Black Tortoise Force

Black Tortoise Force
Appears in	Fall of the Samurai
Belongs to	Aizu
Type	Line Infantry
Ammunition	10
Soldiers per unit	50/100/150/200
Attack skill	4
Charge bonus	10
Anti-cavalry skill	5
Armour	2
Defense skill	2
Range	125
Precision	30
Loading speed	30
Morale	6
Produced from	Cadet School
Special abilities	Kneel Fire Suppression Fire
Cost	770 SP/660 MP
Upkeep	100
Turns to train	1
Unit cap	None

Black Tortoise Force are a type of line infantry in Fall of the Samurai.

Description

The soldiers of the Black Tortoise Force are trained to beat their enemies with firepower, not cold steel. Black Tortoise troops are armed with modern rifles, and can use them accurately with a reasonably good rate of fire. As with all contemporary rifles, they are large-bore weapons and cause horrendous wounds if they hit a target. These troops should not be thrown into close combat, and, if they are left unsupported, they may well be overwhelmed by a well-timed cavalry attack. However, thanks to the martial traditions of Aizu province, these men have good morale.

Despite 200 and more years of peace under the Shogunate, the province of Aizu did have a large standing army. After the arrival of the Americans in 1853, the lords of Aizu continued to maintain a traditional martial approach for the most part, but were also pragmatic enough to modernise to a degree.

The unit is named after a Chinese constellation, “Xuanwu” in Chinese and “Genbu” in Japanese, the mythological Black Tortoise of the North, a creature associated, not surprisingly, with the element of water. In Taoist legend, this creature is also called the Black Warrior, and is sometimes depicted as a general rather than a warrior. The legend supposedly has a son of the Emperor going to seek enlightenment before achieving godhood and a place in the northern sky.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Good accuracy and reload rate.
• Weak in melee.
• Weak against cavalry.
• Good morale.

General Information

Black Tortoise Force are the Aizu's equivalent of line infantry, with identical statistics, skills, and recruitment requirements. As the Aizu are unable to recruit generic line infantry, Black Tortoise Force are effectively a substitute for them. Like line infantry, they have the best shooting capabilities of early game units, but have very poor base melee skill.

Compared to other line infantry types, the Aizu have many superior variants: Azure Dragon Force, Vermilion Bird Force, and Imperial Infantry, Republican Infantry and Shogunate Infantry are all superior, but all of these options are more expensive to train and maintain. Black Tortoise Force have passably good statistics and can fulfill their roles adequately, particularly if well supported, and so may represent the most cost-effective option.