Battle of Utsunomiya Castle

Tatoi mi wa / Ezo no shimabe ni / kuchinu tomo / tama wa azuma no / kimi ya mamoramu "Though my body may rot on the shores of the island of Ezo, my spirit will guard my lord in the east." (a poem said to be Hijikata Toshizō's farewell verse; tradition) Once it is taken, can it be held? Morning, the 19th day of the 4th month of Keiō 4. After Edo surrendered, the army of Ōtori Keisuke, leading the shogunate's infantry north, sent its vanguard on ahead. Its commander is Akizuki Tonosuke of the 1st Battalion of the Denshūtai, and its staff officer is Hijikata Toshizō. The vanguard has come up the Mooka road to the south-east of Utsunomiya castle and is about to cross the Tagawa in front of the castle town. The castle is held by the Utsunomiya domain troops and by Kagawa Keizō, leading the New Government's Tōsandō army. [How the Former Shogunate wins] You may activate 10 units per turn. The New Government may activate 7, rising by 11 on turn 6. Turns 1 to 5 are the 19th. Take Utsunomiya castle (30 points) and make it fast with the main body of Ōtori Keisuke (Otori Keisuke), which enters from the south-east edge on turns 4 to 5. On turn 6 the clock jumps to 6:00 on the morning of the 23rd (the three days from the 20th to the 22nd, including the fight at Yasuzuka, are folded away). On turn 6, the New Government's main force from Mibu (Satsuma, Chōshū, Ōgaki and Tottori) enters from the south and west edges. Reach nightfall still holding the castle and you have done better than history. The New Government begins holding the castle, Futarasan Shrine (10), Yanase (10) and Matsugamine (10); the Former Shogunate holds the mouth of the Mooka road (15). The mouth of the Nikkō road (10) belongs to neither side. The victory line is -2: if the score margin seen from the Former Shogunate side exceeds -2, you have done better than history. [How the New Government wins] You need not hold the castle on the 19th. Wear down the vanguard at the Tagawa and the castle moats, then take it back with the main force on the 23rd. The castle doubles the defender's strength, and when you come to retake it, that advantage belongs to the enemy. [Commanders] Former Shogunate: Ōtori Keisuke (Otori Keisuke); Akizuki Tonosuke (Akizuki Tonosuke), commander of the vanguard; Hijikata Toshizō (Hijikata Toshizo), staff officer; the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Denshūtai; Tatsumi Kanzaburō, later Tatsumi Naofumi, with the Kuwana troops (Kuwana Tatsumi); men of the Shinsengumi; the 7th Infantry Regiment and other shogunate infantry. New Government: Kagawa Keizō (Kagawa Keizo), senior inspector of the Tōsandō army; the Utsunomiya domain troops; Ijichi Masaharu (Ijichi Masaharu), the Satsuma staff officer who led the counterattack on the 23rd, with the troops of Satsuma, Chōshū, Ōgaki and Tottori. [Decisions to try on this board] - (Former Shogunate) Where to cross the Tagawa on the 19th to get into the castle? Once inside the town, that also sets the shape of your defence on the 23rd. - (Former Shogunate) On the 23rd, shut yourself up in the castle, or hold the Mibu road to the south-west outside it? - (New Government) On the 19th, give up the castle early and keep your men, or hang on to the end? [Outcome] On the 19th the vanguard set fire to the castle town and took Utsunomiya castle, and its defenders abandoned it and fell back. It is said that Hijikata cut down one of his own fleeing men with his own hand to stop the rout (tradition). Later, Ōtori's main body came in. But the advance on Mibu on the 22nd was stopped at Yasuzuka, and on the 23rd the New Government's main force struck back from the south-west. That day Hijikata was shot in the foot. The Former Shogunate army abandoned the castle and fell back to Nikkō, and then to Aizu. After his wound healed in Aizu, Hijikata fought on, ever further north, and in the 5th month of the following year he was shot and killed at Hakodate. From surrendered Edo, the infantry marched north On the nineteenth of the fourth month, fire came into the castle town On the twenty-third, the main force came up from Mibu The staff officer, shot in the foot, was carried to the hills of Nikkō Though the body rot on the shores of Ezo the castle was theirs for only four days The three days from the 20th to the 22nd (including the fight at Yasuzuka) are folded away by jumping the clock. Both sides are grouped by domain or company; the exact strength of each unit varies between sources. The imperial brocade banner and the rising-sun flag are not shown on the counters. 1 hex = 300 m, 1 turn = 2 hours, 1 CS ≈ 100 men. T1 = 4th month 19th day, 6:00; T5 = 14:00 (end of the 19th); T6 = 23rd day, 6:00 (the counterattack); T12 = 18:00.