb), I knew on this map It would be hard to mount an effective defense unless is was well coordinated. Which it wasn't. I even think Uesugi's call for a vendetta against me hurt him more than helped as his neighbor ignored him. Part of that was that the neighbor that could have helped him was our mutual target until I turned on Uesugi. This was my second victory (both this year). |
|
Turns move from Spring to Fall just like
standard Diplomacy, and the first turn is Spring 1570. Abbreviations are often not at all what you
might expect them to be because of the significant number of provinces that
share the same first three letters (i.e. Chikugo, Chikuzen, Echigo, Echizen,
Shimosa, Shimotsuke, Izumo, Izu, Awa, Awaji, Yamashiro, Yamato, and all those
that share their name with a body of water e.g. Totomi, Totomi Sea, Tosa,
Tosa Bay etc. etc.) Be sure to check
the names feature on RP, or the Abbreviations Map on the homepage. They correspond with one another. Units may be built on any vacant supply
center that you have held for a fall.
(i.e. all SCs controlled by players are considered their "home
supply centers" for the purpose of building units.) Bitchu and Sanuki are considered land contiguous,
as are Nagato and Chikuzen, though they appear separated by water on the
map. Both Armies and Fleets may cross
from one of these territories directly to the other. Movement by fleets through the surrounding
sea zones is unaffected. Two dark arrows
indicate these "bridges" on the map. In addition to the 8 players of this
variant, there are neutral territories, represented by White on the map. Each neutral territory is occupied by a
neutral army that never does anything but hold. These armies may be supported by other players. They are
disbanded immediately if dislodged, but rebuilt at the end of the year if the
territory is not occupied. Treat
neutral units like armies in Civil Disorder.
Once occupied, the territory becomes a standard SC, and never reverts
to a neutral again. Victory is declared when one Daimyo has
control of 25 SCs, or all other players concede defeat. There are no draws or shared victories
allowed. If the players agree to a
draw, the GM chooses a winner. There
can only be one Shogun. Have fun and welcome to 16th Century Japan! |
