One of Ten Thousand

The eras

The Genpei WarExpansion eras

1156–1221

The Genpei War (1156–1221). You start as Foot soldier and could rise all the way to Commander-in-chief, if you survive. This era covers 35 historical battles.

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Ranks

Historical battles

YearBattleEst. casualties
1156Hōgen RebellionEmperor Go-Shirakawa and his brother, Retired Emperor Sutoku, fought for power. Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Taira no Kiyomori attacked the Shirakawa North Palace with fire by night, and it was decided in a single night. Afterward, Kiyomori was ordered to behead his uncle Tadamasa, and Yoshitomo was ordered to behead his own father, Tameyoshi.≈7%
1159Heiji RebellionWhile Taira no Kiyomori was away on pilgrimage to Kumano, Fujiwara no Nobuyori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo seized the retired emperor. Kiyomori hurried back to the capital and met them at Rokuhara. Yoshitomo was badly beaten and fled east with several of his sons.≈40%
1180Battle of Uji BridgePrince Mochihito issued a call for the Minamoto of every province to rise against the Taira. Seventy-seven-year-old Minamoto no Yorimasa tore up the planks of the Uji Bridge and held the far side, but the Taira's eastern warriors rode their horses across the river. Yorimasa took his own life at the Byōdō-in, and the prince was killed on the road to Nara.≈30%
1180Raid on the Yamaki ResidenceMinamoto no Yoritomo, twenty years an exile in Izu, raised his banner. On the night of the Mishima Shrine festival, Hōjō Tokimasa and others attacked and killed the Taira deputy governor, Yamaki Kanetaka.≈4%
1180Battle of IshibashiyamaYoritomo's three hundred riders were crushed in pouring rain by Ōba Kagechika's three thousand. Yoritomo hid in the mountains. It is said that Kajiwara Kagetoki, searching the hills, saw him and let him go.≈45%
1180Battle of Kinugasa CastleHatakeyama Shigetada and others besieged the Miura clan's Kinugasa Castle. Eighty-nine-year-old Miura Yoshiaki sent his clan away by sea to Awa and stayed behind to die fighting.≈15%
1180Battle of FujigawaTaira no Koremori's punitive army faced the Minamoto across the Fuji River. In the middle of the night, the waterbirds in the marshes took off all at once; the Taira soldiers thought it was a night attack, dropped their weapons and fled.≈3%
1180Battle of Kanasa CastleYoritomo did not press on to the capital. Instead he turned to attack the Satake of Hitachi. The Satake held Kanasa Castle on its mountain, and it fell only with help from a traitor inside the clan.≈4%
1180Burning of NaraThe warrior monks of Nara had backed Prince Mochihito. Taira no Shigehira was sent to punish them. His men lit fires to see by in the night; then the wind rose, and both Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji burned. The head of the Great Buddha melted and fell to the ground.≈3%
1181Battle of SunomatagawaMinamoto no Yukiie tried to cross the Sunomata River by night to surprise the Taira. He was discovered and badly beaten. Yoritomo's brother Gien was killed in the river.≈35%
1181Battle of YokotagawaraJō no Nagamochi of Echigo attacked Shinano on the Taira's orders. It is said that one of Yoshinaka's units approached flying the red banners of the Taira and switched to the white banners of the Minamoto only when they reached the enemy lines. The Jō army fell into chaos.≈4%
1183Battle of Hiuchi CastleTaira no Koremori led the Hokuriku punitive army to besiege Hiuchi Castle. Saimei, chief priest of Heisen-ji, who was among the defenders, secretly went over to the enemy and told the Taira to break the dam that blocked the river. The castle fell.≈25%
1183Battle of HannyanoImai Kanehira, Yoshinaka's foster brother, made a night attack on the Taira vanguard at Hannyano, and Taira no Moritoshi fell back.≈6%
1183Battle of Kurikara PassBy day Yoshinaka made a show of strength; by night he struck from behind. The great Taira army was pushed down into a steep ravine in the dark, men and horses piled on top of one another. The later story that Yoshinaka tied torches to the horns of oxen was added by the war tales.≈45%
1183Battle of ShinoharaThe Taira were beaten again at Shinohara in Kaga. The old warrior Saitō Sanemori had dyed his white hair black for the battle; only after his head was washed did anyone recognize him. As a child, Yoshinaka had owed his life to this man.≈30%
1183Battle of MizushimaYoshinaka sent troops across the sea against the Taira, and they were beaten by the Taira fleet at Mizushima in Bitchū. It is said that a solar eclipse happened in the middle of the battle and threw the Kiso men into panic.≈35%
1183Battle of HōjūjiYoshinaka's men were seizing food in the capital, and Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa turned against him. Yoshinaka simply attacked the Hōjūji Palace. Meiun, head of the Tendai school, was killed by an arrow, and the cloistered emperor was put under confinement.≈3%
1184Battle of the Uji RiverMinamoto no Noriyori and Yoshitsune marched west on Yoritomo's orders to destroy Yoshinaka. At the Uji River, Sasaki Takatsuna and Kajiwara Kagesue, riding Ikezuki and Surusumi, famous horses that Yoritomo had given them, raced each other to be first across.≈20%
1184Battle of AwazuOnly a few riders were left with Yoshinaka. He told Tomoe Gozen to go; she refused, but in the end she went. Yoshinaka's horse sank into a rice paddy skinned with thin ice, and the moment he turned to look back, an arrow struck him in the face. When Imai Kanehira heard his lord was dead, he took his own life.≈60%
1184Battle of MikusayamaYoshitsune led his troops the long way round through Tanba. At night he set fire to farmhouses to light the mountain road, and overran the Taira position at Mikusayama in a single stroke.≈15%
1184Battle of Ichi-no-TaniNoriyori threw everything at the Ikuta Woods from the east, while Yoshitsune and a handful of horsemen charged down the mountain behind the Taira. The Taira fled in panic to their ships. Taira no Tadanori, Michimori, Atsumori and many others of the clan were killed.≈35%
1184Battle of FujitoTaira no Yukimori held Kojima in Bizen. Sasaki Moritsuna got a fisherman to show him the shallows, then rode across the strait and stormed the island. It is said that he killed the fisherman afterward so that word wouldn't get out.≈6%
1185Battle of YashimaDefying a storm, Yoshitsune crossed to Awa with just five ships and fell on Yashima from behind. The Taira thought the whole Minamoto army had arrived and fled to their ships again. Satō Tsuginobu died taking an arrow meant for Yoshitsune.≈12%
1185Battle of ShidoThe Taira fell back to Shido Bay; Yoshitsune pursued and drove them off again. After Yashima, the fleets of Kumano and Iyo brought their ships over to the Minamoto.≈8%
1185Battle of Dan-no-uraDan-no-ura, in the Kanmon Strait: the last sea battle between the Minamoto and the Taira. The Taira line of ships broke, and the clan threw themselves into the sea one after another. Taira no Tomomori said, "I have seen all there is to see," put on two suits of armor, and sank beneath the waves.≈55%
1189Battle of KoromogawaUnable to withstand Yoritomo's pressure, Fujiwara no Yasuhira sent troops against the Koromogawa residence. Yoshitsune's retainers died one by one. Yoshitsune killed his wife and daughter, then himself. He was thirty-one.≈60%
1189Battle of AtsukashiyamaYoritomo led a great army north against Ōshū in person. Fujiwara no Kunihira dug two moats and threw up earthworks at Atsukashiyama, and the line broke after three days. Yasuhira burned Hiraizumi and fled, and was killed by his own retainer.≈20%
1190Ōkawa Kanetō's RebellionŌkawa Kanetō, a former retainer of the Northern Fujiwara, rose in Dewa, claiming to be Yoshitsune himself, still alive. Kamakura sent troops north and crushed him around Kurihara.≈4%
1200Kajiwara Kagetoki IncidentAfter Yoritomo's death, sixty-six gokenin signed a joint denunciation of Kajiwara Kagetoki. Kagetoki set out for Kyoto with his clan and was surrounded and killed by local warriors in Suruga.≈2%
1201Battle of Torisaka CastleJō no Sukemori of Echigo held Torisaka Castle against Kamakura. His aunt, Hangaku Gozen, stood on the gate tower shooting arrows that never missed, until an arrow through the thigh brought her down and she was taken.≈5%
1203Hiki Yoshikazu IncidentHōjō Tokimasa invited Hiki Yoshikazu to his house to discuss a Buddhist service and killed him there. Then troops attacked the Hiki family mansion, and Ichiman, eldest son of the second shogun Yoriie, died in the fire.≈2%
1205Battle of FutamatagawaHōjō Tokimasa falsely accused Hatakeyama Shigetada of treason. Shigetada, with only 134 riders, met the punitive army at the Futamata River. He would not retreat, and died fighting. Only afterward did everyone realize he had been innocent.≈2%
1213Wada BattleWada Yoshimori, head of the Samurai-dokoro, could no longer stand Hōjō Yoshitoki's provocations and rose up in Kamakura. Miura Yoshimura, who had promised to rise with him, turned against him at the last moment. After two days of street fighting, the Wada clan was all but wiped out.≈8%
1221Battle of ŌidodoKamakura's great army marched west on three roads. The court side split its forces to guard each ford along the Kiso River, and once they were spread thin, they were broken one by one.≈25%
1221Jōkyū Battle of the Uji RiverThe rainy season had turned the Uji River into a torrent. Hōjō Yasutoki ordered his men to force the crossing, and many were swept away, horses and all. Once the river was crossed, the capital could not be held. Retired Emperor Go-Toba was exiled to Oki and never came back.≈35%

Casualty rates are the game's estimates from historical sources, used to work out the chance of dying. Treat them as approximate.

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