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Samurai

Historical Overview Section

210 Samurai
The Heian period began in 794 after the movement of the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (present day Kyōto), by the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu. It is considered a high point in Japanese culture that later generations have always admired. The period is also noted for the rise of the samurai class, which would eventually take power and start the feudal period of Japan.

Nominally, sovereignty lay in the emperor but in fact power was wielded by the Fujiwara nobility. However, to protect their interests in the provinces, the Fujiwara and other noble families required guards, police and soldiers. The warrior class made steady gains throughout the Heian period. As early as 939, Taira no Masakado threatened the authority of the central government, leading an uprising in the eastern province of Hitachi, and almost simultaneously, Fujiwara no Sumitomo rebelled in the west. Still, military takeover was centuries away, when much of the strength of the government would lie within the private armies of the shogunate.

The entry of the warrior class into court influence was a result of the Hōgen Rebellion. At this time Taira no Kiyomori revived the Fujiwara practices by placing his grandson on the throne to rule Japan by regency. Their clan (Taira clan) would not be overthrown until after the Gempei War, which marked the start of the shogunate.

Kammu had abandoned universal conscription in 792, but he still waged major military offensives to subjugate the Emishi, possible descendants of the displaced Jōmon, living in northern and eastern Japan. After making temporary gains in 794, in 797 Kammu appointed a new commander under the title Seii Taishogun. By 801 the shogun had defeated the Emishi and had extended the imperial domains to the eastern end of Honshū

Using the army in ADLG

  • They have unique foot who can fight and shoot really well
  • Elite shooters of any type are always welcome
  • The Cavalry will have to occupy a lot of table - consider spending to make them Elite so they are more survivable.
  • Nothing in historical timeframe themes can really stand up to them in rough terrain, so plan to sweep through it as quickly as possible. This may make shooting a 'nice to have' as you want to get into combat and drive forward
  • They may well need the Strategist to give extra control and movement of terrain, as getting rough terrain in your half of the board is vital to keep the MF alive against any decent mounted
  • Defending with a strategist and placing 4 pieces gives you quite a lot of control of the table and terrain. 3 Ambush markers can also help.
  • Using Mediocre bow to pad out the army and be shooting supports to the Samurai allows you to get to a half-decent element count
  • You will need to take risks with the army as it is not big enough to dance around an enemy without fighting some of their best troops head on. That makes the HI a bit of a must-have as they are at least in theory solid enough to stand up to most things for a decent number of turns.
  • A strategist can also command 2 'commands' of troops allowing you to maybe have a very small first command for deployment purposes.

User-contributed links about this army. Add links in this format:

as an example

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures for this army

This is a listing of 15mm manufacturers for all "late" Japanese armies. A full listing of who supplies what can be found in my 15mm Suppliers directory. You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site

Army Lists

Sample army lists for this army
German Team Tourament 2024
4 HCv Bow Elite
2 Lh Bow Elite
Strategist
Cattle
==
3 Mixed Shooter Samurai Elite
1 LF Bow
1 HI Katana
2 Retainers Med Sword
Competent
==
3 Mixed Shooter Samurai Elite
1 LF Bow
1 HI Katana
2 Retainers Med Sword
Ordinary

Jasons Samurai, Devvizes
Ordinary
3 Mtd samurai Heavy cavalry bow Elite
1 Mtd samurai Heavy cavalry bow ------
1 Scouts Light cavalry bow ------
==
Competent
4 Samurai with katana (inc general) Heavy swordsmen 2HW Elite
2 Samurai with bow & katana Medium swordsmen bow Elite
1 bowmen Bowmen Mediocre
4 bowmen Light infantry bow ------
==
Competent Unreliable
2 Samurai with bow & katana Medium swordsmen bow Elite
1 Samurai with bow & katana Medium swordsmen bow ------
1 Samurai with katana Medium swordsmen 2HW Elite
1 Bowmen Bowmen Mediocre
1 scouts Light cavalry bow ----
1 stampeding cattle Scythed chariot ------


Devizes 2024
4 Mixed Shooters Elite
2 LF Bow
1 LH Bow
Ordinary General
2 LH Bow in ambush
==
1 LH Bw
2 Mixed Shooters Elite
4 HI 2HW Elite
2 HCv Bw Elite
2 LF Bow
Strategist
==
Flank march (which did not arrive, so this is speculative)
Ordinary General
4 MF Sword Mediocre
1 Samurai MF 2HW Elite


Campaign 2024 (Simon LRM)
2 HCv Bw Elite Inc Ord Unreliable General
1 LH Bow
==
Impetuous Dragon
1 Med Sw 2HW
3 Elite Samurai Bowmen
1 Hi 2HW
1 LH Bow
1 Samurai Bowman
==
3 Samurai Bowmen
1 HI 2HW
1 Poor Bowman
2 HCv Bw Elite
2 LF Bow
1 MF 2HW
Brilliant General

Mine
Brilliant
2 Archers Light Infantry Bow ----
1 Mounted Samurai Heavy Cavalry Bow Elite
3 Foot Samurai with bow and katana Medium Swordsmen Bow Elite
1 Scouts Light Cavalry Bow Elite
2 Foot Samurai with Katana Heavy Swordsmen 2HW ------
1 Steaming Oni Scythed Chariot ----
==
Ord, Inc , Unreliable
2 Archers Light Infantry Bow ------
2 Foot Samurai with bow and katana Medium Swordsmen Bow Elite
1 Foot Samurai with Katana Heavy Swordsmen 2HW Elite
2 Foot Samurai with Katana Heavy Swordsmen 2HW ------
1 Followers with Naginata Medium Swordsmen Mediocre
==
Competent
1 Scouts Light Cavalry Bow ------
2 Mounted Samurai Heavy Cavalry Bow Elite
1 Foot Samurai Medium Swordsmen Bow Elite
1 Foot Samurai Medium Swordsmen Bow ------

Britcon 2022 (V4)
1181
Strategist
1 Samouraïs Heavy cavalry bow Elite
1 Samouraïs Heavy cavalry bow ------
1 Samouraïs Scout Light cavalry bow ------
3 Samouraïs Heavy swordsmen 2HW Elite
1 Samouraïs Medium swordsmen bow Elite
2 Ashigarus Light infantry bow ----
1 Light Artillery Light artillery ------
1 Ashigarus Bowmen Mediocre
==
Competent Included
2 Samouraïs Heavy cavalry bow Elite
1 Samouraïs Heavy cavalry bow ------
1 Samouraïs Scout Light cavalry bow Elite
==
Ordinary
2 Samouraïs Medium swordsmen 2HW Elite
2 Samouraïs Medium swordsmen bow Elite
1 Samouraïs Medium swordsmen bow ------
1 Ashigarus Light infantry bow ------


v4 Samurais Alicante 2022
Samurai Bowmen 6
2 LF bow
General strategist
==
Samurai Bowmen 4
2 Lf bow
General Competent
==
4 Samurai Cavalry
2 Light Horse
General includes ordinary red flag

210 Samurai (MacKay - Britcon 2019)
Brilliant
4 Foot Samurai Heavy swordsmen 2HW Elite
4 Foot Samurai Medium swordsmen bow Elite
==
Competent Included
4 Mounted Samurai Heavy cavalry bow Elite
2 Emishi Light cavalry bow ------
==
Competent
7 Followers with Yari Medium spearmen Mediocre


210 Samurai (Gordon - Britcon 2019)
Ordinary Included
3 Mounted Samurai Heavy cavalry bow Elite 13 39
1 Mounted Samurai Heavy cavalry bow ------ 11 11
==
Strategist
8 Foot Samurai with bow Medium swordsmen bow Elite
4 Followers with yari Medium spearmen Mediocre
1 Stampeding cattle Scythed chariot ------
==
Ordinary Included
1 Samurai bow Medium swordsmen bow Elite
3 Followers with bow Bowmen Mediocre


225AP Challenge 2019 Madaxeman
2 Nobles (E) HC
1 Emeshi LH
2 Foot Samurai Bow
1 Follower Bow Pavise Mediocre
1 Ashigaru
1 Noble Ordinary HC
Competent Unreliable Included
==
2 HI Samurai (O)
2 HI Samurai (E)
1 Ashigaru
1 Stampeding Herd
Competent
==
2 Foot Samurai Bow (E)
1 Follower Bow Pavise Mediocre
2 Ashigaru
1 Noble HC (E)
1 Emeshi LH
1 Foot Sanurai Bow (O)
Brilliant

225 Challenge 2019

4 HC (E)
Ordinary General
==
2 Mediocre Pavide Bow
1 LH Bow
2 Elite Bow Samura
2 Ashigaru
Ordinary General
==
8 Elite Bowmen
1 Herd of Cows
1 LH
2 Ashigaru men

200AP Roll Call 2019 25mm
4 Elite HI Samurai
2 MF Samurai Bowmen All Elite
1 Mediocre Ashigaru
Competent General
==
4 Samurai Medium Bowmen All Elite
2 Ashigaru Mediocre
1 Cattle
==
4 HC Bow (Ordinary)
1 LH Bow
2 Ashigaru
Competent General

350 AP Burton 2018
4 Elite HC Included General Ordinary
--
4 Bow Elite
3 Ashigaru
3 HF Samurai
Competent General
--
3 Ashigaru
4 Bowmen
3 MF Sword
Competent General
5 HC Elite
5 LC Bow
Included General

Madaxeman 350 AP Burton 2018
4 HC Elite + Included Competent
2 LH Bow
1 Medium Cavalry Bow
--
1 LC Bow
4 MI Bow
2 MF Swordsmen Samurai
4 Ashigaru
2 Heavy Cavalry Average
--
4 HI Samurai
3 Bowmen Samurai
2 Ashigaru
2 MF Samurai
Stampeding Cattle
--
4 Warrior Monks non impetuous
2 Horde
Ordinary General


200AP USTT 2018
STrategist
2 Foot Samurai with Sword Heavy swordsmen 2HW Elite
4 Foot Samurai with Sword Medium swordsmen 2HW ------
2 Followers with Yari Medium spearmen Mediocre
==
Competent
4 Foot Samurai with Bow Medium swordsmen bow ------
2 Followers with Yari Medium spearmen Mediocre
==
Competent
2 Mounted Samurais Heavy cavalry bow Elite
4 Mounted Samurais Heavy cavalry bow ------


300 Points
Ordinary, included General

  • 4 Heavy Cavalry, Elite

Ordinary General

  • 3 Medium Bow/swordsmen Elite
  • 2 Heavy 2HCW men Elite
  • 3 Poor Medium Spearmen

Ordinary General

  • 3 Medium Bow/swordsmen Elite
  • 2 Heavy 2HCW men Elite
  • 3 Poor Medium Spearmen

Brilliant General

  • 5 Elite Heavy Cavalry
  • 6 Average LH Bowmen

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