Basic Unit Statistics (can be modified by difficulty level, arts, skills, traits and retainers)
| Recruitment Cost | 660 | |
| Upkeep Cost | 100 | |
| Melee Attack | 4 | 11% |
| Charge Bonus | 10 | 20% |
| Bonus vs Cavalry | 5 | 16% |
| Range | 125 | 19% |
| Accuracy | 30 | 30% |
| Reloading Skill | 30 | 30% |
| Ammunition | 7 | 8% |
| Melee Defence | 2 | 5% |
| Armour | 2 | 13% |
| Morale | 6 | 12% |
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Good accuracy and reload rate.
- Weak in melee.
- Weak against cavalry.
- Good morale.
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.