The New Winds

Once more the students find themselves under tutledge of the stern old Akodo General. This time, he has the students inside the dojo itself, sitting on cushions and reading excerpts from Akodo-no-Kami's work, Leadership, and then quizzing the students on what it means.

Sensei: Akodo Eiko
-The rules for this event are as follows: You will need to the following checks, all at TN6.

Players who have the following Disadvantages have these TN's increased by +2: Insensitive

Players who have the Tactician advantage gain +1 to their rolls

Battle / Awareness, to represent your ability to know your own armies capabilities
Battle / Intelligence, to represent your ability to use tactical advantages such as flank attacks or terrain cover
Battle / Perception, to represent your ability to see openings in the opponents army

--Gain +1 Dojo Point per passed roll
--Gain +1 to Battle skill if pass a roll with a raise (may use exceptional roll rule free raise for this, even if you do not have the skill). You may only gain this reward once.
--Gain +1 Perception if make raise on ALL rolls (may use exceptional roll rule free raise for this, even if you do not have the skill)
--Special: If you have two dice explode on the Battle / Perception, Akodo Eiko will become a temporary 1/1 Ally to be called on at some point during your stay to train you further.

He had failed before but now had a chance to redeem. This was his specialty. He studied Shogi, and he studied Leadership. That should be easy, whatever Eiko threw him out. The problem was one. His ego.
How could have him overelatuated himself? He knew all the tactics! He could read how his lessers did on the battlefield! Weren't those the two most important skills for a general?
Then it was when he heard again Eiko's words on his mind.
"The burden of leadership is what keep us humble."
Until he learnt to out his head on the ground, even if he had all blessings or knowledge of the world, he would never be able to lead a dozen, or dozens of dozens, of people. Because to do so you need to be the heart that beats inside them, one they need to respect more than obey.
Finishing his lesson, he bowed and left the dojo in silence.

D5 • Goat ~ Tactics Training: Battle/Awareness TN 8 w/ Tactician advantage: 4d10o10k1+1 7
D5 • Goat ~ Tactics Training: Battle/Intelligence TN 8 w/ Tactician advantage: 6d10o10k3 23
D5 • Goat ~ Tactics Training: Battle/Perception TN 8 w/ Tactician advantage and the strength of Honor: 9d10o10k2 23

Total: +1 Battle, +2 Dojo Points

Mai showed surprising knowledge of her army's capabilities. Apparently, the late/early morning studying she has done since the gaki attack has really helped. She then proved her knowledge in flanking maneuvers. Finally, she saw a flaw in the army's formation that Akodo Eiko didn't think anyone would notice. After everyone was let out, he informed her he would like to give her some extra training.

D4 Goat: Battle/Awareness 1 Raise: 3d10o10k2 19

D5 Goat: Battle/Intelligence 1 Raise VOID: 4d10o10k3 24

D5 Goat: Battle/Perception 1 Raise VOID: 4d10o10k3 32

+ 3 Dojo Points
+ 1 Battle
+ 1 Perception
+ Akodo Eiko as a temporary ally

Bayushi Jiro had all of the tactical acumen of a regular Scorpion bushi, according to Akodo's Leadership. He was intimately familiar with his opponent's weaknesses and could exploit them with ease, but he just wasn't able to come up with the capabilities of a Scorpion army. The fact that this was because Akodo's Leadership strongly implies that a Scorpion army had no capabilities was not lost on young Jiro, and a burning dislike of the Akodo family was ignited in his breast.

Battle/Awareness, 1 raise=3 Fail
Battle/Intelligence, 1 raise=15 +1 Dojo Point, +1 Battle
Battle/Perception=11+1 Dojo Point

+2 Dojo points, +1 Battle

When Saburo sat down onto his cushion, he proceeded to quote Akodo's text from memory as he was asked each section, and the moment that specific questions were mentioned about the application of it, he related a common interpretation of Leadership. It became clear that this was a book he had read a considerable amount more than one would ever expect an Asako to have ever read. Then again, considering that he'd shown the familiarity that he had on the first days of on the topic of warfare, it wasn't really that surprising. Still, nevertheless the smoothness of his answers were enough to give the old gunso a brief pause. Even when there was a question about how to best gauge the opponent's forces, he seemed ready for it, replying quickly and succinctly.

No matter how his self-oriented nature was, he understood the methods of battle too well to let this trump him.

===========

Required Rolls:
Battle/Awareness 1 CR, +2 TN due to Insensitive (TN 10): 32 (effectively 2 raises)
Battle/Intelligence 1 CR, +2 TN due to Insensitive (TN 10): 28 (effectively 2 raises)
Battle/Perception, Void for +1k1 1 CR, +2 TN due to Insensitive (TN 10): 30 (effectively 2 raises)

Net Results:
+3 Dojo Points, +1 Battle, +1 Perception, +1/1 Temporary Ally (Akodo Eiko)

Who knew she was a natural? Certainly not her.

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Battle/Awareness, Insensitive, Raise TN 10, 2d10 = 12 (Success)
Battle/Intelligence, Insensitive, Raise TN 10, 2d10 = 14 (Success)
Battle/Perception, Insensitive, Raise TN 10, 2d10 = 16 (Success)

+3 DP, +1 Battle, +1 Perception

Wyn returns again under the Akodo-sensei eye, he quickly takes stock of his own armies capabilities, and makes quick easy plans to take advantage of the terrain, as the final test comes to test his opponents weakness Wyn put everything into trying to make one final stab at impressing Akodo-Sensei, alas to no avail, though he does at least get a passing mark.





D5 Goat - 1R TN 8, Battle/Awareness: 3d10o10k2 13
D5 Goat - 1R TN 8, Battle/Intel: 3d10o10k2 10
D5 Goat - 1R TN 8, Battle/Perception, Honor: 9d10o10k2 20

+1 Battle, +1 Perception, +3 Dojo Points

Ginkarasu had never really studied battle planning. His job was to get his charge safely from point a to point b, maybe at the cost of his life. But once the Akodo said that in any battle, no matter how large or small, the winner was more likely to know exactly what resources they had and what they could do...well, that made a lot of sense!

If you knew how many mochi you had, how much it weighed, how fast the cart would go with and without it. If you knew how quickly your charge could run, if they could suffer the loss of goods or not, if you knew how quick the enemy was and what weapons they had. Those things all would factor into it!

That's why his old sensei's always drilled them in running up and down muddy hills. In a chase, every little edge you could negotiate from the terrain, from your comrades, every thing you could take from your enemy would matter. You gave them nothing but what would slow them down or trip them up.

When he was done, and he'd done things right? He was almost tempted to eat some mochi. Almost.

*******************
D5 Goat: Battle / Awareness 1 Raise: TN 8: 3d10k3 20
D5 Goat: Unlucky! Battle / Awareness 1 Raise: TN 8: 3d10k3 21 +1 Dojo Point, +1 Battle Skill
Battle / Intelligence: 1 Raise, Honor!: TN 8: 3d10k1 8 +1 Dojo Point
D5 Goat: Battle / Perception 1 Raise: TN 8: 2d10k2 17 +1 Dojo Point, +1 Perception Trait
Total: +3 Dojo Points, +1 Battle Skill, +1 Perception

Sanzo was determined to make all that crammed studying worth something! He even recognized bits a pieces of some of the excerpts!

Hey, maybe I should study like that more often... he thinks to himself.

And so, the old Akodo goes through his questions. The young samurai knew that just as in personal combat, in larger battles, it is vital to be able to assess the strength of your army. Offensive and Defensive capabilities, movement, morale, and much more. Next was tactical maneuvers. The bushi made a connection to this in his readings the other evening, mentally comparing such things to maneuvers of the blade. And finally, Sanzo poured in all of his focus to the final section, able to easily spot the weak point in the hypothetical opponent's army.

Sanzo was surprised by his positive marks.

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Crunchy Bits:

D5 Goat: Tactics Training Battle/Awa, 1 raise = TN8: 4d10o10k3 18
D5 Goat: Tactics Training Battle/Int, 1 raise = TN8, Voiding: 4d10o10k3 22
D5 Goat: Tactics Training Battle/Per, 1 raise = TN8, Voiding, Strength of Honor: 8d10o10k2 23

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Rewards:

+3 Dojo Points
+1 Battle
+1 Perception

This had to be the absolutely most boring way to learn about how to conduct battle and teach tactics but Ichiro endured even if he had to dig deep to not yarn during the reading portion.

When it came to the quiz portion he came close on a few questions but eventually got all the answers right. Hew may have found it insufferably boring but it was undeniably effective as he came out knowing more than he came in with.

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D5 goat tactics battle/awareness +2 insensitive 1 raise tn 10 : 3d10o10k2 16 +1 dojo point, +1 Battle

D5 goat tactics battle/int +2 insensitive honor 1 raise tn 10 : 5d10o10k1 18 +1 dojo point

D5 goat tactics battle/perception +2 insensitive 1 raise tn 10 : 4d10o10k3 12 +1 dojo point

+3 dojo points
+1 rank of Battle
+1 perception

The lessons that Akodo sensei had given him were not in vain. The young Kuni seemed to grasp them well enough to display a basic aptitude. His focus served him well and placed him easily on the winning side in his exercises. Still not enough to impress upon the sensei any great talent, it was still enough to hone his instinct and capability with controlling the flow of battle.

----

D5 Goat, Battle / Awareness, VP +1k1, 1 CR, TN 8: 4d10o10k3 20
D5 Goat, Battle / Intelligence, 1 CR, TN 8: 5d10o10k4 29
D5 Goat, Battle / Perception, VP +1k1, 1 CR, TN 8: 3d10o10k2 14

+3 Dojo Points, +1 Battle, +1 Perception

"The chief capability of my army is to appear to the enemy as something it is not! This is how Way of Deception works, right?"

Goat 5. Unskilled Battle/Awa. Raise! TN 8.: 3d10 12

"I'd totally lure them with a running recon into this small gorge and shoot them out with archers on the precipices! Pew pew! Entice with Falsehoods, heh heh."

Goat 5. Unskilled Battle/Int. Raise! TN 8.: 4d10 20

"Oh, I'd totally Break their Hearts. Maybe... by taking enemy general for a date?"

Goat 5. Unskilled Battle/Int. Raise! TN 8.: 1d10 4

[+2 Points, +1 Battle]

Sakura had completely misread the scroll informing her of what this day would be about, and thus spent most of the morning fretting about a goat not listening to her orders and trying to eat her kimono!

It was the stuff of Doji nightmares!

Her relief when the sensei gave her a strange look and said there would be no goats was visible to all. She gave it her all, and did a pretty good job, but the sensei was not impressed.

(ooc: D5 goat tactics training Battle/awareness with a raise (TN8): 2d10 16 battle gained
D5 goat tactics training Battle/int with a raise (TN8): 2d10 16
D5 goat tactics training Battle/perception with a raise (TN8): 2d10 6

2 dojo points
1 rank of battle

Haruki did well to remember all that Akodo-sensei taught the other day. He had a little trouble spotting a weakness in the scenario, but he found it in the end. Acceptable results, but that's still not enough for Haruki.

Crunch:
D5 Goat: Battle/Awareness, 1 raise: 3d10o10k2 27
D5 Goat: Battle/Intelligence, 1 raise: 4d10o10k3 18
D5 Goat: Battle/Perception, 1 raise: 3d10o10k2 11

+3 Dojo Points
+1 Battle
+1 Perception

The young Utaku had been trained about his place on the battlefield not seeing the field as a whole. However, thinking of it in terms of where he would be in the skirmish and what orders he'd expect to receive he is able to extrapolate back out and see some moves and strategy that are impressive. Sadly when it comes to theory - such as terrain and full tactical maneuvers on a mass scale - he falls short.


(Battle / Awareness Unskilled TN 6 - Exceptional Success
Battle / Intelligence Unskilled TN 6, VP for +1k1 - Fail
Battle / Perception TN 6, VP for Phantom Skill - Exceptional Success but only one explosion

2 Dojo Points
+1 Battle)

Such things have not previously been in her field of study--But I'll fix that now, thank you--but Sasaiko does adequately at the challenges posed her by the sensei.

Once again, she bows and moves off to see about tidying up.

(Battle / Awareness, passed at 6, https://orokos.com/roll/821559; +1 Dojo Point
Battle / Intelligence, passed at 10, https://orokos.com/roll/821562; +1 Dojo Point
Battle / Perception, passed at 14, https://orokos.com/roll/821564; +1 Dojo Point)

Kenji had rarely dealt with command structures, war and the like before, but he could assess himself well and make good use of his surroundings and set up good flanks, but he was not able to see an opening in the enemy army.
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D5 Goat Tactic Event Batlle/Awareness +1 Raise TN8: 2d10k2 17
D5 Goat Tactic Event Batlle/Intelligence +1 Raise +VP TN8: 2d10k2 12

D5 Goat Tactic Event Battle/Intelligence +1 Raise TN8: 1d10k1 3<- Should say Perception
D5 Goat Tactic Event Battle/Perception+1 Raise TN8 LUCK!: 1d10k1 3

Result:
+2 Dojo Points
+1 Battle

This is hardly Zashi's area of study. Sure, Zashi could size up his own forces with ease, but the Fox had real doubts about the next steps. Not that they tried to show it,. Acting as confident as possible.

"Here...and...here!"
Sadly, Zashi is quickly outflanked
OOc
D5 Goat-Battle/Awareness TN 8 1 raise: 3d10 20 +1 Dojo point, 1 rank Battle
D5 Goat-Battle/Intelligence TN 8 1 raise-VP spent: 2d10 6 Fail
D5 Goat-Battle/Perception TN 6: 1d10 3

+1 Dojo point
+1 rank Battle

Kokyou remembers much of what Mai and Aiichiro have been talking about the differences of terrains, and how a field combat had similarities with the naval strategies the young Mantis was familiarized with.

After passing rapidly upon the book, Kokyou describes to the Lions General the night of the Mantis fleets. The greatest in Rokugan, and potentially beyond (but that’s a topic he does not approach).

The naval strikes on coastal cities are fast, and Kokyou provides a glimpse of the deployment maneuvers to avoid detection until the whole force of a fleet is already combat-ready before alarms can be rendered effective.

Lastly, he carefully points out the failures in the tactics used by other naval fleets, such as the Crab with their heavy and limited seaworthiness of the koutetsukan ships.

“Any more tips and I be takin’ yer place, sensei!” He cracks a laugh at the general that returns him a scolding glare.

--
D5, Goat, Battle/Awareness TN 8 (+2 Raise): 3d10o10k2 10 +1 Dojo Point, +1 Battle
D5, Goat, Battle/Intelligence TN 8 (+2 Raise): 3d10o10k2 13 +1 Dojo Point
D5, Goat, Battle/Perception TN 8 (+2 Raise) +VP: 3d10o10k2 10 +1 Dojo Point, +1 Perception

Total:
+3 Dojo Points
+1 Battle
+1 Perception

Nobuko showed skilled in recognizing her own army's abilities and an exceptional ability at using tactics. But understanding the weaknesses in another's army? If she was ever forced to command a true army, she'd likely win through overwhelming force and superior maneuvers, not the exploitation of another's weaknesses.

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OOC

D5 Goat Battle/Aware 1 Raise: 2d10 8 vs TN8; Pass +1DP; +1 Battle
D5 Goat Battle/Intel 1 Raise: 4d10 25 vs TN7; Pass +1DP
D5 Goat Battle/Percep 1 Raise: 2d10 2 vs TN8; Fail

Totals: +2 DP, +1 Battle