Okudaira Nobumasa

Okudaira Nobumasa (奥平 信昌, 1555 – April 11, 1615) was a Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku and early Edo periods. Nobumasa's family considered their origins to have been associated with Mikawa province. The clan was descended through the Akamatsu from the Murakami-Genji.

Early life

When Nobumasa was born, he was called Sadamasa (奥平 貞昌). He was the son of Okudaira Sadayoshi, an influential local figure in Mikawa. The Okudaira family were originally retainers of the Tokugawa, but were forced to join Takeda Shingen. After Shingen died and Katsuyori assumed leadership of the Takeda clan, Okudaira Sadamasa walked his men out of Tsukude Castle and rejoined the Tokugawa. Katsuyori had Sadamasa's wife and brother – hostages to the Takeda – crucified for what the Takeda construed as betrayal.

Nagashino

Sadamasa was entrusted with the defense of Nagashino Castle by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Sadamasa's decision to remove himself and his forces from the Takeda supporters became one of the antecedents of the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. Katsuyori was enraged at Sadamasa's decision to leave the Takeda forces. Nagashino Castle was attacked by Katsuyori with a force of 15,000 troops; but Sadamasa held firm, repelling the Takeda siege until forces of a Tokugawa-Oda alliance eventually arrived to support the beleaguered Okudaira. Oda Nobunaga was so impressed by the Okudaira's performance in the battle that he offered Sadamasa the honor of adopting part of his name—Nobu. After the battle was won, the hardy warrior was changed from Sadamasa to Nobumasa.

Samurai Warriors

Samurai Warriors (戦国無双, Sengoku Musō, Sengoku Musou in Japan, lit. Unrivaled Warring States) is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based loosely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and it is a sister series of the Dynasty Warriors series, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. A port of this game called Samurai Warriors: State of War has been released for the PlayStation Portable, which includes additional multiplayer features.

Gameplay

In the basic gameplay of Samurai Warriors, the player takes the role of a single officer in battle and must fend off hordes of enemy soldiers and defeat the enemy commander. The player has at their disposal a range of combo attacks and crowd-clearing special moves known as Musou attacks. The variety of attacks available increase as the character increases in level and gains new weapons.

Musou attacks can only be performed when the character's Musou gauge has filled up, which does so gradually when the player inflicts or receives damage. Additionally, if the player is low on health or possess a special skill, they can use their special True Musou attack which causes elemental damage in addition to normal damage as well as adds on a trio of attacks that cleans up the final few enemies in the vicinity. One difference between Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors is the ability to perform free-style combo attacks during Musou attack mode, during which the game enters bullet-time; common soldiers move very slowly, however officers are unaffected. Other abilities that Samurai characters have over the Dynasty series include the ability to perform a roll to dodge attacks, and deflect incoming arrows with their weapon.

Sanada Yukimura

Sanada Yukimura (真田 幸村, 1567 – June 3, 1615), actual name: Sanada Nobushige (真田 信繁), was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was especially known as the leading general on the defending side of the Siege of Osaka.

Yukimura was called "A Hero who may appear once in a hundred years", "Crimson Demon of War" and "The Last Sengoku Hero." The famed veteran of the invasion of Korea, Shimazu Tadatsune, called him the "Number one warrior in Japan" (日本一の兵).

Early life

He was the second son of Sanada Masayuki (1544–1611). His elder brother was Sanada Nobuyuki. He was married to Akihime (Chikurin'in), a foster-daughter of Ōtani Yoshitsugu. They had two sons, Daisuke (Yukimasa) and Daihachi (Morinobu).

In 1575, the Battle of Nagashino claimed the lives of two of Sanada Masayuki's elder brothers. Masayuki, previously serving Takeda Shingen and Takeda Katsuyori as a retainer, inherited the Sanada clan and left for Ueda Castle. Yukimura also went, taking the Sanada name as well.

Nagashino Castle

Nagashino Castle (長篠城, Nagashino-jō) was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in what is now Shinshiro, eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy as the site of the crucial Battle of Nagashino between the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga against Takeda Katsuyori in 1575.

History

In 1508, Imagawa Ujichika, ruler of Suruga and Totomi Provinces, ordered his vassal Suganuma Motonari to build a castle in Shitara County, Mikawa Province to guard the western approaches to his domains.

The castle came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1573, who placed former Takeda vassal Okudaira Nobumasa in control. Following skirmishes with the increasingly bellicose Takeda clan to the north, the castle’s defenses were strengthened. The Takeda invaded Mikawa Province in force in 1575, and laid siege to the castle. In the subsequent Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga brought a total force of 38,000 men to relieve the siege on the castle by Takeda Katsuyori. Of Takeda's original 15,000 besiegers, only 12,000 faced the Oda-Tokugawa army in this battle. Seeking to protect his arquebusiers from the Takeda cavalry, Nobunaga built a number of wooden stockades, behind which his gunners attacked in volleys. By mid-afternoon on the day of the battle, the Takeda broke and fled, after losing a great number of men, including eight the famous 'Twenty-Four Generals' Katsuyori had inherited from Takeda Shingen. This use of gunfire was a turning point in the history of samurai warfare. After the battle, the castle was allowed to fall into ruin.

Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長,  Oda Nobunaga , June 23, 1534 – June 21, 1582) was a powerful daimyo of Japan in the late 16th century who attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period.

The goal of national unification and a return to the comparative political stability of the earlier Muromachi period was widely shared by the multitude of autonomous daimyo during the Sengoku period. Oda Nobunaga however, was the first for which this goal seemed attainable. Nobunaga had gained control over most of Honshu (see map below), before his death during the 1582 Honnō-ji incident, a coup attempt executed by Nobunaga's vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide. It is not certain if Nobunaga was killed in the attack or if he committed seppuku. The motivation of Mitsuhide's betrayal was never revealed to anyone who survived the incident, and has been a subject of debate and conjecture ever since the incident. Following the incident, Akechi Mitsuhide declared himself master over Nobunaga's domains, but was quickly defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who regained control of and greatly expanded the Oda holdings. Oda Nobunaga's successful subjugation of much of Honshu enabled the later successes of his allies Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu toward the goal of national unification by subjugating local daimyo under a hereditary shogunate, which would ultimately be accomplished in 1603 when Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the title of shogun by Go-Yōzei-tennō following the successful Sekigahara Campaign of 1600. The nature of the succession of power through the three daimyō is reflected in the Japanese idiom: "Nobunaga pounds the national rice cake, Hideyoshi kneads it, and in the end Ieyasu sits down and eats it."