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The Art of Maneuvering troops in RokuganGreetings Honorable Samurai. I come before you to speak of the most important set of tools available to any general, maneuvering. At the core of every Clan War battle there is the movement of troops. At the disposal of every Clan War general there are a dizzying array of maneuvers and every new Clan War general has asked himself "What are all these maneuvers good for?" I hope to answer that question at least somewhat in this article.
This is a maneuver used to leave combat. It's a complex maneuver and requires the leader to have the Defense skill. It can be contested. If it is successful then the unit is moved it's base move + 4 away from the enemy. If unsuccessful the unit is -1 to all rolls for the turn and must take an immediate Morale test. As with all disengaging maneuvers any engaged enemy that does not contest the maneuver may take parting shots. Why would I use this maneuver? Well the obvious reason would be to get out of combat. The real question is when would it be better to get out of combat than to stay in combat? The answer is seldom, but there are situations. I have used this maneuver when a unit of mine was engaged by a unit of Enraged, Frenzied, Charging, Dragon Talons. Knowing that my unit was going to take a lot of damage regardless, I pulled my unit out of the engagement that turn and took my lumps from the parting shots. (Yes the parting shots caused a ML check.) However once I was free I had a spent unit sitting in front of another unit waiting to charge in the Cavalry phase. I had two turns of beating on that unit before it returned to duty with no strikes back. Admittedly they could Strength of Osano-Wo them, but even with that you get one free turn of attacks.
Quite simply this maneuver allows you to add or subract up to four files of troops. Note that you're only allowed one such maneuver per movement phase. So what is this good for? Well you can contract your frontage to allow your unit to wheel faster, or you can expand your frontage to pull those back ranks out of a terrain feature, or even pull the rear of your unit just a little farther away from that enemy unit getting ready to charge the rear of your unit. This deceptively simple maneuver has many uses.
This is the last resort of a desperate unit. It move the unit their movement +4" away from the enemy but at a horrendous cost. The unit automatically becomes Broken if it's not and if it is Broken it has to make a ML test so could become Routed. The unit also automatically becomes unformed. Unfortunately this is the only disengaging maneuver available to units who's leader does not have the Defense skill. So if you manage to break a Lion unit (assuming they have a Lion leader), there is a good chance they are going to rout (ML test at -3, [Broken and Unformed]) The reactionary part of this movement means that you can use it as the enemy tries to engage you (providing you are eligible to move in that phase) and the disengaging part of it means you can do it even if you are currently engaged. This could conceivably be a way to escape being crushed between several units, but the cost is very high.
This maneuver moves a unit directly backwards their full move distance. It can be used as a reaction to an attempt to engage although I recommend using a Parade Ground Practice unless your leader has the kiso that allows him to do it without penalty (-3 for leaders without the kiso). If you fail the roll your unit becomes unformed. This is actually one of my favorite maneuvers. I use it to force enemy units to miss a Charge, and unform them (possibly spend them if I have a Dangerous Misjudgement in hand); setting them up for a charge of my own. I've also used this maneuver even when I know I'll still be engaged but want to move the engagement back away from the enemy's supporting units, making it harder to flank my unit, and easier to flank the enemy unit.
Units only move through another unit if they have to move, and there is no clear path. In this case they move through other units. Suffice it to say that if you have a unit that has to do this, it's probably not doing what you want any more.
This is basically a movement at 45 degrees from the units front while not changing the facing of the unit. This is a very cool type of movement, but it's use is restricted. You must have a Lion leader to attempt it without penalty. Non Lion leaders may attempt it with a -2 penalty but only if they have a Battle of 3 or more. If you fail the test to perform the oblique maneuver then you must make another TL test or become unformed. Non-Lions don't use this very often so my experience with it is limited. It is very useful for getting around obstacles, but I would only recommend using it if you have a Parade Ground Practice on hand.
This is a special cavalry attack. It has to be declared as the engaging movement is declared, and requires a TL test to initiate. After combat the engaged unit tests vs TL (modified by the casualties caused) and if it fails it becomes unformed. If the engaged unit suceeds, then the Overrunning unit has to make a TL test, and if it fails it becomes unformed. Now why would you bother to do an overrun with all the tests and possibility for failure? Quite simply this is the one maneuver that can make a heavy cavalry unit able to win a one on one fight with a ranked infantry unit. If the Infantry unit becomes unformed then it is not only -1 to all rolls, but it also loses all it's rank dice, which is what makes it so easy for infantry to kill cavalry. If used during a flanking engagement this can be devastating to the enemy unit. Unicorn armies should make extensive use of this, as should Toturi's army players who's Elite Ronin Cavalry get a nice +2 bonus to all Overrun related tests.
An RGO functions almost exactly like a Full Retreat (which is what the unit automatically does if it fails the maneuver test to perform this maneuver). If it's sucessful the unit is moved it's movement +4" away from the enemy and gets -2 to all rolls for the rest of the turn (and can't roll attack dice even if it is engaged). The nice thing about this maneuver is that it can get a unit out of a situation where it's about to be hit by multiple enemy units. I would recommend having a Parade Ground Practice on hand as the penalty for botching the roll are somewhat severe (see Full Retreat, above), but if it gets you away from a bad situation then it's worth the risk. It is especially nice because it can prevent your unit from being flanked (albiet with a risk).
Turns your unit to face 180 degrees from what it was facing. Fairly simple, and can be used to move a unit away from the enemy without having to roll for the maneuver. If the unit has a free maneuver it can turn about, move 3 inches, and roll to turn back to face the enemy. If you don't want to risk being caught facing away from the enemy you can roll for the first turn, move, and then turn back with your free maneuver. If you have a command group you can give a unit an additional free maneuver and accomplish the whole thing without making a roll.
Turns the models in your unit 90 degrees to the left or right. The only really cool tactic I've found using this maneuver is to give a unit an additional free maneuver, and then turn, move full, and turn again to effectively displace the unit it's full movement distance to one side. This can really disrupt a charge target.
The maneuver that allows you to change your unit's facing. This maneuver is pretty simple and very critical to understand as it is what allows you to get your unit's engagment angle under 30 degrees. Being able to accurately gauge how much movement it will take to wheel a unit a given amount is a skill every general can use. The amount of movement required to wheel a unit a given distance is directly related to the frontage of the unit, so this maneuver is related closely with the Expand/Contract maneuver.
This maneuver operates exactly like the Hiruma Withdrawal but only moves the unit half it's move and doesn't have the penalty. I will occasionally use it when I need to pull back a bit, but don't have the Parade Ground Practice to use with Hiruma Withdrawal. I hope this long-winded repetition of the rulebook has proved worth reading, and perhaps has shown you some new uses for the same tools. Good maneuvering can save an army and make even a weak unit the equal of a strong one. Bad maneuvering can easily spell defeat.
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